After her father and eldest brother were murdered byÖz Beg Khan in 1339, Uliana was placed in care ofSimeon of Moscow, who married Uliana's elder sister Maria in 1347.[2]
In 1349,Algirdas, thegrand duke of Lithuania, sent an embassy to theGolden Horde, proposing to thekhan,Jani Beg, to form an alliance against Simeon of Moscow; this proposal was not accepted and the envoys, including Algirdas' brotherKarijotas, were imprisoned and held for ransom.[2] In 1350, Algirdas then concluded peace with Simeon and married Simeon's sister-in-law Uliana. She was the second Russian princess to marry Algirdas.[5] Simeon first asked for the opinion of MetropolitanTheognostus whether a Christian lady could be married off to apagan ruler. The same year, Algirdas' brotherLiubartas married Olga, daughter of Konstantin Vasilyevich ofRostov and niece of Simeon.[2]
According to the research of Polish historian Jan Tęgowski, Uliana was frequently pregnant during her union with Algirdas, giving birth to eight sons and eight daughters in about 24 years, though other sources provide different data:[2]
It seems that the children, unlike children from Algirdas' first marriage withMaria of Vitebsk, were brought up in pagan culture.[2] Uliana's sonJogaila, and not Algirdas' eldest sonAndrei of Polotsk, inherited the throne and became the grand duke of Lithuania in 1377. Uliana, as dowager grand duchess, appeared in national politics and was involved in theLithuanian Civil War,[12] as well as an unsuccessful attempt to wed Jogaila with Sophia, daughter ofDmitry Donskoy, and convert him to Eastern Orthodoxy.[13][14] The plans failed when Jogaila converted toRoman Catholicism, marriedJadwiga of Poland, and was crowned as theking of Poland (jure uxoris) in 1386.
^abКалечиц, Инна Л. (2013-03-21).Исторические личности в граффити Полоцкой Спасо-Преображенской церкви(PDF).Музеефикация комплекса настенной живописи ХІІ-ХІХ вв. Спасо-Преображенского храма Евфросиньева монастыря в Полоцке (in Russian). Balarusian Republic Foundation for Fundamental Research. pp. 6–7. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2021-04-19. Retrieved2013-04-29.
^Kiaupa, Zigmantas; Kiaupienė, Jūratė; Kuncevičius, Albinas (2000).The History of Lithuania Before 1795. Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of History. pp. 127–128.ISBN9986-810-13-2.
