Beside Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellonians on the Polish throne, there were many women. This monarch married three times. However, he was only once in a happy union. His beloved choice was Barbara Radziwiłł from Lithuania, a woman endowed with extraordinary beauty.
„The Great Harlot of Lithuania”
The birth date of Barbara Radziwiłł is uncertain. She came into the world no later than 1523. She was the child of the castellan of Vilnius and Grand Hetman of Lithuania Jerzy Radziwiłł and Barbara of Kołów, sister of Mikołaj „the Red” Radziwiłł. Through her mother, she was a descendant of the Queen of Poland Elizabeth Granowska, the penultimate wife of Władysław II Jagiełło.
In May 1537, Barbara married Stanisław Gasztołd, voivode of Navahrudak and Trakai, who was 15 years her senior. The wedding took place at the Gasztołd residence – Geranainys.
The Gasztołds had no children. Their marriage, which lasted until 1542, was probably not a successful one, although nothing certain is known about any serious discord between them. During this period, numerous rumors circulated about the future Queen of Poland. She was accused of committing many sins of „lewdness and shamelessness.” Without much restraint, people began to call her „the great harlot of Lithuania.”
According to Andrzej Górka, Barbara betrayed her husband with as many as 38 lovers! One of Radziwiłł’s lovers was also said to be her close relative, Mikołaj „the Black” Radziwiłł.
Historians approach the number of the voivode’s wife’s lovers given by the authors of early modern sources with extraordinary caution. It is now believed that the Lithuanian woman did indeed cheat on her husband. Her extraordinary beauty certainly had a significant influence on this.
She was a slender and tall woman with blonde hair. She also had beautiful and well-preserved teeth, which in those times was a great advantage. Her alabaster complexion, sweetness of gaze, and grace of movement must have made suitors swarm around her. However, she did not develop any serious feelings for any of them.
Romance with Sigismund Augustus
A major turning point in Barbara Radziwiłł’s life occurred in 1543. She then met Prince Sigismund Augustus in Geranainys, with whom she sincerely fell in love (she had been a widow for a year). The Polish heir to the throne reciprocated this feeling.
On the day he met Barbara, Sigismund Augustus was 23 years old. He was already married to Elizabeth of Austria, whom he evidently did not love. He was a short, slim, slight, and very handsome man. He adorned himself with jewelry and liked to wear black outfits. His great passions were hunting and entertainment.
Barbara liked her chosen one’s lifestyle. They spent a great deal of time together hunting and at various kinds of feasts, tournaments, and balls. Sigismund Augustus made sure that Barbara felt like the most important lady at these celebrations. In 1546, the prince brought to Vilnius, where they spent most of their time, swans and a tiger. As if that weren’t enough, he brought tamed bears and camels to the Neris River.
At the Wedding Altar
The romance between Barbara Radziwiłł and Sigismund Augustus eventually became widely known in Poland and Lithuania. Elizabeth of Austria, who died in 1545, probably also learned about it. Just two years later, Sigismund Augustus secretly took the widow of Stanisław Gasztołd as his wife.
Initially, Sigismund I the Old, Sigismund Augustus’s father, did not want to see Barbara at all. He even demanded that his son annul his marriage to the Lithuanian woman. However, the son had no intention of fulfilling his apodictic father’s demands. The whole matter was only resolved by the death of the Old King, which occurred in 1548.
Sigismund Augustus’s mother, Queen Bona, also refused to recognize her daughter-in-law. Only shortly before Barbara’s death did Bona recognize the Lithuanian woman as „her daughter and daughter-in-law” through an envoy.
The End of Happiness and Death
Barbara Radziwiłł was crowned Queen of Poland on December 7, 1550. Her marriage elevated the importance of the Radziwiłł family and other Lithuanian families, which met with resistance from the Polish nobility and magnates.
The queen’s happiness lasted only a few months. She died on May 8, 1551, after a severe illness. Historians have long wondered what disease Barbara suffered from. According to one group of scholars, the Lithuanian woman died of syphilis. According to others, the cause of her death was cervical cancer.
A few days before her death, the ailing woman’s body began to smell unpleasant. The odor emanating from the woman’s body did not bother only Sigismund Augustus, who still deluded himself that his spouse would miraculously survive. However, these were vain hopes.
Selected Bibliography
- Besala J., Barbara Radziwiłłowna i Zygmunt August, Warsaw 2007.
- Cynarski S., Zygmunt August, Wrocław 2004.
- Kuchowicz Z., Barbara Radziwiłłówna, Łódź 1985.
- Rudzki E., Polskie królowe, vol. 1, Warsaw 1990.
Autor
Rory Thornfield
Rory's grandfather left behind a wartime diary filled with accounts of a minor Burma skirmish that history books never mentioned. Reading it, Rory realized: behind every famous battle are dozens of forgotten struggles, each with its own human drama.
His preferred topics: The overlooked corners of military history – secondary campaigns, shadow battalions, local conflicts that never made headlines. From medieval sieges to twentieth-century expeditions, he focuses on the soldiers, not the generals. The people who faced impossible choices and carried those experiences forever.
Rory strips away the romanticism without losing respect for those who served. He combines tactical analysis with personal stories, examining human endurance and moral complexity rather than celebrating warfare. His writing is balanced, thoughtful, and deeply researched.
Outside work, Rory visits forgotten battlefields (now quiet farmland), photographs war memorials nobody tends anymore, and interviews veterans' families.