Maria Radziwiłł (born Maria Lupu around 1625 in

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

; died 14 or 15 January 1660 in

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

) was a Moldavian

patroness Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

and wife of the Lithuanian Grand Hetman Janusz Radziwiłł.

Life

Maria was a daughter of the Moldavian voivode

Vasile Lupu Lupu Coci, known as Vasile Lupu (; 1595 – 1661), was the voivode of Moldavia between 1634 and 1653. He was of Albanian and Greek origin. Lupu had secured the Moldavian throne in 1634 after a series of complicated intrigues and managed to h ...

and of Todoșca Costea Soldan. Her sister Ruxandra became the wife of the military leader

Tymofiy Khmelnytsky Tymofiy Bohdanovych Khmelnytsky or Tymish Bohdanovych Khmelnytsky (; 1632 — 15 September 1653) was a Zaporozhian Cossack military commander. He was the eldest son of the Ukrainian Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. He was married to the Mol ...

, and her half-brother

Ștefăniță Lupu Ştefăniţă Lupu, nicknamed Papură-Vodă (1641 – 29 September 1661), son of Vasile Lupu, was Voivode (List of Moldavian rulers, Prince) of Moldavia between 1659 and 1661, and again in 1661. Life Appointed by the Ottoman Porte, Porte as a res ...

became the Prince of Moldavia. Maria received an education, learning to speak Greek and Latin languages, and later also Polish. In 1645 she married the Grand Chamberlain of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Janusz Radziwiłł after the death of his first wife Katarzyna. This marriage was intended to strengthen the political alliance between the Principality of Moldavia and Poland-Lithuania. The pompous ceremony in the cathedral in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

was chaired by the Kiev Metropolitan

Peter Mogila Petro Mohyla or Peter Mogila (21 December 1596 – ) was the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church from 1633 to 1646. Family Petro Mohyla was born into the ...

. The bride was praised in contemporary accounts for her beauty and splendid jewelry. Maria brought a dowry from her father into the marriage, from her husband she received 45,000 Złoty, as well as diamonds, gold and silver worth 15,000 Złoty, and some land from the Polish king

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince ...

. The couple spent the honeymoon in Italy. In 1652, when her Protestant husband founded a small Orthodox monastery in his seat in

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle ...

, Maria's father and Maria herself made donations for the inventory. After Janusz Radziwiłł's death in 1655, Maria led a long and somewhat unsuccessful legal battle over part of his inheritance. Maria Radziwiłł supported Orthodox churches in Poland-Lithuania and the Principality of Moldavia. In her will of November 1659, she bequeathed the Holy Spirit Monastery in Vilnius 200,000 Złoty, 13 other monasteries, 7 churches, hospitals and a school 471,000 Złoty. She was buried in the Orthodox Trinity Monastery in Lutsk. There were also disputes about her further inheritance. Maria Lupu Radziwiłł has been portrayed many times. At least eight paintings and engravings have survived. In 1917 her zinc coffin was removed from the Trinity Monastery in Lutsk. Since 2018 a ''Maria Lupu-Radvilienė Essay Contest'' is held in

, where she had lived for a long time, organized by the Romanian embassy in Lithuania.Maria Lupu-Radvilienė Essay Contest 2020
Vilnius.mae.

Literature

* Lilia Zabolotnaia: ''The history of the private life of Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł reflected in the images of the epoch''. In: ''Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio M, Balcaniensis et Carpathiensis''. Vol. 2. 2017. Pp. 209–221. * Lilia Zabolotnaia: ''The Riddles, Myths and Facts concerning Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł’s Last Will and Testament''. In: ''Istorija, Lietuvos ...''. Nr. 97, 1. Vilnius 2015. S. 5–25
PDF

References

External links

Literature about Maria Lupu Radziwiłł
on WorldCat {{DEFAULTSORT:Radziwill, Maria 1620s births 1660 deaths Year of birth uncertain 17th-century Moldavian women 17th-century Moldavian people Romanian princesses Daughters of princes regnant