The famous second wife of Sigismund II Augustus is undoubtedly a controversial figure. Was she really as beautiful as people say about her? Was she promiscuous and was her relationship with Zygmunt the result of true love? And finally:why did she really die?
The relationship between Zygmunt and Barbara aroused great emotions. Although according to the great historian Feliks Koneczny:
A marriage with Barbara, concluded only for love, was completely indifferent to politics and did not prejudge anything in public matters. [...] It was only an event from the Jagiellonian family chronicle, and not from the history of the Polish nation ", but most historians interpreted it as an accident having a fundamental impact on the fate of the Crown and Lithuania, bringing with it positive or disastrous consequences for their common future
- we read in the article by Nina Kapuścińska.
Queen Bona was certainly dissatisfied with the development of events, and she was insanely protective of her son. It even happened that when Zygmunt brought his chosen one to Krakow, she stood at the forefront of the opposition to her coronation.
Barbara Radziwiłłówna in a painting from the workshop of Łukasz Cranach the Younger.
Barbara died not long after she became queen. She sat on the throne in December 1550, and on May 8, 1551 she was taken by her death. Very painful, terrible. The most official version of events adopted today is about cervical cancer ... But was it really so?
A conspiracy outside
From the very beginning, Zygmunt was afraid for Barbara. It is not entirely known how they met exactly when the king was visiting Lithuania - contemporary works show this moment in various ways. According to historians, however, it is certain that the couple first met in Gieranony in 1542, where Sigismund took refuge from the plague in Lithuania. The first intimate trysts were also supposed to take place there.
Although Sigismund's wife at that time was Elizabeth of Habsburg, the couple got married in 1547. This caused a scandal, and the king began to fear for the fate of his new wife.
Queen Bona was against her son's relationship with Barbara
When he left her in Dubinki, he took care of proper care. "He was afraid that someone would poison her" - we read in "The Lords of Poland" - "He warned Rudy in his letters not to let unknown women come to her and not to drink wine at night, which she allegedly liked, but water, because" it is easier to smell her poison. And when a fragment of the castle vault broke off and fell near Barbara, Zygmunt immediately considered it an attack. He even went so far as to forbid Barbara from going to one of the churches in Vilnius where renovation works were being carried out.
The queen began to fall ill already in Vilnius, which must have fueled Zygmunt's fears. Eventually Barbara died, and the king was sure: it was the doing of his overprotective mother. "After his wife's death, he wrote to Radziwiłł that he greeted his mother wearing gloves so that she would not give him poison in the ring" - we learn from "The Lords of Poland".
Poison has many names
It seems that Zygmunt was paranoid about his mother. So much so that he was not even sure if he could safely transport his wife's body to Vilnius. Moreover, there was also an accusation of witchcraft - as it turns out, not unfounded!
Bona had a witch outside whom she hired to perform a variety of rituals, which was no wonder at the time - after all, we are talking about a time when astrology and magic were considered normal and completely real. Zygmunt ordered the woman to be caught and interrogated, and of course she pleaded guilty under torture.
As is known, the charm could not have caused Barbara's death. Those more down-to-earth, and at the same time unfavorable to the queen, observers of the tragedy spoke in unison about the keel. Illness was to be a punishment from god for promiscuity. And yet, not all symptoms fit with this "diagnosis" ...
There is no doubt that Barbara led a rich erotic life for her time.
[...] It was not uncommon to resort to various means of preventing pregnancy and possibly supporting 'abortion'. These were various herbs, as well as preparations of animal and chemical origin. […] Death of women due to overdose of abortion drugs was actually the order of the day in the past
- we read in "Plagi Królewskich" by Karolina Stojek-Sawicka.
Post mortem
Contemporary researchers until recently thought that Barbara's body had been destroyed, and any attempt to more accurately diagnose the cause of her death is impossible. In 1931, however, a flood struck Vilnius, which damaged part of the castle wall and revealed a hitherto unexplored crypt ... containing the remains of Zygmunt's wife!
"The apparition of Barbara Radziwiłłówna"
Careful analysis finally ruled out venereal disease. There were also no traces of the use of mercury, which was used to treat syphilis. Scientists are leaning towards cervical cancer, however, considering both the description of the symptoms in the Queen's final days - a mysterious recurring tumor on the abdomen and vaginal discharge - and the results of studies on Barbara's remains. There is no absolute certainty, after all, there is no…