Princess Elizaveta Ostrogska (1539–1582), also known as ''Elżbieta'' or ''Halshka'', was a Ruthenian heiress, the only child of Prince

Illia Ostrogski Eliasz Aleksander Ostrogski (1510–1539), also known as Illia Ostrogski, was the only son of Konstanty Ostrogski from his first marriage with Tatiana Koretska. He was starost of Bratslav and Vinnytsia. Biography When he was 13, his father Kons ...

and Beata Kościelecka.

Biography

She wasn born in the Ostrog castle in 1539, soon after her father died. She inherited a great fortune which made her appealing as a bride for potential husbands. When she was 14, her uncle

Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski (2 February 1526 – 13 or 23 February 1608, also known as ''Kostiantyn Vasyl Ostrozkyi'', uk, Костянтин-Василь Острозький, be, Канстантын Васіль Астрожскi, lt, Konst ...

(against the will of her mother) made her marry

Dymitr Sanguszko Dymitr is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Dymitr of Goraj (1340–1400), a Grand Crown Marshal from 1390 and Court Treasurer in the years 1364–1370 and 1377–1391 *Michał Dymitr Krajewski (1746–1817), Polish writer and ed ...

starost The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...

Kaniv Kaniv ( uk, Канів, ) city located in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast (province) in central Ukraine. The city rests on the Dnieper River, and is also one of the main inland river ports on the Dnieper. It hosts the administration of Kaniv urb ...

Cherkasy Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the Capital city, capital of Cherkasy Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (Raion, district) within the oblast. The c ...

and

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, a ...

. Soon Dymitr needed to flee because of

Infamy Infamy, in common usage, is the notoriety gained from a negative incident or reputation (as opposed to fame). The word stems from the Latin ''infamia'', antonym of ''fama'' (in the sense of "good reputation"). Roman law In Roman law, it took ...

and conflict with

Sigismund II Augustus I Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...

, but he was captured and killed by

Marcin Zborowski Marcin Zborowski (''c.'' 1495 – 25 February 1565) was a Polish castellan ( pl, kasztelan) of Kalisz (since 1543), voivod (''wojewoda'') of Kalisz (since 1550), voivod of Poznań (since 1558) and castellan of Kraków (since 1562). He was one o ...

in the

Jaroměř Jaroměř (; german: Jermer) is a town in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. It is known for the Josefov Fortress. Josefov is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban m ...

in 1554. In 1555 the King made her marry Łukasz Górka,

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

Łęczyca Łęczyca (; in full the Royal Town of Łęczyca, pl, Królewskie Miasto Łęczyca; german: Lentschitza; he, לונטשיץ) is a town of 13,786 inhabitants () in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the ...

and

Brześć Kujawski Brześć Kujawski (Polish pronunciation: ; or ''Kujawisch Brest''; often anglicized to Kuyavian Brest) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland. Once a royal seat of Kuyavia, the town has been the seat of one of two small duchie ...

again against her and her mother's will, who wanted Halszka to marry Siemion Olelkowicz, Prince of

Slutsk Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population is ...

. Both mother and daughter fled to

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

and hid in the Dominican Church. Prince Siemon slipped into the church dressed like a beggar and secretly married Princess Ostrozka in 1559. The King however didn't recognize it and ordered Prince Siemon to give Elizaveta back to Górka. The church was besieged, and mother and daughter were forced to surrender and accept the King's will.Marriage Strategies and Inheritance Systems in Europe
/ref> Her mother, Beata Kościelecka, for many years tried to cancel the marriage with Łukasz Górka. In the meantime, Prince Siemion Olelkovycz Slutski died. When he died, Elizaveta started to participate in social affairs with her husband ''de jure''. Elżbieta lived with Górka in his castle in

Szamotuły Szamotuły (german: Samter) is a town in western Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, about northwest of the centre of Poznań. It is the seat of Szamotuły County and of the smaller administrative district Gmina Szamotuły. The population was ...

until his death in January 1573. When she became a widow for the third time, her uncle Konstanty Wasyl made her give him and his son

Janusz Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People * Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter *Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician * Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pr ...

part of her fortune. She died alone, insane, at the age of 43 in 1582.

Inspirations

Her tragic fate was a base for the book of

Józef Ignacy Kraszewski Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (28 July 1812 – 19 March 1887) was a Polish writer, publisher, historian, journalist, scholar, painter, and author who produced more than 200 novels and 150 novellas, short stories, and art reviews, which makes him the ...

, titled ''Halszka'' (Wilno 1838).

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Poles, Polish painting, painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works includ ...

pictured her in the background of ''Kazanie Skargi''. There is a legend about one of the

castle towers, that it was the prison for a "dark princess", whose face was hidden behind an iron mask by her husband.

References

External links

''Lubomyr Wynar''. Ostrozky in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrogska, Elizaveta Polish princesses Elzbieta Ostrozka 1539 births 1582 deaths People from Ostroh 16th-century Polish landowners 16th-century Polish women 16th-century Polish nobility

Biography

Inspirations

See also

References

External links