Rymgajla of Lithuania was born on an unknown date to Kęstutis (c1297-1382) and Birutė of Palanga (c1320-1382) .
Rymgajla (also Rimgaila, Ringaila, Lithuanian: Rimgailė, Polish: Ryngałła, Romanian: Ringala), - christian name Anna - (born between 1367 and 1369, died between 1423 and 1430 in Siret) was daughter of Kęstutis, Grand Duke of Lithuania and of Birutė of Palanga, and thus sister of Vytautas the Great. Rimgailė is a typical dual-stemmed pagan Lithuanian name constructed from rim- (rimti - "be calm") + gail- (*gailas - "strong").[1]
In 1390 she accompanied her brother Vytautas, then prince of Grodno, to Prussia. There she meets, in 1391 Henry of Masovia. Henry had become bishop of Płock on 18 March 1390 even though he had not received the Holy Orders of priesthood, as required for that position, and refused to accept ordination. In 1391, Henry, accepted a mission from Władysław Jagiełło. Jagiełło asked him to convince Vytautas, to distance himself from his allies the Teutonic Knights and to enter an alliance with Poland. Henry was successful in convincing Vytautas to sign the Ostrów Agreement, and befriended Vytautas, who decided to give marry him to his sister, Rymgajla. In order to marry her, Henry resigned from the title of Bishop of Płock.
Following the marriage, she was Princess of Masovia for a few moths, until the death of her husband, who was poisoned in Łuck during the winter of 1392–1393).[2] This resulted in controversial claims — never verified or disproven — that he was assassinated by the Teutonic Knights (in revenge for luring away their ally, Vytautas), by his brothers (who decided not to share his father's inheritance with him once he abandoned the priesthood), or finally by his own wife, Rymgajla.
In 1793 she married voivode Stephen I of Moldavia. Stephen provided military assistance to his brother in law, Vytautas the Great during the war against the Tartars, but was killed at the Battle of the Vorskla River (1399).
Her third marriage (1419–1421) was with Alexander the Good, Voivode of Moldavia (1400–1432). As Rymgajla wife was a militant roman-catholic and Alexander the Good a defender of orthodoxy, in a period where both churches were trying to get the upper hand in Moldavia, this created an internal conflict in the country. Alexander requested pope Martin V to approve the annulment of the marriage, the approval being granted in 1421. Upon the politically motivated divorce she was given the customs of the town of Siret and 40 villages. Also, as part of the divorce settlement Alexander the Good promised to pay her lifetime income worth 600 Hungarian gold ducats or florins payable in two installments.[3]
References
- ^ (Lithuanian) Meaning of the name
- ^ Gudavičius, Edvardas (1999). Lietuvos istorija. Nuo seniausių laikų iki 1569 metų, p.173. ISBN 9986-39-112-1.
- ^ Octavian Iliescu, "The History of Coins in Romania", Editura Encyclopedica, Bucharest, 2002
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Patrikiejus (b1348-a1362) | |||
| Butautas (c1346-1380) | 1346 | 7 August 1380 Prague, Czech Republic | |
| Vaidotas (c1347-a1362) | |||
| Vaišvilas (c1348-c1387) | |||
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Vytautas (c1350-1430) | 1350 Senieji Trakai, Lithuania | 27 October 1430 Trakai, Lithuania | Anna of Smolensk (c1355-1418) Uliana Ivanovna Olshanska (1375-c1448) |
| Totiwil of Novogrodek (c1352-1383) | |||
| Mikova of Lithuania (c1355-1404) | |||
| Danutė of Lithuania (1358-1448) | 1358 | 26 November 1424 | Janusz I of Warsaw (c1347-1429) |
| Sigismund Kęstutaitis (c1365-1440) | 1365 | 20 March 1440 | |
| Rymgajla of Lithuania (c1369-c1428) | Henry of Masovia (c1368-1393) Stephen I of Moldavia (c1365-1399) Alexander I of Moldavia (c1370-1432) | ||