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 vast territory of Rus' was conquered by the Mongol-Tatars. This fact was favorable, since the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was thus protected from invasion from the eastern side for the next century.
From the second half of the 12th century, the Lithuanians were divided into two. The first included upper Lithuania (aukstaite), the second included lower Lithuania or “Zhmud” (zhemite).
It should be noted that the Lithuanians were at a lower level than the East Slavic peoples. Gradually, Lithuanian princes in some Russian cities are establishing themselves on the tables. After Mindovg (Prince of Lithuania) destroys his opponents, “centralization” occurs. 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 Mindaugas, 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 Rus' (Ponemania) annexed to them. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania annexed part of the Turovo-Pinsk and Polotsk lands.
The capital of the state for a certain period was located on Russian territory in the city of Novgorodok Litovsky. Then it was moved to Vilna.
The work of forming a new state, which was started by the first Lithuanians (Gedimin and Mindovg), was continued after them by Keistut and Olgerd. Functions were divided between them. Thus, 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 the Kyiv, Polotsk, Volyn, Chernigov-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 in the Polish state came to an end. Louis' daughter Jadwiga ascended to the Polish throne. After the coronation, a marriage was concluded between Jadwiga and Jagiello (the heir of Olgerd).
After the wedding of Jogaila and Jadwiga in 1385, the Union of Krevo (union of Lithuania and Poland) was signed. In addition, pagan Lithuania was baptized into the Catholic faith. This led to a weakening Orthodox faith and elimination pagan religion.
It was concluded in 1413. With its signing, the process of polonization of the principality and the spread of Catholicism begins. In addition, with the conclusion of the Gorodel Union, the preconditions began to be created for Poland’s attack 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 on Russian lands. His rebellion was crushed.
After the death of Sigismund, Casimir ascended the throne. During his reign, the Lithuanian lands were united, and the basis of Uniate politics was restored. However, they remain highly unstable.
Casimir's activities were continued by his successors - Sigismund and Alexander. After them, Sigismund Augustus took over. In the context of the ongoing struggle between Russian state and Lithuania in 1569 concluded the Union of Lublin in Poland. She had a very great importance V historical development Central and Eastern Europe. After the conclusion of the union, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth appeared - a new power, within which the Grand Duchy managed to maintain a certain independence.
The Principality of Lithuania was initially Lithuanian-Russian in composition with a predominance of Russians and could become a powerful Orthodox state. It is unknown what would have happened to the Principality of Moscow if the Lithuanian princes had not turned to the West, towards Poland.
Zhemgola, Zhmud, Prussians and others
Lithuanian tribes, close to the Slavs, judging by both language studies and analysis of beliefs, lived quite calmly and carelessly on the Baltic coast between the Western Dvina and the Vistula. They were divided into tribes: on the right bank of the Dvina lived the Letgola tribe, on the left - the Zhemgola, on the peninsula between the mouth of the Neman and the Gulf of Riga - the Korsi, between the mouths of the Neman and the Vistula - the Prussians, in the Neman basin - the Zhmud in the upper reaches, and Lithuania itself - on average, plus the most dense of the listed Yotvingians on Narva. Cities in these territories did not exist until the 13th century, when the city of Voruta among the Lithuanians and Tveremet among Zhmudi were first noted in the chronicle, and historians tend to attribute the formation of the beginnings of the state to the 14th century.
German knights
Young and aggressive Europeans, mainly Germans, as well as Swedes and Danes, naturally could not help but begin colonizing the eastern Baltic Sea. So the Swedes took the lands of the Finns, the Danes built Revel in Estland, and the Germans went to the Lithuanians. At first they only traded and preached. The Lithuanians did not refuse to be baptized, but then they plunged into the Dvina and “washed away” the baptism from themselves, sending it back to the Germans by water. The pope then sent the crusaders there, led by Bishop Albert, the first bishop of Livonia, who in 1200 founded Riga, the Order of the Swordsmen, fortunately there were plenty of knights in those days, and conquered and colonized the surrounding lands. Thirty years later, another order, the Teutonic Order, was located nearby, in the possessions of the Polish prince Konrad of Mazovia, which was driven out of Palestine by the Muslims. They were called upon to defend Poland from the Prussians, who constantly robbed the Poles. The knights conquered all Prussian lands in fifty years and a state was founded there in fief subordination from the Emperor of Germany.
The first reliable reign
But the Lithuanians did not submit to the Germans. They began to unite in large groups and build alliances, in particular, with the Polotsk princes. Considering that the Russian western lands were weak at that time, the passionate Lithuanians, who were called into service by one or the other prince, acquired primitive management skills, and began to seize first the Polotsk land, then the lands of Novgorod, Smolensk, and Kyiv. The first reliable reign was that of Mindaugas, the son of Romgold, who created a principality of Russians and Lithuanians. However, it was impossible to turn around too much, since in the South there was a strong Galician principality led by Daniel, and on the other side the Livonian Order was not asleep. Mindovg ceded the occupied Russian lands to Daniil's son Roman, but formally retained power over them and consolidated this matter by marrying his daughter to Daniil's son Shvarna. The Livonian Order recognized Mindaugas when he was baptized. As a sign of gratitude, he handed over to the Germans letters of approval for Lithuanian lands, which he did not own.
Founder of the dynasty
After the death of Mindaugas, as one would expect, various civil strife began in the principality, which lasted half a century, until in 1316 the princely throne was occupied by Gedimin, the founder of the Gedimin dynasty. Over the previous years, Daniil and other Russian princes had great influence in Lithuania and transferred a lot there in terms of urban planning, cultural and military. Gediminas was married to a Russian and, in general, pursued a Lithuanian-Russian policy, understanding that this was necessary for the construction of the state. But he subjugated Polotsk, Kyiv, and partly Volyn. He himself sat in Vilna, and two-thirds of his state were Russian lands. The sons of Gediminas Olgerd and Keistut turned out to be friendly guys - one sat in Vilna, and was engaged in north-eastern Russia, and Keistut lived in Troki, and acted against the Germans.
Jagiello - apostate
Befitting the sound of his name, Prince Jagiello turned out to be the unworthy son of Olgerd; he agreed with the Germans to destroy his uncle Keistut. That Jagiello won, but did not kill his nephew, and in vain, because at the first opportunity Jagiello strangled his uncle, but his son Vytautas was able to hide with the Teutonic knights, however, he later returned and settled on small lands. The Poles began to approach Jagiello with a proposal to marry him to Queen Jadwiga. She was recognized as queen after the death of the Hungarian King Louis, who ruled according to the dynastic principle in Poland. The lords argued and fought for a long time about who Jadwiga should take as a husband, and Jagiello was very suitable: the disputes over Volyn and Galich would stop, Poland would strengthen itself against the Germans who captured the Polish seaside, and would drive the Hungarians out of Galich and Lvov. Jagiello, baptized into Orthodoxy, was very happy at the offer, was baptized into Catholicism and baptized Lithuania. In 1386, the marriage was concluded and Jagiello received the name Vladislav. He destroyed pagan temples, etc., helped remove the Hungarians and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Teutonic Order at Grunwald. But, as Russian historian Sergei Platonov notes, the union “introduced the seeds of internal hostility and decay into Lithuania,” since the preconditions were created for the oppression of Orthodox Russians.
Vytautas - collector of lands
The son of the murdered Keistut, Vytautas, as soon as Jagiello left for Poland, with the help of appanage princes, began to rule in Poland (1392), and with such support that he achieved complete personal independence from King Vladislav, the former Jagiello. Under Vytautas, Lithuania expanded from the Baltic to the Black Sea, advanced deeply to the East due to Smolensk Principality. Vasily I was married to Vytautas's only daughter Sophia, and the left tributary of the Oka Utra was designated as the border between Moscow and Lithuanian lands. Some historians believe that this powerful eastern policy, which could lead to the creation of a huge Lithuanian-Russian state, was promoted by the Orthodox princes of Lithuania, but was sharply opposed by the Poles and the new Polized Lithuanian nobility, which received all the privileges of the gentry and lords. Vytautas even began to apply for a royal title to the Emperor of Germany in order to become independent from Poland, but died (1430) in the midst of this process.
Full union
For more than 100 years, the union was largely formal. This, as in the case of Vytautas, could have the most dire consequences for Poland, so it was decided to always elect one person as both prince and king. Thus, the union conceived in 1386 was implemented only in early XVI century. Polish influence in Lithuania began to grow after this. Previously, local princes could rule in their lands without Catholic and Polish dictates, now Grand Duke subjugated them, the Roman faith became suppressive and oppressive towards the Orthodox. Many converted to Catholicism, others tried to fight, moved to Moscow, which, thanks to this situation, was able to squeeze Lithuania. In the internal politics of the principality, the Polish order was finally established, first of all, the gentry with its enormous rights in relation to the king and peasants. This process naturally ended in 1569 with the Union of Lublin and the formation of another state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
16. Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia in the XIII – XVI centuries. Russian lands as part of the principality.
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 fishing played an auxiliary role in the economy. Development of crafts based on iron production, internal and international 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, and classes of feudal lords and dependent people emerged. Individual Lithuanian political associations had different levels of socio-economic development. The decomposition of primitive communal relations and the emergence of a feudal system led to the formation of a state among the Lithuanians. According to the Galician-Volyn Chronicle, the Russian-Lithuanian treaty of 1219 mentions an alliance of Lithuanian princes led by the “eldest” princes who owned lands in Aukštaitija. 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 into V. k. L. under the rule of Mindaugas (mid-30s of the 13th century - 1263), who also captured some Belarusian lands (Black Rus'). The formation of the VKL was accelerated by the need to unite to fight the aggression of the German crusaders, which had intensified since the beginning of the 13th century. Lithuanian troops won major victories over the knights in the battles of Siauliai (1236) and Durbe (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, annexing all Belarusian, part of Ukrainian and Russian lands (Volyn, Vitebsk, Turov-Pinsk, Kyiv, Pereyaslavl, Podolsk, Chernigov-Seversk lands, etc.). Their inclusion was facilitated by the fact that Rus' was weakened by the Mongol-Tatar yoke, as well as the fight against the aggression of German, Swedish and Danish invaders. Joining the Great. Prince Lithuanian. Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian lands with more developed social relations and culture contributed further development 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 the VKL, determined the lack of centralization in public administration. The head of the state was the Grand Duke, with a council of representatives of the nobility and the highest clergy. In order to unite 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. Some of the Lithuanian and Russian princes, led by Vytautas, who in 1392, after an internecine struggle, actually became the Grand Duke of Lithuania, opposed Jagiello’s policy. United Lithuanian-Russian and Polish troops with the participation of Czech troops in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, they completely 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, causing peasant uprisings (for example, in 1418). The main form of exploitation of peasants was food rent. Simultaneously with the growth of economic dependence, national oppression in the Belarusian and Ukrainian lands intensified. Crafts and trade developed in the cities. In the 15-16th centuries. the rights and privileges of the Lithuanian lords are growing. According to the Union of Gorodel of 1413, the rights of the Polish gentry were extended to Lithuanian Catholic nobles. At the end of the 15th century. A Rada of Gentlemen was formed, which actually put the power of the Grand Duke under its control by the privilege of 1447 and by the privilege of Grand Duke Alexander of 1492. The formation of the 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 and 16th centuries. was accompanied by an increase in the exploitation of peasants and an intensification of the class struggle: escapes and unrest became more frequent (especially large ones in 1536-37 on 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 peasants intensified due to the growth of corvée (see Volga Pomera). From the end of the 16th century. This system is being introduced in the domains of large landowners-magnates. Mass enslavement of peasants, development of corvee farming, receipt by Lithuanian landowners in the 2nd half of the 16th century. rights to duty-free export of grain abroad and import of goods delayed the development of cities.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania- state in the XIII-XVI centuries. on the territory of modern Lithuania, Belarus, parts of Ukraine and Russia. Capitals - cities Trakai, Vilna. Founded by Mindaugas, who united the Lithuanian lands: Aukštaitija, Samogitia, Deltuva, etc. The Grand Dukes of Lithuania Gediminas, Olgerd, Keistut and others captured a number of ancient Russian lands and repelled the aggression of the German knightly orders. In the XIV-XVI centuries. Through the Polish-Lithuanian unions (Union of Krevo 1385, Union of Lublin 1569), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland were united into one state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Encyclopedic Dictionary “History of the Fatherland from Ancient Times to the Present Day”
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a feudal state that existed in the XIII-XVI centuries. on the territory of part of modern Lithuania and Belarus. The main occupation of the population was agriculture and cattle breeding. Hunting and fishing played an auxiliary role in the economy. The development of crafts based on iron production, internal and external trade (with Russia, Poland, etc.) contributed to the growth of cities (Vilnius, Trakai, Kaunas, etc.). In the IX-XII centuries. Feudal relations developed on the territory of Lithuania, and classes of feudal lords and dependent people emerged. Individual Lithuanian political associations - lands (Aukštaitija, Samogitia, Deltuva, etc.) - had an unequal level of socio-economic development. The decomposition of primitive communal relations and the emergence of a feudal system led to the formation of a state among the Lithuanians. According to the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle, the Russian-Lithuanian treaty of 1219 mentions an alliance of Lithuanian princes led by the “eldest” princes who owned lands in Aukštaitija. 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 into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the rule of Mindaugas (mid-30s of the 13th century - 1263), who also captured some Belarusian lands (Black Rus'). The formation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was accelerated by the need to unite to fight the aggression of the German crusaders, which had intensified since the beginning of the 13th century. Lithuanian troops won major victories over the knights in the battles of Siauliai (1236) and Durbe (1260).
In the 14th century, during the reign of Gediminas (1316-1341), Olgerd (1345-77) and Keistut (1345-82), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania significantly expanded its possessions, annexing all Belarusian, part Ukrainian and Russian lands (Volyn, Vitebsk, Turov-Pinsk, Kyiv, Pereyaslav, Podolsk, Chernigov-Seversk lands, etc.). Their inclusion was facilitated by the fact that Rus' was weakened by the Mongol-Tatar yoke, as well as the fight against the aggression of German, Swedish and Danish invaders. Entry into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian lands with more developed public 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 ethnic heterogeneity of individual parts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, determined the lack of centralization in public administration. The head of the state was the Grand Duke, with a council of representatives of the nobility and the highest clergy. In order to unite 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 concealed the danger of Lithuania turning into 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. Some of the Lithuanian and Russian princes, led by Vytautas, who in 1392, after an internecine struggle, actually became the Grand Duke of Lithuania, opposed Jagiello’s policy. The united Lithuanian-Russian and Polish troops, with the participation of Czech troops, completely defeated the knights of the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 and stopped their aggression.
The growth of large feudal landownership and the consolidation of the ruling class in the XIV-XV centuries. were accompanied by mass enslavement of peasants, causing peasant uprisings (for example, in 1418). The main form of exploitation of peasants was food rent. Simultaneously with the growth of economic dependence, national oppression in the Belarusian and Ukrainian lands intensified. Crafts and trade developed in the cities. In the XV-XVI centuries. the rights and privileges of the Lithuanian lords are growing. According to the Union of Gorodel of 1413, the rights of the Polish gentry were extended to Lithuanian Catholic nobles. At the end of the 15th century. A Rada of Gentlemen was formed, which actually put the power of the Grand Duke under its control by the privilege of 1447 and by the privilege of Grand Duke Alexander in 1492. The formation of the general gentry diet (at the end of the 15th century), as well as the publication of the Lithuanian statutes of 1529, 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 peasants and an intensification of the class struggle: escapes and unrest became more frequent (especially large ones in 1536-37 on the grand ducal estates). IN mid-16th century V. A reform was carried out on the estates of the Grand Duke, as a result of which the exploitation of peasants increased due to the growth of corvee. From the end of the 16th century. This system is being introduced in the domains of large landowners-magnates. Mass enslavement of peasants, development of corvee farming, receipt by Lithuanian landowners in the 2nd half of the 16th century. rights to duty-free export of grain abroad and import of goods delayed the development of cities.
From the moment of the formation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Lithuanian princes sought to seize Russian lands. However, strengthening in the 14th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow and the unification of Russian lands around it led to the fact that from the 2nd half of the 15th century. as a result of wars with Russia (1500-03, 1507-08, 1512-22, 1534-37), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost Smolensk (captured by Grand Duke Vitovt in 1404), Chernigov, Bryansk, Novgorod-Seversky and other Russian lands . The growth of anti-feudal protests in the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the aggravation of intra-class contradictions, the desire for expansion to the East, as well as failures in the Livonian War of 1558-83. against Russia led to the unification of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with Poland under the Union of Lublin in 1569 into one state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
During the century after Batu's invasion, on the site of several dozen lands and principalities of Ancient Rus', two powerful states grew up, two new Russias: Muscovite Rus' and Lithuanian Rus'. Three quarters of the ancient Russian cities - Kyiv, Polotsk, Smolensk, Chernigov and many others - became part of Lithuanian Rus. From the 13th century to the end of the 18th century, the history of these lands is closely connected with the existence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Lithuanian scientists are convinced that the word “Lithuania” came to Russian, Polish and others Slavic languages directly from Lithuanian language. They believe that the word comes from the name of the small river Letauka, and the original Lithuania is a small area between the rivers Neris, Viliya and Neman.
IN encyclopedic dictionary“Russia” by F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron mentions Lithuanians, “living mainly along the Viliya and the lower reaches of the Neman,” and are divided into Lithuanians proper and Zhmud.
Lithuania was first mentioned in 1009 in one of the medieval Western chronicles - the annals of Quedlinburg. The Lithuanians were good warriors, and under the influence of German aggression, their entire life was being rebuilt in a military manner. Many victories of the Lithuanians are narrated by German chroniclers, who are difficult to suspect of sympathizing with the enemy. However, the Lithuanians could not cope with such a strong enemy as the knights. The main task of the crusading knights was the Christianization of pagan peoples, which included the Lithuanians. Over the course of half a century, the knights gradually conquered the Prussian land and strengthened themselves there, strong both in their military structure and in the support they had from the Pope and the Emperor from Germany.
The German invasion of Lithuanian lands aroused and aroused the Lithuanian tribes, who began to unite under the threat of German conquest.
In the middle of the 13th century, the Lithuanian prince Mindaugas (Mindovg) subjugated the lands of the Lithuanian and Slavic tribes and created a powerful public education.
Fearing German enslavement, he was baptized by them and for this received a royal crown from the pope. The act of coronation on July 6, 1253 crowned the activities of this unifier of the Lithuanian tribes, the creator of the state of Lithuania and its first ruler; it symbolized the completion of a long and complex process of creating the ancient, very first Lithuanian state.
Lithuania became a subject of the politics of that time; it carried out independent diplomacy and participated in wars of aggression and defense.
Lithuanians became the only branch of the Balts who entered civilization medieval Europe with his state and sovereign - King Mindaugas.
The formation of the state took place very dynamically, and it was the Slavic lands that became the support of the Lithuanian Grand Duke in his fight against the rebellious tribal principalities of the Lithuanians. The methods of annexing new lands were different. Many Russian lands voluntarily became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Along with this, some territories (for example, Smolensk) had to be conquered by force of arms for many years. At the same time, local authorities practically did not change: they tried not to impose new orders on anyone.
In addition, the new state gave Lithuanians protection from the Germans, and Russians - refuge from the Tatars. The first, earliest victories over the Mongol-Tatars were won by Russian regiments in alliance with the armies of the Lithuanians. It is not for nothing that in historical literature it is also called the Lithuanian-Russian state.
This difficult era, experienced by Russia in the 13th century, constitutes a transition from history Kyiv State to the history of those states that replaced it, namely: the Novgorod state, the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, and then Moscow, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In 1316, Gediminas, the founder of the Gedimin dynasty, who formed the Lithuanian and Russian lands, became the Grand Duke of Lithuania. strong state. Under him, Russian influence on the Lithuanian princes increased enormously. Gediminas himself considered himself not only a Lithuanian, but also a Russian prince. He was married to a Russian and arranged marriages for his children with Russians. Two thirds of all Gediminas's lands were Russian lands. The Lithuanian dynasty managed to form a center towards which all of Southwestern Rus', which had lost its unity, began to gravitate. Gediminas began collecting it, and his children and grandchildren completed this process, which was accomplished quickly and easily, since the population of the Russian lands willingly came under the rule of the Russified Gediminas.
A federal state was formed, albeit with a peculiar, medieval, but federation (as opposed to Moscow centralization).
The sons of Gediminas - Algirdas (Olgerd) and Kestutis (Keistut) - gathered almost all of Southern and Western Rus' under their rule, freeing it from the rule of the Tatars and giving it a single strong power - power, Russian in its culture and in its methods.
According to the Russian historian M.K. Lyubavsky, “The Lithuanian-Russian state in the 14th century was essentially a conglomerate of lands and possessions, united only by subordination to the power of the Grand Duke, but standing apart from each other and not united into a single political whole.”
The situation in this region began to change at the end of the 14th century. Grand Duke Jagiello accepted the Poles' proposal to marry the Polish Queen Jadwiga and unite Poland and Lithuania, resolving the contradictions between these states: the struggle for the Russian lands of Volyn and Galich and the general opposition to the Germans, who threatened both states. Jagiello agreed to all the conditions set before him, accepted Catholicism himself, and in 1387 he baptized pagan Lithuania into Catholicism, and concluded in 1385-1386. Union of Krevo, which provided for the inclusion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Kingdom of Poland.
But this condition remained on paper. The powerful Lithuanian nobility, led by Kestutis' son Vytautas (Vytautas), resolutely opposed the loss of independence. It got to the point that the Krevo Union was temporarily dissolved and resumed only in 1401 on the terms of equality of the parties. According to the new Union of Gorodel of 1413, Lithuania pledged not to enter into an alliance with the enemies of Poland, but at the same time the equality and sovereignty of the parties was confirmed.
Vytautas managed to gain a foothold in power so that he subjugated all the appanage Lithuanian princes. Under him, the borders of Lithuania reached unprecedented limits: they reached two seas, the Baltic and the Black. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was at the height of its power. Vytautas interfered in the affairs of all Russian lands: Novgorod and Pskov, Tver, Moscow, Ryazan. By mutual agreement, the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, the border between Moscow and Lithuanian lands passed along the Ugra River (the left tributary of the Oka).
But most importantly historical event What happened at this time was the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, in which the combined forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the army of the Teutonic Order - a long-time enemy of Poland, Lithuania and Rus'.
The strengthening of Vytautas and his high authority were a consequence of the discontent that the union with Poland aroused among the Russian and Lithuanian population of Lithuania. By supporting their Grand Duke, this population showed that they did not want to come under Polish-Catholic influence, but wanted independence and isolation in their political life.
According to the Russian historian S. F. Platonov, if Vytautas began to rely on the Orthodox Russian people and turned his state into the same Russian grand duchy as Moscow was then, he could become a rival to the Moscow princes and, perhaps, sooner unite them under his scepter the entire Russian land. But Vytautas did not do this, because, on the one hand, he needed Poland’s help against the Germans, and on the other hand, people appeared in Lithuania itself who saw their benefit in the union and pushed Vytautas towards rapprochement with Poland. Among his subjects there were three directions: Orthodox Russian, Old Lithuanian and New Catholic Polish. The Grand Duke treated everyone equally attentively and did not directly take sides. After the death of Vytautas in 1430, the political and national parties in the state remained unreconciled, in a state of mutual bitterness and mistrust. The struggle of these parties gradually destroyed the strength and greatness of the Lithuanian-Russian state.
At this time, in the context of the beginning of polonization and Catholicization (following the results of the Gorodel Union of 1413), the position of Russians in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania worsened. In 1430, a war broke out, which in literature was called the “Svidrigailo uprising.” During the movement led by Prince Svidrigailo, the son of Grand Duke Algirdas, a situation arose when the Grand Duchy of Lithuania split into two parts: Lithuania placed Sigismund, the son of Grand Duke Kestutis, in the great reign, and the Russian lands sided with Svidrigailo and it was he who was placed in the “great reign.” Russian reign." IN political development For the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian-Russian State), this period was a turning point. While Sigismund confirmed the union with Poland, the Russian lands lived their own lives and tried to build a separate political building. However, the “Svidrigailo uprising” was defeated, and after the death of Prince Sigismund, Kazimiras (Kazimir) was established on the throne in Vilnius, whose reign marked a new era in the development of the Lithuanian state. He restores the shaky foundations of Uniate politics, and in his person dynastically unites two states - the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Nevertheless, until the middle of the 16th century, despite the strengthening of Polish influence in Lithuanian society, the Lithuanian nobility managed to defend the identity and independence of the principality from any attempts on the part of Poland to strengthen the union and tie Lithuania more tightly to the Polish crown.
Until this time, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a federal state with a predominance of Slavic lands. In the middle of the 15th century, a single ruling class emerged. The gentry (nobility) made up a significant segment of the population - up to 8-10 percent, much more than in the neighboring Moscow state. The Lithuanian gentry had full political rights in the state. The bodies of the gentry - sejms and sejmiks - decided on the most important issues both at the national level and at local level. Politics were decided by the largest landowners-magnates, under whose control from the middle of the 15th century the power of the Grand Duke was actually under control. At the end of this century, a collegial body was formed - the Rada of Gentlemen - without whose consent the Grand Duke could not send ambassadors. He also could not cancel the decisions of the Council of Ambassadors.
The omnipotence of the magnates and gentry received a clear legal form. In 1529, 1566 and 1588 sets of laws were adopted, called the Lithuanian Statutes. They merged traditional Lithuanian and ancient Russian law. All three statutes were Slavic-language.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had a unique culture, the foundation of which was laid by the Eastern Slavs. The enlightener from Polotsk, the East Slavic pioneer Francisk Skorina, the thinker Simon Budny and Vasily Tyapinsky, the poet Simeon of Polotsk, and dozens of other immigrants from the Grand Duchy enriched European and world civilization with their creativity.
In the “golden times” of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - until the end of the 16th century - religious tolerance prevailed, and Catholics and Orthodox Christians almost always coexisted peacefully. Until the 16th century, Orthodoxy prevailed in the religious life of the state. However, the religious Reformation, which found many supporters in the Grand Duchy, decisively changed the situation. Protestantism most strongly affected the top of the Orthodox part of society. Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, politician Lev Sapega was born Orthodox, subsequently adopted the ideas of the Reformation, and at the end of his life became a Catholic. He was one of the organizers of the Brest Church Union of 1596, which united the Orthodox and Catholic churches on the territory of the state under the primacy of the papal throne. In the 15th century, the Metropolitan of the Western Russian Orthodox Church Gregory Bolgarin made a similar attempt, which ended in failure. After the adoption of the church union, there could be no talk of any religious equality - the Orthodox Church found itself in a cramped position.
The religious union was preceded by a more durable political unification of Poland and Lithuania. In 1569, the Union of Lublin was signed, uniting the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. One of the main reasons for the unification was the inability of the Lithuanian state to repel the attack from the east on its own. In 1514, the Moscow army defeated the Lithuanians near Smolensk, returning this original Russian city to its possession, and in 1563, the troops of Ivan the Terrible took Polotsk. The further, the more the weakening state of Lithuania needed help, which came from the Kingdom of Poland.
As a result, the Polish-Lithuanian confederation was created and the system of a noble republic was imposed on Lithuania - a unique form of government that had not existed before in the world, which consolidated the power of the nobility and its right to choose a king. This system did not interfere with the development of the economy and culture, but greatly weakened military power states.
Under the Union of Lublin, the southern half of the Lithuanian state was directly annexed to the Crown. Some lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, especially Belarusian ones, are becoming the scene of fierce confrontation between Moscow and Warsaw. Wars, epidemics, and crop failures dealt a terrible blow to the power of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, from which the country was never able to recover.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russian and Zhamoit (Grand Duchy of Lithuania) - a state that existed from the first half of the 13th century to 1795 on the territory of modern Belarus, Lithuania (until 1795) and Ukraine (until 1569).
From 1386 it was in a personal or personal union with Poland, known as the Union of Krevo, and from 1569 - in the Sejm Union of Lublin. Ceased to exist after the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ( Polish-Lithuanian state) in 1795. Most of the principality was annexed to the Russian Empire.
The majority of the population of the principality was Orthodox (the ancestors of modern Belarusians and Ukrainians). The language of official documents was the Western Russian language (Old Belarusian, Old Ukrainian, Ruthenian) language (for example, Lithuanian metrics, Statute of the Grand Duchy), Latin and Polish, since the 17th century the Polish language prevailed.
In the XIV-XV centuries, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a real rival of Muscovite Rus' in the struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe.
In 1253, the Lithuanian prince Mindovg was crowned; according to some information, the coronation took place in the city of Novogrudok, which at that time, apparently, was one of the main residence of Mindovg. From the middle of the XIII - first half of the XIV centuries. covered Belarusian lands, and in 1363-1569. - and most of the Ukrainian ones. The consolidation of the initially disparate principalities took place against the backdrop of resistance to the crusaders of the Teutonic Order in the Baltic states. At the same time, there was expansion in the southwestern and southeastern directions, during which Mindovg took away lands along the Neman from the Galicia-Volyn principality.
The principality was multi-ethnic. In the XV-XVI centuries. The role of the nobility of Ruthenian origin increased; at the same time, the Polonization of the nobility of both Lithuanian and Ruthenian origin was planned, which allowed in the 17th century. to merge into a Polish-speaking political people with Lithuanian identity and Catholic faith. Under Prince Gediminas (reigned 1316-1341), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania strengthened significantly economically and politically.
Under Olgerd (reigned 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 what is now Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the Smolensk region. For all residents of Western Rus', 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 14th century. The Orthodox population predominated numerically, with whom the pagan Lithuanians lived quite peacefully, and sometimes unrest that occurred was quickly suppressed (for example, in Smolensk).
The lands of the principality under Olgerd extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea steppes, the eastern border ran approximately along the current border of the Smolensk and Moscow regions.
The Lithuanian princes most seriously laid claim to the Russian grand-ducal table. In 1368-1372. Olgerd, who was married to the sister of the Grand Duke of Tver Mikhail, supported Tver in its rivalry with Moscow. Lithuanian troops approached Moscow, but, unfortunately, at that time Olgerd was fighting with the crusaders on the western borders, and therefore could not besiege the city for a long time. The crusaders, in contrast to the illusory hopes for all Russian lands, were seen by Olgerd as a more serious threat, and in 1372, having already approached Moscow, he untied his hands, unexpectedly offering Dmitry Donskoy “eternal peace.”
In 1386, Grand Duke Jagiello (reigned 1377-1434) entered into an alliance (the so-called Union of Krevo) with the Kingdom of Poland - he converted to Catholicism, married the heir to the Polish throne and became the king of Poland, while remaining the Grand Duke of Lithuania. This strengthened the positions of both states in the confrontation with the Teutonic Order.
Jagiello handed over the grand-ducal throne to his brother Skirgaila. Cousin Jagiello - Vytautas, with the support of the Teutonic Order, attracting to his side the anti-Polish princes and boyars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania led long war for the throne. Only in 1392, the Ostrov Agreement was concluded between Jagiello and Vytautas, according to which Vytautas became the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Jagiello retained the title “Supreme Prince of Lithuania.” In 1399, Vitovt (reigned 1392-1430), who supported the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh against Tamerlane’s protege Timur-Kutluk, suffered a heavy defeat from the latter in the Battle of Vorskla. This defeat weakened the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in 1401 it was forced to enter into a new alliance with Poland (the so-called Union of Vilna-Radom).
In 1405, Vytautas began military operations against Pskov, and he turned to Moscow for help. However, Moscow declared war on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania only in 1406; no major military operations were actually carried out even after several truces and standing on the river. In Ugra in 1408, Vytautas and the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I concluded an eternal peace. At this time, in the west, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was fighting the Teutonic Order; in 1410, the united troops of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunwald. The consequence of this victory, and after several more wars, was the final refusal of the Teutonic Order in 1422 from Samogitia and the final liquidation of the Order by the Second Peace of Torun in 1466.
Vytautas intervened in the affairs of the Grand Duchy of Moscow when, in 1427, a dynastic feud began there between Vytautas's grandson Vasily II the Dark and Vasily's uncle Yuri of Zvenigorod. Vitovt, relying on the fact that the Grand Duchess of Moscow, his daughter, Sophia, together with her son, people and lands, accepted his protection, laid claim to dominance over all of Russia. Vytautas also intervened in the politics of European countries and had significant weight in the eyes of European sovereigns. The Holy Roman Emperor offered him the royal crown twice, but Vytautas refused and accepted only the third offer from the emperor. The coronation was scheduled for 1430 and was to take place in Lutsk, where numerous guests gathered. The recognition of Vytautas as king and, accordingly, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a kingdom did not suit the Polish magnates who hoped for the incorporation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Jagiello agreed to the coronation of Vytautas, but Polish magnates seized the royal crown on Polish territory. Vytautas was ill at that time; according to legend, he could not bear the news of the loss of the crown and died in 1430 in his Troka (Trakai) castle in the arms of Jagiello.
After the death of Vytautas, the princes and boyars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, having gathered at the Diet, elected Svidrigailo, the younger brother of Yagaila, as Grand Duke. This was done without the consent of the Polish king, magnates and lords, although this was provided for by the unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. Thus, the union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland was broken; moreover, a military conflict soon began between them over Volhynia. However, in 1432, a group of pro-Polish princes carried out a coup and elevated Vitovt’s brother, Sigismund, to the throne. This led to a feudal war in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania between supporters of the pro-Polish and patriotic parties. During the war, Jogaila and Sigismund had to make a number of concessions in order to win over Svidrigailo’s supporters. However, the outcome of the war was decided in 1435 in the battle of Vilkomir, in which Svidrigailo’s troops suffered very heavy losses.
Sigismund's reign did not last long, dissatisfied with his pro-Polish policy, suspicion and unfounded repressions, the princes and boyars plotted against him during which he was killed in Troki Castle. Kazimir Jagailovich was chosen as the next Grand Duke, again without the consent of Poland. After some time, Casimir was offered the Polish crown; he hesitated for a long time, but still accepted it, while promising the princes and boyars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to maintain the independence of the grand duchy.
In 1449, Casimir concluded a peace treaty with the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily II, which was observed until the end of the 15th century. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. A series of wars of the Moscow state against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began, the princes of the eastern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to serve the Moscow Grand Duke, and as a result, the so-called Seversky principalities and Smolensk went to the Moscow state.
In 1569, under the Union of Lublin, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania united with Poland into a confederate state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
V.V. Maksakov.
However, the biggest methodological error is the idea that somewhere in the West there was a super-civilized Lithuania with an advanced statehood, ruled by a progressive king - a purebred Lithuanian Mindovg. The Balts did not have any principality as a feudal state, not even the Prussians, as the most numerous tribe. At the time of the formation of the Lithuanian principalities, all the Balts had a tribal system with a strong influence of pagan priests, and their small number was explained by the fact that they had not yet really mastered agriculture. The Russian boyars chose Mindovg not for his literacy, but for the strength that stood behind him in the form of his squad and his influence among the leaders of the Baltic tribes.
Lithuania's civilization and industrialization are a product of the USSR, which it is happily losing today in the United Europe. Lithuania is gradually returning to the position it had before joining Russia. Considering themselves Germans through kinship with the Prussians, as Lithuanian nationalists declare, is obviously a unique type of patriotism, since all Prussians were completely assimilated by German colonists who moved to the indigenous lands of the Balts, captured by the Order states. Unfortunately, the Lithuanian ancestors did not know about the passionate desire of their descendants to merge with the Germans, and therefore they fought for hundreds of years against the Teutonic and Livonian orders, which came to the lands of the Baltic peoples in a crusade.
Apparently, in the Middle Ages, the Eastern Slavs did not single out the Balts as an alien tribe, especially since the lands of the Balts had long been located in the depths of the territory Eastern Slavs. Some of the Balts participated in the formation of the Polish and Belarusian nations, but thanks to the formation of the Principality of Lithuania, the Balts had a chance to subsequently create Lithuania and Latvia as national states.
You just have to be aware that national feelings are a VALUE that the “national” elite instills in the people in order to maintain their dominant position. For the elite itself, nationality is an empty phrase ( shining example- Ukraine), however, if you instill it as a value in citizens, then you can get ownership of an entire people united by this value. Paying tribute to national feelings, one should not be mistaken about their origin.
For those readers who are looking for an answer to the question - How was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania formed?, I advise you to look at the map, which clearly shows that occurs in the northwestern part of the Russian land (so called - Black Rus', according to the coloristic designation of the cardinal directions among the Slavs - black = north), which at the time of the formation of VKL was UNSUBJECTIVE Mongol-Tatar Empire. Independence (1) from the Russian princes and (2) from the Mongol yoke - was main condition appearance .
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Rus'
However, a consequence of MOSCOW CENTRISM is the fact that story Galician and Lithuanian Rus' fall out of orthodoxy Russian history Russia as the history of exclusively Muscovite Rus', and then - this one-sidedness doesn't allow understand those that matured precisely in these “shards” of Kievan Rus, alien to the idea of unifying Russian lands under the rule of Moscow.
Today a frenzied war is being waged against the present and Russia, where the fact that Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia was a Russian-speaking state to hide the more important fact that Rus Lithuanian was a Russian state , the main population of which were Kyiv Rusyns. In the minds of Russians and Europeans, Batu’s invasion is did not lead to the division of Rus' into separate parts. Western Rus', Southwestern Rus' And North-Eastern Rus' always remained a country of Russians, only much later the political struggle of the power elites of these parts of Rus' diverged history Lithuanian Rus', Galician Rus' And Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' (Muscovy) according to the main criterion - who will reassemble united Rus' .
But the idea of the state among people in ancient times fully corresponded - as a community of people, to a nationality that was of no interest to anyone on some territory - under the government, for the individualization of which everyone was primarily interested in the nationality, at least the primary one. Nationality became the name of the state for the reason that could be individualized, which in those days were entirely captured by force, inhabited by many different tribes and, more often, unrelated nationalities. In conditions of impossibility to determine ethnic composition people of a certain state - was nominally assigned to him the nationality of his elite.
If we consider “nationality” by belonging to a tribe, then population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was very diverse in national composition, however, Slavic-speaking people have always prevailed numerically, preserving their dialect as a Western dialect of the Old Russian language of Kievan Rus. If the modern Russian language developed under the enormous influence of the church language of Cyril and Methodius, which was actually literary in Northern Rus', then the modern Belarusian language developed from the Western Russian dialect under the influence of Polish.
Principality of Lithuania and Russia
The Balts have always constituted a small part of the population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, even at the birth of the Lithuanian state, a separate Lithuanian tribe, apparently - there was no (in fact, see below about the origin of the name Lithuania). The territory of the birthplace of the Lithuanian state was inhabited by well-known Baltic-speaking tribes - the Aukštaites, Samogitians, Yatvingians, Curonians, Latgalians, villages, Semigallians who fled in the 13th century from forced Christianization, Prussians (Bortei or Zuks, Skalovs, Letuvinniki), among whom there is no Lithuania. Today one can only guess where it came from word Lithuania(like Rus'), but we can say for sure that the union of the Baltic tribes, formed on the territory bordering Russia, gave the collective name to the state - Lithuania, state language which, due to multinationality, became the Old Russian language, in which, by analogy with the word Rusin- and the ancient Russian word was formed Litvin- litvin - in the sense subject Principality of Lithuania. Later it was unity based on citizenship of one state pushed the national self-awareness of related Baltic-speaking tribes to feel unity into one Lithuanian nation.
This is confirmed by the appearance of the first mentions of Lithuania as an adjective Lituae in Latin to name the border of some previously unknown state with Russia. Then the term appeared in Europe lithuanians to designate citizens of a state that appeared on the political arena, the core of whose elite, judging by the place of origin, became aukstaity, in the sense of some UNION of the Baltic tribes close to the Prussians. As we know, all the other Prussians were colonized by the Teutonic Order, so much so that they simply disappeared, not even leaving us a language.
History of Lithuania Wikipedia contains the article Lithuania (tribes), which actually only proves that no tribe with a name Lithuania did not have, but simply several different tribes of the Balts, from different ethnic groups, on the lands adjacent to Black Russia, formed a territorial union, which received the external name Lithuania. This Union of Lithuania fought with its neighbors - the alliance of the Balts of Yatvingia, Aukstaiti and Samogitia, although the tribes of these same nationalities were part of Union of Lithuania. Members of the Lithuania union had the name Litvina, which directly comes from the word Lithuania, but from what word the word was formed Lithuanians I don't quite understand. The term Lithuania in the sense union of Lithuanian Baltic tribes- is quite legitimate, and the existence of a separate Lithuanian tribe not recorded.
Actually, the full name is Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhemoytskoye- reflected the multinational composition not of the population of the Principality of Lithuania, which was much more diverse, but the specific composition of its elite. The names of the main nationalities are sewn into the name of the state - Principality of Lithuania- for the reason that (1) the union of the Baltic tribes called Lithuania gave the first princes, (2) Principality of Lithuania and Russia not so much due to the numerical predominance of the Rusyns, since the territory of the Principality of Lithuania was formed precisely at the expense of the Russian lands of the weakened Kievan Rus, but due to the presence of Russian boyars, on whom the Novogrudok Principality rested, and in addition (3) - Principality of Zhemoytsk(Zhomoit, Zhemait, Zhamait, Zhmud - various transcriptions of the name of the second union of the Baltic tribes, known in Rus' as Zhmud - were introduced by a new dynasty of princes Gediminovich, originating from the Zhemait tribes.
The first mention of Lithuania in the European Quedlinburg Annals refers to 1009 year when describing the death of a certain missionary Bruno of Querfurt, who was killed “on the border of Rus' and Lithuania,” which itself is referred to as Lituae, that is Litua in the form of the indirect case (in the sense - Lithuanian- for the name of the border).
Perhaps the terms Lituae And lithuanians in Europe became widespread from the crusaders of the Teutonic Order, who seized the lands of the Prussians, which for the neighboring related Baltic tribes became factor for the formation own state. The Russian chronicle mentions the Litvins at almost the same time, but in connection with the campaigns of Prince Yaroslav the Wise in 1040 against the Yatvingians. It seems to me that the reason for the punitive campaign of the powerful Kiev prince was the predatory raids of the squads of the emerging Lithuanian state, as a union of tribes on the outskirts of Rus', since the Baltic lands themselves were unlikely to be of particular economic interest to Rus'. It was during Yaroslav's campaign that the Novgrud fortress was laid as an outpost, which later turned into the Russian city of Novogrudok, which became the first capital of the Principality of Lithuania.
Actually, Lithuanian tribes lived surrounded by Eastern Slavs from the Krivichi tribe, to whom they paid tribute, so the Western Russian dialect of the Krivichi was understandable to the Balts. To designate balts from Lithuanian union of tribes in Rus' coined the term Litvin , Litvin- by analogy with the Russian self-name - Rusin, Rusyn, and in Europe they coined the term - lithuanians to designate subjects of the Lithuanian proto-state.
For us it is no longer so important where it came from. word Lithuania- most likely that this was the self-name of the tribe that once ruled in the union of the Baltic tribes and was able to promote from its ranks the first rulers - elite, which gave its own self-name Litvin to all subjects. Later - from the word Litvin ethnonym originated Lithuanians, when the population of the main indigenous lands () needed to somehow separate themselves from their neighbors.
I do not insist on authenticity, and for Russian history the issue of the emergence of a state among the Balts is relevant only in the plane of the emergence of Lithuanian Rus', which became a competitor to the Muscovite kingdom, ripening within Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'.
In this article, the reader will need an idea of the empire as a state entity, the whole essence of which is the unlimited expansion of borders. This "spring" sewn into Principality of Lithuania allowed him from the unknown tiny city-state of Novogrudok to turn into the most powerful state in Eastern Europe.
Next article Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia from Wikipedia, which still had to be edited a little. It is possible to understand the history of the Lithuanian-Russian state only by presenting a clear periodization, since at different stages we are dealing with a completely different state, which changes not only the size of its territory, but the political vector of development. Initially Principality of Lithuania arises and acts as a typical principality of Kievan Rus, participating in the civil strife of Russian princes, which continues despite the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
However, soon two global forces - the European empire (the papal throne and German emperors) on the one hand, the khans (elite) of the Golden Horde begin to “take away” the Russian principalities left without a center along different sides“barricades”, both on the issue of choice of faith and political orientation. Moreover, a feature of those times is the literal, undisguised coincidence of the “interests of states” with the personal interests of their rulers, in full accordance with the theory of elites.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia
History of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania is an Eastern European state that existed from the mid-13th century to 1795 on the territory of modern Belarus and Lithuania, as well as parts of Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Poland, Estonia and Moldova.
Periodization of the history of the Principality of Lithuania
1. On from 1240 to 1385 - as an independent Russian principality fighting against Southwestern (Galician) Rus' and Northeastern (Vladimir-Suzdal) Rus' for the collection of Kyiv lands for yourself. The death of Alexander Nevsky and the feud that broke out between his heirs allowed the Lithuanian principality to seize the middle lands of Kievan Rus, and later annex almost the entire territory of the Galician-Volyn principality. becoming the most powerful state in Eastern Europe.
2. Since 1385, after the conclusion of a personal union with the Kingdom of Poland, the Principality of Lithuania has been part of the union state, where the main role belongs to the Polish nobility. The reason was the weakening of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the wars against Muscovy, which openly announced the collection of Russian lands.
Since 1385 it was in a personal union with the Kingdom of Poland, and since 1569 - in the Sejm Union of Lublin as part of the confederal state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the XIV-XVI centuries - rival of the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the struggle for dominance in Russian lands. It was abolished by the Constitution on May 3, 1791. It finally ceased to exist after the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. By 1815, the entire territory of the former principality became part of the Russian Empire.
Rus' and Lithuania
In Russian chronicles, the first dated mention of Lithuania dates back to 1040, when the campaign of Yaroslav the Wise took place against the Yatvingians and the construction of the Novogrudok fortress began - i.e. a Russian outpost was founded against the Litvins - New town, whose name was later transformed into Novogrudok.
Since the last quarter of the 12th century, many principalities bordering Lithuania (Gorodenskoye, Izyaslavskoye, Drutskoye, Gorodetskoye, Logoiskoye, Strezhevskoye, Lukomskoye, Bryachislavskoye) left the field of view of ancient Russian chroniclers. According to the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” Prince Izyaslav Vasilkovich died in a battle with Lithuania (previously 1185). In 1190, Rurik Rostislavich organized a campaign against Lithuania in support of his wife’s relatives, came to Pinsk, but due to the melting of the snow, the further campaign had to be canceled. Since 1198, the Polotsk land has become a springboard for the expansion of Lithuania to the north and northeast. 
Lithuanian invasions begin directly into the Novgorod-Pskov (1183, 1200, 1210, 1214, 1217, 1224, 1225, 1229, 1234), Volyn (1196, 1210), Smolensk (1204, 1225, 1239, 1248) and Chernigov (1 220) lands with which chronicle Lithuania did not have common borders. The Novgorod first chronicle, dated 1203, mentions the battle of the Chernigov Olgovichi with Lithuania. In 1207, Vladimir Rurikovich of Smolensk went to Lithuania, and in 1216 Mstislav Davydovich of Smolensk defeated the Litvins, who were plundering the outskirts of Polotsk.
Article Grand Duchy of Lithuania Wikipedia I had to correct it because during the period before education Principality of Lithuania none Lithuanians didn't exist, but were Litvins ka is the collective name of the Balts, who carried out raids deep into the Russian principalities.
History of the Principality of Lithuania
If you follow the chronicles, then at the beginning of the second millennium, Baltic tribes often raided the nearest Russian principalities, which allowed Russian chroniclers to correlate the robbers with the territory already known in Rus', for which the generalized name was assigned Lithuania. However, the Balts themselves have not yet been united into a single union, since we know at least about TWO unions - a separate union of Samogitian tribes, and the one that interests us - the Lithuanian union based on the Aukshaits, which, after the Yatvingians entered it, received common name Lithuania. In those ancient times, when no one asked the nationality of the robbers, all gangs of robbers from the Varangian Sea in Rus' were called the same and without distinction - Litvins from Lithuania. Lithuania, running out of its forests onto the border villages of Pskov, caused destruction.
Actually, already THAT Lithuanian tribes pursued only purely predatory goals, tells us that the state organization of Lithuania was loose - the meaning of allied relations came down to the creation of a single detachment of armed men to carry out robberies of neighbors who clearly already had more high level government structure in the form of principalities, headed by princes from the same Rurik family, which united them into one confederation of principalities, called Rus'.
Chronicles tell us that the Russian princes, in order to pacify the Litvins, themselves carried out punitive raids on lands of the Balts, erecting defensive fortresses on the borders with the lands of the Balts, one of which was Novogrudok, which turned into the center of a small newly formed Russian principality. However, against the backdrop of expansion by the Crusaders and especially after the defeat of Rus' from the Mongol-Tatars, the policy of the elites of this border Russian principality began to change towards the neighboring alliances of Lithuanian tribes. Armed squads from the Balts, who have already gained experience in warfare, begin to invite the Russian border city for defense, which in chronicle form is expressed as an “invitation to reign” of their leaders (which had already happened before Mindovg).
It should be noted that - history of the Lithuanian state, most likely, it would never have started, because the Balts were already pushed out from all sides by the Order of the Crusaders - the Teutonic and Livonian, and, well, what to hide - Rus' itself, if in a small Russian principality, the boyars (read correctly - the elite) would not dare to invite the Lithuanian leader Mindaugas and his retinue to reign. This is how TWO problems were solved at once - (1) armed guards appeared and (2) RAIDS from Lithuania stopped, since they themselves Litvins began to defend Novogrudok.
Novogrudok was able to break the inflexible rule about the possibility of reigning exclusively by members of the Rurikovich family due to the circumstances of the weakening of Rus', when the clan of Rurikovich princes, which owned Russia, was brutally reduced as a result of defeats in battles with the Mongol-Tatars. Actually, both in relation to the crusaders, clad in armor along with their horses, and in relation to the unusual deceptive tactics of the Tatar cavalry, Rus' was faced with an unfamiliar technology of warfare. Moreover, the almost unarmed Tatars on small horses turned out to be even more invulnerable than the German knights clad in iron.
The third condition for the success of the first Lithuanian prince was the almost immediate support from the Pope and the European Empire, which, with the assistance of Poland, was carrying out the colonization of the Baltic lands. Granting Mindaugus the title of king was an advance to attract Lithuania to the side of Catholic Europe. Although the heirs of Mindaugas were no longer crowned kings, according to all the rules they received the title of grand dukes, even according to the concepts accepted in the empire of the Eastern Slavs. The royal title was never required by the Lithuanian princes, since the Principality of Lithuania was Russian, and Rus' had its own tradition of glorifying rulers, in which only the title “Grand Duke” was supreme.
What are the reasons for the formation of the Principality of Lithuania
Reasons for the formation of the Principality of Lithuania- in changing the policy of the Russian elite of the Russian city of Novogrudok in relation to the leaders of the unions of neighboring Lithuanian tribes from hostile - to the creation of a single state association - Russian Lithuanian state- in the form of the Novgrudian principality, in which - in principle, “Russian” in its location - the invited Litvin began to rule Mindovg, How first Lithuanian prince.
I think no one really thought about what to call the new one back then. Russian-Lithuanian state- it naturally turned out that the adjective Lithuanian put before the word principality, especially since the Ministry of Education and Science had no choice but to accept the Western Russian language as the state language - simply, formation of the Lithuanian-Russian state began in the Russian city of Novogrudok. Any Balt language was of no interest to anyone, since the language of communication between Rusyns and Litvins had probably long been the Rusyn language.
Now, after answering the question - what are the reasons for the formation of the principality of Lithuania, I want to give an idea of the states themselves during the era of feudalism. In Russian orthodox history they put forward in first place as something extraordinary - features of Kievan Rus as a confederation of almost independent principalities, which allows some anti-Russian historians to argue that the state itself - Kievan Rus- in reality it wasn’t. Actually, they appeal to today’s idea of the structure of the state as centralized, the creation of which in Rus' only Ivan the Terrible will be able to complete.
Firstly, Kyiv Rus is just a term for a period in the history of Rus' called Kyiv or pre-Mongolian- from before the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars, when the political center and capital ancient Russian state was Kyiv. At that time, feudal fragmentation, which was carried around like a sack, was not a unique feature of the ancient Russian state - in Europe, all states were separate feuds as a certain territory that the feudal lord COULD PERSONALLY BYPASS to collect taxes. Since, simply for physical reasons, the feudal lord could not control a large territory, the European principalities were small in size. States in Europe were like nesting dolls - small fiefs formed a larger feud of the lord, larger in relation to the fiefs of the vassals, since it overlapped them. Even larger were the fiefs of lords, princes or dukes, who together constituted the fief of the king or grand duke, whose fief was considered a state.
Secondly, the principle according to which only members of the Rukovich family could reign in the Russian principalities was also not unique, although it was carried out unquestioningly hundreds of years after the bloody lesson taught Prophetic Oleg Kyiv "impostors" - from ordinary warriors who took the place Kyiv princes and sentenced to death only for lack of kinship with Rurik. After all, the entire history of the European empire shows us the struggle of princes to install themselves or their descendants in the vacant place of the monarch.
Features of the Lithuanian state were typical of territorial empires, which undoubtedly was Principality of Lithuania 13th-15th century, since it was formed by the leader of the pagan Balts, who became a prince in a Christian Orthodox principality, inhabited by Rusyns, but outside the principality already called Litvins. main feature Lithuanian state thing is great state of Lithuania became a “melting pot” in which two current nations were formed - Lithuanians and Belarusians, as descendants of those Litvinians and Russians who were united by the Great Russian-Lithuanian state, which became one of the three parts of Rus' during the period of the Mongol yoke called.
To understand the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, some periodization should be carried out, since Principality of Lithuania in the 13th century is "Great" only in the dreams of his princes, while Grand Duchy of Lithuania 15th century- the largest state in Europe by territory (if you don’t count Golden Horde or, perhaps, North-Eastern Rus', which did not have any fixed borders in the East).
Grand Duchy of Lithuania 13th century
The consolidation of the Principality of Lithuania took place against the background of the gradual advance of the Crusaders of the Order of the Sword in Livonia and the Teutonic Order in Prussia, leading crusade for the sake of converting the pagan Prussians to Christianity, who stubbornly continued to adhere to their ancient pagan beliefs. Unfortunately, the details of the presence of statehood among the Baltic tribes themselves remained outside the attention of chroniclers, since in Teutonic Order no records were kept about the events among the conquered Baltic tribes, and Russian chroniclers, since the campaign of Yaroslav the Wise, have lost interest in the peoples of this region of Kievan Rus, since the main enemies were the crusaders of the Teutonic and Livonian orders, the fight against which was the prerogative of the princes Novgorod land and the Principality of Pskov. The rest of Rus' focused all its attention on the infighting between the brother princes and the first attack of the Mongol-Tatars, which destroyed the flower of the Russian army.
Princes of the Principality of Lithuania
I hope the reader understands that History is a description of the activities of the elite of society, who make decisions and often answer with their lives for the correctness of their choice. Everything is in full accordance with the theory of elites - representatives of the people living in different parts of the state are not only unable to assess the event (which is important when writing history), but do not even know about it if it did not affect them personally. Knowing and assessing is the function of the elite, which, in order to make life easier for its descendants, just so that they remain in power for as long as possible, begins to write history as instructions based on accumulated experience. Chronicles were written by literate people in ancient times at the request of the authorities; today, versions of history are offered by the intelligentsia - and the elite chooses the option that is beneficial to them in today's conditions.
Therefore, there is no objective or “in general” history - each is written from some point in space and time - know, from a certain angle, which is necessarily present and determines the assessment of events, and the role of elite representatives in them. The first Lithuanian princes, not burdened with obligations to any numerous parties of the elite or officials, acted based on their purely personal interests, disposing of the state as personal property.
The world is diverse, therefore we are interested in character, personal qualities and even appearance princes of Lithuania, which definitely influenced the course of history. The logic of development goes by itself, and the mistakes or tactical successes of the princes are a retreat or strategy following this logic, which sometimes changes the goals of the logic itself.
The first Lithuanian princes
First Lithuanian prince first mentioned in the agreement of 1219 between the Galicia-Volyn principality and the “princes” of Lithuania, Diavoltva and Samogitians ( Lithuania- in the sense of the name of the union of Lithuanian tribes). The contract appears in Russian Prince Mindovg, How fourth leader on the list of Baltic leaders, which immediately raises the question of the reasons why the future first prince of Lithuania By 1240, he took a leading position among the other Lithuanian prince leaders.
We must understand that the Lithuanian princes mentioned in the chronicle were still leaders of tribal unions, since concept of prince assumes that he has a personal castle - a fortress or in Old Russian detinets, around which a city grows. Since we do not know about Lithuanian cities, the Lithuanian leaders have not yet distinguished themselves enough from among their fellow tribesmen to have a fortified personal dwelling with a warehouse for storing the collected tribute. However, the further history of the approval of Mindaugas as the first among the five leaders mentioned in the chronicle confirms the fact that among the Balts there are already families or clans that have seized power or have hereditary advantages to occupy the place of leader. Perhaps someone else, thanks to his personal courage or wisdom, could still take the place of leader, but the history of the rise of Mindaugas shows that the men of his clan already realize the value of supporting each other in order to find the entire clan in a privileged position among the rest of the tribe. The chronicle mentions Mindaugas fourth, and soon after his reign, his brothers and nephews are listed, who occupy key positions of power among the Baltic tribes. The remaining leaders from the chronicle list of leaders disappear from the historical scene, apparently pushed aside by a close-knit group of men from the Mindaugas clan.
Actually, the above paragraph is the beginning of a separate article - as an insert into this article, which has already become too long. The first Lithuanian princes They also acted as leaders of the Baltic squads, since it was important for them to receive support among their fellow tribesmen and, accordingly, members of their own family, who occupied key positions in the alliances of the Baltic tribes. Obviously, the resource of the Russian Principality of Novogrudok was immediately used to strengthen the positions of Mindaugas’s relatives in the power structures of the alliances of Lithuanian captivity.
On the other hand, an invitation to the principality had only the force of an agreement between the hired leader of a military squad, and the practice of invitation itself had ancient traditions, when the squad was expelled. Therefore, the first prince of Lithuania should be considered as a successful adventurer who, like Rurik, managed to realize the opportunity and gain a foothold in the place of the prince, without relying on any party or family ties among the Russian boyars. Most likely, the first Lithuanian prince was a member of the dynasty of Polotsk princes through the female line, as the chronicle hints at. The Principality of Polotsk itself lost its importance, but a century earlier it was in second place among the Russian principalities, the lot of the first heirs to the throne of the Kyiv Grand Dukes.
I single out Mindovg both as a person and as the leader of the Baltic tribes, who became the first prince for the Balts themselves, who became citizens of the state he created on the Russian lands of Black Rus' and the adjacent lands of the Balts themselves.
Board of Mindovg
So, let us once again recall the geopolitical situation in Baltic region, when the Russian principalities, weakened by defeat from the Tatar-Mongols, leave the border lands out of their sphere of attention, where, in violation of the rule, it became possible to invite princes not from the Rurik dynasty. According to one hypothesis, the boyars of the Russian city of Novogrudok and Lithuanian prince Mindovg Negotiations about an invitation to reign begin closer to 1240, when Mindaugas is nominated for the role of the main leader among the leaders of the Baltic tribes. The main danger for Novogrudok came from Prince Daniil of Galitsky, since the Galician-Volyn principality, in its expansionist desire to dominate all of Rus', which itself was the most southwestern principality, “reached” even to the northern outskirts of Rus'. The eastern direction for the expansion of the Galician principality was blocked by the Tatars, in the western direction the Galician prince sought friendship with Hungary, only the northern direction remained.
The first Lithuanian prince successfully used the confrontation between the Pskov principality, and most importantly, Alexander Nevsky, who reigned in Novgorod, with Daniil of Galicia, but in the end Lithuania fell under the influence of the Galician-Volyn principality, which became the main fighter against the crusaders invited Polish king to the lands of the Prussians. Novgorod and Pskov would simply annex the Novogrudok principality, and an alliance with the strong Galician principality would provide the Lithuanian principality with the possibility of independence from the Russian principalities and assistance in the fight against the crusaders. In addition, the distance from the Golden Horde allowed the Principality of Lithuania not to pay tribute and accumulate resources, and even ensured its safety from sudden attacks by the Tatars. All history of the Principality of Lithuania- this is its expansion at the expense of the weakening Galician-Volyn principality, which did not have such a favorable geopolitical position.
Considering the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the aspect of its formation as Lithuanian Rus, we must remember that immediately after the invasion of the Tatars, Kievan Rus disintegrated into TWO parts - the unauthorized Galician-Volyn principality and the northeastern confederation of Russian principalities. Galician Rus' came into contact with the European empire, from which it began to seek protection in the confrontation with the Golden Horde, and North-Eastern Rus', with the help of Alexander Nevsky, entered into a close alliance with the Golden Horde. Moreover, assistance from the Western European Empire required Galician Rus' to profoundly change its cultural and religious foundations, while the Tatars did not seek to change anything in the states they captured, in which their original way of life was preserved. As history has shown, CHOICE OF Alexander Nevsky turned out to be more effective for the self-preservation of Rus'. The core for the revival of Rus' was preserved precisely in the northern principalities, among which Moscow became the main collector of Russian lands.
The most likely reason for inviting Mindaugas to reign in Russian Novogrudok was his hypothetical membership in the Russian dynasty of Polotsk princes (see the biography of Mindaugas), since at that time kinship with princes and dynastic marriages were decisive for occupying the princely throne. A pagan taking the place of prince in an Orthodox city was not something unusual, since no one paid attention to it. The baptism of Mindaugas according to the Orthodox rite is not recorded, but most likely it was with his family, since his son Voishelk makes a pilgrimage to Athos and becomes a monk, but the baptism of Mindaugas according to the Catholic rite in 1251 is a recorded fact that clearly served the political purposes of weakening the pressure on the part of the order's Catholic states.
History of the Lithuanian state begins with the wars that Prince Mindovg organizes to transform his tiny Principality of Novogrudok into the Principality of Lithuania, for which he first eliminates rivals among the leaders of the Baltic tribes, forcing his nephew Tovtivil (Mindovk’s protégé in the Principality of Polotsk) together with the rest of the leaders to make a campaign against the Smolensk lands, promising the captured lands for their management. Having learned about the failure of the campaign, Mindovg seized the lands of the prince-leaders and tried to organize their murder. Most likely, the leaders from the failed Smolensk campaign returned not to their own, but to other Balt tribes.
Lithuanian king
To weaken the coalition of his enemies, which included the Livonian Order, Prince Mindovg uses a trick - he “gives” the Livonian Order the lands of the Baltic tribes that disobey him in exchange, first for baptism according to the Catholic rite, and then in 1253 coronation of Mindaugas on behalf of Pope Innocent IV. Having donated part of the Samogitian and Yatvingian lands to the Livonian Order, Mindovg strengthens its power over all of Black Russia (the word “Black” goes back to the ancient designation of the cardinal direction - Server - y, for which reason the name Bela Rus will initially designate North-Eastern Rus', and Red Rus'- southern Galich lands of Rus').
We must understand political situation Western (Black) Rus', which became the historical center of the Principality of Mindovg, as a northwestern wedge of Russian lands, on which the interests of the Catholic German orders and Veliky Novgorod opposing them, led by Alexander Nevsky, the Kingdom of Poland and Daniil Galitsky, converged, and, for the latter, Mindovg turned out to be a natural ally. For Galicia-Volyn Principality of Lithuania as independent it was of interest for contrasting with rivals, which in no way canceled Daniil’s claims to reign under the right of the Rurikovichs, therefore, as we know, Mindovg was forced to transfer rule in Novogrudok to Daniil’s son Roman, which, together with Mindovg’s rebaptism into Catholicism, leads him to confrontation with his own son Voishelk, who headed the Orthodox party.
Voishelk’s biography confirms the thesis that the Lithuanian princes already in the second generation became Russian princes, since son of Mindaugas demonstrates exceptional loyalty to Orthodoxy. In addition, Voishelk goes against his pagan father, who was baptized several times for political purposes and returned to paganism before his death, and returns to reign only for the sake of becoming a truly Russian Principality of Lithuania, since he himself recognizes the right of the Rurikovichs to reign and voluntarily transfers the rule to Shvarn, his son Daniil Galitsky. Since Voyshelk, the Principality of Lithuania has firmly entered the “circle” of Russian principalities with the rights of an appanage principality.
Actually, it is difficult to show the borders of the Lithuanian-Russian state under Mindovga and Voishelka on the map - I depicted an area that captured the Russian lands and the lands of the Balts. For me, it is more important to show that literally after a few years of reign (in 1254), Mindovg recognized his Russian principality as part of the empire of the Galician prince Daniel, planting in Novogrudok, former capital principality - Roman Danilovich, son of Daniel. In fact, this was the recognition of the laws of Rus' on reigning, according to which only a member of the Rurikovich dynasty could reign. In fact, a strange situation arises when King Mindovg, having transferred the capital to Rurikovich, himself is in an unknown residence - most likely precisely because of the unknown - on the territory of the Lithuanian tribes. Dual power will continue under the son of Mindovg - Voishelka, who will kill Roman Danilovich, but then voluntarily give the Principality of Lithuania to another son of Daniel - Shvarn Danilovich, in turn recognizing the unconditional rights of the Rurikovichs to reign in any Russian principality.
The first Lithuanian princes could not fight against the rules of Galician Rus, which was not only the hegemon in the region, but also almost the only natural ally of the Lithuanian princes. Most likely, the Novogrudok principality would have simply been annexed by its Russian neighbors, but as an outpost of the Galicia-Volyn principality in the northwestern corner of Rus', it was preserved as a state entity. The patronage of Galician Rus had to be paid for by the transfer of power to the sons of Daniil of Galicia, but they also contributed to the expansion of the territory and strengthening of the principality as not an appanage, but a Grand Duchy.
Another thing is that the Galician-Volyn principality itself, for which the Principality of Lithuania became an inheritance, is beginning to fall apart for several reasons at once, which, in the context of the weakening influence of the Galician princes, allows a new generation of Lithuanian impostors from the Zhmud leaders to seize power in the Principality of Lithuania and create a new dynasty of Lithuanian princes - Gediminovichi.
The murder of Schwarn as a legitimate Russian prince from the Rurik dynasty pitted the Principality of Lithuania against the rest of Rus'. After several political assassinations new princes, obviously self-promoted by their military squad, princely power is finally consolidated under Gediminas, as the prince of the Lithuanian principality, independent of the Galician grand dukes.
As I already said, activities of the Lithuanian princes covered in a separate article - but note that with Gediminas the expansion of the Lithuanian principalities begins by annexing primarily the southern Russian lands. After the death of the main (from our point of view) political figures - Alexander Nevsky and Daniil Galitsky, their states were fragmented into inheritances of heirs, who did not particularly show themselves, except for Daniil Alexandrovich, who with his peace-loving policy brought the seedy appanage Moscow principality into the first rank of the most influential principalities.
The entry of Lithuania into the political system of Catholic Europe for a couple of decades allowed Mindovg to strengthen his power among the Baltic tribes, and create an alliance with the Galician-Volyn principality by transferring the reign in Novogrudok to the son of the Galician prince Roman Danilovich (Novogrudok prince 1254-1258). The union was not overshadowed by the joint campaign against Poland and Lithuania of the Horde and Galicians, organized under pressure from the khans of the Golden Horde, who did not forgive Mindaugas for accepting the title of king from the Pope. Daniil Galitsky himself avoided the campaign, transferring command to his brother, Prince of Volyn Vasilko Romanovich, which did not save his son Roman Danilovich from being captured by Voishelka, the son of Mindovg, who led the Russian party in Novrogrudok. Roman Danilovich was killed in 1258, which coincides with Mindaugas’s renunciation of Christianity (it is not clear whether it was only Catholicism) and the return to open struggle against the Catholic Orders. After supporting several Prussian uprisings, the Lithuanians, under the leadership of Midovg, win the Battle of Durbe, which became the stage of the annexation of Samogitia to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, in 1263 Mindovg, together with younger sons was killed as a result of a conspiracy organized by the Polotsk prince Tovtivil and Mindovg's nephews - Troinat and Dovmont, which ended with Troinat (1263-1264) taking the place of the Grand Duke, who soon killed the head of the conspirators Tovtivil.
