Great Lithuania or "alternative" Rus'? The Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century The territory of Lithuania in the 14th century.
In the XIV-XV centuries. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia was the real rival of Moscow Rus' in the struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe. It was strengthened under Prince Gediminas (ruled in 1316-1341). Russian cultural influence prevailed here at that time. Gedemin and his sons were married to Russian princesses, the Russian language dominated the court and official office work. Lithuanian writing did not exist at that time. Until the end of the XIV century. Russian regions within the state did not experience national-religious oppression. Under Olgerd (ruled in 1345-1377), the principality actually became the dominant power in the region. The position of the state was especially strengthened after Olgerd defeated the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362. During his reign, the state included most of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the Smolensk region. For all the inhabitants of Western 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 XIV century, the Orthodox population prevailed numerically, with whom the pagan Lithuanians got along quite peacefully, and sometimes the unrest that occurred was quickly suppressed (for example, in Smolensk). The lands of the principality under Olgerd stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea steppes, the eastern border ran approximately along the current border of the Smolensk and Moscow regions. There were obvious trends leading towards the formation of a new version of Russian statehood in the southern and western lands of the former Kyiv state.
FORMATION OF THE GRAND PRINCIPALITY OF LITHUANIA AND RUSSIAN
In the first half of the XIV century. a strong state appeared in Europe - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia. It owes its appearance to the Grand Duke Gediminas (1316-1341), who during the years of his reign captured and annexed to Lithuania the Brest, Vitebsk, Volyn, Galician, Lutsk, Minsk, Pinsk, Polotsk, Slutsk and Turov lands. The Smolensk, Pskov, Galicia-Volyn and Kiev principalities became dependent on Lithuania. Many Russian lands, seeking to find protection from the Mongol-Tatars, joined Lithuania. The internal order in the annexed lands did not change, but their princes had to recognize themselves as vassals of Gediminas, pay tribute to him and supply troops when necessary. Gediminas himself began to call himself "the king of Lithuanians and many Russians." Old Russian (close to modern Belarusian) became the official language and office language of the principality. There was no persecution on religious and national grounds in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In 1323 Lithuania got a new capital - Vilnius. According to legend, once Gediminas hunted at the foot of the mountain at the confluence of the Vilnia and Neris rivers. Having killed a huge tour, he and his warriors decided to spend the night near an ancient pagan sanctuary. In his dream he dreamed of a wolf clad in iron armor, howling like a hundred wolves. Called to interpret the dream, the high priest Lizdeyka explained that he should build a city in this place - the capital of the state, and that the glory of this city would spread throughout the world. Gediminas heeded the priest's advice. A city was built, which got its name from the Vilnia River. This is where Gediminas moved his residence from Trakai.
From Vilnius in 1323-1324 Gediminas wrote letters to the Pope and the cities of the Hanseatic League. In them, he declared his desire to accept Catholicism, invited artisans, merchants, and farmers to Lithuania. The crusaders understood that the adoption of Catholicism by Lithuania would mean for them the end of their "missionary" mission in the eyes of Western Europe. Therefore, they began to incite local pagans and Orthodox against Gediminas. The prince was forced to abandon his plans - he announced to the papal legates about the alleged mistake of the clerk. However, Christian churches in Vilnius continued to be built.
The crusaders soon resumed hostilities against Lithuania. In 1336 they laid siege to the Samogitian castle of Pilenai. When its defenders realized that they could not resist for a long time, they burned the castle and died in the fire themselves. On November 15, 1337, Ludwig IV of Bavaria presented the Teutonic Order with the Bavarian castle built near Nemunas, which was supposed to become the capital of the conquered state. However, this state still had to be conquered.
After the death of Gediminas, the principality passed to his seven sons. The one who ruled in Vilnius was considered the Grand Duke. The capital went to Jaunutis. His brother Kestutis, who inherited Grodno, the Principality of Trakai and Samogitia, was unhappy that Jaunutis turned out to be a weak ruler and could not come to his aid in the fight against the crusaders. In the winter of 1344-1345, Kestutis occupied Vilnius and shared power with his other brother, Algirdas (Olgerd). Kestutis led the fight against the crusaders. He repulsed 70 campaigns in Lithuania of the Teutonic Order and 30 - Livonian. There was not a single major battle in which he would not take part. Kestutis' military talent was appreciated even by his enemies: each of the crusaders, according to their own sources, would consider it the greatest honor to shake hands with Kestutis.
Algirdas, the son of a Russian mother, like his father Gediminas, paid more attention to the seizure of Russian lands. During the years of his reign, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania doubled. Algirdas annexed Kyiv, Novgorod-Seversky, Right-bank Ukraine and Podil to Lithuania. The capture of Kyiv led to a clash with the Mongol-Tatars. In 1363 the army of Algirdas defeated them at the Blue Waters, the South Russian lands were liberated from Tatar dependence. Algirdas' father-in-law, Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver, asked his son-in-law for support in the fight against Moscow. Three times (1368, 1370 and 1372) Algirdas made a trip to Moscow, but could not take the city, after which peace was eventually concluded with the Moscow prince.
After the death of Algirdas in 1377, civil strife began in the country. The throne of the Grand Duke of Lithuania was received by the son of Algirdas from the second marriage of Jagiello (Yagello). Andrei (Andryus), the son from his first marriage, rebelled and fled to Moscow, asking for support there. He was received in Moscow and sent to conquer the Novgorod-Seversky lands from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Jagiello, in the fight against Andrei, turned to the Order for help, promising to convert to Catholicism. In secret from Kestutis, a peace treaty was concluded between the Order and Jogaila (1380). Having secured a reliable rear for himself, Jagiello went with an army to help Mamai against, hoping to punish Moscow for supporting Andrei and share the lands of the Moscow principality with Oleg Ryazansky (also an ally of Mamai). However, Jagiello arrived at the Kulikovo field late: the Mongol-Tatars had already suffered a crushing defeat. Meanwhile, Kestutis found out about the secret treaty concluded against him. In 1381 he occupied Vilnius, expelled Jogaila from there and sent him to Vitebsk. However, a few months later, in the absence of Kestutis, Jagiello, together with his brother Skirgaila, captured Vilnius, and then Trakai. Kestutis and his son Vytautas were invited to negotiate at Jogaila's headquarters, where they were captured and placed in the Kreva Castle. Kestutis was treacherously killed, and Vytautas managed to escape. Jagiello began to rule alone.
In 1383, with the help of Vytautas and the Samogitian barons, the Order resumed hostilities against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The allies took Trakai and burned Vilnius. Under these conditions, Jagiello was forced to seek support from Poland. In 1385, a dynastic union was concluded between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish state in Krevo (Krakow) Castle. The following year, Jagiello was baptized, given the name Vladislav, married the Polish queen Jadwiga and became the Polish king - the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty, which ruled Poland and Lithuania for over 200 years. Implementing the union in practice, Jagiello created the Vilnius bishopric, baptized Lithuania, and equalized the rights of the Lithuanian feudal lords who converted to Catholicism with the Polish ones. Vilnius received the right of self-government (Magdeburg Law).
Vytautas, who fought with Jagiello for some time, returned to Lithuania in 1390, and in 1392 an agreement was concluded between the two rulers: Vytautas received the Principality of Trakai and became the de facto ruler of Lithuania (1392-1430). After campaigns in 1397-1398 to the Black Sea, he brought Tatars and Karaites to Lithuania and settled them in Trakai. Vytautas strengthened the Lithuanian state and expanded its territory. He deprived the power of the specific princes, sending his deputies to manage the lands. In 1395, Smolensk was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and attempts were made to conquer Novgorod and Pskov. The state of Vytautas stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In order to provide himself with a reliable rear in the fight against the crusaders, Vytautas signed an agreement with the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I (who was married to Vytautas' daughter, Sophia). The Ugra River became the border between the great principalities.
OLGERD, aka ALGIDRAS
V. B. Antonovich (“Essay on the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania”) gives us the following masterful description of Olgerd: “Olgerd, according to his contemporaries, was distinguished mainly by deep political talents, he knew how to use circumstances, correctly outlined the goals of his political aspirations, favorably disposed alliances and chose the right time for the implementation of his political plans. Extremely restrained and prudent, Olgerd was distinguished by his ability to keep his political and military plans in impenetrable secrecy. Russian chronicles, which are generally not disposed towards Olgerd due to his clashes with northeastern Russia, call him “evil”, “godless” and “flattering”; however, they recognize in him the ability to use circumstances, restraint, cunning - in a word, all the qualities necessary to strengthen their power in the state and to expand its limits. In relation to various nationalities, it can be said that all the sympathies and attention of Olgerd focused on the Russian people; Olgerd, according to his views, habits and family ties, belonged to the Russian people and served as its representative in Lithuania. At the very time when Olgerd strengthened Lithuania by annexing the Russian regions, Keistut is its defender against the crusaders and deserves the glory of a national hero. Keistut is a pagan, but even his enemies, the crusaders, recognize in him the qualities of an exemplary Christian knight. The Poles recognized the same qualities in him.
Both princes divided the administration of Lithuania so precisely that the Russian chronicles know only Olgerd, and the German chronicles only Keistut.
LITHUANIANS AT THE MONUMENT TO THE MILLENNIUM OF RUSSIA
The lower tier of figures is a high relief, on which, as a result of a long struggle, 109 finally approved figures depicting prominent figures of the Russian state were placed. Under each of them, on a granite plinth, there is a signature (name), displayed in a Slavic stylized font.
The figures placed on the high relief are divided by the author of the project of the Monument into four departments: Enlighteners, Statesmen; Military people and heroes; Writers and artists...
The Department of State People is located on the eastern side of the Monument and begins immediately after the “Illuminators” with the figure of Yaroslav the Wise, after which come: Vladimir Monomakh, Gedimin, Olgerd, Vitovt, the princes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Zakharenko A.G. The history of the construction of the Monument to the Millennium of Russia in Novgorod. Scientific Notes” of the Faculty of History and Philology of the Novgorod State Pedagogical Institute. Issue. 2. Novgorod. 1957
Grand Duchy of Lithuania- the state in the XIII-XVI centuries. on the territory of modern Lithuania, Belarus, part of Ukraine and Russia. Capitals - yrs. Trakai, Vilna. Founded by Mindovg, who united the Lithuanian lands: Aukstaitia, Samogitia, Deltuva, and others. The Grand Dukes of Lithuania Gedimin, Olgerd, Keistut, and others seized a number of ancient Russian lands, repelled the aggression of the German knightly orders. In the XIV-XVI centuries. through the Polish-Lithuanian unions (Unia of Krevo 1385, Union of Lublin 1569), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland were united into one state - the 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 crafts played an auxiliary role in the economy. The development of handicrafts based on iron production, internal and external trade (with Russia, Poland, etc.) contributed to the growth of cities (Vilnius, Trakai, Kaunas, etc.). In the IX-XII centuries. feudal relations developed on the territory of Lithuania, the estates of feudal lords and dependent people were formed. Separate Lithuanian political associations - lands (Aukstaitia, Samogitia, Deltuva, etc.) - had an unequal level of socio-economic development. The decomposition of primitive communal relations and the emergence of the feudal system led to the formation of a state among the Lithuanians. According to the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle, the Russian-Lithuanian treaty of 1219 mentions an alliance of Lithuanian princes headed by the "oldest" princes who owned lands in Aukstaitija. This indicates the existence of a state in Lithuania. The strengthening of the grand ducal power led to the unification of the main Lithuanian lands into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the rule of Mindovg (mid-30s of the 13th century - 1263), who also seized 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 XIV century, during the reign of Gediminas (1316-1341), Olgerd (1345-77) and Keistut (1345-82), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania significantly expanded its possessions, adding all Belarusian, part Ukrainian and Russian lands (Volyn, Vitebsk, Turov-Pinsk, Kiev, Pereyaslav, Podolsk, Chernihiv-Seversky 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. The entry into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian lands with more developed social relations and culture contributed to the further development of socio-economic relations in Lithuania. In the annexed lands, the Lithuanian grand dukes retained significant autonomy and immunity rights for local magnates. This, as well as differences in the level of socio-economic development and ethnic heterogeneity of individual parts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led to the lack of centralization in public administration. At the head of the state was the Grand Duke, with him - a council of representatives of the nobility and the highest clergy. In order to join forces to fight the advance of the German knightly orders and strengthen his power, the Grand Duke Jagiello (1377-92) concluded the Union of Krevo in 1385 with Poland. 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 XIV century. paganism existed, Catholicism began to spread by force. Jagiello's policy was opposed by a part of the Lithuanian and Russian princes, headed by Vitovt, who in 1392, after an internecine struggle, actually became the Grand Duke in Lithuania. The combined Lithuanian-Russian and Polish troops, with the participation of Czech troops in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, 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 XIV-XV centuries. were accompanied by mass enslavement of the peasants, causing peasant uprisings (for example, in 1418). The main form of exploitation of the peasants was food rent. Simultaneously with the growth of economic dependence, national oppression in the Belarusian and Ukrainian lands also intensified. Crafts and trade developed in the cities. In the XV-XVI centuries. the rights and privileges of the Lithuanian lords are growing. According to the Union of Horodel in 1413, the rights of the Polish gentry were extended to the Lithuanian Catholic nobles. At the end of the XV century. a Rada of pans was formed, which actually put the power of the grand duke under its control by the privilege of 1447 and by the privilege of the Grand Duke Alexander in 1492. The formation of the general gentry Seim (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 XV-XVI centuries. was accompanied by an increase in the exploitation of the peasants and an aggravation of the class struggle: escapes and unrest became more frequent (especially large ones - in 1536-37 in the grand ducal estates). In the middle of the XVI century. a reform was carried out on the estates of the Grand Duke, as a result of which the exploitation of the peasants increased due to the growth of corvee. From the end of the 16th century this system is being introduced in the estates of large landowners-tycoons. Mass enslavement of peasants, the development of corvée economy, the acquisition by Lithuanian landowners in the 2nd half of the 16th century. the right to duty-free export of grain abroad and the import of goods hindered the development of cities.
The Lithuanian princes from the moment of the formation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania sought to seize the Russian lands. However, the strengthening in the XIV century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow and the unification of the 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 actions 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 Commonwealth.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Within a century after the Batu invasion, on the site of several dozen lands and principalities of Ancient Rus', two powerful states, two new Russias, grew up: Muscovite Rus and Lithuanian Rus. Three quarters of the ancient Russian cities - Kyiv, Polotsk, Smolensk, Chernigov and many others - fell into the composition 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 other Slavic languages directly from the Lithuanian language. They believe that the word comes from the name of a small river Letauka, and the original Lithuania is a small area between the rivers Neris, Viliya and Neman.
In the encyclopedic dictionary "Russia" by F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron, Lithuanians are mentioned, "living mainly along the Viliya and the lower reaches of the Neman", and 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 whole life is being rebuilt in a military way. Many victories of the Lithuanians are narrated by German chroniclers, who can hardly be suspected of sympathy for the enemy. However, the Lithuanians could not cope with such a strong enemy as the knights. The main task of the crusader 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 organization and in the support they had from the Pope and the Emperor from Germany.
The German invasion of the Lithuanian lands aroused and aroused the Lithuanian tribes, which began to unite under the threat of the 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 state formation.
Fearing German enslavement, he accepted baptism from them and for this he received the 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 the subject of the politics of that time, it carried out independent diplomacy, participated in aggressive and defensive wars.
The Lithuanians became the only branch of the Balts who entered the civilization of medieval Europe with their own state and sovereign - King Mindaugas.
The formation of the state was very dynamic, while it was the Slavic lands that became the support of the Lithuanian Grand Duke in his struggle against the recalcitrant tribal princes of the Lithuanians. The ways of joining 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 the Lithuanians protection from the Germans, and the Russians - a refuge from the Tatars. The first, earliest victories over the Mongol-Tatars were won by the Russian regiments in alliance with the armies of the Lithuanians. No wonder in the historical literature it is also called the Lithuanian-Russian state.
This difficult era experienced by Rus in the 13th century constitutes the transition from the history of the Kievan 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 Gediminovich dynasty, became the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who formed a strong state from Lithuanian and Russian lands. 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 the lands of Gediminas were Russian lands. The Lithuanian dynasty managed to form such a center, to which the whole of South-Western Rus', which had lost its unity, began to gravitate. Gediminas began to collect it, and his children and grandchildren completed this process, which was carried out quickly and easily, since the population of the Russian lands willingly went 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 (Keystut) - 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 rallied into a single political whole.”
The situation in this region begins to change at the end of the fourteenth century. Grand Duke Jagiello accepted the offer of the Poles to marry the Polish Queen Jadwiga and unite Poland and Lithuania, resolving the contradictions between these states: the struggle for the Russian lands of Volhynia and Galich and the general opposition to the Germans, who threatened both states. Jagiello agreed to all the conditions set for him, accepted Catholicism himself, and in 1387 he christened pagan Lithuania into Catholicism, and concluded in 1385-1386. Kreva Union, 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 the son of Kestutis Vytautas (Vytautas) resolutely opposed the loss of independence. It got to the point that the Union of Kreva was temporarily terminated and renewed only in 1401 on the terms of equality of the parties. According to the new Union of Horodel in 1413, Lithuania was obliged not to enter into an alliance with the enemies of Poland, but at the same time the equality and sovereignty of the parties were confirmed.
Vytautas managed to gain a foothold in power so that he subjugated all the specific 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 intervened in the affairs of all Russian lands: Novgorod and Pskov, Tver, Moscow, Ryazan. By mutual agreement of the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, the border between the Moscow and Lithuanian lands passed along the Ugra River (the left tributary of the Oka).
But the main historical event that took place at that 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 longtime enemy of Poland, Lithuania and Rus'.
The strengthening of Vytautas, his high authority were the result of the discontent that the union with Poland aroused among the Russian and Lithuanian population of Lithuania. Supporting their Grand Duke, this population showed that they did not want to go under the 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 principality that Moscow was then, he could become a rival of the Moscow princes and, perhaps, rather unite them under his scepter the whole 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 to rapprochement with Poland. Among his subjects 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 Union of Gorodel in 1413), the position of Russians in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was deteriorating. In 1430, a war broke out, which in the literature was called the "rebellion of Svidrigailo." In the course of the movement led by Prince Svidrigailo, the son of Grand Duke Algirdas, a situation arose when the Grand Duchy of Lithuania fell into two parts: Lithuania planted Sigismund, the son of Grand Duke Kestutis, on the great reign, and the Russian lands held on to Svidrigailo’s side and it was he who was put on the “great reign of Russia. In the political development of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian-Russian state), this period was a turning point. While Sigismund was confirming the union with Poland, the Russian lands were living their lives, trying 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 shaken foundations of the Uniate policy, 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 originality and independence of the principality from any attempts on the part of Poland to strengthen the union and more tightly tie Lithuania to the Polish crown.
Until that 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 was formed in it. The gentry (nobility) made up a significant segment of the population - up to 8-10 percent, much more than in the neighboring Muscovite state. The Lithuanian gentry had full political rights in the state. The bodies of the gentry administration - Seims and Sejmiks - resolved the most important issues both at the national and local levels. The policy was administered by the largest landowners-tycoons, 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 collegiate body was formed - the Council of Pans - without the consent of which the Grand Duke could not send ambassadors. He also could not cancel the decisions of the Rada of Ambassadors.
The omnipotence of the magnates and the gentry received a clear legal form. In 1529, 1566 and 1588 Codes of laws were adopted, called the Lithuanian Statutes. They merged traditional Lithuanian and Old Russian law. All three statutes were Slavonic.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had a peculiar culture, the basis of which was laid by the Eastern Slavs. An educator from Polotsk, an East Slavic pioneer Francysk Skorina, a thinker Simon Budny and Vasily Tyapinsky, a poet Simeon of Polotsk, 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, Catholics and Orthodox 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 affected the top of the Orthodox part of society. Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, politician Lev Sapega was born Orthodox, later 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, there was a similar attempt by the Metropolitan of the Western Russian Orthodox Church, Gregory the Bulgarian, which ended in failure. After the adoption of the church union, there could be no question of any religious equality - the Orthodox Church found itself in a cramped position.
The religious union was preceded by a stronger 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 Commonwealth. One of the main reasons for the unification was the inability of the Lithuanian state to repel the offensive from the east on its own. In 1514, the Moscow army defeated the Lithuanians near Smolensk, returning this primordially Russian city to their possession, and in 1563, the troops of Ivan the Terrible took Polotsk. The further, the more the weakening state of the Lithuanian state needed help, which came from the Kingdom of Poland.
As a result, a 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 in the world until that time, which consolidated the power of the nobility, its right to choose a king. This system did not interfere with the development of the economy and culture, but greatly weakened the military power of the state.
According to the Union of Lublin, the southern half of the Lithuanian state was directly attached to the Crown. Some lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, especially Belarusian ones, are becoming the scene of a fierce confrontation between Moscow and Warsaw. Wars, epidemics, 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 XIII century to 1795 on the territory of modern Belarus, Lithuania (until 1795) and Ukraine (until 1569).
From 1386 it was with Poland in a personal, or personal union, known as the Union of Krevo, and from 1569 - in the Sejm Union of Lublin. It ceased to exist after the third partition of the 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 (ancestors of modern Belarusians and Ukrainians). The language of official documents was Western Russian (Old Belorussian, Old Ukrainian, Rusyn) language (for example, Lithuanian metrics, Statute of the Grand Duchy), Latin and Polish, from the 17th century the Polish language prevailed.
In the XIV-XV centuries, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the real rival of Muscovite Rus' in the struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe.
In 1253, the Lithuanian prince Mindovg was crowned, according to some reports, the coronation took place in the city of Novogrudok, which at that time, apparently, was one of the main residences of Mindovg. From the middle of the XIII - the 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 Baltics. At the same time, there was an expansion in the southwestern and southeastern direction, during which Mindovg took away the land 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 was strengthened, at the same time, the Polonization of the nobility of both Lithuanian and Ruthenian origin was outlined, which made it possible in the 17th century. to merge into a Polish-speaking political people with Lithuanian self-consciousness and the Catholic religion. Under Prince Gediminas (ruled in 1316-1341), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was significantly strengthened economically and politically.
Under Olgerd (ruled in 1345-1377), the principality actually became the dominant power in the region. The position of the state was especially strengthened after Olgerd defeated the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362. During his reign, the state included most of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the Smolensk region. For all the inhabitants of Western 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 XIV century. the Orthodox population prevailed numerically, with whom the pagan Lithuanians got along quite peacefully, and sometimes the unrest that occurred was quickly suppressed (for example, in Smolensk).
The lands of the principality under Olgerd stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea steppes, the eastern border ran approximately along the current border of the Smolensk and Moscow regions.
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, on the western borders, Olgerd fought with the crusaders, 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, the Grand Duke Jagiello (reigned in 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 position of both states in the confrontation with the Teutonic Order.
Jagiello handed over the throne to his brother Skirgailo. Jagiello's cousin, Vitovt, with the support of the Teutonic Order, attracted the anti-Polish princes and boyars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to his side, waged a long war for the throne. Only in 1392, between Jagiello and Vitovt, the Ostrov agreement was concluded, according to which Vitovt became the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Jagiello retained the title of “Supreme Prince of Lithuania”. In 1399, Vitovt (reigned 1392-1430), who supported the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh against Timur-Kutluk's henchman, 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 conclude a new alliance with Poland (the so-called Vilna-Radom Union).
In 1405, Vitovt 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; major military operations were not actually conducted, and after several truces and standing on the river. Ugra in 1408, Vitovt and the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I concluded an eternal peace. At that time, in the west, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was fighting the Teutonic Order, in 1410 the combined 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 in the Second Torun Peace in 1466.
Vitovt intervened in the affairs of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, when in 1427 there began a dynastic feud between Vitovt's grandson Vasily II the Dark and Vasily's uncle Yuri Zvenigorodsky. Vitovt, relying on the fact that the Grand Duchess of Moscow, his daughter, Sophia, together with her son, people and lands, accepted his protection, claimed dominance over all of Russia. Vytautas also interfered in the politics of European countries and had considerable weight in the eyes of European sovereigns. The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire twice offered him the royal crown, but Vytautas refused and accepted only the third offer of the emperor. The coronation was scheduled for 1430 and was to take place in Lutsk, where numerous guests gathered. The recognition of Vitovt as a 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 the Polish magnates intercepted the royal crown in Poland. Vitovt 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 Troki (Trakai) castle in the arms of Jagiello.
After the death of Vitovt, the princes and boyars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, having gathered at the Diet, elected Svidrigailo, the younger brother of Jogaila, as Grand Duke. This was done without the consent of the Polish king, magnates and pans, 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, soon a military conflict began between them over Volhynia. However, in 1432 a group of pro-Polish princes staged a coup and placed Vytautas' brother, Sigismund, on 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 Svidrigailo's supporters over to their side. However, the outcome of the war was decided in 1435 in the battle of Vilkomir, in which Svidrigailo's troops suffered very heavy losses.
The reign of Sigismund did not last long, dissatisfied with his pro-Polish policy, suspicion and unreasonable repression, the princes and boyars plotted against him during which he was killed in the Troksky castle. The next Grand Duke, again without agreement with Poland, Kazimir Yagailovich was elected at the Sejm. After some time, Casimir was also offered the Polish crown, he hesitated for a long time, but nevertheless 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 XV - beginning of the XVI 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 pass to the service of the Moscow Grand Duke, as a result, the so-called Seversky principalities and Smolensk moved to the Moscow state.
In 1569, according to the Union of Lublin, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania united with Poland into a confederal state - the Commonwealth.
V.V. Maksakov.
The territorial boundaries of the GDL were established in the second half of the 14th century. They stretched from the Baltic to the Black Seas from north to south, from Brest to Smolensk from west to east.
The creation of the state was started by the Lithuanian prince Mindovg. Chronicle Lithuania was located on the modern East Lithuanian and northwestern Belarusian lands. In the second half of the 40s. 13th century Mindovg became a prince in Novogrudok, where he accepted the Orthodox faith in 1246. In the late 40s - early 50s. 13th century he wins Lithuania for himself, uniting it with Novogrudok, enters into an alliance with the Livonian Order, accepts Catholicism for diplomatic reasons and is crowned in Novogrudok. With this act, the Catholic world recognized the legitimacy and independence of the ON, equalized it with other European countries.
In 1264 Woishalk (1264 - 1267) became the Grand Duke, who conquered and annexed the Baltic lands of Nalshany and Devoltva to his possessions, and also united Novogrudok, Pinsk, Polotsk and Vitebsk lands.
The basis of the GDL was the neighboring Baltic and East Slavic lands, because the population of both lands was interested in political unification. Feudal principalities-powers that existed on the territory of Belarus in the 10th-12th centuries. brought their experience of statehood, economy and culture to the new state, turning it into the Grand Duchy.
6. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the XIV - XV centuries.
In the first half of the XIV century. ON borders expanded and strengthened Gedimin(1316-1341). Gediminas in 1323 founded the new capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Vilna. The power of Gediminas extended to almost all Belarusian lands.
Son of Gediminas Olgerd sought to include in the ON all the Russian lands that were part of Kievan Rus. A significant part of today's Smolensk, Bryansk, Kaluga, Tula, Oryol, Moscow and Tver regions became subject to him.
In the XIV century. there was a further military-political strengthening of the GDL, the Grand Dukes began to be titled not only Lithuanian, but also Russian. The GDL became Slavic not only in terms of the official, state language, which Old Belarusian was, but also in terms of the predominance of the Slavic population.
But at the end of the XIV century. A new stage in the history of the ON began. The situation changed after the death of Olgerd and the beginning of the reign of his son Jagiello(1377 - 1392). The dynastic struggle between Jagiello, his brother Vitovt and uncle Keistut, the aggressive policy of the Order, the aggravation of relations with the Moscow principality, the intrigues of Rome against Orthodoxy pushed Jagiello to an alliance with Poland. In 1385 was signed Union of Krevo- Jagiello converted to Catholicism, took the name Vladislav, married Queen Jadwiga and was declared the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania.
7. State and political system of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In the initial period, the GDL consisted of specific principalities, as well as regions that were in federal relations with the central government (Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Samogitian lands), and from the territories of Lithuania proper with part of the Belarusian lands. Kiev, Volyn and Podolsk lands had a special autonomous status. They were ruled by princes - governors. In the XV century. Vitovt created a new political and administrative system. The Grand Duchy included six voivodeships: Vilna, Trok, Kiev, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk and (since the 16th century) two starostvos - Zhemoytsky and Volynsky.
ON was a monarchy headed by the Grand Duke. The prince was elected by the nobility from among the representatives of the princely dynasty. Under the Grand Duke, the Panyrada acted as an advisory body. A narrow circle of persons from the members of the council closest to the prince made up the front, or secret council.
At the beginning of the XV century. (1401) a new body of state power began to operate - the general (general) diet. From the middle of the XVI century. The general Sejm consisted of the State Council - the Senate and of the district ambassadors - deputies, who made up the Ambassadorial hut.
16. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia in the XIII - XVI centuries. Russian lands as part of the principality.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a feudal state that existed in the 13th-16th centuries. on the territory of part of modern Lithuania and Belarus. The main occupation of the population was agriculture and cattle breeding. Hunting and crafts played an auxiliary role in the economy. The development of handicrafts based on iron production, internal and external trade (with Russia, Poland, etc.) contributed to the growth of cities (Vilnius, Trakai, Kaunas, etc.). In the 9th-12th centuries. feudal relations developed on the territory of Lithuania, the estates of feudal lords and dependent people were formed. Separate Lithuanian political associations had different levels of social and economic development. The decomposition of primitive communal relations and the emergence of the feudal system led to the formation of a state among the Lithuanians. According to the Galicia-Volyn chronicle, the Russo-Lithuanian treaty of 1219 mentions an alliance of Lithuanian princes headed by the "oldest" princes who owned lands in Aukstaitija. This indicates the existence of a state in Lithuania. The strengthening of the grand ducal power led to the unification of the main Lithuanian lands in V. k. L. under the rule of Mindovg (mid-30s of the 13th century - 1263), who also seized some Belarusian lands (Black Rus'). The formation of the V. k. L. was accelerated by the need to unite to fight the aggression of the German crusaders, which intensified from the beginning of the 13th century. Lithuanian troops won major victories over the knights in the battles of Siauliai (1236) and Durba (1260).
In the 14th century, during the reign of Gediminas (1316-1341), Olgerd (1345-77) and Keistut (1345-82), . the Principality of Lithuania significantly expanded its possessions, adding all Belarusian, part of Ukrainian and Russian lands (Volyn, Vitebsk, Turov-Pinsk, Kiev, Pereyaslav, Podolsk, Chernihiv-Seversky lands, etc.). Their inclusion was facilitated by the fact that 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. princes Lithuanian. Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian lands with more developed social relations and culture contributed to the further development of socio-economic relations in Lithuania. In the annexed lands, the Lithuanian grand dukes retained significant autonomy and immunity rights for local magnates. This, as well as differences in the level of socio-economic development and the ethnic heterogeneity of individual parts of the V. k. L., led to the lack of centralization in state administration. At the head of the state was the Grand Duke, with him - a council of representatives of the nobility and the highest clergy. In order to join forces to fight the advance of the German knightly orders and strengthen his power, the Grand Duke Jagiello (1377-92) concluded the Union of Krevo with Poland in 1385. However, the union was fraught with the danger of Lithuania becoming a province of Poland in the future. In Lithuania, where until the end of the 14th century. paganism existed, Catholicism began to spread by force. Jagiello's policy was opposed by a part of the Lithuanian and Russian princes, headed by Vitovt, who in 1392, after an internecine struggle, actually became the Grand Duke in Lithuania. The combined Lithuanian-Russian and Polish troops, with the participation of Czech troops in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, utterly defeated the knights of the Teutonic Order and stopped their aggression.
The growth of large feudal landownership and the consolidation of the ruling class in the 14th - 15th centuries. were accompanied by mass enslavement of the peasants, which caused peasant uprisings (for example, in 1418). The main form of exploitation of the peasants was food rent. Simultaneously with the growth of economic dependence, national oppression in the Belarusian and Ukrainian lands also intensified. Crafts and trade developed in the cities. In the 15-16 centuries. the rights and privileges of the Lithuanian lords are growing. According to the Union of Horodel in 1413, the rights of the Polish gentry were extended to the Lithuanian Catholic nobles. At the end of the 15th century a Rada of pans was formed, which actually put the power of the Grand Duke under its control by the privilege of 1447 and by the privilege of the Grand Duke Alexander in 1492. The formation of a general gentry Sejm (at the end of the 15th century), as well as the publication of the Lithuanian Statutes of 1529 and 1566, consolidated and increased the rights of the Lithuanian nobility.
The transition to cash rent at the end of the 15th-16th centuries. was accompanied by an increase in the exploitation of the peasants and an aggravation of the class struggle: escapes and unrest became more frequent (especially large ones - in 1536-37 in the grand ducal estates). In the middle of the 16th century a reform was carried out on the estates of the Grand Duke, as a result of which the exploitation of the peasants intensified due to the growth of corvee (see Volochnaya Pomera). From the end of the 16th century this system is being introduced in the estates of large landowners-tycoons. Mass enslavement of peasants, development of corvée economy, acquisition by Lithuanian landlords in the second half of the 16th century. the right to duty-free export of grain abroad and the import of goods hindered the development of cities.
