Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Difference between revisions

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th^[1] /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic 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 Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and parts of Estonia, Moldova, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. 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 ruler of Grand Duchy, was crowned as Catholic King of Lithuania in 1253. The pagan state was targeted in the religious crusade by 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 the history of Grand Duchy of Lithuania: conversion into Catholicism and establishment of a dynastic union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.^[8]

The reign of Vytautas the Great marked both the greatest territorial expansion of the Grand Duchy and defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. It also marked the 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 among the Russian Empire, Prussia and Austria in 1795.

According to the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania the complete name of the state is Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus and Samogitia (Official language: Великого князства Литовского, Руского, Жомойтского и иных).^[12] The title of "Grand Duchy" was consistently applied to Lithuania from the 14th century onward.^[13]

In other languages, the Grand Duchy is referred to as:

• Belarusian: Вялікае Княства Літоўскае, Рускае, Жамойцкае
• German: Großfürstentum Litauen
• Estonian: Leedu Suurvürstiriik
• Template:Lang-la
• Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė
• Old literary Lithuanian: Didi Kunigiste Letuvos^{[citation needed]}
• [Lietuvas Lielkunigaitija or Lietuvas Lielkņaziste] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)
• Template:Lang-pl
• Ruthenian: Великое князство Литовское, Руское, Жомойтское и иных
• Russian: Великое княжество Литовское, Русcкое, Жомойтское и иных
• Ukrainian: Велике Князівство Литовське, Руське і Жемайтійське

The first written reference to Lithuania is found in the Quedlinburg Chronicle, which dates from 1009.^[14] 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 Principality of Polotsk as well as Pskov, and even threatening Novgorod.^[15] The sudden spark of military raids marked consolidation of the Lithuanian lands in Aukštaitija.^[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 now faced a common enemy.^[16] Likely Živinbudas had most authority^[15] and at least several dukes were from the same families.^[17] The formal acknowledgment of common interests and the establishment of a hierarchy among the signatories of the treaty foreshadowed the emergence of the state.

Part of a series on the
History of Lithuania
Prehistory Kunda culture Narva culture Neman culture Corded Ware culture Baltic tribes Yotvingia Amber Road / Aesti Lithuania proper
Middle ages Duchy of Lithuania Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kingdom of Lithuania Jagiellonian period
Early Modern era Early elective monarchy Deluge and decline Three partitions Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Swedish Lithuania
Modern era Russian rule Kingdom of Lithuania Wars of Independence Lithuanian–Soviet War Independence declared 1940 Soviet occupation Nazi occupation 1944 Soviet re-occupation Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Independence restored Republic of Lithuania
Other topics Name of Lithuania Coat of arms of Lithuania List of early Lithuanian dukes List of rulers of Lithuania List of Lithuanian monarchs
Chronology
Lithuania portal
v t e

Mindaugas, duke^[18] of southern Lithuania,^[19] 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.^[20] 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.^[20]

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 the 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.^[20] 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.^[21] The state lapsed into years of internal fights.

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.^[22] The Orders could now turn their full attention to Lithuania. The "buffer zone" composed of other Baltic tribes had disappeared, and Grand Duchy of Lithuania was left to battle the Orders on its own.

Gediminids dynasty has ruled Grand Duchy of Lithuania for several centuries, and Vytenis was the first ruler from the dynasty.^[23] His reign saw constant warfare with the Order, the Kingdom of Poland, and Ruthenia. Vytenis was involved in succession disputes in Poland, supporting Boleslaus II of Masovia, who was married to a Lithuanian duchess Gaudemunda. In Ruthenia, Vytenis managed to recapture lands lost after the assassination of Mindaugas and capture the principalities of Pinsk and Turaŭ. In the struggle against the Order, Vytenis allied with citizens of Riga. Securing positions in Riga strengthened trade routes and provided a base for further military campaigns towards. Around 1307, Polotsk, an important trading center, was annexed by military force.^[24] Vytenis also began the construction of defensive castle network along the Neman River. Gradually this network developed into the main defensive line against the Teutonic Order.

Part of a series on the
History of Belarus
Prehistory
Early Slavs
Middle ages
Kievan Rus' Principality of Polotsk Principality of Turov Golden Horde Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Early Modern
Early elective monarchy (1569–1648) Deluge and decline (1648–1764) Three partitions (1764–95) Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Modern
Russian Empire (1795–1917) Belarusian People's Republic (from 1918) Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–91) West Belarus (1919–39) Republic of Belarus (from 1991)
Belarus portal
v t e

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. In 1320, most of the principalities of Western Rus' were either vassaled or annexed by Lithuania. In 1321 Gediminas captured Kiev sending Stanislav, the last Rurikid to ever rule Kiev, into exile. Gediminas also re-established the permanent capital of Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Vilnius^{[citation needed]}, which was presumably moved from Trakai in 1323. Some researches, including 16th century Maciej Stryjkowski^[25] claim that Navahrudak was the capital of the 13th century state.

Lithuania was in an ideal position to inherit the western and the southern parts of Kievan Rus'. While almost every other state around it had been plundered or defeated by the Mongols, their hordes stopped at the modern borders of Belarus and most of the territory of Grand Duchy of Lithuania was left untouched. The expansion of Lithuania was also accelerated because of the weak control the Mongols had over the areas they had conquered. Rus' principalities were never incorporated directly into the Golden Horde. Instead, they were always vassal states with a fair degree of independence. The rise of Lithuania occurred at the ideal time when they could expand while meeting very little resistance in the territories populated by East Slavs and only limited opposition from the Mongols. At the Battle at Blue Waters (1362) regiments of the United army of Grand Duchy successfully defeated the army of the Golden Horde.^[26] The battle took place almost 20 years before the infamous Battle at Kulikovo Field.

But Grand Duchy of Lithuania was not built only on military aggression, as its existence always^[when?] depended on diplomacy just as much as on arms.^{[citation needed]} Most, while not all, cities it annexed were never defeated in battle but agreed to be vassals of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since most of them were already vassals of the Golden Horde or of the Grand Prince of Moscow, such a decision was not one of giving up 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 Grand Duchy of Lithuania.^[27] 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 East-Slavic cities.

Part of a series on the
History of Poland
Topics Polonophile Polonization Flag Name Coat of arms Monarchs Military history Wars Territorial evolution Jewish history Statehood
Prehistory and protohistory Stone Age Bronze and Iron Age Antiquity Polish tribes
Middle Ages Early Middle Ages Christianization Piast period 10th century–1385 Jagiellonian period 1385–1572
Early Modern Early elective monarchy 1572–1648 Deluge and decline 1648–1764 Three partitions 1764–1795
Modern Partitioned Poland 1795–1918 World War I 1914–1918 Second Republic 1918–1939 World War II 1939–1945 Communist Poland 1945–1989
Contemporary Third Republic 1989–present
Timeline of Polish history Poland portal History portal
v t e

Lithuania was Christianized in 1387. Christianization was led by Jogaila, who personally translated Christian prayers into the Lithuanian language.^[28] The 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 Moscow. In 1410, Vytautas himself commanded the forces of the Grand Duchy in the Battle of Grunwald. The battle ended in a decisive Polish-Lithuanian victory against the Teutonic Order. Vytautas backed economic development of his state and introduced many reforms. Under his rule, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania slowly became more centralized, as the governors loyal to Vytautas replaced local princes with dynastic ties to the throne. The governors were rich landowners who formed the basis for the nobility of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During Vytautas' rule, the Radziwiłł and Goštautas families started to gain influence.^{[citation needed]}

The speedy expansion of Muscovy's influence soon put it into a position to rival Grand Duchy of Lithuania, however, and after the annexation of Novgorod in 1478, Muscovy was unquestionably^{[by whom?]} the preeminent state in Northeastern Europe. Between 1492 and 1508, Ivan III, after winning the key Battle of Vedrosha, regained such ancient lands of Rus as Chernigov and Bryansk.

The loss of land to Moscow and the continued pressure threatened the survival of the state of Lithuania, so it was forced to ally more closely with Poland, uniting with its western neighbor as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Commonwealth of Two Nations) in the Union of Lublin of 1569. According to the Union many of the territories formerly controlled by the largely Ruthenized^[29] Grand Duchy of Lithuania were transferred to the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, while the gradual process of Polonization slowly drew Lithuania itself under Polish domination.^[29][30][31] The Grand Duchy retained many rights in the federation (including a separate government, treasury and army) until the May Constitution of Poland was passed in 1791.

Following the Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, most of the lands of the former Grand Duchy were directly annexed by the Russian Empire rather than attached to the Kingdom of Poland, a rump state in personal union with Russia. However, in 1812, soon before the French invasion of Russia, the lands of the former Grand Duchy revolted against the Russians. Soon after his arrival to Vilnius, Napoleon proclaimed the creation of a Commissary Provisional Government of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which in turn renewed the Polish-Lithuanian Union.^[32] However, the union was never formalized as only half a year later Napoleon's Grande Armée was pushed out of Russia and forced to retreat further westwards. In December 1812, Vilnius was recaptured by Russian forces, bringing all plans of recreation of the Grand Duchy to an end.^[32]

In 1260 the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the land of Lithuania, and ethnic Lithuanians formed majority (67.5%) of its 0.4 million population.^[33] With the acquisition of new Ruthenian territories, in 1340 this portion decreased to 30%^[34] By the time of the largest expansion towards Rus' lands, which came at the end of the 13th and during the 14th century, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was 800 to 930 thousand km², just 10% to 14% of which was ethnically Lithuanian.^[33][35]

An estimate of the population in the territory of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania together gives a population at 7.5 million for 1493, breaking them down by ethnicity at 3.75 million Ruthenians (ethnic Ukrainians, Belarusians), 3.25 million Poles and 0.5 million Lithuanians.^[36] With the Union of Lublin, 1569, Lithuanian Grand Duchy lost large part of lands to the Polish Crown.

See also: Demographics of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In the mid and late 17th century, due to Russian and Swedish invasions, there was much devastation and population loss on throughout the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,^[37] including ethnic Lithuanian population in Vilnius surroundings. Besides devastation, Ruthenian population declined proportionally after the territorial losses to Russian Empire. By 1770 there were about 4.84 million inhabitants in the territory of 320 thousand km², the biggest part of whom were inhabitants of Ruthenia and about 1.39 million or 29% – of ethnic Lithuania.^[33] During the following decades, the population decreased in a result of partitions.^[33]

In the 13th century, the center of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was inhabited by a majority which spoke Lithuanian,^[38] but it was not a written language till 16th century.^[39] At the other parts of the duchy, especially in the economically better developed Belarus^{[citation needed]}, the majority of population, including Ruthenian nobles and normal people used both spoken and written Ruthenian languages.^[38] Nobles who migrated from one place to another would adapt to a new locality and adopt the local religion and culture and those Lithuanian noble families which moved to Slavic areas, took up the local culture quickly over subsequent generations.^[40] Ruthenians were native to the center and south-eastern part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and since they were the major population in a wider area than a half of a whole after the Union of Lublin and in larger portions of a whole before the union, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a Slavic country in this sense.

The Ruthenian language was used to write laws alongside Latin and German. From the time of Vytautas, there are fewer remaining documents written in Ruthenian than there are in Latin and German, but later Ruthenian became the main language of documentation and writings. In 16th century at the time of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Lithuanian lands became increasingly polonized over time and started to use the Polish language instead of Ruthenian language and was officially changed by Polish as the chancellery language of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth in 1697.^{[40][41][42][43]}

The voivodeships with the predominant ethnic Lithuanian population were Vilnius, Trakai and Samogitian voivodeships. In the southern part of Trakai voivodeship, and south-eastern part of Vilnius voivodeship there were many Belarusians too, in some of the south-eastern volosts they were the major linguistic group. In addition to Lithuanians and Ruthenians, other important ethnic groups on throughout the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were Jews and Tatars.^[40] Vilnius city population and its surroundings were multi-ethnic, among languages spoken here, there were Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian, Yiddish, German also Tatar, Karaim etc.^[when?]

Numerous languages were used in state documents depending on which period in history and for what purpose. These languages included Ruthenian (East Slavonic; Old Belarusian or Old Ukrainian),^[43][44] and to a lesser extent (mostly in diplomatic communication) Latin, German and Polish.^[39][40][42]Casimir's Code of 1468 and all three editions of Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1529, 1566, and 1588) were written in the Old Belarusian language. The statutes of the Grand Duchy were later translated into Latin and Polish as well.

The Court used Ruthenian to correspond with Eastern countries while Latin and German were used in foreign affairs with Western countries.^[43][45] During the latter part of the history of the Grand Duchy Polish was increasingly used in State documents, especially after the Union of Lublin.^[42] By 1697, Polish had largely replaced Ruthenian as the "official" language at Court ^[39][43][46] although Ruthenian continued to used on a few official documents until the second half of the 18th century.^[41]

Although usage of the Lithuanian language at Court after the death of Vytautas and Jogaila is disputed^{[by whom?]}, it is believed^{[by whom?]} Grand Duke Alexander I could understand and speak Lithuanian, and the last Grand Duke Zygmunt August maintained both Polish- and Lithuanian-speaking courts.^[47]

From the beginning of the 16th century, and especially after a rebellion led by Michael Glinski in 1508, there were attempts by the Court to replace the usage of Ruthenian with Latin.^[48] But the Ruthenian tongue had deep cultural roots. Its use by academics in areas formerly part of Rus' and even in Lithuania proper was widespread. Court Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Lew Sapieha, noted in the preface of the Third Statute of Lithuania (1588) that this code was to be written exclusively in Ruthenian.

And clerk must use ruthenian letters and ruthenian words in all pages, letters and requests, and not any other language or words...

— А писаръ земъский маеть по-руску литерами и словы рускими вси листы, выписы и позвы писати, а не иншимъ езыкомъ и словы..., The Statute of GPL 1588. Part 4, article 1^[49]

Nonetheless, Mikalojus Daukša, writing in Polish, noted in his Postilla (1599) that many people, especially szlachta, preferred to speak Polish rather than Lithuanian, but spoke Polish poorly.^{[citation needed]} Such were the linguistic trends in the Grand Duchy that by the political reforms of 1564–1566 parliaments local land courts, appellate courts and other State functions were recorded in Polish.^[48] and Polish became increasingly spoken across all social classes.

Lithuanian, Ruthenian and Polish languages were used as state languages of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Vilnius, Trakai and Samogitian were the core voivodeships of the state^{[citation needed]}, as evidenced by the privileged position of their governors in state authorities, such as the Council of Lords. Peasants in ethnic Lithuanian territories spoke exclusively Lithuanian, except transitional border regions, but the Statutes of Lithuania and other laws and documentation were written in Ruthenian. Following the royal court, there was tendency to replace Lithuanian with Polish in the ethnic Lithuanian areas, whereas Ruthenian was stronger in ethnic Belarusian and Ukrainian territories. There is Sigismund von Herberstein's note left, that there were in an ocean of Russian language in this part of Europe two non Russian regions: Lithuania and Samogitia.^[48]

Following the expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the mid 14th century the adjective "Lithuanian", besides denoting an ethnic Lithuanian, from early times denoted any inhabitant of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, irrespective of ethnicity: a Ruthenian, a Jew, a Lithuanian^{[citation needed]}. In the 18th century "Litvin" (Polish: Litwin, Russian: Литвин) meant Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian speakers. Since an adjective Lithuanian was applied after a name of a state, the understanding of it varied depending on place. For example, in eastern Ukraine, around Poltava, "Litvin" was a person living in the other side of Desna River, Belarusian speaker.^[41]

At one point in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the higher strata of Lithuanian society from ethnic Lithuania mostly spoke Polish, and from Belarus – Old Belarusian. Samogitia was exclusive through state in its economical situation – it lain near ports and there were fewer people under corvee, instead of that, many simple people were money payers. As a result, the stratification of the society was not as sharp as in other areas. Being more similar to a simple population the local szlachta spoke Lithuanian to a bigger extent than in the areas close to the capital Vilnius, which itself had become a center of intensive linguistic Polonization. The last sermons in Lithuanian in one of Vilnius churches were stopped to say in 1738. In schooling, Latin language was being changed to Polish and Lithuanian language repudiated. It was not let into Vilnius University in the late 18th century, parochial and powiat school learning for Lithuanian speaking children through Lithuania was organized in Polish by people having offices in Vilnius. In such circumstances "Samogitians" were known as szlachta, besides Polish using Lithuanian too, and the mass of "Lithuanians", that is any citizens on throughout the state, were understood as mostly Polish speaking szlachta living in Vilnius and its surrounding area and Polish-Belarusian speaking Belarusian szlachta.^{[dubious – discuss][40]}

There were^[when?] texts written^{[citation needed]} in the local Lithuanian language of the Vilnius area, lying south-eastwards from Vilnius, then called Lithuanian language, today called a dialect of Eastern Aukštaitian, appearing at the end of the 17th century, the beginning of the 18th century, but it did not become used widerly as a written language and disappeared. The main written language, not including Polish, used by Lithuanians as their own one, became a language, which was then called Samogitian language, today – a dialect of western Aukštaitian, and was spoken in the area starting about Nevėžis River lowland westwards from Aukštaitija.

Despite Lithuania's mainly peaceful acquisition of much of its Ruthenian holdings it could call upon military strength if needed and it was 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. By about 1355, the State of Moldavia had formed. The Golden Horde did little to re-vassalize the area. In 1387, Moldavia became a vassal of Poland and in a broader sense, Lithuania. By this time, Lithuania had conquered territory of the Golden Horde all the way to the Dnieper River. In a crusade against the Golden Horde in 1398, (in an alliance with Tokhtamysh), Lithuania invaded northern Crimea and won a decisive victory. Then in 1399, Lithuania (intent on placing Tokhtamish on the Golden Horde throne) moved against the Horde. In the Battle of the Vorskla River however, Lithuania was crushed by the Horde and lost the steppe region.

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 the German order) renounced Christianity. Up until 1387, Lithuanian nobles professed their own religion, which was polytheistic. 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 the seventeenth century there were relics of old faith reported by counter-reformation active Jesuit priests, like feeding žaltys with milk 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. Country also became one of the major centers of reformation.

In the second half of the 17h century Calvinism spread in Lithuania, supported by the families of Radziwiłł, Chodkiewicz, Sapieha, Dorohostajski and others. By 1580s the majority of the senators from Lithuania were Calvinist or even Arians (Jan Kiszka).

In 1579, Stefan Batory, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, founded Vilnius University, one of the oldest universities in Eastern Europe. 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.^[50] The work of the Jesuits as well as conversions from among the Lithuanian senatorial families turned the tide and by 1670s Calvinism lost its former importance though it still retained some influence among the ethnically Lithuanian peasants and some middle nobility, by then thoroughly Polonized.

According to some historians^[who?] (especially in Russia), one of the most crucial effects of Lithuanian rule was ethnic divisions amongst the inhabitants of former Kievan Rus'. From this point of view, the creation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania played a major role in the division of Eastern Slavs. After the Mongolian conquest of Rus', 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.

Others^[who?] argue, that the ethnic and linguistic divisions amongst inhabitants of Ruthenia were not initiated by division of this area between Mongols and Lithuania, and are older than the creation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They state that until the twentieth century, ethnic and linguistic frontiers 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 Urach.

• Belarus
• Cities of Grand Duchy of Lithuania
• Crimea
• Duchy of Lithuania
• History of Lithuania
• List of Belarusian rulers
• List of Lithuanian rulers
• Lithuania
• Lithuania proper
• Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
• Ukraine

1. S. C. Rowell. Chartularium Lithuaniae res gestas magni ducis Gedeminne illustrans. Gedimino laiškai. Vilnius, 2003
2. Norman Davies. God's Playground. Columbia University Press; 2 edition (December 15, 2002) ISBN 0-231-12817-7

• Cheryl Renshaw. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1253-1795
• Grand Duchy of Lithuania