Marriage contract no. 269: (Polen-)Litauen - Moskau

  • Date of contract conclusion: 5. Februar 1495
  • Place of contract conclusion: s. l.

Groom

  • Name: Alexander von (Polen-)Litauen
  • GND: 119559714
  • Year of Birth: 1461
  • Year of Death: 1506
  • Dynasty: Jagiellonen
  • Confession: katholisch

Bride

  • Name: Helena von Moskau
  • GND: 104321024
  • Year of Birth: 1476
  • Year of Death: 1513
  • Dynasty: Rurikiden
  • Confession: orthodox

Actors of the Groom

  • Name: Alexander von (Polen-)Litauen
  • GND: 119559714
  • Dynasty: Jagiellonen
  • Relationship: /

Actors of the Bride

  • Name: Iwan III. von Russland
  • GND: 118711032
  • Dynasty: Rurikiden
  • Relationship: Vater

Contract content

Ivan III promises to give his daughter Helena to Alexander as his wife

Alexander promises that he will not force Helena to convert to the Roman [= Catholic] faith, instead she must retain her Greek [= Orthodox] faith

To confirm this agreement, Alexander has it sealed

Confessional regulations

Alexander promises that he will not force Helena to convert to the Roman [= Catholic] faith, instead she must retain her Greek [= Orthodox] faith

Ratifications, confirmations, approvals

To confirm this contract, Alexander has had it

Further contracts between contracting parties

Peace treaty (‘Eternal Peace’) between Ivan III and Alexander on the same day (SRIO, T. 35, No. 24, XVI. б)

Commentary

According to the narrative text in the ‘Lietuvos Metrika’, Ivan III also had the treaty sealed

This treaty was concluded following the peace treaty between the groom and the bride’s father, which ended the Russian-Lithuanian War of 1487–1494 (First Russian Border War).

Among other things, the bride’s father used the alleged suppression of the bride’s faith and the groom’s refusal to have an Orthodox church built for her as reasons for the Russian-Lithuanian War of 1500–1503 (Second Russian Border War).

Literature

Nowakowska, Natalia: Church, state and dynasty in Renaissance Poland: The career of Cardinal Fryderyk Jagiellon (1468 – 1503), Aldershot 2007, p. 134; Bues, Almut: Die Jagiellonen: Herrscher zwischen Ostsee und Adria, Stuttgart 2010, p. 120; Rutkowska, Grazyna: Kościół w życiu Heleny moskiewskiej, żony Aleksandra Jagiellończyka, in: Średniowiecze Polskie i Powszechne 12 (2020) (16), p. 261-307, here: p. 271-272

References

  • Print reference: Карпов, Геннадий Фёдорович (Ред.): Сборник Императорского Русского Исторического Общества. T. 35: Памятники дипломатических сношений Московского государства с Польско-Литовским. T. 1: с 1487 по 1533, St. Petersburg 1882, Nr. 24, XVI. e); Lietuvos istorijos institutas: Lietuvos Metrika: Užrašymų knyga 5 (1427-1506), Vilnius 2011, Nr. 323
  • Contract language print: Old Belarusian
  • Regest: Daniłowicz, Ignacy (Hg.): Skarbiec diplomatów papiezkich, cesarskich, krolewskich, książęcych; uchwał narodowych, postanowień różnych władz i urzędów posługujących do krytycznego wyjaśnienia dziejów Litwy, Rusi Litewskiej i ościennych im krajów. T. 2, Wilno 1862, Nr. 2070
  • Language Regest: Polish