Grand Duchess of Lithuania, heiress of the Goštautas estates, second wife of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Augustus, Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess Consort of Lithuania (from 1550).
According to her contemporaries, Barbora was a very beautiful woman - tall for her time (about 162 cm),[1] slender, with blond hair and white teeth. Her parents gave her a good education, and she could speak Lithuanian, Ruthenian and Polish. The beautiful widow became the King's mistress probably in 1543, and they married secretly in July or August 1547. The announcement of the marriage caused a scandal; the marriage was fiercely opposed by the Polish nobility, including the Polish Queen Mother, Bona Sforza. Nevertheless, Sigismund Augustus, with the help of Barbara's cousin Nicholas Radvila the Black and brother Nicholas Radvila the Brown, persisted in his efforts to have the marriage recognised and to have Barbara crowned Queen of Poland. They finally succeeded and Barbara was crowned at Wawel Cathedral on 7 December 1550. At the time of her marriage to Sigismund Augustus, the political power and influence of the House of Radvila was at its height.
Her contemporaries, who opposed Barbara's marriage to the King, usually portrayed her in a negative light, accusing her of adultery and witchcraft. Her life was surrounded by many myths and rumours. From the 18th century onwards, the life of Barbara Radvilaitė began to be portrayed in a romantic light as a story of a great and tragic love. She became the epitome of the saying "love conquers all", and Bona Sforza, who opposed her relationship with Sigismund Augustus, became a typical negative hero. In this image, Barbora Radvilaitė became the heroine of numerous poems, plays, films and other works of art.
