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Grand Duchy of Lithuania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Grand Principality of Lithuania) was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th[1] /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija.[2][3][4] The duchy later expanded to include large portions of the former Kievan Rus' and other Slavic lands, covering the territory of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia and parts of Estonia, Moldova, Poland and Russia. At its greatest extent in the 15th century, it was the largest state in Europe.[5] It was a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state with great diversity in languages, religion, and cultural heritage.
Consolidation of the Lithuanian lands began in the late 12th century. Mindaugas, the first Lithuanian ruler, was crowned as Catholic King of Lithuania in 1253. The pagan state was involved in the religious crusade with the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. The multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state emerged only at the late reign of Gediminas[6] and continued to expand under his son Algirdas.[7] Algirdas's successor Jogaila signed the Union of Kreva in 1386, bringing two major changes in Lithuanian history: conversion into Catholicism and establishment of a dynastic union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.[8]
Reign of Vytautas the Great marked not only the greatest territorial expansion of the Grand Duchy and defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, but also rise of the Lithuanian nobility. After Vytautas's death, Lithuania's relationship with the Kingdom of Poland greatly deteriorated.[9] Lithuanian noblemen, including the Radziwiłłs, attempted to break the personal union with Poland.[10] However, the unsuccessful Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars with the Grand Duchy of Moscow forced the union to remain intact. Eventually, the Union of Lublin of 1569 created a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this federation, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania maintained its political distinctiveness and had a separate government, laws, army, and treasury.[11] The Commonwealth failed to prevent territorial losses to expanding Russia. After a series of devastating wars, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned between the Russian Empire, Prussia and Austria in 1795.
Names
In other languages, the Grand Duchy is referred to as:
- Belarusian: Вялікае Княства Літоўскае, Рускае, Жамойцкае
- German: Großfürstentum Litauen
- Latin: Magnus Ducatus Lituaniae
- Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė
- Old literary Lithuanian: Didi Kunigiste Letuvos
- Latvian: Lietuvas Lielkunigaitija or Lietuvas Lielkņaziste
- Ruthenian: Великое князство Литовское, Руское, Жомойтское и иных
- Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie
- Russian: Великое княжество Литовское, Русcкое, Жомойтское и иных
- Ukrainian: Велике Князівство Литовське, Руське і Жемайтійське
The title of "Grand Duchy" was consistently applied to Lithuania from the 14th century onward.[12]
History
Establishment of the state
The first written reference to Lithuania is found in the Quedlinburg Chronicle, which dates from 1009.[13] In the 12th century, Slavic chronicles refer to Lithuania as one of the areas attacked by the Rus'. At first pagan Lithuanians paid tribute to Polotsk, but soon grew in strength and organized their own small-scale raids. At some point between 1180 and 1183 the situation began to change, and the Lithuanians started to organize sustainable military raids on the Slavic provinces, raiding the Polotsk duchy as well as Pskov, and even threatening Novgorod.[14] The sudden spark of military raids marked consolidation of the Lithuanian lands in Aukštaitija. Possibly by the end of the 12th century the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was already formed in these lands.[1]
The Livonian Order and Teutonic Knights, crusading military orders, were established in Riga in 1202 and in Prussia in 1226. The Christian orders posed a significant threat to pagan Baltic tribes and further galvanized the formation of the state. The peace treaty with Galicia–Volhynia of 1219 provides evidence of cooperation between Lithuanians and Samogitians. This treaty lists 21 Lithuanian dukes, including five senior Lithuanian dukes from Aukštaitija (Živinbudas, Daujotas, Vilikaila, Dausprungas and Mindaugas) and several dukes from Samogitia. Although they had battled in the past, the Lithuanians and the Samogitians spoke a similar dialect and now faced a common enemy.[15] Likely Živinbudas had most authority[14] and at least several dukes were from the same families.[16] The formal acknowledgment of common interests and the establishment of a hierarchy among the signatories of the treaty foreshadowed the emergence of the state.
Kingdom of Lithuania
Mindaugas, duke[17] of southern Lithuania,[18] was among the five senior dukes, mentioned in the treaty with Galicia–Volhynia. According to the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, by mid-1230s Mindaugas acquired supreme power in the whole of Lithuania.[19] In 1236, the Samogitians, led by Vykintas, defeated the Livonian Order in the Battle of Saule. The Order was forced to become a branch of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. That meant that Samogitia, a strip of land that separated Livonia from Prussia, became the main target of both orders. The battle provided a break in the wars with the Knights and Lithuania exploited this situation, arranging attacks towards the Ruthenian provinces and annexing Navahrudak and Hrodna.[19]
In 1248 a civil war broke out between Mindaugas and his nephews Tautvilas and Edivydas. The powerful coalition against Mindaugas included Vykintas, the Livonian Order, Daniel of Galicia, and Vasilko of Volhynia. Mindaugas, taking advantage of internal conflicts, allied with the Livonian Order. He promised to convert to Christianity and gift some lands in western Lithuania in exchange for military assistance against his nephews and the royal crown. In 1251 Mindaugas was baptized and Pope Innocent IV issued a papal bull, proclaiming creation of the Kingdom of Lithuania. After the civil war ended, Mindaugas was crowned as King of Lithuania on July 6, 1253, starting a decade of relative peace. Mindaugas tried to expand his influence in Polatsk, a major center of commerce in the Daugava River basin, and Pinsk.[19] The Teutonic Knights used this period to strengthen its position in parts of Samogitia and Livonia, but lost the Battle of Skuodas in 1259 and the Battle of Durbe in 1260. These losses encouraged conquered Semigallians and Prussians to rebel against the Knights.
Encouraged by Treniota, Mindaugas broke the peace with the Order, possibly relapsed into his old beliefs, and allied with Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod. He hoped to unite all Baltic tribes under the Lithuanian leadership. As military campaigns were not successful, the relationships between Mindaugas and Treniota deteriorated. Treniota together with Daumantas assassinated Mindaugas and his two sons, Ruklys and Rupeikis, in 1263.[20] The state lapsed into years of internal fights.
Rise of the Gediminids
From 1263 to 1269, Lithuania had three Grand Dukes – Treniota, Vaišvilkas, and Svarn. However, the state did not disintegrate and Traidenis came to power in 1269. He strengthened Lithuanian control in Black Ruthenia and fought with the Livonian Order, winning the Battle of Karuse in 1270 and the Battle of Aizkraukle in 1279. There is considerable uncertainty about the identities of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania between Traidenis' death in 1282 and Vytenis' assumption of power in 1295. During this time the Orders finalized their conquests. In 1274 the Great Prussian Rebellion ended, and the Teutonic Knights proceeded to conquer other Baltic tribes: the Nadruvians and Skalvians in 1274–1277, and the Yotvingians in 1283; the Livonian Order completed its conquest of Semigalia, the last Baltic ally of Lithuania, in 1291.[21] The Orders could now turn their full attention to Lithuania. The "buffer zone" composed of other Baltic tribes had disappeared, and Lithuania was left to battle the Orders on its own.