Jewna of Polotsk was born circa 1280 in Polotsk, Vitsebsk Voblast, Belarus to Troyden Romanovich Polemonovich (c1263-1282) and died circa 1344 Vilnius, Lithuania of unspecified causes.
Jewna (Lithuanian: Jaunė, literally, young woman; died ca. 1344) was daughter of Prince Troyden Polemonovich and wife of Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia (1316–1341). She is mentioned in written sources only once – the Bychowiec Chronicle, a late and unreliable source. Therefore some historians cast a serious doubt on 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. The Bychowiec Chronicle mentions three wives: Vida from Courland, Olga from Smolensk, and Jewna.[1] Some modern historians suggest that Gediminas had two wives, one from local pagan nobles, and Jewna, an Orthodox. S. C. 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.[2]
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 such interpretation was accurate, then it would testify the power and influence of queen mother in pagan Lithuania.[3][4]
References
- ^ (Lithuanian) Ivinskis, Zenonas (1953–1966). "Jaunė". Lietuvių enciklopedija. IX. Boston, Massachusetts: Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla. p. 335. LCC
55020366.
- ^ Rowell, S.C. (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780521450119.
- ^ Rowell, S.C. Lithuania Ascending, p. 282
- ^ Jewna [1]
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Algirdas (1296-1377) | 1296 Lithuania | May 1377 Maišiagala | Maria Yaroslavna of Vitebsk (c1300-c1348) Uliana Aleksandrovna of Tver (c1325-1392) |
| Kęstutis (c1297-1382) | 1297 | 15 August 1382 Kreva, Grodno Region, Belarus | Unknown Birutė of Palanga (c1320-1382) |
| Jaunutis (1298-1366) | 1298 | 1366 | |
| Maria of Lithuania (1300-1349) | 1300 | 1349 | Dmitri Mikhailovich of Tver (1299-1326) |
| Elzbieta of Lithuania (1302-c1364) | 1302 | 1364 | Wenceslaus of Płock (c1293-1336) |
| Manvydas of Lithuania (c1304–1348) | 1304 | 2 February 1348 | |
| Narimantas (c1306-1348) | 1306 | 2 February 1348 | Anna-Yelizaveta Vasilkovna (c1307-1345) Mariya Ordynskaya (1313-c1360) |
| Karijotas (c1307-c1361 | |||
| Aldona of Lithuania (c1309-1339) | 1309 | 26 May 1339 | Casimir III the Great of Poland (1310-1370) |
| Liubartas of Lithuania (c1310-1383)) | |||
| Eufemija of Lithuania | |||
| Aigusta of Lithuania (c1320-1345) | 1320 | 11 March 1345 | Simeon Ivanovich of Moscow (1316-1353) |