Grand Duchy of Lithuania
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The presumable banner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the coat of arms, called "Пагоня" in Belarusian, "Vytis" in Lithuanian and "Pogoń" in Polish |
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Another version of the Lithuanian banner |
The
Grand Duchy of Lithuania (
Lithuanian:
Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė,
Belarusian:
'ялі́кае Кня́ства Літо́ўскае ('КЛ),
Ukrainian:
'елике Князівство Литовське ('КЛ),
Polish:
Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie) was an Eastern European state of the
12th-
18th centuries. Founded by
pagan Baltic Lithuanians [ Rowell S.C. Lithuania Ascending a pagan empire within east-central Europe, 1295-1345. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. p.289-290] in the second half of the
12th century, it soon expanded beyond the boundaries of the initial area of Lithuanian settlement, acquiring large parts of former
Kievan Rus. It covered the territory of present-day
Lithuania,
Belarus,
Ukraine,
Transnistria and parts of
Poland and
Russia during the period of its greatest extent in the
15th century. Accepting the
Union of Kreva, in
1386 the Grand Duchy of Lithuania made a
personal union with the
Kingdom of Poland. Under the
Lublin Union in
1569, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania federated into the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this
federation, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had a separate government, laws, army, and treasury
[ Stone, Daniel. The Polish-Lithuanian state: 1386-1795. University of Washington Press , 2001. p. 63]. In
1795, the
Commonwealth was destroyed by the
partitions among
Imperial Russia,
Prussia and
Austria.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a Baltic state which expanded into the power vacuum left by the collapse of the
Mongols. Later it becаme a multinational state, with ethnic and religious differences. Baltic pagan gentes, who later became
Catholic united called
Lithuanians acquired Ruthenian lands who in the 18th century separated into Belorussian and Ukrainian Nations and were
Orthodox. Later because of Ducal politics there was born the new
Uniate Church in
Ruthenian lands, now almost extinct because of Russian imperial politics in the late 18th and early 19 centuries. Amongst others in the Grand Duchy lived many
Poles,
Jews,
Armenians,
Germans, etc. They contributed to its diverse cultural and political life. The multinational character of the state and the cosmopolitan philosophy of its elite after the end of
14th century sparked off a debate over the national legacy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in
19th-
20th centuries. This debate involved largely Polish, Russian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian historians and overflowed into national politics. The debate reached its peak during the wars for independence from
1917 to
1920, and contributed to many local disputes such as those involving the
Curzon line and politics in
Central Lithuania.
The expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into modern
White Ruthenia in centuries to come generated similar culture. Both peoples, the forefathers of modern
Lithuanians and modern
Belarusians, called themselves
Lithuanians in their own tongue (respectively
lietuviai in
Lithuanian and
litviny in
Belarusian). At that time "Lithuanian" had a double meaning. One meant an inhabitant of the GDL, and the other meant a person of
Lithuanian language. Such Lithuanians lived in the region of modern Lithuania, but also
East Prussia and large parts of modern
Belarus. In East Prussia it was used to refer primarily to the large Lithuanian minority (
Lithuania Minor), while in the Slavic lands of GDL the first usage was more common. In Belarus, Belarusians (especially Catholics and Uniates) regarded themselves as Lithuanian, while other populations there such as Ukrainians, referred to themselves only as
Ruthenians or by some other
ethnonym. However, the number nobles considering themselves to be Lithuanians dropped with time due to adoption of Polish culture and language. Eventually most of the GDL nobility considered themselves to be Poles. Lithuanian self-determination of nobles sparked for a short while in sixteenth century, and true nationalism revived in the nineteenth century. By then, the term was mainly associated with persons of Lithuanian language. Belarusians, who had a national revival at about the same time, started to see themselves as a different nation.
Image:Europein1328.png|Europe in 1328Image:Europe in 1430.PNG|Europe in the 1430sImage:Europe in 1470.PNG|Europe in the 1470s |
Outline of the Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of 1619 superimposed on present-day national borders |
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The castle in Trakai. Trakai was one of the main centers of Grand Duchy of Lithuania |
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Upper part of Vilnius castle. Vilnius became permanent capital of Lithuania from 1323 |
Lithuania began its rise under the reign of
Grand Duke Mindaugas[Paul Magocsi. History of the Ukraine. University of Toronto Press, 1996. p.127 ], in
1238 he assumed supreme power in Lithuania
[ Rowell S.C. Lithuania Ascending p.51 ] . Mindaugas was baptized in 1252 and crowned
King of Lithuania in 1253 (in 1260, he abandoned Christianity). During Mindaugas rule
Lithuania was proclaimed as
Kingdom of Lithuania for the first time
[ Tomas Baranauskas. Lietuvos karalystei " 750 (750 years for Kingdom of Lithuania).2001 ]. On September 12th of 1263, Mindaugas was killed (with his 2 younger sons) and afterwards there was a fight among Lithuanian dukes, but the state survived and expanded southward and eastward, incorporating large parts of
Ruthenia. The expansion reached its heights under
Gediminas, who created a strong central government and established an empire, which later spread from the
Black Sea to the
Baltic Sea. Gediminas also re-established permanent capital of Lithuania in
Vilnius, which was moved from
Trakai in 1323.The ease with which Lithuania built up its empire can be accredited to the diplomatic and tactical skill of Lithuanian grand dukes as well as to the weakness of all Ruthenian principalities; Lithuania was in an ideal position to take advantage of
Eastern Slavs. While almost every other state around it had been plundered or defeated by the Mongols, their hordes never reached as far north as Lithuania and its territory was left untouched. The expansion of Lithuania was also accelerated because of the weak control the Mongols had over the areas they had conquered. (Ruthenia was never incorporated directly into the
Golden Horde. Instead, it was always a vassal state with a fair degree of independence.) The rise of Lithuania occurred at the ideal time when they could expand while meeting very little Ruthenian resistance and only limited opposition from the Mongols. The Lithuanian state was not built only on military aggression. Its existence always depended on diplomacy just as much as on arms. Most cities it annexed were never defeated in battle but agreed to be vassals of Lithuania. Since most of them were already vassals of the Golden Horde or of
Muscovy, such decision was not one of giving up the independence but rather of exchanging one master for another. This can be seen in the case of
Novgorod, which was often brought into the Lithuanian sphere of influence and became an occasional dependency of Lithuania, but Lithuanian armies never attacked the city. Rather, Lithuanian control was the result of internal frictions within the city, which attempted to escape submission to Muscovy. This method of building the state was, however, unstable. The change of internal politics within a city could pull it out of Lithuania's control, as happened on a number of occasions with Novgorod and other Ruthenian cities.
Lithuania was Christianized in 1387. Christianization was led by Jogaila, who personally translated Christian prayers into
Lithuanian language [ Jerzy Kloczowski. A History of Polish Christianity. Cambridge University Press, 2000. p.55 ]. State reached a peak under
Vytautas the Great , who reigned from
1392 to
1430. Vytautas was one of the most famous rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was the
Grand Duke from 1401-1430, also the
Prince of
Hrodna (1370-1382) and the Prince of
Lutsk (1387-1389). Vytautas was the son of
Kęstutis, cousin of
Jogaila, who became King of Poland in
1386, and Grandfather of
Vasili II of Russia. In 1410 Vytautas himself commanded the forces of the Grand Duchy in the
Battle of Grunwald (also called the Battle of Tannenberg or Žalgirio mūšis). The battle ended in a decisive Polish-Lithuanian victory. Vytautas backed economic development of his state and introduced many reforms. Under his rule Grand Duchy of Lithuania slowly became more centralized, as local princes with dynastic ties to the throne were replaced by the governors loyal to Vytautas. The governors were rich landowners who formed the basis for the Lithuanian nobility. During Vytautas rule influential
Radziwill and Goštautas families started to form.
The speedy expansion of Muscovy soon put it into a position to rival Lithuania, however, and after the annexation of Novgorod in
1478 Muscovy was unquestionably the preeminent state in
North East Europe. Between
1492 and
1508 Ivan III seized a part of the former Ruthenian lands from Lithuania. The loss of land to Muscovy and the continued pressure from the expanding Russian state made a real threat of destroying the state of Lithuania, so it was forced to make closer alliances with
Poland until it was united with its western neighbour in the
Commonwealth of Two Nations (
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) under the
Union of Lublin of
1569. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania retained many rights in that
federation (including separate government, treasury and army) until the
May Constitution of Poland was passed in
1791.The chancellery languages of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were
Ruthenian [ Stone, Daniel. The Polish-Lithuanian state p.4 ], Latin and Polish. Until 1697, the first one was used to write laws (
Statutes of Lithuania) and to correspond with Eastern countries; Latin was used in dealings with Western countries; and, in 1697, Polish replaced Ruthenian as the chancellery language.
Although usage of Lithuanian language in ruling the state after
Vytautas and
Jogaila (sons of
Kęstutis and
Algirdas, respectively) is disputable, it is stated that King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander I still could understand and speak Lithuanian, after him there are no valid evidences.Also, at the time nationalism was not present, and the nobles who migrated from one place to another would adapt to a new locality and take local religion and culture. Therefore those Lithuanian nobles who moved to Slavic areas in generations took up their culture. There is no available information what languages these nobles spoke in their everyday lives.
At the birth of the state, ethnical Lithuanians made 70% of population. With the acquisition of new Slavic territories, this part decreased to 50% and later to 30%. Other important nations were
Jews and
Tatars. By the time of the late Grand Duchy, Slavs made overall majority, and Slavic languages were used to write laws. This is the reason why the late GDL is often called a Slavic country, among
Poland,
Russia etc.
Despite Lithuania's mainly peaceful acquisition of much of its Ruthenian holdings it could call upon military strength if needed and were the only power in
Eastern Europe that could effectively contend with the Golden Horde. When the Golden Horde did try to prevent Lithuanian expansion they were often rebuffed. In
1333 and
1339 Lithuanians defeated large Mongol forces attempting to regain
Smolensk from the Lithuanian sphere of influence. Even when victorious, the Mongols rarely had the power to stop Lithuania for long. A large victory in
1399, for instance, only briefly delayed Lithuanian control spreading all the way to the Black Sea. Due to Lithuanian influence the Mongols could not exert military dominance over northwestern Russia, and partially for this reason Smolensk,
Pskov, Novgorod, and
Polacak were some of the few major cities never to be ravaged by the Mongols.
The GDL army brought some innovations in military art.
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St. Ann's Church and the church of the Bernardine Monastery in Vilnius |
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St. George church (1487) in Kaunas |
After the baptism in 1252 and coronation of King
Mindaugas in 1253, Lithuania was recognized as a Christian state until 1260, when Mindaugas supported an uprising in
Courland and (according to German order) renounced Christianity. Up until
1387, Lithuanian nobles professed their own religion, which was a
pagan belief based on deification of natural phenomena. Ethnic Lithuanians were very dedicated to their faith. The pagan beliefs needed to be deeply entrenched to survive strong pressure from missionaries and foreign powers. Until XVII century there were relics of old faith, like feeding grass-snakes or bringing food to graves of ancestors. The lands of modern-day
Belarus and
Ukraine, as well as local
dukes (princes) in these regions, were firmly
Orthodox Christian (Greek Catholic after the
Union of Brest), though. While pagan beliefs in Lithuania were strong enough to survive centuries of pressure from military orders and missionaries, they did eventually succumb. In 1387, Lithuania converted to
Catholicism, while most of the Ruthenian lands stayed
Orthodox. There was an effort to polarize Orthodoxes after the Union of Brest in 1596, by which Orthodox Greek Catholics acknowledged papal authority and Catholic catechism, but preserved Orthodox liturgy.
(For further information on Lithuanian indigenous religion, see Romuva)One of the oldest universities in
Eastern Europe,
Vilnius University, was founded by
Stefan Batory, King of
Poland and Grand Duke of
Lithuania, in
1579. Due to the work of the
Jesuits during the
Counter-reformation the university soon developed into one of the most important scientific and cultural centers of the region and the most notable scientific center of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
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The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania |
According to some historians (especially in
Russia), one of the most crucial effects of Lithuanian rule was ethnic divisions amongst inhabitants of former
Kievan Ruthenia. From this point of view, creation of Grand Duchy of Lithuania played a major role in division of
Eastern Slavs. After the Mongolian conquest of
Ruthenia, Mongols attempted to keep Eastern Slavs unified and succeeded in conquering most of Ruthenian lands.
Prussian tribes (of
Baltic origin) were attacking
Masovia, and that was the reason Duke
Konrad of Masovia invited the
Teutonic Knights to settle near the Prussian area of settlement. The fighting between Prussians and the Teutonic Knights gave the more distant Lithuanian tribes time to unite. Because of strong enemies in the south and north, the newly formed Lithuanian state concentrated most of its military and diplomatic efforts on expansion eastward.
The rest of former Ruthenian lands (
Belarusian principalities) joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the very beginning, some other lands in Ukraine were vassalized by Lithuania later. The subjugation of Eastern Slavs by two powers created substantial differences that persist to this day. According to this claim, while under Kievan Ruthenia there were certainly substantial regional differences, it was the Lithuanian annexation of much of southern and western Ruthenia that led to the permanent division between
Ukrainians,
Belarusians, and
Russians.
This claim is highly controversial as on the same basis it can be claimed that the reason of creation of separate
Russian state was the fact that
Muscovy remained under
Mongol political and cultural influence. From this point of view, the reason of divisions amongst inhabitants of
Ruthenia was
Mongolian influence on
Muscovy rather than
Lithuanian on other parts of
Ruthenia.
Besides, ethnic and linguistic divisions amongst inhabitants of Ruthenia were not initiated by division of this area between
Mongols and
Lithuania, and are older than creation of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. And finally, until 20th century, ethnic and linguistic frontier between Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Russians coincided with no political borders.
Notwithstanding the above, Lithuania was a Kingdom under Mindaugas I, who was conditionally crowned by authority of Pope Innocent IV in 1253. Gediminas and Vytautas the Great also assumed the title of King, although uncrowned. A failed attempt was made in 1918 to restore the Kingdom under German Prince Urich.
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Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth*
List of Belarusian rulers*
List of Lithuanian rulers*
Lithuania*
Belarus*
Ukraine*
Crimea*
Cities of Grand Duchy of Lithuania::In-line:::General:
# S. C. Rowell.
Chartularium Lithuaniae res gestas magni ducis Gedeminne illustrans. Gedimino laiškai. Vilnius, 2003# Norman Davies.
God's Playground. Columbia University Press; 2 edition (December 15, 2002) ISBN 0231128177
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Cheryl Renshaw. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1253-1795*
Grand Duchy of Lithuania*
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