In the XIV-XV centuries. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia was the real rival of Muscovite Russia in the struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe. It was strengthened under Prince Gediminas (ruled in 1316-1341). Russian cultural influence prevailed here at that time. Gedemin and his sons were married to Russian princesses, the Russian language dominated the court and official office work. Lithuanian writing did not exist at that time. Until the end of the XIV century. Russian regions within the state did not experience national-religious oppression. Under Olgerd (ruled in 1345-1377), the principality actually became the dominant power in the region. The position of the state was especially strengthened after Olgerd defeated the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362. During his reign, the state included most of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the Smolensk region. For all the inhabitants of Western Russia, Lithuania became a natural center of resistance to traditional opponents - the Horde and the Crusaders. In addition, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the middle of the XIV century, numerically dominated Orthodox population, with which the pagan Lithuanians got along quite peacefully, and sometimes the unrest that occurred was quickly suppressed (for example, in Smolensk). The lands of the principality under Olgerd stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea steppes, the eastern border ran approximately along the current border of the Smolensk and Moscow regions. There were obvious trends leading towards the formation of a new version of Russian statehood in the southern and western lands of the former Kiev state.
FORMATION OF THE GRAND PRINCIPALITY OF LITHUANIA AND RUSSIAN
In the first half of the XIV century. a strong state appeared in Europe - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia. It owes its origin to the Grand Duke Gediminas (1316-1341), who during the years of his reign captured and annexed to Lithuania the Brest, Vitebsk, Volyn, Galician, Lutsk, Minsk, Pinsk, Polotsk, Slutsk and Turov lands. Smolensk, Pskov, Galicia-Volyn and Kiev principality. Many Russian lands, seeking to find protection from the Mongol-Tatars, joined Lithuania. The internal order in the annexed lands did not change, but their princes had to recognize themselves as vassals of Gediminas, pay tribute to him and supply troops when necessary. Gediminas himself began to call himself "the king of Lithuanians and many Russians." official language and the language of office work of the principality became the old Russian (close to modern Belarusian) language. There was no persecution on religious and national grounds in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In 1323 Lithuania got a new capital - Vilnius. According to legend, once Gediminas hunted at the foot of the mountain at the confluence of the Vilnia and Neris rivers. Having killed a huge tour, he and his warriors decided to spend the night near an ancient pagan sanctuary. In his dream he dreamed of a wolf clad in iron armor, howling like a hundred wolves. Called to interpret the dream, the high priest Lizdeyka explained that he should build a city in this place - the capital of the state, and that the glory of this city would spread throughout the world. Gediminas heeded the priest's advice. A city was built, which got its name from the Vilnia River. This is where Gediminas moved his residence from Trakai.
From Vilnius in 1323-1324 Gediminas wrote letters to the Pope and the cities of the Hanseatic League. In them, he declared his desire to accept Catholicism, invited artisans, merchants, and farmers to Lithuania. The crusaders understood that the adoption of Catholicism by Lithuania would mean for them the end of their "missionary" mission in the eyes of Western Europe. Therefore, they began to incite local pagans and Orthodox against Gediminas. The prince was forced to abandon his plans - he announced to the papal legates about the alleged mistake of the clerk. However, Christian churches in Vilnius continued to be built.
The crusaders soon resumed hostilities against Lithuania. In 1336 they laid siege to the Samogitian castle of Pilenai. When its defenders realized that they could not resist for a long time, they burned the castle and died in the fire themselves. On November 15, 1337, Ludwig IV of Bavaria presented the Teutonic Order with the Bavarian castle built near Nemunas, which was supposed to become the capital of the conquered state. However, this state still had to be conquered.
After the death of Gediminas, the principality passed to his seven sons. The one who ruled in Vilnius was considered the Grand Duke. The capital went to Jaunutis. His brother Kestutis, who inherited Grodno, the Principality of Trakai and Samogitia, was dissatisfied with the fact that Jaunutis turned out to be a weak ruler and could not come to his aid in the fight against the crusaders. In the winter of 1344-1345, Kestutis occupied Vilnius and shared power with his other brother, Algirdas (Olgerd). Kestutis led the fight against the crusaders. He repulsed 70 campaigns in Lithuania of the Teutonic Order and 30 - Livonian. There was not a single major battle in which he would not take part. Kestutis' military talent was appreciated even by his enemies: each of the crusaders, according to their own sources, would consider it the greatest honor to shake hands with Kestutis.
Algirdas, the son of a Russian mother, like his father Gediminas, paid more attention to the seizure of Russian lands. During the years of his reign, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania doubled. Algirdas annexed Kyiv, Novgorod-Seversky, Right-bank Ukraine and Podil to Lithuania. The capture of Kyiv led to a clash with the Mongol-Tatars. In 1363 the army of Algirdas defeated them at the Blue Waters, the South Russian lands were liberated from Tatar dependence. Algirdas' father-in-law, Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver, asked his son-in-law for support in the fight against Moscow. Three times (1368, 1370 and 1372) Algirdas made a trip to Moscow, but could not take the city, after which peace was eventually concluded with the Moscow prince.
After the death of Algirdas in 1377, civil strife began in the country. The throne of the Grand Duke of Lithuania was received by the son of Algirdas from the second marriage of Jagiello (Yagello). Andrei (Andryus), the son from his first marriage, rebelled and fled to Moscow, asking for support there. He was received in Moscow and sent to conquer the Novgorod-Seversky lands from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Jagiello, in the fight against Andrei, turned to the Order for help, promising to convert to Catholicism. In secret from Kestutis, a peace treaty was concluded between the Order and Jogaila (1380). Having secured a reliable rear for himself, Jagiello went with an army to help Mamai against, hoping to punish Moscow for supporting Andrei and share the lands of the Moscow principality with Oleg Ryazansky (also an ally of Mamai). However, Jagiello arrived at the Kulikovo field late: the Mongol-Tatars had already suffered a crushing defeat. Meanwhile, Kestutis found out about the secret treaty concluded against him. In 1381 he occupied Vilnius, expelled Jogaila from there and sent him to Vitebsk. However, a few months later, in the absence of Kestutis, Jagiello, together with his brother Skirgaila, captured Vilnius, and then Trakai. Kestutis and his son Vytautas were invited to negotiate at Jogaila's headquarters, where they were captured and placed in the Kreva Castle. Kestutis was treacherously killed, and Vytautas managed to escape. Jagiello began to rule alone.
In 1383 the Order, with the help of Vytautas and the Samogitian barons, resumed hostilities against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The allies took Trakai and burned Vilnius. Under these conditions, Jagiello was forced to seek support from Poland. In 1385, a dynastic union was concluded between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish state in Krevo (Krakow) Castle. The following year, Jagiello was baptized, given the name Vladislav, married the Polish queen Jadwiga and became the Polish king - the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty, which ruled Poland and Lithuania for over 200 years. Implementing the union in practice, Jagiello created the Vilnius bishopric, baptized Lithuania, and equalized the rights of the Lithuanian feudal lords who converted to Catholicism with the Polish ones. Vilnius received the right of self-government (Magdeburg Law).
Vytautas, who fought Jagiello for some time, returned to Lithuania in 1390, and in 1392 an agreement was concluded between the two rulers: Vytautas received the Principality of Trakai and became the de facto ruler of Lithuania (1392-1430). After campaigns in 1397-1398 to the Black Sea, he brought Tatars and Karaites to Lithuania and settled them in Trakai. Vytautas strengthened the Lithuanian state and expanded its territory. He deprived the power of the specific princes, sending his deputies to manage the lands. In 1395, Smolensk was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and attempts were made to conquer Novgorod and Pskov. The state of Vytautas stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In order to provide himself with a reliable rear in the fight against the crusaders, Vytautas signed an agreement with the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I (who was married to Vytautas' daughter, Sophia). The Ugra River became the border between the great principalities.
OLGERD, aka ALGIDRAS
V. B. Antonovich (“Essay on the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania”) gives us the following masterful description of Olgerd: “Olgerd, according to his contemporaries, was distinguished mainly by deep political talents, he knew how to use circumstances, correctly outlined the goals of his political aspirations, favorably disposed alliances and chose the right time for the implementation of his political plans. Extremely restrained and prudent, Olgerd was distinguished by his ability to keep his political and military plans in impenetrable secrecy. Russian chronicles, which are generally not disposed towards Olgerd due to his clashes with northeastern Russia, call him “evil”, “godless” and “flattering”; however, they recognize in him the ability to use circumstances, restraint, cunning - in a word, all the qualities necessary to strengthen their power in the state and to expand its limits. In relation to various nationalities, it can be said that all the sympathies and attention of Olgerd focused on the Russian people; Olgerd, according to his views, habits and family ties, belonged to the Russian people and served as its representative in Lithuania. At the very time when Olgerd strengthened Lithuania by annexing the Russian regions, Keistut is its defender against the crusaders and deserves the glory of a national hero. Keistut is a pagan, but even his enemies, the crusaders, recognize in him the qualities of an exemplary Christian knight. The Poles recognized the same qualities in him.
Both princes divided the administration of Lithuania so precisely that the Russian chronicles know only Olgerd, and the German chronicles only Keistut.
LITHUANIANS AT THE MONUMENT TO THE MILLENNIUM OF RUSSIA
The lower tier of figures is a high relief, on which, as a result of a long struggle, 109 finally approved figures depicting prominent figures of the Russian state were placed. Under each of them, on a granite plinth, there is a signature (name), displayed in a Slavic stylized font.
The figures placed on the high relief are divided by the author of the project of the Monument into four departments: Enlighteners, Statesmen; Military people and heroes; Writers and artists...
The Department of State People is located on the eastern side of the Monument and begins immediately after the “Illuminators” with the figure of Yaroslav the Wise, after which come: Vladimir Monomakh, Gedimin, Olgerd, Vitovt, the princes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Zakharenko A.G. The history of the construction of the Monument to the Millennium of Russia in Novgorod. Scientific Notes” of the Faculty of History and Philology of the Novgorod State Pedagogical Institute. Issue. 2. Novgorod. 1957
16. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia in the XIII - XVI centuries. Russian lands as part of the principality.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a feudal state that existed in the 13th-16th centuries. on the territory of part of modern Lithuania and Belarus. The main occupation of the population was agriculture and cattle breeding. Hunting and crafts played an auxiliary role in the economy. The development of handicrafts based on iron production, internal and external trade (with Russia, Poland, etc.) contributed to the growth of cities (Vilnius, Trakai, Kaunas, etc.). In the 9th-12th centuries. feudal relations developed on the territory of Lithuania, the estates of feudal lords and dependent people were formed. Separate Lithuanian political associations had different levels of social and economic development. The decomposition of primitive communal relations and the emergence of the feudal system led to the formation of a state among the Lithuanians. According to the Galicia-Volyn chronicle, the Russo-Lithuanian treaty of 1219 mentions an alliance of Lithuanian princes headed by the "oldest" princes who owned lands in Aukstaitija. This indicates the existence of a state in Lithuania. The strengthening of the grand ducal power led to the unification of the main Lithuanian lands in V. k. L. under the rule of Mindovg (mid-30s of the 13th century - 1263), who also seized some Belarusian lands (Black Russia). The formation of the V. k. L. was accelerated by the need to unite to fight the aggression of the German crusaders, which intensified from the beginning of the 13th century. Lithuanian troops won major victories over the knights in the battles of Siauliai (1236) and Durba (1260).
In the 14th century, during the reign of Gediminas (1316-1341), Olgerd (1345-77) and Keistut (1345-82), . the Principality of Lithuania significantly expanded its possessions, adding all Belarusian, part of Ukrainian and Russian lands (Volyn, Vitebsk, Turov-Pinsk, Kiev, Pereyaslav, Podolsk, Chernihiv-Seversky lands, etc.). Their inclusion was facilitated by the fact that Russia was weakened by the Mongol-Tatar yoke, as well as the fight against the aggression of German, Swedish and Danish invaders. Joining the Great. princes Lithuanian. Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian lands with more developed social relations and culture contributed to the further development of socio-economic relations in Lithuania. In the annexed lands, the Lithuanian grand dukes retained significant autonomy and immunity rights for local magnates. This, as well as differences in the level of socio-economic development and the ethnic heterogeneity of individual parts of V. k. L., led to the lack of centralization in state administration. was at the head of the state Grand Duke, with him - a council of representatives of the nobility and the higher clergy. In order to join forces to fight the advance of the German knightly orders and strengthen his power, Grand Duke Jagiello (1377-92) concluded the Union of Krevo with Poland in 1385. However, the union was fraught with the danger of Lithuania becoming a province of Poland in the future. In Lithuania, where until the end of the 14th century. paganism existed, Catholicism began to spread by force. Jagiello's policy was opposed by a part of the Lithuanian and Russian princes, headed by Vitovt, who in 1392, after an internecine struggle, actually became the Grand Duke in Lithuania. The combined Lithuanian-Russian and Polish troops, with the participation of Czech troops in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, utterly defeated the knights of the Teutonic Order and stopped their aggression.
The growth of large feudal landownership and the consolidation of the ruling class in the 14th - 15th centuries. were accompanied by mass enslavement of the peasants, which caused peasant uprisings (for example, in 1418). The main form of exploitation of the peasants was food rent. Simultaneously with the growth of economic dependence, national oppression in the Belarusian and Ukrainian lands also intensified. Crafts and trade developed in the cities. In the 15-16 centuries. the rights and privileges of the Lithuanian lords are growing. According to the Union of Horodel in 1413, the rights of the Polish gentry were extended to the Lithuanian Catholic nobles. At the end of the 15th century a Rada of pans was formed, which actually put the power of the Grand Duke under its control by the privilege of 1447 and by the privilege of the Grand Duke Alexander in 1492. The formation of a general gentry Sejm (at the end of the 15th century), as well as the publication of the Lithuanian Statutes of 1529 and 1566, consolidated and increased the rights of the Lithuanian nobility.
The transition to cash rent at the end of the 15th-16th centuries. was accompanied by an increase in the exploitation of the peasants and an aggravation of the class struggle: escapes and unrest became more frequent (especially large ones - in 1536-37 in the grand ducal estates). In the middle of the 16th century a reform was carried out on the estates of the Grand Duke, as a result of which the exploitation of the peasants intensified due to the growth of corvee (see Volochnaya Pomera). From the end of the 16th century this system is being introduced in the estates of large landowners-tycoons. Mass enslavement of peasants, development of corvée economy, acquisition by Lithuanian landlords in the second half of the 16th century. the right to duty-free export of grain abroad and the import of goods hindered the development of cities.
As already noted, by the XII century. on the territory of the Baltic tribes living in the Neman basin, several political associations arose - "lands": Samogitia (Zhmud), Deltuva (Dyaltuva), etc. These associations, headed by princes (kunigas), became the basis for the formation of the Lithuanian state. Its territorial core was one of the principalities that came to the fore in the first half of the 13th century. in military-political terms, Aukstaitija (Auxtote in Western sources), or “Upper Lithuania”, is in the foreground. This “land” occupied the right bank of the middle Neman and the basin of its tributary, the Viliya River. The formation of a unified Lithuanian principality is associated with the activities of Prince Mindovg (Mindaugas ruled from the 1230s to 1263). By the end of his reign, he subjugated all the Lithuanian principalities - "lands" and, in addition, captured the western part of the Polotsk principality from the upper reaches of the Viliya to Black Russia - the territory along the left tributaries of the Neman with the cities of Novgorodok, Volkovysk and Slonim. It is known that in the early 1250s. Mindovg accepted Christianity according to the Catholic rite (although most of his subjects continued to be pagans) and the title of king. Nevertheless, in Russian sources, the Lithuanian state was almost always referred to as the "principality" or "grand principality", and its heads - "princes".
Lands united by Mindovg (with the exception of Samogitia), in the XIII-XV centuries. were called "Lithuania" in the narrow sense of the word. The Western Russian territories included in this region underwent some Lithuanian colonization, which was predominantly military in nature. The capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the second half of the XIII century. was Novgorodok. As the state grew, this area was subject to a process of political fragmentation: in the XIV-XV centuries. Vilna, Trotsky (Trakai), Gorodensky and Novgorod principalities existed here. Samogitia (Zhmudskaya land), which occupied the right bank of the Neman from the bank to the Western Dvina in its middle reaches, retained a certain administrative isolation from Lithuania in the XIV-XV centuries, although the power of the grand dukes extended to it.
It should be noted that in the "gathering" of Russian lands by the Lithuanian princes in the XIV-XV centuries. military takeovers were by no means the only method. Specific principalities turned out to be their property both as a result of dynastic marriages and as a result of the voluntary recognition of vassal dependence on Lithuania by some Russian princes.
Under the heirs of Mindaugas, the growth of the state territory of the Principality of Lithuania continued. Under Vyten (Vytenis, 1295-1316) in 1307, Polotsk with the district was conquered from the Livonian Order. During the reign of Gediminas (Gediminas, 1316–1341), the city of Vilna (Vilnius since 1323) became the capital of the state, the Minsk specific principality, which reached the upper one, and Vitebsk were annexed, and in the south-west - Beresteyskaya land (Podlyashye). At the same time, the influence of Lithuania began to spread to Polesie, where the specific principalities of the Turov-Pinsk land were located. Thus, by the middle of the XIV century. Russian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania surpassed Lithuanian proper both in area and in population. It is not surprising that Gediminas began to call himself the prince of "Lithuanian, Zhmud and Russian", and later historians and the whole state sometimes began to call "Lithuanian-Russian" or "Russian-Lithuanian". Such a name more adequately reflects the essence of this state, since in the future, in the second half of the XIV - XV centuries, it expanded almost exclusively at the expense of the former Russian principalities and lands. Although the ruling dynasty remained Lithuanian, it, like all Lithuanian nobility, experienced significant Russian influence. Interestingly, attached in the XIV century. the lands along the upper Dnieper, Berezina, Pripyat and Sozh in the Lithuanian-Russian documents were called "Rus" in the narrow sense of the word, and this name was retained for this region throughout the entire period of the existence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In 1345–1377 Gedimin's sons Olgerds (Algirdas) and Kestutis (Kestutis) jointly headed the state. As co-rulers, they separated the foreign policy sphere between themselves: Olgerd tried to establish the influence of Lithuania in the Russian lands, and Keistut, having received Samogitia and Trakai in control, fought the Livonian Order. If the activities of Keistut were mainly defensive in nature, then Olgerd managed to carry out several more territorial annexations. On the left bank of the Dnieper, he captured the northern allotments of the Chernigov-Seversk land with the cities of Bryansk, Trubchevsk, Starodub, Novgorod Seversky, Chernigov, Rylsk and Putivl. The Verkhovsky principalities located in the basin of the upper reaches of the Oka - Novosilskoye, Odoevskoye, Vorotynskoye, Belevskoye, Kozelskoye and others - also recognized their dependence on Lithuania. True, these territories repeatedly passed from Lithuania to the Moscow principality and back. To the west of the Dnieper, Olgerd managed to annex the entire Kiev region, and after the victory over the Horde army in the battle of Blue Waters around 1363, the possessions of the state in the south reached the middle reaches of the Dniester. The power of the Lithuanian princes began to spread to Volhynia, the Galician land and Podolia (the region between the upper reaches of the Southern Bug and). However, here Lithuania was seriously opposed by the Kingdom of Poland and the struggle for these lands went on with varying success.
Olgerd's heir Jagiello (Jogaila, 1377–1392) fought fiercely for the grand prince's table with Keistut, and then with Vytautas. Having won, he concluded the Union of Krevo (1385), according to which he pledged to accept the Catholic faith with all his relatives and forever annex the Grand Duchy to the Kingdom of Poland. In 1386 he was baptized and under the name of Vladislav II became the Polish king. However, the incorporation of Lithuania into Poland did not last long. A few years later, Vytautas (Vytautas, 1392–1430) became the Grand Duke of Lithuania, under whom Lithuania gained de facto independence. Vitovt managed to return the lands seized by the Teutonic Order during the Lithuanian civil strife, subdue the Smolensk land, as well as the territory in the basin of the upper Dnieper and along the Ugra. Using the strife in the Golden Horde, he, in addition, captured part of the Northern Black Sea region from the Dnieper to the Dniester. A number of new fortifications were built here.
In the XV century. the growth rate of the state territory of the Principality of Lithuania decreased significantly, and its borders stabilized. The state reached its greatest expansion under Casimir IV, who combined the thrones of the Grand Duke of Lithuania (1440–1492) and the King of Poland (since 1447). During this period, it covered the land to and from the upper Oka. In the Baltic, Lithuania owned a small stretch of coast with the town of Palanga. From it, the northern border went to the middle course of the Western Dvina and the upper reaches of the Velikaya, then, skirting Velikiye Luki from the south, crossed the Lovat and went southeast. In the east, the possessions of Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow separated Ugra and Oka from Kaluga to Lubutsk, beyond which the border turned south to the source of the Sosna, and then passed along Oskol and Samara to the Dnieper. In the south, the Dnieper and the Black Sea coast served as frontiers, and in the southwest - the Dniester and the foothills of the Carpathians. From the middle course of the Western Bug, the border went to the Neman, west of Kovno, and to the Baltic.
At the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. the territory of Lithuania in the east was significantly reduced. Losses were associated with the Russo-Lithuanian wars, in which the Moscow Grand Dukes were successful. Under the treaties of 1494, 1503 and 1522. the upper reaches of the Lovat (from the city of Nevel) and the Western Dvina (Toropets), the Smolensky, Vyazemsky and Belsky appanages, the Verkhovsky principalities, Bryansk, Trubchevsk, Chernigov and Novgorod Seversky, as well as the steppe territory from Putivl and Rylsk to the Oskol River, moved to Moscow.
The rapprochement of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with Poland, which began under Jagiello, finally ended in 1569, when, as a result of the conclusion of the Union of Lublin, the territory of the principality was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland, and a new state arose - the Commonwealth.
Geographically, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania consisted of several regions in which the concentration of the population was quite high. The fact is that the population of the principality was grouped in a kind of "oases", separated from each other by uninhabited or sparsely populated spaces. Such spaces were areas of dense forests or vast swamps, of which there were quite a lot in the part occupied by Lithuania. These forests separated the Lithuanian land (in the narrow sense) from Prussia, the Beresteiskaya land (Podlasie) and the Turov-Pinsk principalities. The wooded and swampy forest stretched in the north of the Zhmud land, delimiting it and the possessions of the Livonian Order; the forest space separated the Volyn land from the Beresteiskaya and from the Turov-Pinsk specific principalities; forests stretched in a strip in the basin of the Berezina and Disna, isolating the Polotsk and Vitebsk lands from Lithuania, which in turn were separated from the Smolensk land by a similar forest barrier. These forests, lying between the populated parts of the state, separating them, favored the preservation of their social and political identity.
Opinion
“The Lithuanian land itself, by whose forces the state was created under the given historical circumstances, naturally occupied in it the politically predominant and
privileged position. In addition to the original territory of the Lithuanian tribe, this area also included Russian lands, occupied already in the 13th century. and more or less
colonized by it. More closely than other regions, Russian territories adjoined their own Lithuanian land, which Lithuania inherited by right of conquest from neighboring Russian lands or, at the time of joining Lithuania, were politically broken and therefore were too weak to occupy a separate and independent position in the Lithuanian-Russian federations, which were: the so-called Rus (in a special, private sense), Podlachie or the land of Beresteyskaya, the principalities of Turov-Pinsk in Polissya. Together with these lands, own Lithuania was divided in the studied time into two voivodeships, Vilna and Trotsky, which was affected by the military-political dualism that was established in Lithuania in the 14th century, from the time of Olgerd and Keistut. The rest of the regions, i.e. the land of Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Zhmudsk, Kyiv and Volyn, Chernihiv-Seversk principalities and Podolia, which joined the Grand Duchy by agreement and treaty, while maintaining local independence and originality, continued to maintain their special position from Lithuania as part of the Grand Duchy and in the time under study. This is the preservation of local political antiquity, except for geographical location of these regions, which favored their independence, was due to the lack of original creative aspirations in the Lithuanian government in the matter state building, which in turn was due to the comparative political weakness and underdevelopment of the ruling tribe.
Regional and administrative division of the State of Lithuania
The administrative-territorial structure of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania has evolved throughout its history. In the XIII-XIV centuries. the specific system dominated: the vassals of the Grand Duke were at the same time his representatives in the territories subject to them. Sometimes Lithuanian princes used their sons or other representatives of the Lithuanian aristocracy as governors. At the same time, in many Russian specific principalities that were part of the Lithuanian state, Russian princely dynasties remained, ruling their “fatherland”, but recognizing vassal dependence on the Gediminids. In the XV century. the specific system was replaced directly by the grand ducal administration. Governors were appointed to the centers of the former specific principalities (as they got closer to Poland, they began to be called the terms "voivods" and "headmen" borrowed from there). In the largest former principalities there were governors: Vilna, Trotsky, Kiev, Polotsk, Vitebsk and Smolensk. The districts, which were ruled by governors, elders and other representatives of the princely administration, were called at first by the old Russian term "volost", and then the word "povet" was borrowed from Poland. By the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. There was a fairly clear system of administrative-territorial division.
In addition to the volosts of the former Vilna Principality, the volosts of the Novgorod Principality and the destinies of Slutsk, Kletsk and Mstislavsky were part of the Vilna Voivodeship. The largest cities of this territory were Vilna - the capital of the state since 1323, Novgorodok, Slutsk, Minsk, Kletsk, Mogilev, Mstislavl. Trotsky Voivodeship occupied the basin of the middle Neman and Beresteyskaya land. Its largest cities are Troki (Trakai), Koven (Kovno), Gorodno (Grodno), Belsk, Dorogichin, Berestye, Pinsk, Turov. Samogitia (Zhmudskaya land) was headed by the headman, there were no large cities here.
Volyn land consisted of several povets, the judicial and administrative power in which belonged to local feudal lords. Largest cities- Vladimir, Lutsk, Kremenets, Ostrog. The administrative district of the Kiev governor was determined by the composition of the volosts and possessions that belonged to the Kiev princes in the XIV-XV centuries. These included the basin of the lower Pripyat with its tributaries, the Teterev basin and the right bank of the Dnieper to the Tyasmin River, and to the east of the Dnieper - the coast from the mouth of the Sozh to Samara, almost all Donets to Oskol. At the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. the eastern volosts of the voivodeship were lost. The main area of concentration of cities here was the right bank of the Dnieper, where Kyiv, Chernobyl, Vruchiy (Ovruch), Zhitomir, Cherkasy, Vyshgorod, Kanev, Mozyr, etc. were located. On the left bank, there were mainly old Russian centers - Chernigov, Novgorod Seversky, Starodub, Rylsk and Putivl. South of Putivl and Rylsk there were almost uninhabited steppes.
The Smolensk Voivodeship included volosts that belonged to the last Smolensk princes (many of these volosts passed into the possession of serving princes and pans), as well as the eastern judicial and administrative districts that became part of the Lithuanian-Russian state later than the Smolensk povet. The territory of the voivodeship covered the space from the upper reaches of the Lovat in the north to the source of the Oka in the south, and in the east it reached the Ugra. The largest cities in this region are Smolensk, Toropets, Vyazma, Vorotynsk, Odoev, Mosalsk, Bryansk, Lubutsk, Mtsensk. In 1503, Toropetsky, Bryansk, Mtsensk, Lubutsky povets, Belsk, Vyazemsky and Verkhovsky principalities went to Moscow, and in 1514 formally (legally in 1522) - Smolensk with the district.
The Vitebsk Voivodeship consisted of volosts and estates that belonged to the Vitebsk and Drutsk princes in the 14th century and covered the upper reaches of the Western Dvina and the Dnieper with the cities of Vitebsk, Orsha and several towns. In a similar way, the Polotsk province arose from the inheritances of the Polotsk and Lukom princes, who were located in the middle reaches of the Dvina. Perhaps only Polotsk can be called a city in the full sense of the word, the rest of the settlements were small, but there were a large number of them.
Braslav, Venitsky and Zvenigorod povets of Lithuanian Podolia (Podolia) occupied the territory from the Dniester to the lower Dnieper. Only the basin of the upper Bug was inhabited in them, where the cities and towns of Venitsa (Vinnitsa), Braslavl, Zvenigorodka and others were located.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to take shape during a period of significant changes in the foreign policy situation.
During the formation of the state, the conquest of the vast territory of Russia by the Mongols-Tatars took place. This fact was favorable, since the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was thus protected from invasion from the eastern side for the next century.
Since the second half of the 12th century, the Lithuanians were divided into two. The first included upper Lithuania (aukshtaite), the second - lower or "Zhmud" (zhemite).
It should be noted that the Lithuanians were at a lower level than the East Slavic peoples. Gradually, the Lithuanian princes in some Russian cities are approved on the tables. After Mindovg (prince of Lithuania) destroys his opponents, “centralization” takes place. During this period, the core of the new state begins to form. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia continues to develop under the successors of Prince Mindovg, in particular during the reign of Gediminas. During his reign, the state included the territories of upper Lithuania, as well as the territories of Black Russia (Ponemanya) attached to them. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania also annexed part of the Turov-Pinsk and Polotsk lands.
The capital of the state for a certain period was located on Russian territory in the city of Novgorodok Lithuanian. Then she was transferred to Vilna.
The case for the formation of a new state, which was started by the first Lithuanians (Gediminas and Mindovg), after them was continued by Keistut and Olgerd. Functions were divided between them. So, the defense of the country from the knights lay on the shoulders of Keistut, while Olgerd was engaged in the seizure of Russian territories. As a result, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania annexed Kiev, Polotsk, Volyn, Chernihiv-Seversk territories, as well as Podolia. At the same time, the Old Russian lands had an autonomous status.
At the end of the 14th century, the dynasty of rulers came to an end in the Polish state. The daughter of Louis Jadwiga ascended the Polish throne. After the coronation, a marriage was concluded between Jadwiga and Jagiello (the heir of Olgerd).
After the marriage of Jagiello and Jadwiga in 1385, the Union of Kreva (the union of Lithuania and Poland) was signed. In addition, pagan Lithuania was baptized into the Catholic faith. This led to the weakening of the Orthodox faith and the elimination of the pagan religion.
In 1413, it was concluded. With its signing, the process of Polonization of the principality and the spread of Catholicism began. In addition, with the conclusion of the Union of Horodel, the prerequisites began to be created for the offensive of Poland on the Russian territories of the Grand Duchy.
The conditions that were created in the state contributed to it. In historical sources, it is called the “uprising of Svidrigailo” (son of Olgerd). Lithuania split into two parts. Sigismund (son of Keistut) settled in Lithuania. Svidrigailo began to reign in the Russian lands. His rebellion was put down.
After the death of Sigismund, Casimir ascended the throne. During his reign Lithuanian lands are united, the basis of the Uniate policy is being restored. However, they remain highly unstable.
Casimir's activities were continued by his successors - Sigismund and Alexander. After them, Sigismund-August took over. In the context of the ongoing struggle between Russian state and Lithuania in 1569 concluded the Union of Lublin in Poland. She was very important in historical development Central and Eastern Europe. After the conclusion of the union, the Commonwealth appeared - a new power, in which the Grand Duchy managed to maintain a certain independence.
