Aigusta Anastasia of Lithuania

Aigusta Anastasia of Lithuania
Princess consort of Moscow
Tenure1341 – 11 March 1345
Bornc. 1320
Died11 March 1345
Burial
Moscow Kremlin
SpouseSimeon of Moscow
IssueVasily
Konstantin
Vasilisa
Names
Anastasia Gediminova
Russian: Анастасия Гедиминовна
HouseGediminids
FatherGediminas of Lithuania

Aigusta Anastasia of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Aigustė Gediminaitė, Russian: Анастасия Гедиминовна, romanized: Anastasiya Gediminovna; c. 1320 – 1345) was the princess of Moscow during her marriage to Simeon, the grand prince of Vladimir and prince of Moscow.[1] Most likely she was the daughter of Gediminas, the grand duke of Lithuania.[1]

Life

There is no direct evidence that she was a daughter of Gediminas, but because of her high-profile marriage, most historians have concluded that she was a member of Gediminas' family.[2] She was born probably between 1316 and 1321.[3]

Aigusta was baptized as Anastasia in order to marry Simeon of Moscow in November or December 1333.[3] The marriage had great potential because Lithuania and Moscow were fierce rivals for supremacy in Ruthenia, but conflicts broke out again in 1335, just two years after the marriage.[4]

Her two sons Vasily and Konstantin did not survive infancy; her daughter Vasilisa in 1350 married Mikhail Vasilevich of Kashin, a Tverite prince opposing Lithuania.[5] Her brother Jaunutis sought her help when he was deposed by Algirdas in 1345. Immediately before her death on March 11, 1345, Augusta became a nun. She was buried within the Moscow Kremlin at a monastic church whose construction she had sponsored.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Gudavičius, Edvardas. "Aigustė". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  2. ^ Jonynas, Ignas (1933). "Aigustė". In Vaclovas Biržiška (ed.). Lietuviškoji enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Vol. I. Kaunas: Spaudos Fondas. p. 112.
  3. ^ a b Tęgowski, Jan (1999). Pierwsze pokolenia Giedyminowiczów. Poznań-Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Historyczne. p. 251. ISBN 8391356310.
  4. ^ Rowell, S. C. (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press. pp. 89–93. ISBN 978-0-521-45011-9.
  5. ^ a b Rowell, S. C. (Spring 1994). "Pious Princesses or Daughters of Belial: Pagan Lithuanian Dynastic Diplomacy, 1279–1423". Medieval Prosopography. 15 (1): 39–40. ISSN 0198-9405.
Russian royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Alexandra 		Princess consort of Moscow
1340–1345 		Vacant
Title next held by
Eupraxia of Smolensk