A replica of a Renaissance ring.
Ring
Nothing But Death
In October 4, 1562 the wedding of Catherine Jagiellon and Duke of Finland Johan Vasa took place in Vilnius.
During the solemn wedding ceremony in the Vilnius Cathedral, the husband put a gold ring on Catherine's finger with the inscription "Nemo nisi mors". Translated from Latin, it means "Nothing but death". It was a really fatal promice for them.
Source: Lithuania–Poland–Sweden: European dynastic connections and historical-cultural connections. Studies of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Volume XXI. National Museum Palace of the Rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, 2014.
The author perfectly reveals a complex portrait of Catherine Jagiellon's personality, worthy not only of a novel, but also of a movie script. The book is engaging from the first to the last sentence.
– Historian and publicist Luka Lesauskaitė
...
The life of Catherine Jagiellon is no less intriguing than the love story of her brother Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwiłł. This is the story of Cinderella from Vilnius. Only the fun begins after marriage.
– Neringa Jucevičienė, "Daugiaveidis Vilnius" guide
...
A solid look at the life and love story of the youngest princess Catherine of the Jagiellon family.
– Phd Rasa Leonavičiūtė-Gecevičienė, Doctor of Humanities.
Book Description
War Bride: Women's destiny, connecting 4 countries
Poland – Lithuania – Finland – Sweden
The historical novel War Bride consists of two parallel stories about Polish-Lithuanian princess Catherine Jagiellon and her husband – prince of Sweden and Duke of Finland Johan Vasa.
Love and war are two important bloodlines of this historical novel, connecting amazing destinies of people and countries, royal games of women and men, as well as many secrets of the ruling families of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Finland and Russia in the 16th century.
Princess Catherine managed to join the destiny of 4 countries and transform herself from an unnecessary daughter into a powerful woman, from unloved – to desirable, from prisoner – to queen.
POLAND. Famous family – dirty secrets
Born in royal Jagiellon family, which ruled Kingdom of Poland and The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the youngest daughter princess Catherine lived as Cinderella almost for 30 years. She was forgotten, unneeded and just silently observing sinful life of her famous relatives – mother Queen Bona Sforza and brother Sigismund Augustus. Unless princess Catherine Jagiellon was one of the most desirable royal brides in Europe, she was ’cursed’ to stay unmarried for decades.
LITHUANIA. War and life changing wedding
Two biggest battles of her life started when Catherine moved to live in Vilnius. The 1st one was for land and power. At that time cruel tsar Ivan the Terrible of Moscow attacked Livonia (nowadays – Estonia and Latvia) and started a bloody war at the shores of the Baltic Sea. The 2nd battle was for Catherine’s heart. Nevertheless the Russian tsar was the biggest enemy, he proposed to Catherine. As well as Johan Vasa – handsome, 11 year younger and with a bag, full of money for war purposes to defend the region from Moscow.
FINLAND. The most famous royal couple ever
Catherine and Johan's journey to Finland through war-torn Livonia is worthy of a Hollywood movie. Princess almost died several times and was forced to learn what the revenge of the angry tsar of Moscow meant. In Finland, Catherine was welcomed as a queen, and an exhibition of her royal dowry was held in the castle of Abo (Turku). After 9 months of happiness, artillery shells started falling into her bedroom. Catherine was again overtaken by war – the "wars of thrones" of the Swedish Vasa dynasty began.
SWEDEN. From prisoner – to queen
It was meant for Catherine and Johan to survive war, imprisonment, betrayals and conspiracy of two mad rulers – Swedish king and Russian tsar. They successfully became King and Queen of Sweden, as well as joined two powerful European royal dynasties of Jagiellonians and Vasas families with their blood. Period of their reign in Sweden is known as Vasas’s Renaissance.Catherine was the queen of Sweden for 14 years.
***
"This is a historical novel based on real facts, written very easily and with high quality. The story about Catherine Jagiellon, I think, will definitely be news to our readers – a very interesting and strong debut of the author".
Literature expert Vitalija Maksvytė
About the author
Ilona Skujaitė is a journalist and communication specialist who is in love with the history of Lithuania. She is an author of articles on military, aviation and business topics, former co-author of LRT television and TV 6 shows, screenwriter of documentaries about the Lithuanian army.
Photo by Mantas Golubev.