View source for Aldona of Lithuania

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty|consort=yes
| name = Aldona of Lithuania
| image = Michał Stachowicz - Aldona of Lithuania.jpg
| caption =
| succession = [[Queen consort of Poland]]
| reign = 1333–1339
| coronation = 25 April 1333
| birth_date = {{circa|1309}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1339|05|26|1309}}
| death_place = [[Kraków]], [[Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385)|Kingdom of Poland]]
| place of burial = [[Wawel Cathedral]], Kraków
| spouse = [[Casimir III of Poland|Casimir III]]
| issue = [[Elisabeth of Poland (1326–1361)|Elisabeth]]<br />Cunigunde
| house = [[House of Gediminas|Gediminas]]
| father = [[Gediminas]]
| mother = [[Jewna]]
}}
'''Aldona''' (baptized ''Ona'' or ''Anna''; her [[pagan]] name, Aldona, is known only from the writings of [[Maciej Stryjkowski]];<ref name=aldona2/> {{circa|1309}} –  26 May 1339) was [[Queen consort]] of [[Piast Poland|Poland]] (1333–1339), and a princess of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. She was the daughter of [[Gediminas]], Grand Duke of Lithuania.
==Biography==
Aldona married [[Casimir III of Poland]], when he was 15 or 16 years old. The bride was probably of about the same age. The marriage took place on 30 April or 16 October 1325 and was a purely [[Political marriage|political maneuver]] to strengthen the first Polish–Lithuanian coalition against the [[Teutonic Knights]].<ref name=aldona>{{cite encyclopedia | last=Jonynas | first=Ignas | editor-first=Vaclovas |editor-last=Biržiška | encyclopedia=Lietuviškoji enciklopedija | title=Aldona | year=1933 | publisher=Spaudos Fondas | volume=I | location=Kaunas | pages=208–211 |language=lt}}</ref> Casimir was seeking allies in the dispute over [[Pomerania]] with the Order. Gediminas had just undertaken an unsuccessful attempt to Christianize Lithuania. This coalition was a prelude to the [[Union of Krewo]] in 1385, and the [[Union of Lublin]] in 1569, which resulted in the creation of a new state, the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref name=aldona2>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Edvardas |last=Gudavičius | author-link=Edvardas Gudavičius | editor-first= Vytautas |editor-last=Spečiūnas |encyclopedia= Lietuvos valdovai (XIII-XVIII a.): enciklopedinis žinynas |title=Aldona |year=2004 |publisher=[[Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas]] |location=[[Vilnius]] |page=40 |isbn=5-420-01535-8|language=lt}}</ref> The details of the agreement are not known; however, it is known that Gediminas released all Polish captives, some 25,000 people, who returned to Poland.<ref name=aldona/> The importance of the marriage was attested by the fact that Władysław abandoned his earlier plans to marry his son to [[Jutta of Bohemia]].<ref name=pious>{{cite journal | first=S. C. |last=Rowell |title=Pious Princesses or Daughters of Belial: Pagan Lithuanian Dynastic Diplomacy, 1279–1423 |page=47 | date=Spring 1994 |journal=Medieval Prosopography | volume=15 |issue=1 |issn=0198-9405 }}</ref> The alliance was put into effect when joint Polish–Lithuanian forces organized an attack against the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] in 1326.<ref name=pious/> However, the coalition was not strong and collapsed c. 1330. Yet, there is no evidence of fighting between Poland and Lithuania while Aldona was alive.<ref name=aldona/> Aldona died suddenly at the end of May 1339, and was buried in [[Kraków]].
Aldona was remembered for her [[piety]] and devotion to music. She was accompanied by court musicians wherever she went. It was even suggested by [[Jan Długosz]] that the [[cymbal]]s which were played in procession before her represented a [[Lithuanian mythology|pagan Lithuanian]] tradition.<ref>{{cite book | title=Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345 | first=S. C. | last=Rowell | page=232 | year=1994 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | series=Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series| isbn=978-0-521-45011-9 }}</ref> Her husband Casimir is known for his romantic affairs: after Aldona's death he married three more times.
==Issue==
Aldona had two daughters:
* [[Cunigunde of Poland]] (died in 1357); married on 1 January 1345 [[Louis VI the Roman]], the son of [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor]].
* [[Elisabeth of Poland (1326–1361)|Elisabeth]] (1326–1361); married [[Bogislaus V]], [[Duke of Pomerania]].<ref>Rowell, C. S. ''Lithuania Ascending'', xxxvi</ref> Elisabeth's daughter, [[Elizabeth of Pomerania]], was the fourth wife of [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor]].
== In popular culture ==
=== Film ===
Queen Aldona Anna is one of the main characters in the first season of Polish historical TV drama series "Korona Królów" ("The Crown of the Kings"). She is played by Marta Bryła.
==See also==
* [[Family of Gediminas]] – family tree of Aldona
* [[Gediminids]]
* [[Aldona (fungus)]] (family [[Parmulariaceae]]), was named after her in 1900.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Gediminas]]||1309|26 May|1339|}}
{{s-roy|pl}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jadwiga of Kalisz]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Polish consorts|Queen consort of Poland]]|years=1333–1339}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Adelaide of Hesse]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Royal consorts of Poland}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldona of Lithuania}}
[[Category:1300s births]]
[[Category:1339 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century Polish nobility]]
[[Category:Queens consort of Poland]]
[[Category:Gediminids]]
[[Category:Piast dynasty]]
[[Category:14th-century Lithuanian nobility]]
[[Category:14th-century Lithuanian women]]
[[Category:14th-century Polish women]]
[[Category:Lithuanian princesses]]
[[Category:Casimir III the Great]]