Jewna

Jewna ( _lt. Jaunė, literally, "young woman"; born c. 1280 in Polatsk – died c. 1344) was wife of Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia (1316–1341). She was daughter of Prince Ivan of Polatsk. She is mentioned only once in the Bychowiec Chronicle, a late and unreliable source. Therefore some historians seriously doubt her existence, but modern reference works still widely cite her as the ancestress of the Gediminids dynasty.

There are considerable doubts about how many wives Gediminas had. Some suggest that Gediminas had two wives, one from local pagan nobles, and Jewna, an Orthodox. C. S. Rowell claims that Gediminas had only one wife, an unknown pagan duchess. He argues that an important marriage to a Ruthenian or Polish princess like Jewna would have been noted in contemporary sources. [cite book | title=Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345 | first=C. S. | last=Rowell | pages=88 | year=1994 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | series=Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series| isbn=9780521450119 ]

The Bychowiec Chronicle mentions that after Jewna's death, brothers Algirdas and Kęstutis became displeased with Jaunutis, who Gediminas chose as his heir. Soon they deposed of Jaunutis. This episode is interpreted that weak Jaunutis was protected by his mother. If it was really the case, then it is an interesting example of the power and influence of queen mother in pagan Lithuania. [Rowell, C. S. "Lithuania Ascending", 282]

References

ee also

*House of Gediminas – probable family tree of Jewna
*Gediminids