After her father and eldest brother were murdered by Öz Beg Khan in 1339, Uliana was placed in care of Simeon of Moscow, who married Uliana's elder sister Maria in 1347.[2]
In 1349, Algirdas, the grand duke of Lithuania, sent an embassy to the Golden Horde, proposing to the khanJani Beg to form an alliance against Simeon of Moscow; this proposal was not accepted and the envoys, including Algirdas' brother Karijotas, were imprisoned and held for ransom.[2] In 1350, Algirdas then concluded peace with Simeon and married Simeon's sister-in-law Uliana. Simeon first asked for the opinion of Metropolitan Theognostus whether a Christian lady could be married off to a pagan ruler. The same year, Algirdas' brother Liubartas married Olga, daughter of Konstantin Vasilyevich of Rostov 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 with Maria of Vitebsk, were brought up in pagan culture.[2] Uliana's son Jogaila, and not Algirdas' eldest son Andrei 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 the Lithuanian Civil War,[5] as well as an unsuccessful attempt to wed Jogaila with Sophia, daughter of Dmitry Donskoy, and convert him to Eastern Orthodoxy.[6][7] The plans failed when Jogaila converted to Roman Catholicism, married Jadwiga of Poland, and was crowned as the king 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. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
^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.