Masovian Piasts

House card

Seat

Warsaw and Czersk (Janusz I); Płock and Rawa (Siemowit IV). [Historical record]

Arms / sigil

The Masovian (Piast) eagle. [Historical record]

Words

Między dwoma ogniami. „Between two fires.“ [The saga’s invention]

Patron / burden

None canonical. Masovia is neutral ground where cousins meet.

Masovian Piasts

Masovian Piasts

Masovian Piasts · house — Image: Poznaniak, CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

Tipas

giminė

Status

Istoriniai duomenys

Pastaba

Piast cadet line at Warsaw, Czersk and Płock; married into both Gediminid branches.

Lineage

A cadet line of the Piasts, small, proud and squeezed between the Order, Poland and Lithuania. Janusz I (c. 1346–1429) married Danutė Kęstutaitė, and his brother Siemowit IV (c. 1352–1426) married Aleksandra Algirdaitė in 1387, so the two brothers married both Gediminid lines. Henryk, bishop-elect of Płock, married Rimgailė Kęstutaitė in 1392 and was dead within a year. [Historical record; some details are uncertain] [Historical record]

Feuds & alliances

Steady allies of Vytautas through Janusz. Siemowit was a failed candidate for the Polish crown in 1382–84, which makes him a quiet rival of Jogaila; Henryk carried Jogaila’s offer to Vytautas before Ostrów (1392). The Order’s borders press on the duchy from the north.

Fate across the books

  • I: after the escape from Krėva, Vytautas runs first to Janusz and Danutė in Masovia (the refuge). II: Henryk’s embassy opens the road to Ostrów.

  • III–IV: the duchy stays between the two powers; Danutė outlives her brother’s era in the record.

  • V: the Masovian dukes remain neighbours at the edge of the cousins‘ war. [The saga’s invention, minor]

Ryšiai

Ally: Kęstutaičiai (Kęstutis’s line) (1382–…) — Danutė married Janusz I; Masovia sheltered Vytautas in 1382.

Members: Janusz I of Masovia

Sąsajos

graph LR
  janusz1["Janusz I of Masovia"]
  kestutaiciai["Kęstutaičiai (Kęstutis's line)"]
  masovian_piasts["Masovian Piasts"]
  janusz1 -->|Member of| masovian_piasts
  kestutaiciai -->|Ally| masovian_piasts
  style masovian_piasts stroke-width:3px