[[Image:Pieczec_Kazimierz_Wielki.jpg|right|thumb|Royal seal of Casimir III the Great.]]
'''Aldona''' (baptized ''Ona'' or ''Anna''; her pagan name Aldona is known only from the writings of [[Maciej Stryjkowski]]<ref name=aldona2/>; c. [[1309]] – [[May 26]] [[1339]]) was the [[Queen consort|Queen]] of [[Piast Poland|Poland]] (1333-1339), and the Princess of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. She was the daughter of [[Gediminas]], Grand Duke of Lithuania.
She married [[Casimir III of Poland]], when he was 15 or 16 years old. The bride was probably of about the same age. The marriage took place on [[April 30]] or [[October 16]] [[1325]] and was a purely political maneuver to strengthen the first Polish-Lithuanian coalition against the [[Teutonic Knights]].<ref name=aldona>{{lt icon}} {{cite encyclopedia | last=Jonynas | first=Ignas | editor=Vaclovas Biržiška | encyclopedia=Lietuviškoji enciklopedija | title=Aldona | year=1933 | publisher=Spaudos Fondas | volume=I | location=Kaunas | pages=208-211}}</ref> Casimir was seeking allies over the dispute of [[Pomerania]] with the Knights. This coalition was a prelude to [[Union of Krewo]] in 1385 and [[Union of Lublin]] in 1569 that resulted in the new state, [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref name=aldona2>{{lt icon}} {{cite encyclopedia |first=Edvardas |last=Gudavičius | authorlink=Edvardas Gudavičius | editor= Vytautas Spečiūnas |encyclopedia= Lietuvos valdovai (XIII-XVIII a.): enciklopedinis žinynas |title=Aldona |year=2004 |publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas |location=Vilnius |id=ISBN 5-420-01535-8 |pages=40}}</ref> The details of the agreement are not known; however, it is known that Gediminas released all Polish prisoners, numbering some 25,000.<ref name=aldona/> The coalition was not strong and collapsed ca. 1330, but there is no evidence of fights between Poland and Lithuania while Aldona was alive.<ref name=aldona/> The marriage into the Lithuanian dynasty that ruled since ca. 1289 might have brought some legitimacy to Władysław I from the [[Piast dynasty]] who was crowned in 1320 replacing the [[Přemyslid dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345 | first=C. S. | last=Rowell | pages=87 | year=1994 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | series=Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series| isbn=9780521450119 }}</ref> Aldona died suddenly at the end of May of 1339 and was buried in [[Kraków]].
Aldona was remembered for her piety and devotion to music. Everywhere she went, she took court musicians with her. It was even suggested by [[Jan Długosz]] that [[cymbal]]s which were played in procession before her represented some [[Lithuanian mythology|pagan Lithuanian]] tradition.<ref>Rowell, C. S. ''Lithuania Ascending'', 232</ref> Her husband Casimir is known for his romantic affairs: after Aldona's death he married three more times. Aldona had two daughters, Cunigunde (died in 1357), who married to [[Louis VI the Roman]], the son of [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor]] on [[January 1]] [[1345]], and Elisabeth (died in 1361), who was married to Duke [[Bogislaus V]] of [[Pomerania]].<ref>Rowell, C. S. ''Lithuania Ascending'', xxxvi</ref> Elisabeth's daughter, [[Elizabeth of Pomerania]], was the fourth wife of [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
* [[House of Gediminas]] – family tree of Aldona
* [[Gediminids]]
[[Category:1309 births]]
[[Category:1339 deaths]]
[[Category:Lithuanian nobility]]
[[Category:Polish nobility]]
[[Category:Ruthenian nobility]]
[[Category:Polish queens consort]]
[[Category:Gediminids]]
[[Category:Medieval women]]
[[de:Anna von Litauen]]
[[pl:Aldona Anna Giedyminówna]]