For Zygmunt Stary, she was more than a concubine. They lived together, made love, had children. This relationship has endured a lot. However, he could not survive the royal coronation.
Nobody had high hopes for Zygmunt, born in 1467. In terms of seniority, he was only the fourth son of his parents:King of Poland Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk and Elżbieta Rakuszanka. While the brothers became kings and princes in three countries, he wandered through their lands, trying to forge even a modest lordship for himself.
He did not think that he would ever be promoted to a rank higher than that of the Duke of Silesia, which he hardly won in 1499. He could not have foreseen that both Jan I Olbracht, five years older than him, and Aleksander Jagiellończyk, three years older, would die quickly and childless. Without giving himself any unnecessary hopes for the throne, he entered into a relationship that was certainly not suitable for a monarch - but which simply nobody cared about, in the case of a troublesome little brother with no salary or titles.
Ten happy years
Around 1498, the thirty-one-year-old prince - at that time still complete, by dynastic standards, pig-hearth - established a closer acquaintance with a certain Katarzyna Ochstat. Historians agree that she was a townswoman, only to disguise her condition, calling herself Madame de Telitz or Thelinicz, from the name of a village in Moravia.
According to Dr. Małgorzata Duczmal, a specialist in the genealogy of the Jagiellonians, Katarzyna Telniczanka (as she is usually referred to) was most likely employed at the court of the Polish queen mother, Elżbieta Rakuszanka. It was there that Zygmunt met her. They spent over ten happy years together. Due to their difference in status, they never got married. But in all other respects they were ordinary family.
Queen Elżbieta Rakuszanka. It was probably at her court that Zygmunt met his future concubine.
The Moravian woman shared everyday worries and joys with the prince. gave birth to the Jagiellonian three children:Jan (1499), Regina (1500/1501) and Katarzyna (1501/1503). Most importantly, it never really disappeared from his life.
The life of a former mistress
Sigismund was forced to dismiss his unofficial wife in 1509, when as king he began to look for a legal wife. However, he still supported Katarzyna in everything, gave her jewels and even bought a luxurious tenement house for her at the Market Square in Krakow. It's like he still wants to keep her as close as possible.
He also never allowed Catherine to enter into a real marriage. He himself found a husband for her - Andrzej Kościelecki, a blindly devoted and over fifty-year-old treasurer. It seems that he hesitated at the very thought of putting the woman he genuinely loved into the hands of a young, able-bodied man. Someone who could compete with himself in her mind.
Young Zygmunt Jagiellończyk in the image of Jan Matejko
It did not end well for Telniczanka. Kościelecki died quickly, but she was completely weird in her old age. The royal courtiers began to call her the viper and the witch. Apparently she practiced the secret arts. She tried to cast a spell on the bishop of Krakow and the vice-chancellor, Piotr Tomicki. Using evil tricks, she seduced the Grand Chancellor of the Crown, Krzysztof Szydłowiecki. Maybe they were just rumors - and Katarzyna was just trying to enter the world of Polish politics. She was a woman, and that condemned her in advance.
What did the king's wife say?
Whether she wanted it or not, the monarch's new partner, Queen Bona Sforza, witnessed all these events. Even the death of Katarzyna Telniczanka in the summer of 1528 did not free her from the competition of the royal misfortune.
She personally took care of bringing her body to Krakow and organized a beautiful funeral for her. With a straight face, she watched her husband wipe his tears as she recalled her carefree relationship with the Moravian townswoman. Later, for many years she was condemned to cooperate with the son of Zygmunt and Telniczanka, the bishop of Vilnius, Jan. She also took under her wing the teenage daughter of the deceased, Beata. Many courtiers claimed that it was in fact the daughter of Zygmunt - and not of Kościelecki. And there is really no reason not to believe them.
Source:
You can learn more about the confusing history of the Jagiellonian family in Kamil Janicki's book Ladies of the golden age (Horizon Label 2014). The article is based on the literature and materials collected by the author during the work on the book.