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Gediminids
The House of Gediminas (), or simply the Gediminids, were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. A cadet branch of this family, known as the Jagiellonian dynasty, reigned also in the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Bohemia. Several other branches ranked among the leading aristocratic dynasties of Poland and Russia into recent times. The Gediminas' Cap was used during the inaugurations of Gediminids as Lithuanian monarchs in the Vilnius Cathedral and symbolized the dynasty's continuity. Their monarchical title in Lithuanian primarily was, by some folkloristic data, ''kunigų kunigas'' ("Duke of Dukes"), and later on, ''didysis kunigas'' ("Great/High Duke") or, in a simple manner, ''karalius or kunigaikštis''. In the 18th century, the latter form was changed into tautological ''didysis kunigaikštis'', which nevertheless would be translated as "Grand Duke" (for its etymology, see Grand Prin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columns Of Gediminas
The Columns of Gediminas or Pillars of Gediminas (, ; , 'Columns') are one of the earliest symbols of Lithuania and its historical Coat of arms, coats of arms. They were used in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, initially as a rulers' personal insignia, a state symbol, and later as a part of heraldry, heraldic signs of Lithuanian nobility, leading aristocracy. Appearance The symbol appears in the following form: Horizontal line at bottom, vertical lines extend up at both ends. The square at the middle of the horizontal line is about half as tall as the vertical lines. Another vertical line rises from the top center of the square, giving an overall appearance that is close to a trident. This form is the one usually seen in modern times, often drawn on walls and fences as protest against the Soviet occupation of Lithuania. It is notable that the ancient pre-Christian symbols of Lithuania did not follow the same strict rules of heraldry as their Western counterparts. Thus this symbol wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gediminas
Gediminas ( – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341. He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The Gediminids dynasty he founded and which is named after him came to rule over Poland, Hungary and Bohemia. Biography Origin Gediminas was born in about 1275. Because written sources of the era are scarce, Gediminas' ancestry, early life, and assumption of the title of Grand Duke in ca. 1316 are obscure and continue to be the subject of scholarly debate. Various theories have claimed that Gediminas was either his predecessor Grand Duke Vytenis' son, his brother, his cousin, or his hostler. For several centuries only two versions of his origins circulated. Chronicles — written long after Gediminas' death by the Teutonic Knights, a long-standing enemy of Lithuania — claimed that Gediminas was a host ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, partitions of Poland–Lithuania. The state was founded by Lithuanians (tribe), Lithuanians, who were at the time a Lithuanian mythology, polytheistic nation of several united Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija. By 1440 the grand duchy had become the largest European state, controlling an area from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. The grand duchy expanded to include large portions of the former Kievan Rus' and other neighbouring states, including what is now Belarus, Lithuania, most of Ukraine as well as parts of Latvia, Moldova, Poland and Russia. At its greatest extent, in the 15th century, it was the largest state in Europe. It was a multinational state, multi-ethnic and multiconfessionalism, multiconfessional sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jagiellonian Dynasty
The Jagiellonian ( ) or Jagellonian dynasty ( ; ; ), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty (), the House of Jagiellon (), or simply the Jagiellons (; ; ), was the name assumed by a cadet branch of the Lithuanian ducal dynasty of Gediminids upon reception by Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, of baptism as Ladislaus in 1386, which paved the way to his ensuing marriage to the Queen Regnant Hedwig of Poland, resulting in his ascension to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland as Ladislaus II Jagiełło (initially ruling ''jure uxoris'' jointly with Jadwiga until her death), and the effective promotion of his branch to a royal dynasty. The Jagiellons were polyglots and per historical evidence Casimir IV Jagiellon and his son Saint Casimir possibly were the last Jagiellons who spoke in their patrilineality, patrilineal ancestors' Lithuanian language; however, even the last patrilineal Jagiellonian monarch Sigismund II Augustus maintained two separate and equally lavish Lithuanian-speaking an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Golitsyn
The House of Golitsyn (, ) is the second largest and noblest Princely house in Russia.Jean-Marie Thiébaud , A great princely family of Russia, the Galitzines. Genealogy and historical notes , Paris, 1997. Among its members were warlords, landlords, knyazes (princes), knights, diplomats, Prime Ministers, admirals, stewards, State Counsellors and statesmen. The Golitsyns claim their seniority in the Lithuanian dynasty of Gediminas (the Gediminids) which has existed since the 13th century. Descendants of this family in Europe and the west write their name in the form '' Galitzine''. The family is among the first Russian aristocratic dynasties and its members bear the honorific predicate His Serene Highness.Alexandre Galitzine, ''The Princes Galitzine,'' Washington DC, Victor Graphics,2002 The family produced many well-known statesmen and figures of the Russian Empire, among them notably Vasily, Boris, Dmitry and Nikolai Golitsyn, the last chairman of the Council o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaunutis
Jaunutis (; ; ; Christian name: Ioann; also ''John'' or ''Ivan''; – after 1366) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania after his father Gediminas died in 1341 until he was deposed by his elder brothers Algirdas and Kęstutis in 1345. Succession According to Polish historian Jan Tęgowski, he was probably born between 1306 and 1309. Jaunutis was not mentioned in any written sources prior to Gediminas' death. Before Gediminas' death, all his sons had been granted a domain of Lithuania. Only the second-youngest son, Jaunutis, had not received any domains but lived with his parents in Vilnius. When his father died, he automatically became the ruler of Vilnius and the nearby lands. In Gediminas' time, it was already customary to regard the Duke of Vilnius as the ruler of the whole Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There are many theories why Gediminas chose Jaunutis, a middle son, as his successor. Some suggested that he was an acceptable compromise between Lithuanian myt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palemonids
The Palemonids () were a legendary dynasty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The legend was born in the 15th or 16th century as proof that Lithuanians and the Grand Duchy were of Roman origins. History Jan Długosz (1415–1480) wrote that the Lithuanians were of Roman origin, but did not provide any proof. The legend is first recorded in the second edition of the Lithuanian Chronicles produced in the 1530s. At the time the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was quarrelling with the Kingdom of Poland, rejecting the claims that Poland had civilized the pagan and barbaric Lithuania. The Lithuanian nobility felt a need for the ruling dynasty to show upstanding origins, as the only available chronicles at the time were written by the Teutonic Knights, a long-standing enemy, and depicted Gediminas, ancestor of the Gediminids dynasty, as a hostler of Vytenis. In this new Lithuanian chronicle, Palemon (sometimes identified as Polemon II of Pontus), a relative of Roman emperor Nero, escape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algirdas
Algirdas (; , ; – May 1377) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the present Baltic states to the Black Sea and to within of Moscow. Early life and rise to power Algirdas was one of the seven sons of Grand Duke Gediminas. Before his death in 1341, Gediminas divided his domain, leaving his youngest son Jaunutis in possession of the capital, Vilnius. With the aid of his brother, Kęstutis, Algirdas drove out the incompetent Jaunutis and declared himself Grand Duke in 1345. He devoted the next thirty-two years to the development and expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After becoming the ruler of Lithuania, Algirdas was titled the King of Lithuania () in the Livonian Chronicles instead of the terms ''knyaz'' () or ''Grand prince, velikiy knyaz'' (grand prince). Two factors are thought to have contributed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family Of Kęstutis
The family of Kęstutis (), Grand Duke of Lithuania (1381–1382), is listed here. He co-ruled with his brother Algirdas from 1345 to 1377. Parents *Gediminas (c. 1275 – winter 1341), Grand Duke of Lithuania (1316–1341) *Jaunė (died in 1344), daughter of Prince Ivan of Polotsk Wives * Name not known, (died c. 1351) * Birutė (died probably in 1382) Brothers *Algirdas (c. 1300 – end of May 1377), Grand Duke of Lithuania (1345–1377) *Manvydas (c. 1300–1348), Duke of Kernavė and Slonim (1341–1348) *Narimantas (baptized Gleb; c. 1300–1348), Duke of Pinsk, Polock and Novgorod *Jaunutis (baptized Iwan; c. 1300 – after 1366), Grand Duke of Lithuania (1341–1345), Duke of Izjaslawl (1346–1366) *Karijotas (baptized Michal; c. 1300 – c. 1362), Prince of Navahradak (1341–1362) *Liubartas (baptized Dymitr; c. 1300–1384), Volodymyr and Luck (1340–1384) Sisters *Maria (c. 1300–1349), Princess of Lithuania *Aldona of Lithuania (Anna; after 1309 – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuanian Language
Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1 million speakers elsewhere. Around half a million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as a second language. Lithuanian is closely related to neighbouring Latvian language, Latvian, though the two languages are not mutually intelligible. It is written in a Latin script. In some respects, some linguists consider it to be the most conservative (language), conservative of the existing Indo-European languages, retaining features of the Proto-Indo-European language that had disappeared through development from other descendant languages. History Among Indo-European languag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skomantas Of Sudovia
Komantas or Skomantas (known in Ruthenian sources as ''Komat'', in Latin ''Koommat'', in German ''Skomand'' and ''Skumand''; ca. 1225(?) – after 1285) was a powerful duke and pagan priest of the Yotvingians, one of the early Baltic tribes (according to historian S. C. Rowell and some other researchers, this duke of Sudovia seems to be identical to Skalmantas, the supposed progenitor of Gediminas' dynasty, the Gediminids). He was at the height of his power during the 1260s and 1270s. Skomantas is first mentioned by Peter von Dusburg during the Great Prussian Uprising (1260–1274) as a leader of the 1263 raid on Chełmno, a stronghold of the Teutonic Knights. He also led campaigns against Pinsk and other Slavic territories and therefore could not fully support the uprising. After the uprising Skomantas, with help from the Lithuanians, led 4,000 men against the Teutonic Knights. However, the Old Prussians and other Balts were losing their power. Skomantas' estate was devastated i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vytenis
Vytenis was Grand Duke of Lithuania from to . He became the first monarch of the Gediminid dynasty to sustain a long-lasting reign, establishing the dynasty’s continuity and long-term governance of Lithuania. In the early 14th century, his reputation outshone that of Gediminas, who is regarded by modern historians as one of the greatest Lithuanian rulers. The rule of Vytenis was marked by constant warfare in an effort to consolidate the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Ruthenians, Masovians, and the Teutonic Order. Warfare Vytenis is mentioned for the first time in 1292 during his father's invasion of Masovia: an army of 800 men reached as far as Łęczyca. During this raid he fought one of the most victorious battles ( Battle of Trojanów). After his father's death, c. 1295, he became Grand Duke. Vytenis was soon involved in succession disputes in Poland, supporting Boleslaus II of Masovia, who was married to a Lithuanian duchess Gaudemunda, and opposing Władysław I o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
