Barbara Radziwill: biography, portrait, legend

In the history of Europe, no more than a dozen real historical persons can be counted, with the same number of legends associated with them, as with the wife of King Sigismund II Augustus.

Barbara Radziwill, whose biography is presented below, became the main heroine of many ballads, poems and plays. Later, in the 20th century, the love story of the Polish monarch more than once inspired filmmakers to create romantic films about the fate of this "Lithuanian Juliet".

Young years

Barbara was born in December 1520 and was the daughter of the powerful Lithuanian tycoon Yuri Radziwill. Her family was so wealthy that she was able to single out to her beloved Basya a dowry equivalent to what many European kings left to the Dauphinas.

Parents took care of the education of the girl. In particular, it is known that she owned 6 languages, including Latin and Greek. In addition, Barbara was taught drawing, mathematics, riding, geography, playing musical instruments, theology, etc. Thus, by the time she began to be considered a girl for marriage, Barbara Radziwill was one of the most educated women of her time, Possessing knowledge that meets all the requirements of the European Renaissance.

First marriage

In the spring of 1537, at the age of 17, Barbara Radziwill became the wife of Count Stanislaw Gashtold. Her husband was the son of the state chancellor of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, and he was even said about him that he is more powerful than his monarch.

For 5 years, while this marriage continued, the young wife believed that her husband was unfair to her, although she also treated him quite coldly. Be that as it may, the children she did not give birth to, so rumors spread about her infertility and that she is a witch, so the Lord does not give her offspring. Moreover, when in a few years the father-in-law, mother-in-law, and then the husband of Countess Gashtold suddenly died unexpectedly and unexpectedly, at the court they began to gossip about her being a poisoner.

At the court of Sigismund Augustus

According to the laws of that time, the widow had to retire from the world and alone to mourn her husband. During this period, many became interested in the question of where and with whom Barbara Radziwill lived, burying Stanislav Gashtold. As it turned out, she left her husband's house and went to Vilna, where she settled in the castle of her brother - Nikolai the Red.

After 5 years of widowhood, Barbara Radziwill began attending evenings and balls and got acquainted with the son of Polish king Sigismund Augustus. The Grand Duke immediately fell in love without a memory in the beautiful Barbara and made her the maid of honor of her husband Elizabeth Habsburg. The young beauty did not resist for long and soon became his mistress, especially since he completely fascinated her with her manners and constant signs of attention. To have occasion to meet more often with Basya, the king brought closer to himself not only the widow's brother, but also her cousin - Nikolai Cherni Radziwill.

Scandal

Hide the love relationship from the eyes of the court was not easy, so Barbara left Vilna in the castle of her husband, which she inherited. His departure did not cool the fervor of Sigismund, and he began to go on dates, spending many hours in the saddle, regardless of weather and season.

When the novel of Barbara and the heir to the throne began to be spoken even in the remotest corners of the kingdom, the brothers of the woman met with her lover and demanded to refuse to meet with her, as they damage her reputation and honor of their kind.

Sigismund was forced to give the floor not to compromise Barbara, but lost his appetite and interest in life. In addition, he heard rumors of her novels, which he tried not to believe. As for Barbara, she feared the wrath of the all-powerful and dangerous queen Bona Sforza - the mother of Sigismund, who was known as a poisoner and intriguer.

The situation became even more complicated when it became known that even with the living wife of the Grand Duke, his mother began sending messengers in search of a new wife for the heir, since he had no children with Elizabeth Habsburg.

Barbara talked about her feelings for Sigismund brothers, and they warned her that if she was going to fight for her lover, she would be sorely tested.

Death of the Grand Duchess

I must say that Sigismund's marriage with Elizabeth Habsburg was dynastic, but the bride's relatives at one time hid from him that the bride is epileptic. It is still not established whether this was an accident or a carefully planned assassination, but one day a young woman fell from a horse and died in a few months. Many people said that Elizabeth's death was the result of her mother-in-law's intrigues.

Now nothing prevented Sigismund from marrying again and continuing the Jagiellonian dynasty, since he was her last male representative. At the same time, he knew that his mother as a daughter-in-law could not be satisfied with such a woman as Barbara Radziwill, who was not distinguished by meekness and the desire to submit to the will of anyone, except for the beloved man.

Wedding

To encourage Sigismund Yagellon to take decisive steps, her brothers interfered in the matter. They allegedly went hunting and made sure that he knew about it. The Grand Duke in love hurried on a date to Bash, and then two Radziwills burst into the bedroom with their swords drawn. They demanded that he immediately marry her, and brought into the priest's room. Sigismund had to obey, but he demanded that the marriage be kept secret.

However, it was not possible to conceal the fact of the wedding for a long time to the newlyweds. A real storm came when Bona Sforza found out about the marriage of her son. She persuaded her spouse-king to do everything possible to annul Sigismund's marriage. Then came what the parents did not expect from their son: he refused to obey their will and said that he was going to live up to old age with Barbara Radziwill.

Accession to the throne

It is not known how events would develop further if Sigmund I did not die on April 1, 1548. A few days later, the new king appeared at a meeting of the Lithuanian Sejm and announced his marriage, demanding that Barbara Radziwill be recognized as the Grand Duchess of Lithuania. The deputies gladly agreed, as this meant strengthening their influence in the Commonwealth, and Sigismund and his wife left for Poland for the coronation. There the newly-made monarch was required to again obtain recognition of the status of Barbara. However, this turned out to be more complicated. The matter is that members of the Diet of the Commonwealth considered the marriage of the king as impossible and humiliating for Poland. In particular, this decision was opposed by the three largest tycoons. One of them even called the queen a whore, insulting her husband.

Then all the members of the Seimas bowed their knees and begged Sigismund (Zygmund) August to renounce this marriage. The weak-willed and fearful king unexpectedly showed unprecedented firmness and refused to part with his beloved.

Mother-in-law against daughter-in-law

To upset this union could not even Bona Sforza, who, as always, wove intrigues against his son's second wife. Despite all her efforts, the only thing she achieved is that she completely ruined her relationship with Sigismund Augustus.

Those who have seen the portrait of Barbara Radziwill will agree that she does not produce the impression of a determined woman. Nevertheless, after learning about the resistance of the Polish gentry, she proudly refused the rights to the throne. Over time, the members of the Sejm and the nobles resisted less and Barbara was crowned.

Death

Unfortunately, Barbara Radziwill's romantic story is not a fairy tale with a happy ending.

Just 5 months after the coronation, at the age of 30, she died from an unknown illness in Wawel Castle. Since the woman was strong and had good health, everyone began to wonder why Barbara Radziwill died. Most representatives of the nobility were of the opinion that it was poisoned by Bon Sforza. This version is extremely plausible, especially if we take into account that the latter came from a noble Italian family, known in connection with the love of its members for poisons and drugs.

In addition, the young queen died an excruciating death. The first signs of the disease appeared already in 2 months after the wedding, but they were attributed to the reception of potions from infertility. Then the disease began to progress and ended with a prolonged agony, lasting several hours, during which she writhing from severe pain. In the last days of her life, the whole body of the queen was covered with terrible purulent abscesses, from which the stench emanated. Nevertheless, the husband did not depart from the bed of his beloved Basenka, hoping for her healing. He called on all the medical luminaries of Europe to help, but no one could not only save Barbara, but even relieve her inhuman suffering.

Burial

Before her death, Barbara herself asked her husband not to be buried in Krakow's Wawel Cathedral, like other Polish monarchs and their wives. That is why its last refuge was the church of St. Stanislava in Vilnius.

The spirit of Barbara Radziwill

The king could not forget his priceless Basya and became close to her brothers who lived in a castle in Nesvizh. The legend of Barbara Radziwill says that one day he brought with him the spiritist Pan Twardowski, who promised to evoke the spirit of his wife-deceased.

The magician forbade the king to touch the ghost, if it appears. The spirit of Barbara appeared to Sigismund in fact, but the rejoiced spouse, despite all the wizard's pleas, tried to conclude the vision in his arms.

According to the legend, because of violating the prohibition of spiritualism, the soul of Barbara forever became a captive of the castle in Nesvizh. At the same time, Pan Tvardovsky told the king that if he died in the same place, their souls would forever unite. He was unspeakably happy and firmly decided that it would be so. However, death overtook him unexpectedly in another castle, and the ghost of Barbara, nicknamed the Black Lady, still frightens people. Nor did the soul of Sigismund Augustus, who lonely wander around Krakow Castle, dreamed of reuniting with her beloved.

The fate of the King

It is interesting that Sigismund's mother managed to marry him a third time and chose Elizabeth's sister Habsburg - Katerina - as daughter-in-law. The marriage was short-lived and did not give offspring, although the next wife tried even to imitate pregnancy. Because of deception, the king began a divorce, sending his wife home.

In the last years of his life, Sigismund Augustus II surrounded himself with sorcerers and sorcerers and died in a room that was draped with black cloths, as in it he continued to grieve for his beloved, with whom he dreamed of reuniting after death.

"Epitaph for Barbara Radziwill"

As already mentioned, in the 20th century, many times they tried to film the romantic love story of Sigismund to the beautiful Bass. One of the most famous was the picture in which Barbara Radziwill (photo from the film above) appeared before the audience in the guise of one of the most beautiful actresses of Poland in the 80s - Anna Dymna. The film was released in 1982 and was a short film version of the popular TV series "Queen Bona". The painting was called "Epitaph for Barbara Radziwill" and was a great success.

Many people of the older generation believed that the image created on the screen by Anna Dymna is not the best Barbara Radziwill. The film, shot in Poland in 1936, in their opinion, was more successful, since the main role in it went to the beautiful Yadvig Smosarska, and Sigismund Augustus II was played by Witold Zaharevich. The latter died in Auschwitz, where he got help for Jews during the Holocaust.

Image in art

Barbara Radziwill, a photo from the movie about which you have already seen, already more than 5 centuries excites the imagination of artists, poets and writers. She is dedicated to the works of Polish playwrights F. Wenzhik and A. Felinsky, the drama of J. Grinius and the Lithuanian prose writer and playwright J. Gruša.

In addition, museums from different countries adorn the paintings of Wojciech Gerson and Jan Matejko, etc., as well as the busts of Barbara Radziwill of unknown authors who can be seen in the Ursyns palace in the Polish capital and the Olesk castle.

Now you know where Barbara Radziwill lived and how she met her royal lover, you also know the details of their novel, which still cause interest in sensitive people.