Urszula Mayerin

Urszula Mayerin (1570–1635) was mistress to King Sigismund III of Poland and a politically influential woman. Her real name was probably "Gienger", but she signed all her letters as "Urszula Meyerin". In German, her last name means "chamberlain" ("meierin").

Early life

Urszula was most likely born near Munich in Bavaria, Germany in a poor noble familyRudzki Edward, "Polskie królowe. Żony królów elekcyjnych. II." Warszawa, 1987 (no ISBN)] . She came to Graz as a child in the 1580s. Mayerin was pretty in her youth, and some time later was chosen by Maria Anna of Bavaria to become mistress to King Sigismund III of Poland. Maria Anna's own daughter (Anna of Habsburg) was fiancée to the Polish King, but was unattractive, and the Habsburgs had bad experiences with two marriages of King Sigismund Augustus of Poland. The girl joined the Anne's court in Poland as a chamberlain in 1592.

Chamberlain

Urszula had a great influence on the King and Queen. She was a strict religious person. Shortly after her arrival in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, she acquired knowledge of the Polish. Despite that she was very unpopular in the Commonwealth, because she was involved in affairs of state. She used her influence on the King to appoint her favourites to state positions. She was contemptuously called "King's mistress", "minister in a skirt" and "Jesuit's bigotry". The King's secretary Jan Szczęsny Herburt called her "obscene favourite" [http://www.toporzel.gower.pl/teksty/krole.html#Rozdz_26 Mistress with a rosary in her hand] ] .

Mayerin was a chamberlain ( _pl. Ochmistrzyni [See also Offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth] ) of the Queen's court. Though she became the senior governess to the King's children and supervisor of Royal Nurses, she was not held in high esteem among them (Urszula was especially loathed by a protestant nurse of prince Władysław, Scottish Mrs. Forbes)Czapliński Władysław "Władysław IV i jego czasy" (Władysław IV and His Times), Warszawa, 1972 without ISBN] . After the Queen's death in 1598 she did not leave Poland as did the other German Queen's ladies. The reason was her great attachment to the King and to young prince Władysław. Her tender letters to the prince are sometimes interpreted to contain more than a tutor's affection.

When Sigismund III married again in 1605 in Kraków with a sister of his first wife, Constance of Austria, Urszula became her "close worries and consolations participant". She traveled in the Queen's carriage, dined with her at the same table, administered the court's treasury, and even assisted with official audiences with the King. Mayerin fostered the King's children and spoke to them mainly in Polish (their own mother communicated with them only in German). She never married and rejected all offers (even her great friend Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł).

As a chamberlain she was very thrifty and dressed mainly in a black Spanish dress. She corresponded with Emperor Ferdinand II and the Pope and received a Golden Rose for an "exceptionally virtuous life".

During the last year of Sigismund's life he was often seriously ill and Urszula become the real Polish Duke of Lerma, leaving him an increasingly peripheral figure. She signed official state documents instead of the King and received foreign ambassadors.

Urszula died in 1635 at the Royal Castle and was buried in the Jesuit Church in Warsaw with a solemn burial ceremony, almost like a Queen. Her grave was plundered and destroyed by Swedish and German troops during the Deluge in the 1650s.

Legacy

Urszula Mayerin died childless. All her effigies, including some by such great artists as Peter Claesz. Soutman or Christian Melich (Polish court painters), were destroyed when the Royal Castle in Warsaw was ransacked and burned down during the DelugeLileyko Jerzy, "Życie codzienne w Warszawie za Wazów", Warszawa, 1984. ISBN 8306010213] .

References