Algirdas
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Algirdas engraving of 16th century |
Algirdas (approximate
English transcription [algərda:s],
simplified Lithuanian transcription [a
l'girdas]; known as
Alhierd in Belarusian,
Olgierd in Russian), b. ca.
1296, d. end of May,
1377, was the
monarch of medieval
Lithuania. He was the ruler of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1345 "
1377, which chiefly meant monarch of
Lithuanians and
Ruthenians. He is widely regarded as the greatest ruler of
medieval Lithuania. Probably the last
pagan sovereign of
Europe, he created a vast
empire stretching from the
Baltics to the
Black Sea and reaching within 50
miles of
Moscow.
Algirdas was one of the seven sons of the
Grand Duke Gediminas. Before death in
1341 Gediminas divided his
domains, leaving the youngest son
Jaunutis in possession of the capital
Vilnius, with a nominal priority. With the aid of his brother
Kęstutis, Algirdas drove out the incapable Jaunutis and declared himself a
Grand Prince in
1345. Thirty two years of his reign (1345-1377) were devoted to the development and expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Algirdas has managed to make it one of the greatest states in
Europe.
Two factors are supposed to have contributed to achieve this result; the extraordinary political
sagacity of Algirdas and the life-long devotion of his brother Kęstutis. A neat division of their
dominions is illustrated by the fact, that Algirdas appears allmost only in
East Slavic sources, whereas the Western chronicles are aware of Kęstutis only. The
Teutonic knights in the north and the
Tatar hordes in the south were equally bent on the subjection of Lithuania, while Algirdas' eastern and western neighbors
Muscovy and
Poland generally were hostile competitors.
Algirdas not only succeeded in holding his own, but acquired influence and territory at the expense of 1:0 to Muscovy and the
Golden Horde, and extended the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the northern shore of the
Black Sea. Principal efforts of Algirdas were directed to securing the
Slavonic lands which had been a part of the former
Kievan Rus. He procured the election of his son
Andrew as the Prince of
Pskov, and a powerful minority of the citizens of the
Republic of Novgorod held the balance in his favor against the Muscovite influence, however his ascendancy in both these commercial centres was at the best precarious.
Algirdas has permanently acquired the important principalities of
Smolensk and
Bryansk in the western
Russia. Although his relations with the grand dukes of Muscovy were friendly on the whole, as he has married two
Orthodox Russian princesses, this did not prevent him from
besieging Moscow in
1368 and again in
1372, both times unsuccessfully.
The most prominent feat of Algirdas was his victory over the Tatars at the
Blue Waters of the
Southern Bug in
1362. It resulted in braking up of the powerful
Kipchak horde and compelled the khan to migrate still farther south and establish his headquarters for the future in the
Crimea. Indeed, but for the unceasing simultaneous struggle with the Teutonic knights, the burden of which was borne by
Kęstutis, Russian historians frankly admit that Lithuania, not Muscovy, would have become the dominant power of the
Eastern Europe. Algirdas died in summer of
1377. According to
Herman of Wartberg and
Dlugosz chronicles, Algirdas remained a pagan until his death; he has been burned in a ceremonial fire together with 18 horses and many of his possessions in a wood near
Maišiagala. His descendants include the noble families of
Troubetzkoys,
Czartoryskis, and
Sanguszkos.
Unlike his descendants, Algirdas wisely vacillated between Muscovy and Poland, spoke amongst others the
Ruthenian language, and was more inclined to follow the majority of his
pagan and Orthodox subjects rather than to alienate them by promoting
Roman Catholicism. There are no evidences that he was baptised at all.His son
Jogaila, however, ascended the Polish throne, and was the founder of the dynasty which ruled Poland for nearly 200 years.
:
Jewna, daughter of
Prince Iwan of Polock (? "
1344)
:
Gediminas (Gediminas; ca
1275 " winter
1341 under
Veliuona), Grand Prince of Lithuania, ruler of
Lithuanians and
Ruthenians 1316 "
1341:
Maria of Witebsk 1318 (? "
1346):
Uliana of Tver 1350 (ca
1325 "
1392)
:
Monwid (ca
1300 "
1348), Prince of
Kernavė and
Slonim 1341 "
1342:
Narymunt (Narimantas, Gleb, David; ca
1300 "
2 February 1348), Prince of
Pinsk 13?? "
1348,
Polock,
Navahradak:
Jaunutis (Jaunutis, Ivan; ca
1300 " after
1366), Grand Prince of Lithuania
1341 "
1345, Prince of
Izjaslawl 1346 "
1366:
Kęstutis (Kiejstut;
1297 "
15 August 1382 Kreva), Prince of
Trakai, Grand Prince of
Lithuania 1381 "
1382; :
Koriat (Kariotas, Michael; ca
1300 " ca
1362), Prince of
Navahradak 1341 "
1347:
Lubart (Lubko, Liubartas, Dymitr; ca
1300 "
1384), Prince of
Polock 13?? "
1342,
Wlodzimierz,
Łuck 1340 " 138?,
Wolynia 1340 "
1349,
1350 "
1366,
1371 "
1383, King of
Galicja (independent
kingdom 1253 "
1349)
1340 "
1349:
Maria (ca
1300 "
1349),
Princess of
Lithuania:
Aldona (Anna; after
1309 "
26 May 1339), Princess of
Lithuania,
Queen of
Poland 1333 "
1339:
Damilla (Elisabeth;
14th century "
1364), Princess of
Plock:
Eufemia (
14th century "
5 February 1342), Princess of
Halicz and
Halych-Volhynia:
Augusta (Anastacia;
14th century "
11 March 1345), Grand Princess of
Vladimir-
Moscow:
Demetrius I Starszy (
1327 "
12 August 1399 Battle of the Worskla River), Prince of
Trubczewsk 1357 "
1399,
Briansk 1357 "
1379,
Starodub 1370 "
1399,
Druck 13?? " 13??:
Andrew (Wigund;
1325 "
12 August 1399;
baptized
Moscow 1342), Prince of
Polock 1342 "
1387,
Pskow 1341 "
1343, 134? "
1348,
1377 "
1379,
1394 "
1396:
Constantine (
14th century " before
30 October 1390), Prince of
Czartorysk:
Vladymir (
14th century " after October
1398), Prince of
Kiew,
Kopylsk,
Sluck:
Fiodor (Theodore;
14th century "
1399), Prince of
Rylsk 1370 "
1399,
Ratnie 1387 "
1394,
Briansk 1393:
Jogaila (ca
1351 "
1 June 1434 Gródek Jagielloński), Grand Prince of Lithuania
1377 "
1381,
1382 "
1392,
King of
Poland 1386 "
1434:
Skirgaila (Ivan; ca
1354 "
11 January 1397 Kiew), Prince of
Trakai 1382 "
1395,
Kiew 1395 "
1397,
regent of Lithuania:
Korybut (Dymitr; after
1350 " after
1404), Prince of
Novgorod-Seversky 1386 "
1392/
93:
Lengvenis (baptised - Simon;
14th century " after
19 June 1431), Prince of
Mstislavl, regent of
Great Novgorod:
Karigaila (Cassimir; after
1350 "
1390), Prince of
Mscislaw, regent:
Wigunt (Alexander; after
1350 "
28 June 1392), Prince of
Kernave:
Švitrigaila (Swidrygiello, Svitrigaylo, Boleslaw; ca
1370 "
10 February 1452 Luck), Prince of
Witebsk 1392 "
1393,
1430 "
1436,
Podolia 1400 "
1402,
Novgorod-Seversky 1404 "
1408,
1420 "
1438,
Czernichow 1419 "
1430, Grand Prince of Lithuania
1430 "
1432, ruler of
Wolynia 1437 "
1452:
Fiedora (born
14th century):
Agrypina (Mary;
14th century "
1393):
Kenna (Joan; ca
1350 "
27 April 1368), Princess of
Slupsk:
Helen (after
1350 "
15 September 1438), the wife of
Vladimir the Bold:
Mary (after
1350 - ?), Princess of Lithuania:
Wilheida (Catherine; after
1350 " after
4 April 1422), Princess of Lithuania:
Alexandra (after
1350 "
19 June 1434), Princess of
Czersk,
Rawa,
Sochaczew,
Plock,
Gostynin,
Plonsk, and
Kujawy:
Jadwiga (after
1350 " after
1407), Princess of
Oswiecim 1395/
96 "
1405*
Gediminids*
List of Lithuanian rulers*
List of Belarusian rulers
