Krystyna Rokiczana (died after 1365) was the third wife of

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He ...

, of

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 ...

. Since she was the King's third wife in

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

, she was not a queen consort.

Life

Krystyna is mentioned in several historical sources, including the ''Spominki o Ciołkach'' ("Mentions about the Ciołek noble family", 1518), she is also mentioned in documents regarding the annulment of Casimir's loveless marriage to

Adelaide of Hesse Adelaide of Hesse ( pl, Adelajda heska) (after 1323 – after May 26, 1371) was queen consort of Poland by marriage to Casimir III of Poland. She was daughter of Henry II, Landgrave of Hesse, and his wife Elisabeth of Thuringia, daughter of F ...

. Krystyna was the widow of Mikuláš (Mikulasz) Rokiczan, a merchant from

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. When her husband died, Krystyna inherited a large fortune. Krystyna became a lady-in-waiting at the court of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and

King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman E ...

. In May 1356 Casimir III came to

,History- Person
where he met Christina and they possibly became engaged. The marriage was concluded shortly afterwards in Krakow. The marriage is believed not to have lasted long; Jan Długosz reported that Krystyna was dismissed from the king shortly after the marriage after the discovery of concealed defects, Christina was suffering from hair loss and scabies, it is possible, however, that the relationship lasted a bit longer, an investigation found that Christina was still alive in 1365 and was living in Poland. Casimir married for a fourth and final time to

Hedwig of Sagan Hedwig of Sagan ( pl, Jadwiga żagańska; before 1350 – 27 March 1390) was Queen of Poland as the fourth wife of Casimir III. Casimir's lack of male heir spelled the end of the Piast Dynasty in the Kingdom of Poland. After Casimir's death in 1 ...

in 1365. This marriage was considered bigamous, with Adelaide still alive and Christina possibly still alive. Casimir and Hedwig had four daughters, they were all considered illegitimate until Casimir had them legitimised. Casimir and Krystyna had no children. The marriage between Casimir and Krystyna was particularly beneficial for the House of Anjou; children that could have come from the marriage of Casimir and Christina would be considered illegitimate and even if they were legitimised, their legitimacy would still be in question due to Krystyna's low station. Without sons, Casimir had to give the throne to his sister,

Elisabeth of Poland Elizabeth of Poland ( hu, Erzsébet, pl, Elżbieta; 1305 – 29 December 1380) was Queen of Hungary by marriage to Charles I of Hungary, and regent of Poland from 1370 to 1376 during the reign of her son Louis I. Life Early life She was a memb ...

and her son, Louis I of Hungary. It is unknown when Krystyna died.

Krystyna in literature

Krystyna plays a major role in the novel ''King of the peasants'' (1884), by

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 ...

. The book is about the history of marriage. Krystyna portrayed as wealthy due to her inheritance from her first husband, well educated, her first husband was a much older man, and her appearance was characterized as the following: snow white complexion, brown hair and eyes, facial features that are strangely beautiful and dignified, she rarely smiled, and when forced to speak through her coral lips, her eyes rarely said anything about her internal emotions.

Bibliography

*Jerzy Wyrozumski, Rokiczana Krystyna, In: Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Volume XXXI, 1989 *Jerzy Wyrozumski, Kazimierz Wielki, Ossolineum, Wroclaw 1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rokiczana, Christina Piast dynasty Casimir III the Great 14th-century Polish people 14th-century Polish women Polish ladies-in-waiting Date of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown Date of death unknown Morganatic spouses