Barbara Jagiellon (15 July 1478 – 15 February 1534) was a Polish princess, member of the

Jagiellonian dynasty The Jagiellonian dynasty (, pl, dynastia jagiellońska), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty ( pl, dynastia Jagiellonów), the House of Jagiellon ( pl, Dom Jagiellonów), or simply the Jagiellons ( pl, Jagiellonowie), was the name assumed by a cad ...

and by marriage

Duchess of Saxony This is a list of the Duchesses, Electresses and Queens of Saxony; the consorts of the Duke of Saxony and its successor states; including the Electorate of Saxony, the Kingdom of Saxony, the House of Ascania, Albertine, and the Ernestine Saxony. ...

. Born in

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Prov ...

, she was the sixth daughter of King

Casimir IV of Poland Casimir is classically an English, French and Latin form of the Polish name Kazimierz. Feminine forms are Casimira and Kazimiera. It means "proclaimer (from ''kazać'' to preach) of peace (''mir'')." List of variations *Belarusian: Казі ...

and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria. She was named after her great-grandmother,

Barbara of Cilli Barbara of Cilli or Barbara of Celje ( Hungarian: ''Cillei Borbála'', German: ''Barbara von Cilli,'' Slovenian and Croatian'': Barbara Celjska,'' 1392 – 11 July 1451), was the Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia by marriage ...

Holy Roman Empress The Holy Roman Empress or Empress of the Holy Roman Empire (''Kaiserin des Heiligen Römischen Reiches'') was the wife or widow of the Holy Roman Emperor. The elective dignity of Holy Roman emperor was restricted to males only, but some empresse ...

Life

Barbara was married on 21 November 1496 in a glittering ceremony in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

to George, Duke of Saxony (1471–1539). At the wedding, 6,286 German and Polish nobles were said to be present. This marriage was a key part of maintaining good diplomatic relations between

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. For Barbara's family, the marriage was also important due to their rivalry with the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. In 1513, Barbara and her husband founded

Meissen Cathedral Meissen Cathedral or the Church of St John and St Donatus (german: Meißner Dom) is a Gothic church in Meissen in Saxony. It is situated on the castle hill of Meissen, adjacent to the Albrechtsburg castle and forms a critical centrepiece of the i ...

; several Masses and liturgical celebration of

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...

have been recorded to have taken place since then. Barbara sent letters to her husband while he was at battles. Witnesses say the couple had a very loving and happy marriage. Barbara died in

aged 55. Her husband was so stricken by grief that he grew a beard during this time, which was why he was nicknamed "the Bearded". She was buried in the cathedral of Meissen in her husband's funeral chapel, built between 1521-1524. Barbara and George were the last Prince and Princess of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...

to be buried at the cathedral. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...

in the funerary chapel was the work of

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...

. They are surrounded by apostles and saints. Translation from German Wikipedia

Issue

# Christoph of Saxony (8 September 1497 – 5 December 1497). # Johann of Saxony (24 August 1498 – 11 January 1537); married on 20 May 1516 to

Elisabeth of Hesse Elisabeth of Hesse (13 February 1539 – 14 March 1582) was a German noblewoman. She was a daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse and Christine of Saxony, daughter of George, Duke of Saxony. On 8 July 1560 she married Louis VI, Elector Pal ...

. This union was childless. # Wolfgang of Saxony (1499 – 12 January 1500). # Anna of Saxony (21 January 1500 – 23 January 1500). # Christoph of Saxony (born and died 27 May 1501). # Agnes of Saxony (7 January 1503 – 16 April 1503). # Frederick of Saxony (15 March 1504 – 26 February 1539); married on 27 January 1539 to Elisabeth of Mansfeld. This union was childless. #

Christine of Saxony Christine of Saxony (25 December 1505 – 15 April 1549) was a German noble, landgravine consort of Hesse by marriage to Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.Eckhart G. Franz (Hrsg.): Haus Hessen. Biografisches Lexikon. (= Arbeiten der Hessischen His ...

(25 December 1505 – 15 April 1549); married on 11 December 1523 to

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (in English: "the Magnanimous"), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protesta ...

. # Magdalena of Saxony (7 March 1507 – 25 January 1534); married on 6 November 1524 to Joachim Hector, then Electoral Prince of Brandenburg. # Margarethe of Saxony (7 September 1508 – d. Dresden, 19 December 1510).

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

*Z. Wdowiszewski: ''Genealogia Jagiellonów i Domu Wazów w Polsce'', Avalon, Kraków 2005, pp. 131–132 and genealogical table in p. 210. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbara Jagiellon Jagiellonian dynasty House of Wettin 1478 births 1534 deaths Polish princesses Duchesses of Saxony Margravines of Meissen ⚭Barbara Jagiellon Daughters of kings