Descendants of Gediminas on the Throne of England


Queen Elizabeth II and President Adamkus wave to the crowd
during the Queen’s visit to Lithuania in October 2006.
Photo courtesy Lietuvos Rytas, P.Lileikis

King Gediminas in a 17th century engraving.
Picture courtesy Wikipedia
The visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Lithuania in October 2006 sparked media interest in her possible blood ties with the ruling dynasty of ancient Lithuania. Collin Roberts, the ambassador of Great Britain to Lithuania, told media representatives that he was surprised to learn from Prof. Alfredas Bumblauskas, a noted Lithuanian historian, that Her Majesty could be a descendant of Gediminas. This particular ruler gave his name to the dynasty, which reigned in Lithuania from late 13th century to year 1572 and which supplied a number of kings to Poland, Hungary and Bohemia.
The ambassador should not have been surprised. The Lithuanian House of Gediminas was related to most ruling families of Europe, through its marriages with representatives of Piast, Hapsburg, Hoehenzollern, Wettin etc. dynasties.
As a matter of fact, every English monarch, beginning with King James I, was a descendant of Gediminas, King James I representing 11th generation. Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors who died in 1603, was also the last English monarch who was not able to trace his or her descent from this Lithuanian ruler.
King Gediminas, who styled himself "Rex lithuanorum et multorum ruthenorum", ruled Lithuania from 1316 to 1341. The following is a list of his descendants, who are also direct ancestors of King James I (the first of the Stuart Kings of England), as they appear in genealogical tables.


Henry Valois, Grand Duke of Lithuania
1573 - 74. His brother, Francis II of France,
was the first husband of Mary Stuart, Queen
of Scotland. Picture courtesy Wikipedia


Mary Stuart c.1580.
Picture courtesy Wikipedia


James I of England in 1621 by Daniel Mytens.
Picture courtesy Wikipedia
1st Generation
Danutė Elizabeth (d.1364), Princess of Lithuania, daughter of King Gediminas, who married ca. 1316 Vaclav, Duke of Mazovia - Plock (d.1336). She was a sister of Kęstutis, Duke of Trakai, who made his way to her court in 1361 after escaping from capture by Teutonic Knights.

2nd Generation
Anna of Mazovia - Plock (d.1363), granddaughter of Gediminas. In 1337 she married Henry V (d. 1369), Duke of Silesia - Sagan and Glogau.

3rd Generation
Hedwig (Jadvyga) of Sagan, Queen of Poland (d.1390). She was married twice. In 1365 she married Casimir III the Great, King of Poland (b.1310, d.1370). Her daughter Anna (1366 - 1425) married William, Count of Cilly, and was the mother of Anna of Cilly (d.1416), the second wife of Jogaila of Lithuania, King of Poland. After the death of Casmir the Great, his queen Hedwig married Rupert, Duke of Silesia - Liegnitz. Barbara was a daughter of this second marriage.

4th Generation
Barbara of Liegnitz (d.1435). She was the second wife of Rudolf III (d.1419), Elector of Saxony and Duke of Wittenberg.

5th Generation
Barbara of Saxe - Wittenberg (d.1465). In 1412 she was married to Johann "the Alchemist", future Margrave of Brandenburg (b.1406, d.1464), who eventually ruled the Hohenzollern possessions in Franconia, including Bayreuth. She had four daughters. Two of them married Dukes of Pomerania, one the Margrave of Mantua, while the fourth became the ancestress of the Kings of Denmark.

6th Generation
Dorothea of Hohenzollern (1430 - 1495), Queen of Denmark. In 1445 she was married to King Christopher III of Denmark. After his death in 1448, the Danish rigsraad elected Christian I of Oldenburg as King of Denmark, who married the widowed Queen Dorothea in 1449. Christian I also became the King of Norway in 1450 and of Sweden in 1457. He died in 1481. Two of Dorothea’s sons, John and Fredric I, became Kings of Denmark in their turn.

7th Generation
Margaret of Denmark (1456 - 1486), Queen of Scotland. In 1469 she was married to King James III of Scotland, who was killed in 1488 after losing the battle of Sauchieburn against his rebellious subjects.

8th Generation
King James IV of Scotland (b.1473, d.1513), husband of Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII of England. In 1513, fighting against England in support of France, he was killed in the battle of Flodden with nearly all his nobles.

9th Generation
King James V of Scotland (b1512, d.1542). He married Madeleine, daughter of Francis I, King of France, and after her death - Mary de Guise. Mary Stuart was his daughter from this second marriage.


Memorial to King Gediminas by Vytautas Kašuba in the
Cathedral Square in Vilnius. Photo courtesy Wikipedia
10th Generation
Mary Stuart (b.1542, d.1587), Queen of Scotland (1542 - 1567). Her first marriage was to Francis II, King of France (d.1560), brother of Henry Valois, who briefly reigned in Poland and Lithuania in 1573 - 74, before becoming King of France as Henry III. In 1567 Mary Stuart married her cousin Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, and after his death - James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. She lost her throne in 1567 and was executed in England in 1587 after long captivity.

11th Generation
James VI, King of Scotland, (b.1566, d.1625), who in 1603 succeeded to the throne of England as James I. This remote descendant of King Gediminas retained only some 0.1% Lithuanian blood in his veins. However, his successors on the throne of England / Great Britain show up a considerably higher proportion of Lithuanian blood, as a result of sundry marriages with princes and princesses of France, Germany and Denmark.

If my calculations are correct, Queen Elizabeth II should have about 0.7% of Lithuanian blood, her consort HRH Duke of Edinburgh about 1.3% and their children about 1%.

Vytautas Patašius