Krystyna Rokiczana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Krystyna
Queen consort of Poland
Tenure 1356–1363
Died after 1365
Spouse Mikuláš (Mikulasz) Rokiczan
Casimir III of Poland

Krystyna Rokiczana (died after 1365) was the wife of Casimir III the Great, of
Poland. She became the King's third wife in morganatic marriage.
Contents

1 Life
2 Krystyna in literature
3 Bibliography
4 References

Life

Krystyna is mentioned in several historical sources, including the Spominki o

Ciołkach ("Mentions about the Ciołek noble family", 1518), she is also mentioned in
documents regarding the annulment of Casimir's loveless marriage to Adelaide of
Hesse. Krystyna was the widow of Mikuláš (Mikulasz) Rokiczan, a merchant from
Prague. When her husband died, Krystyna inherited a large fortune. Krystyna became
a lady-in-waiting at the court of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of
Bohemia.[1]

In May 1356 Casimir III came to Prague,[2] where he met Christina and they possibly
became engaged. The marriage was concluded shortly afterwards in Krakow. The
marriage is believed not to have lasted long; Jan Długosz reported that Krystyna
was dismissed from the king shortly after the marriage after the discovery of
concealed defects, Christina was suffering from hair loss and scabies, it is
possible, however, that the relationship lasted a bit longer, an investigation
found that Christina was still alive in 1365 and was living in Poland. Casimir
married for a fourth and final time to Hedwig of Sagan in 1365. This marriage was
considered bigamous, with Adelaide still alive and Christina possibly still alive.
Casimir and Hedwig had four daughters, they were all considered illegitimate until
Casimir had them legitimised. Casimir and Krystyna had no children.

The marriage between Casimir and Krystyna was particularly beneficial for the House
of Anjou; children that could have come from the marriage of Casimir and Christina
would be considered illegitimate and even if they were legitimised, their
legitimacy would still be in question due to Krystyna's low station. Without sons,
Casimir had to give the throne to his sister, Elisabeth of Poland and her son,
Louis I of Hungary.

It is unknown when Krystyna died.

Krystyna in literature
Krystyna plays a major role in the novel King of the peasants (1884), by Józef
Ignacy Kraszewski. The book is about the history of marriage. Krystyna portrayed as
wealthy due to her inheritance from her first husband, well educated, her first
husband was a much older man, and her appearance was characterized as the
following: snow white complexion, brown hair and eyes, facial features that are
strangely beautiful and dignified, she rarely smiled, and when forced to speak
through her coral lips, her eyes rarely said anything about her internal emotions.