Danutė of Lithuania (baptized ''Anna''; – 26 November 1424), was a Lithuanian princess of the

Gediminid dynasty The House of Gediminas (), or simply the Gediminids, were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. A cadet branch of this family, known as the Jagiellonian dynasty, reigned also in th ...

and by marriage Duchess of Warsaw. She was a daughter of

Kęstutis Kęstutis ( – 3 or 15 August 1382) was sole Duke of Trakai from 1342 to 1382 and List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1342 to 1382, together with his brother Algirdas (until 1377), and with his nephew Jogaila (from 1377 to ...

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

, and his second wife, Birutė.

Life

Very little reliable information is known about her life. Probably between 1371/73 Danutė married

Janusz I of Warsaw Janusz I of Warsaw (pl: ''Janusz I warszawski''), also known as Janusz I the Old (pl: ''Janusz I Starszy'') (c. 1347/52 – 8 December 1429), was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast in the Dukes of Masovia, Masovian branch, from 1373/74 D ...

; two facts that supported this date are: —in 1371,

Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI (; born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death, in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope. In 1377, ...

sent a letter to Siemowit III of Masovia, father of Janusz I, urging him not to allow his subordinates to help pagan Lithuanians. If the marriage took place by that time, the pope would have certainly condemned the Christian duke for the alliance with the pagans; and —in 1379 Kęstutis, while negotiating with the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

, called Günter von Hohenstein,

komtur Commander (; ; ; ; ), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval military orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller, for a member senior to a Knight. ...

Ostróda Ostróda (; Old Prussian language, Old Prussian: ''Austrāti'') is a town in northern Poland, in the historic region of Masuria. It is the seat of the Ostróda County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship and has approximately 33,191 inhabitant ...

, godfather of Danutė. It means that by that time she was already baptized and married, although is probably that she was already baptized before her wedding. The marriage between Danutė and Janusz I was notorious as the longest among the members of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

. In occasion of her wedding, Danutė received from Janusz I as a dowry the towns of

Drohiczyn Drohiczyn () (, ) is a town in Siemiatycze County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. The town has a population of 2,110 and is situated on the bank of the Bug River. Drohiczyn has a long and rich history, as in the past it was one of the most impo ...

Mielnik Mielnik is a village in Siemiatycze County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Mielnik. It lies approximately south-east of Siemiatycze ...

, and Brześć with their surrounding villages. She bore her husband four children, all of whom predeceased them both: * Daughter (Olga?) (1373/76 - ca. 8 December 1401), who married firstly in 1388 to Voivode

Petru I of Moldavia Petru (Peter) I may have been a Voivode (prince) of Moldavia from the end of 1367 to after July 1368. Several historians, including Constantin Rezachevici and Ioan Aurel Pop, believe him to have been the son of prince Ştefan, oldest son of voivo ...

and secondly with the Moldavian magnate Wilczę. * Janusz the Younger (1376/81 - ca. 18 October 1422), who married Katharina of Melsztyn, daughter of Spytek. * Bolesław (1385/86 - ca. 4 May 1424), married Anna Feodorovna, granddaughter of

Algirdas Algirdas (; , ; – May 1377) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the pre ...

. * Konrad (ca. 1400 - 9 December 1412/13). In 1382, after escaping from Kreva, Vytautas the Great first asked his sister Danutė and his brother-in-law Janusz for help in the Lithuanian Civil War against his cousin Jogaila. However, he did not receive any assistance and had to turn to the

. In older historiography was believed that Danutė survived her husband on the basis of records from the ''Calendar of Płock'', who dated her death on 25 May 1448. Currently, it's believed that this was a mistake with the death date of her daughter-in-law Anna Feodorovna, who died in 1458. Danutė died between 17 October 1422 and 20 December 1425, probably on 26 November 1424. She was probably buried at St. John's Archcathedral, Warsaw.The information who reports that Danutė was buried in the Dominican monastery of

Warka Warka () is a town in east-central Poland, located on the left bank of the Pilica river ( south of Warsaw), with 11,858 inhabitants (2013). It has been situated in Grójec County, in the Masovian Voivodeship, since 1999; previously it was in t ...

was doubtful. See J. Grabowski: ''Dynastia Piastów mazowieckich'', Kraków 2012, pp. 449–450.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danute of Lithuania 1350s births 1424 deaths Gediminids 14th-century Lithuanian nobility Lithuanian princesses Piast dynasty 15th-century Lithuanian nobility 14th-century Lithuanian women 15th-century Lithuanian women Year of birth uncertain

Life

See also

Notes

References