King of Lithuania
King of Lithuania was the title of the ruler of
Lithuania. There was a King
Mindaugas who founded the Lithuanian state (
Kingdom of Lithuania); his successors, however, were known as
Grand Dukes, as at the time Lithuania was a
pagan state and in Europe at the time the title of "king" was reserved for
Christians. Despite this, some people considers all the rulers of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania as kings, since at some places they are referred to in
Latin as
"rex" (king), and because they it is now common to consider various non-Christian (e.g. Asian) rulers, to be kings. There were attempts by
Vytautas to be granted the title of King, but it did not succeeded as the Polish noblemen seized his royal crown as it was being brought to him. At this time, Lithuania had already adopted Christianity.
The second king of Lithuania was crowned in the 20th century, when in the latter part of
World War I Lithuania was occupied by Germany and tried to achieve independence. Lithuanians decided to crown a German noble as king
Mindaugas II and hoped this would encourage Germany to more quickly recognize Lithuanian independence. However, Germany lost the war, and Lithuania became independent as a republic. Thus, the rule of Mindaugas II was very brief.
