First ruler incl. Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia

Voronin I. A.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a state that existed in the northern part of Eastern Europe in 1230-1569.

The basis of the Grand Duchy was made up of Lithuanian tribes: Samogitians and Lithuanians, who lived along the Neman River and its tributaries. The Lithuanian tribes were forced to create a state by the need to fight the advance of the German crusaders in the Baltic states. The founder of the Principality of Lithuania was Prince Mindovg in 1230. Taking advantage of the difficult situation that had developed in Rus' due to Batu’s invasion, he began to seize Western Russian lands (Grodno, Berestye, Pinsk, etc.). Mindovg’s policy was continued by princes Viten (1293-1315) and Gediminas (1316-1341). By the middle of the 14th century. the power of the Lithuanian princes extended to the lands located between the Western Dvina, Dnieper and Pripyat rivers, i.e. almost the entire territory of present-day Belarus. Under Gediminas, the city of Vilna was built, which became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

There were ancient and close ties between the Lithuanian and Russian principalities. Since the time of Gediminas, most of the population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania consisted of Russians. Russian princes played a large role in the administration of the Lithuanian state. Lithuanians were not considered foreigners in Rus'. The Russians calmly left for Lithuania, the Lithuanians - for the Russian principalities. In the XIII-XV centuries. the lands of the Principality of Lithuania were part of the Kyiv Metropolis of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and were subordinate to the Metropolitan of Kyiv, whose residence since 1326 was in Moscow. There were also Catholic monasteries on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania reached its highest strength and power in the second half of the 14th - early 15th centuries. under princes Olgerd (1345-1377), Jagiello (1377-1392) and Vytautas (1392-1430). The territory of the principality at the beginning of the 15th century. reached 900 thousand sq. km. and extended from the Black to the Baltic Seas. In addition to the capital Vilna, the cities of Grodno, Kyiv, Polotsk, Pinsk, Bryansk, Berestye and others were important political and commercial centers. Most of them were previously the capitals of Russian principalities, were conquered or voluntarily joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the XIV - early XV centuries, along with Moscow and Tver, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania acted as one of the centers of the possible unification of Russian lands during the years of the Mongol-Tatar yoke.

In 1385, at the Krevo Castle near Vilna, at a congress of Polish and Lithuanian representatives, a decision was made on a dynastic union between Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the so-called “Krevo Union”) to fight the Teutonic Order. The Polish-Lithuanian union provided for the marriage of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello with the Polish Queen Jadwiga and the proclamation of Jagiello as king of both states under the name Vladislav II Jagiello. According to the agreement, the king had to deal with foreign policy issues and the fight against external enemies. The internal administration of both states remained separate: each state was entitled to have its own officials, its own army and treasury. Catholicism was declared the state religion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Jagiello converted to Catholicism with the name Vladislav. Jagiello's attempt to convert Lithuania to Catholicism caused discontent among the Russian and Lithuanian populations. The dissatisfied people were led by Prince Vitovt, Jogaila's cousin. In 1392, the Polish king was forced to transfer power in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into his hands. Until the death of Vytautas in 1430, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania existed as states independent from each other. This did not prevent them from acting together from time to time against a common enemy. This happened during the Battle of Grunwald on July 15, 1410, when the united army of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania completely defeated the army of the Teutonic Order.

The Battle of Grunwald, which took place near the villages of Grunwald and Tannenberg, became the decisive battle in the centuries-long struggle of the Polish, Lithuanian and Russian peoples against the aggressive policies of the Teutonic Order.

The Master of the Order, Ulrich von Jungingen, entered into an agreement with the Hungarian King Sigmund and the Czech King Wenceslas. Their combined army numbered 85 thousand people. The total number of combined Polish-Russian-Lithuanian forces reached 100 thousand people. A significant part of the army of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas consisted of Russian soldiers. The Polish king Jagiello and Vytautas managed to attract 30 thousand Tatars and a 4 thousand Czech detachment to their side. The opponents settled down near the Polish village of Grunwald.

The Polish troops of King Jagiello stood on the left flank. They were commanded by the Krakow swordsman Zyndram from Myszkowiec. The Russian-Lithuanian army of Prince Vytautas defended the center of the position and the right flank.

The battle began with an attack by Vytautas' light cavalry against the left wing of the Order's troops. However, the Germans met the attackers with volleys of cannons, scattered them, and then launched a counterattack themselves. Vytautas' horsemen began to retreat. The knights sang the victory anthem and began to pursue them. At the same time, the Germans pushed back the Polish army stationed on the right flank. There was a threat of complete defeat of the Allied army. The Smolensk regiments stationed in the center saved the situation. They withstood the fierce onslaught of the Germans. One of the Smolensk regiments was almost completely destroyed in a brutal battle, but did not retreat a single step. The other two, having suffered heavy losses, held back the onslaught of the knights and gave the Polish army and the Lithuanian cavalry the opportunity to rebuild. “In this battle,” wrote the Polish chronicler Dlugosh, “only the Russian knights of the Smolensk Land, formed by three separate regiments, steadfastly fought the enemy and did not take part in the flight. Thus they earned immortal glory.”

The Poles launched a counteroffensive against the right flank of the Order's army. Vytautas managed to strike at the detachments of knights returning after a successful attack on his position. The situation has changed dramatically. Under enemy pressure, the order's army retreated to Grunwald. After some time, the retreat turned into a stampede. Many knights were killed or drowned in the swamps.

The victory was complete. The winners received big trophies. The Teutonic Order, which lost almost its entire army in the Battle of Grunwald, was forced in 1411 to make peace with Poland and Lithuania. The land of Dobrzyn, recently torn away from it, was returned to Poland. Lithuania received Žemaitė. The Order was forced to pay a large indemnity to the winners.

Vitovt had a great influence on the policies of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I, who was married to his daughter Sophia. With the help of his daughter, Vitovt actually controlled his weak-willed son-in-law, who treated his powerful father-in-law with trepidation. In an effort to strengthen his power, the Lithuanian prince also interfered in the affairs of the Orthodox Church. Trying to free the Russian regions that were part of Lithuania from ecclesiastical dependence on the Moscow metropolitan, Vitovt achieved the establishment of the Kyiv metropolitanate. However, Constantinople did not appoint a special independent metropolitan of Western Rus'.

In the first half. XV century The political influence of the Poles and the Catholic clergy on Lithuanian affairs increases sharply. In 1422, the union of Lithuania and Poland was confirmed in Gorodok. Polish positions were introduced in the Lithuanian lands, Sejms were established, and the Lithuanian nobility, who converted to Catholicism, were given equal rights with the Polish.

After the death of Vytautas in 1430, an internecine struggle for the grand-ducal throne began in Lithuania. In 1440 it was occupied by Casimir, the son of Jagiello, who was also the Polish king. Casimir wanted to unite Lithuania and Poland, but the Lithuanians and Russians strongly opposed this. At a number of sejms (Lublin 1447, Parczew 1451, Sierad 1452, Parczew and Petrakov 1453), an agreement was never reached. Under Kazimir's heir, Sigismund Kazimirovich (1506-1548), the rapprochement of the two states continued. In 1569, the Union of Lublin was concluded, which finally formalized the merger of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The head of the new state was the Polish king Sigismund Augustus (1548-1572). From this moment on, the independent history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania can be considered over.

The first Lithuanian princes

Mindovg (d. 1263)

Mindovg - prince, founder of the Principality of Lithuania, ruler of Lithuania in 1230-1263. Chroniclers called Mindaugas “cunning and treacherous.” The tribes of Lithuania and Samogit were prompted to unite under his rule by the increased need to combat the onslaught of German crusader knights in the Baltic states. In addition, Mindovg and the Lithuanian nobility sought to expand their possessions at the expense of the western lands of Rus'. Taking advantage of the difficult situation in Rus' during the Horde invasion, the Lithuanian princes from the 30s. XIII century began to seize the lands of Western Rus', the cities of Grodno, Berestye, Pinsk, etc. At the same time, Mindovg inflicted two defeats on the Horde troops when they tried to penetrate into Lithuania. The Lithuanian prince concluded a peace treaty with the crusaders of the Livonian Order in 1249 and observed it for 11 years. He even transferred some Lithuanian lands to the Livonians. But in 1260 a popular uprising broke out against the rule of the Order. Mindovg supported him and in 1262 defeated the crusaders at Lake Durbe. In 1263, the Lithuanian prince died as a result of a conspiracy of princes hostile to him, who were supported by the crusaders. After the death of Mindaugas, the state he created disintegrated. Strife began between the Lithuanian princes, which lasted for almost 30 years.

Viteni (d. 1315)

Vyten (Vitenes) - Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1293 - 1315. Its origin is legendary. There is information that Viten was the son of the Lithuanian prince Lutiver and was born in 1232. There are other versions of his origin. Some medieval chronicles call Viten a boyar who had large land holdings in the Zhmud lands, and one of the legends considers him a sea robber who was engaged in pirate fishing off the southern shores of the Baltic. Viten was married to the daughter of the Zhmud prince Vikind. This marriage allowed him to unite the Lithuanians and Samogitians under his rule.

So, as was found out in the previous chapter of the course work, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a state that existed in the northern part of Eastern Europe in 1230-1569. The founder of the Principality of Lithuania was Prince Mindovg in 1230. Taking advantage of the difficult situation that had developed in Rus' due to Batu’s invasion, he began to seize Western Russian lands (Grodno, Berestye, Pinsk, etc.). Mindovg’s policy was continued by princes Viten (1293-1315) and Gediminas (1316-1341). By the middle of the 14th century. the power of the Lithuanian princes extended to the lands located between the Western Dvina, Dnieper and Pripyat rivers, i.e. almost the entire territory of present-day Belarus. Under Gediminas, the city of Vilno was built, which became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Viten became the Grand Duke after a long internecine war that began in Lithuania after the death of Mindaugas. He managed to strengthen the Principality of Lithuania and resumed the fight against the Teutonic Order. Armed clashes with German knights during the reign of Witen occurred constantly. In 1298, the Lithuanian prince with large forces invaded the possessions of the Order. Having taken a large load, the Lithuanians tried to go home, but were overtaken by a detachment of knights. In the battle, Viten's army lost 800 people and all prisoners. Soon the Lithuanians manage to avenge their defeat. They captured the city of Dinaburg (Dvinsk), and in 1307 - Polotsk. In Polotsk, Lithuanian soldiers killed all the Germans and destroyed the Catholic churches they had built.

In 1310, Viten's army made a new campaign into the lands of the Teutonic Order. Military operations continued throughout the following years. In 1311, the Lithuanians were defeated in a battle with knights at the Rustenberg fortress. In 1314, the Germans tried to take Grodno, but in turn retreated, suffering heavy losses. Viten's last military campaign was directed against the German fortress of Christmemel, built on the border with Lithuania and constantly threatening its security. He was unsuccessful. The Teutonic knights repelled the attack. Soon after this, in 1315, Viten dies. According to some information, he was killed by his own groom Gedemin, who then took possession of the throne of Viten. According to others, he died his own death and was buried according to Lithuanian custom: in full armor, princely attire and with a pair of hunting falcons.

Gediminas - Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1316-1341. The legendary "Genealogy of the Principality of Lithuania" indicates that Gediminas was a servant ("slave") of the Lithuanian prince Viten. After the death of Viten, Gediminas married the widow of a Lithuanian prince, and himself became a prince.

Under Gediminas, Lithuania began to flourish. He extends his power to the lands between the Western Dvina and Pripyat, to almost the entire territory of modern Belarus. Through the efforts of Gediminas, the city of Vilna was built, where he moved with his court. During his reign, many Russian principalities joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Gediminas conquered some of them, but most came under his rule voluntarily. During the reign of Gediminas, the influence of Russian princes sharply increased in the political life of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Some sons of Gediminas married Russian princesses and converted to Orthodoxy. The Grand Duke of Lithuania himself, although he remained a pagan, did not oppose Russian customs and the Orthodox faith. His daughter Augusta was married to the Moscow prince Simeon the Proud.

The biggest threat to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at this time was the Livonian Order. In 1325, Gediminas concluded an agreement with the Polish king Vladislav and, together with the Poles, undertook a number of successful campaigns against the crusaders. The Livonians suffered a heavy defeat in the battle of Plovtsi in 1331. Subsequently, Gediminas constantly intervened in the internal strife of the Order, contributing to its weakening.

Gediminas was married twice, his second wife was the Russian princess Olga. In total, Gedemin had seven sons. The most famous are the sons from his second marriage, Olgerd and Keistutu.

The Grand Duke of Lithuania died in 1341. Since there was no definite order of succession to the throne in Lithuania, his death almost led to the disintegration of the Grand Duchy into independent fiefs. Civil strife between the sons of Gediminas continued for 5 years, until Olgerd and Keistut seized power.

Olgerd (lit. Algirdas, baptized Alexander) - Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1345-1377. The eldest son of Gediminas from his second wife, Russian princess Olga. After the death of his father, he took part in the internecine struggle with his brothers for the grand-ducal throne. Two people won this war - Olgerd and Keistut. The brothers divided the Lithuanian lands in half: the first received their eastern part with the majority of Russian lands, the second - the western. During the reign of Olgerd, Russian princes began to enjoy especially strong influence in Lithuania. All the Grand Duke’s thoughts were aimed at annexing new Russian lands to his state.

Olgerd annexed the Bryansk, Seversk, Kyiv, Chernigov and Podolsk Russian lands to the Lithuanian state. In 1362, he defeated the Tatar army in the battle of the Blue Waters River. Olgerd also fought with the Moscow princes, supporting the Tver princes in their fight against Moscow and tried to strengthen his influence in Pskov and Veliky Novgorod. In 1368, 1370 and 1372 he led campaigns against Moscow, but he failed to capture the capital of the Moscow principality.

In the 70s XIV century Olgierd wages a long and bloody war with Poland over Volhynia. In 1377, he annexed it to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but soon died.

Olgerd was married twice to Russian princesses: in 1318-1346. on Maria, the daughter of the Vitebsk prince, from 1349 on Ulyana, the daughter of the Tver prince. He accepted the Orthodox faith and took the name Alexander at baptism. In two marriages, Olgerd had 12 sons and 9 daughters. The husbands of his two daughters were the princes of Suzdal and Serpukhov. Many sons became the founders of the Russian and Polish princely families: Trubetskoy, Czartoryski, Belski, Slutski, Zbarazh, Voronetski. The eldest son from his second marriage, Jagiello, became the founder of the Polish royal Jagiellon dynasty.

Andrei Olgerdovich (before baptism - Vigund) - Prince of Polotsk, Trubchev and Pskov. The fourth son of Olgerd and his first wife Maria, the elder brother of Jagiello. In 1341, at the request of the Pskovites and the command of his father, he became the Prince of Pskov. Here he was baptized into the Orthodox faith under the name Andrei. In 1349, the Pskovites refused to recognize him as their prince, because Andrei lived in Lithuania and kept a governor in Pskov. In 1377, after the death of Olgerd, Andrei received the principalities of Polotsk and Trubchevsk, entered into a fight with his younger brother Jagiello for the Lithuanian grand-ducal throne, but in 1379 he was forced to flee to Moscow. With the consent of the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich, the Pskovites again invited him to reign. In 1379, Andrei Olgerdovich took part in a campaign against Lithuania, and in 1380 in the Battle of Kulikovo. Later he returned to Lithuania and again became the Prince of Polotsk. In 1386, Andrei opposed the Krevo Union with Poland. In 1387 he was captured by Prince Skirgail and spent 6 years in prison, but in 1393 he escaped and reigned again in Pskov. The last years of his life, Andrei Olgerdovich served with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas. He died in a battle with the Tatars on the Vorskla River in 1399.

Jogaila (lit. Jogaila) - Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1377-1392. with interruptions, from 1386 the king of Poland under the name of Vladislav II Jagiello, the founder of the Jagiellon dynasty.

Son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd and his second wife, Tver Princess Ulyana. In 1377, after the death of his father, he took the grand-ducal throne. He took over the administration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania together with his uncle Keistut. In 1381, Jagiello was dethroned by his uncle, but in 1382, by order of Jagiello, Keistut was strangled.

In 1385, at a congress of Polish and Lithuanian representatives in Krevo Castle, 80 km from Vilna, an agreement was adopted on a dynastic union between Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (“Krevo Union”). The Polish-Lithuanian union provided for the marriage of Grand Duke Jagiello with the young heir to the Polish throne, Queen Jadwiga, and the proclamation of Jagiello as king of both states, who was in charge of all foreign relations and defense. The internal administration of both states remained separate: each state could have its own officials, separate troops and a special treasury. Catholicism was declared the state religion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Soon Jagiello converted to Catholicism with the name Vladislav and at the Lublin Diet was elected king of Poland under the name Vladislav II Jagiello, while remaining at the same time the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Jagiello's attempts to introduce Catholicism in Lithuania provoked protest from the population of the principality - residents of Russian regions and Lithuanians who had already converted to Orthodoxy categorically abandoned Catholicism, despite the threats. The indignation of pagan Lithuanians was caused by missionaries who extinguished the sacred fire in the Vilna castle, exterminated sacred snakes and cut down protected groves in order to demonstrate the powerlessness of the pagan gods. The rest of the population condemned Jagiello's attempts to introduce Polish orders and customs in Lithuania. Soon dissatisfaction with Jagiel became general. The fight against Jagiello was led by his cousin Prince Vitovt.

Protests against the union on the part of the Lithuanians forced Jogaila to transfer power in Lithuania to Vytautas in 1392. Since 1401, the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania was transferred to him. Jagiello retained only the formal title of “Supreme Prince of Lithuania.” From that time until the death of Vytautas in 1430, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania existed as an independent state, virtually independent of Poland.

The separate existence of Poland and Lithuania, united only by a formal treaty and family ties of the rulers, did not prevent them from waging a joint struggle against the Teutonic Order, which ended in victory in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.

In the first quarter of the 15th century. The political and cultural influence of the Poles and the Catholic clergy on Lithuanian affairs increases. In 1422, the union of Lithuania and Poland was confirmed in Gorodok. Polish positions were introduced in the Lithuanian lands, Sejms were established, and the Lithuanian nobility who converted to Catholicism were given equal rights with the Polish. In 1434 Jagiello dies, but his activities aimed at strengthening the union achieve its goal.

Jagiello was married four times: in 1386-1399. on the Polish queen Jadwiga; in 1402-1416 on Anna, daughter of the Count of Celje and the Polish queen; in 1417-1420 on Elzbieta, daughter of the Sandomierz governor; from 1422 on Sonka-Sophia, daughter of the Kyiv governor. Only in his last, fourth marriage did Jagiello have heirs - two sons: Vladislav and Kazimir (Andrzej).

Vladislav became king of Poland in 1434 after the death of his father. Casimir in 1440 took the throne of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and in 1447 at the same time became the Polish king.

Vytautas (lit. Vytautas, Polish. Witold, German. Witowd, baptized - Alexander) - Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392-1430.

Son of the ruler of Western Lithuania, Prince Keistut, and his wife Biruta. From an early age, Vitovt was familiar with the marching, combat life. In 1370 he was in the campaign of Olgerd and Keistut against the Germans, in 1372 he took part in the campaign against Moscow. In 1376 - again against the Germans. After Keistut was strangled on the orders of his own nephew Jogaila, Vytautas hid for a long time in the possessions of the Teutonic Order. Having secured the support of the Germans, in 1383 he began the fight for the Lithuanian grand-ducal throne. Having suffered a series of defeats, Jagiello decides to reconcile with his cousin. Vytautas enters into an alliance with Jogaila and breaks off his relations with the Order. In 1384 he converted to Orthodoxy under the name of Alexander.

Vytautas reacted negatively to the conclusion of the union of Lithuania and Poland in 1385, and led the fight for the independence of Lithuania. In an effort to enlist the support of the Moscow principality, Vitovt married his daughter Sophia to the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily I. Jagiello was forced to give in: in 1392, Vytautas became Jagiello's governor in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the title of Grand Duke.

Having achieved independence, Vytautas continued the struggle for the annexation of Russian lands to Lithuania, begun in due time by Gediminas and Olgerd. In 1395, Vitovt captured Smolensk. In 1397-1398 Lithuanian troops under his leadership made a campaign in the Black Sea steppes and captured the lower reaches of the Dnieper. In 1399, Vitovt not only provided refuge to Khan Tokhtamysh, who was expelled from the Golden Horde, but also attempted to return his lost throne by military force. In a battle with the troops of the Crimean Khanate in August 1399 on the Vorskla River, he was defeated. It stopped the Lithuanian offensive on Russian lands, but not for long. In 1406, Lithuanian troops attacked Pskov. A two-year war between Vytautas and Vasily I began.

Soon, however, he was forced to sign peace with Moscow, since Lithuania itself began to be threatened by the aggression of the Teutonic Order. On July 15, 1410, the Battle of Grunwald took place, in which the Polish-Russian-Lithuanian army won. Allied troops captured several order castles and liberated the Polish cities of Gdansk, Torun and others previously captured by the knights. In 1411, a peace treaty was signed near Torun, according to which all the lands seized from them by the knights were returned to Lithuania and Poland and a large indemnity was paid.

Under Vitovt, the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded so much that in the south it gained access to the Black Sea (from the mouth of the Dnieper to the mouth of the Dniester), and in the east it reached the regions of Oka and Mozhaisk. The Ryazan and Pron princes concluded unequal alliances with Vitovt.

Vytautas abolished the appanages and introduced Magdeburg law in many cities, in particular the right to self-government. Despite attempts to strengthen central power, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under Vytautas was more like a union of individual lands. Power in these lands was in the hands of local rulers. The Grand Duke almost did not interfere in their internal affairs.

Vytautas sought to free the Russian regions that were part of Lithuania from the ecclesiastical influence of the Moscow Metropolitan. To achieve this, he sought the establishment of the Kyiv Metropolis. However, his efforts in Constantinople to appoint a special independent metropolitan of Western Rus' were unsuccessful.

The position of Lithuania under Vytautas became so strengthened that in 1429 the question arose about his accepting the royal title. In practice, this meant the transformation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into an independent kingdom. The act of coronation had already been prepared. The Moscow and Ryazan princes, Metropolitan Photius, the Livonian master, representatives of the Byzantine emperor and the Horde khan gathered for the celebrations, first in the city of Troki, and then in Vilna. But in 1430 Vytautas died. After his death, an internecine war for the grand-ducal throne began between new contenders in Lithuania. Since 1440 it was occupied by the descendants of Jagiello. At the same time, they were also the kings of Poland.

Svidrigailo (in Catholic baptism - Boleslav) (1355-1452) - Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1430-1432. The youngest, seventh son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd and his second wife, Tver Princess Ulyana Alexandrovna. In early childhood he was baptized according to the Orthodox rite, but in 1386, together with his older brother Jagiello, he converted to Catholicism under the name Boleslav. In his activities he always relied on the support of the Russian lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Initially, his destiny was Polotsk. In 1392, Svidrigailo captured Vitebsk for some time, but was soon driven out of there by Vitovt. In 1408 he fought on the side of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich against Vitovt. Svidrigailo fought unsuccessfully and did not win a single battle. Returning to Lithuania, the prince ended up in prison, where he spent 9 years. After his liberation, Svidrigailo received Novgorod-Seversky and Bryansk as his appanage, where he reigned until 1430.

In 1430, Vytautas died, and Svidrigailo was elected by the Russians and part of the Lithuanian boyars to the grand-ducal throne. Jagiello recognized this election. Svidrigailo began to pursue an independent policy, which turned the Poles against him. In 1432 he was expelled from the Grand Duke's throne by Sigismund Keistutovich. Svidrigailo, relying on the Russian lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, resisted for another 5 years. But his short-sighted policies alienated many of his strong allies. In 1435, Svidrigail’s army was defeated on the banks of the Holy River near the city of Vilkomir. After this, the prince fled to Hungary. In 1440 he was again called to the Lithuanian princely throne. But due to old age, he could no longer do anything. Svidrigailo died in 1452.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a state that existed in the northern part of Eastern Europe in 1230-1569.

FIRST LITHUANIAN PRINCE

MINDOVG

(d. 1263)

VITEN

(d. 1315)

GEDIMIN

(d. 1341)

Gediminas was married twice, his second wife was the Russian princess Olga. In total, Gedemin had seven sons. The most famous are the sons from his second marriage, Olgerd and Keistutu.

Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan the Terrible - these creators of the Moscow state are known to us from school. Are the names of Gediminas, Jagiello or Vytautas also familiar to us? At best, we will read in textbooks that they were Lithuanian princes and once upon a time fought with Moscow, and then disappeared somewhere into obscurity... But it was they who founded the Eastern European power, which, with no less reason than Muscovy, called itself Russia.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Chronology of the main events of history (before the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth):
9th-12th centuries- development of feudal relations and formation of estates on the territory of Lithuania, formation of the state
Early 13th century- increased aggression of the German crusaders
1236- Lithuanians defeat the Knights of the Sword at Siauliai
1260- victory of the Lithuanians over the Teutons at Durbe
1263- unification of the main Lithuanian lands under the rule of Mindaugas
XIV century- significant expansion of the territory of the principality due to new lands
1316-1341- reign of Gediminas
1362- Olgerd defeats the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters (the left tributary of the Southern Bug) and occupies Podolia and Kyiv
1345-1377- reign of Olgerd
1345-1382- reign of Keistut
1385- Grand Duke Jagiello
(1377-1392) concludes the Union of Krevo with Poland
1387- adoption of Catholicism by Lithuania
1392- as a result of internecine struggle, Vytautas becomes the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who opposed the policies of Jogaila 1410 - united Lithuanian-Russian and Polish troops completely defeat the knights of the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunwald
1413- Union of Gorodel, according to which the rights of the Polish gentry extended to Lithuanian Catholic nobles
1447- the first Privilege - a set of laws. Together with Sudebnik
1468 it became the first experience of codification of law in the principality
1492- “Privilege Grand Duke Alexander.” The first charter of the nobility's liberties
Late 15th century- formation of the general gentry Sejm. Growth of rights and privileges of lords
1529, 1566, 1588 - the publication of three editions of the Lithuanian statute - “charter and praise”, zemstvo and regional “privileges”, which secured the rights of the gentry
1487-1537- wars with Russia that took place intermittently against the backdrop of the strengthening of the Principality of Moscow. Lithuania lost Smolensk, captured by Vytautas in 1404. According to the truce of 1503, Rus' regained 70 volosts and 19 cities, including Chernigov, Bryansk, Novgorod-Seversky and other Russian lands
1558-1583- Russia’s war with the Livonian Order, as well as with Sweden, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the Baltic states and access to the Baltic Sea, in which Lithuania suffered failures
1569- signing of the Union of Lublin and the unification of Lithuania into one state with Poland - Rzeczpospolita

A century later, Gediminas and Olgerd already had a power that included Polotsk, Vitebsk, Minsk, Grodno, Brest, Turov, Volyn, Bryansk and Chernigov. In 1358, Olgerd’s ambassadors even declared to the Germans: “All of Rus' should belong to Lithuania.” To reinforce these words and ahead of the Muscovites, the Lithuanian prince opposed the Golden Horde “itself”: in 1362 he defeated the Tatars at Blue Waters and assigned ancient Kyiv to Lithuania for almost 200 years.

“Will Slavic streams merge into the Russian sea?” (Alexander Pushkin)

By no coincidence, at the same time, the Moscow princes, the descendants of Ivan Kalita, began to “collect” lands little by little. Thus, by the middle of the 14th century, two centers had emerged that claimed to unite the ancient Russian “heritage”: Moscow and Vilna, founded in 1323. The conflict could not be avoided, especially since the main tactical rivals of Moscow - the princes of Tver - were in alliance with Lithuania, and the Novgorod boyars also sought the arm of the West.

Then, in 1368-1372, Olgerd, in alliance with Tver, made three campaigns against Moscow, but the forces of the rivals turned out to be approximately equal, and the matter ended in an agreement dividing the “spheres of influence.” Well, since they failed to destroy each other, they had to get closer: some of the children of the pagan Olgerd converted to Orthodoxy. It was here that Dmitry proposed to the still undecided Jagiello a dynastic union, which was not destined to take place. And not only did it not happen according to the prince’s word: it became the other way around. As you know, Dmitry was unable to resist Tokhtamysh, and in 1382 the Tatars allowed Moscow “to be poured out and plundered.” She again became a Horde tributary. The alliance with his failed father-in-law ceased to attract the Lithuanian sovereign, but rapprochement with Poland gave him not only a chance for a royal crown, but also real help in the fight against his main enemy - the Teutonic Order.

And Jagiello still married - but not to the Moscow princess, but to the Polish queen Jadwiga. He was baptized according to the Catholic rite. Became the Polish king under the Christian name Vladislav. Instead of an alliance with the eastern brothers, the Krevo Union of 1385 happened with the western ones. Since that time, Lithuanian history has been firmly intertwined with Polish: the descendants of Jagiello (Jagiellon) reigned in both powers for three centuries - from the 14th to the 16th. But still, these were two different states, each retaining its own political system, legal system, currency and army. As for Vladislav-Jagiello, he spent most of his reign in his new possessions. His cousin Vitovt ruled the old ones and ruled brightly. In a natural alliance with the Poles, he defeated the Germans at Grunwald (1410), annexed the Smolensk land (1404) and the Russian principalities in the upper reaches of the Oka. The powerful Lithuanian could even place his proteges on the Horde throne. A huge “ransom” was paid to him by Pskov and Novgorod, and the Moscow Prince Vasily I Dmitrievich, as if turning his father’s plans inside out, married Vitovt’s daughter and began to call his father-in-law “father”, that is, in the system of the then feudal ideas, he recognized himself as his vassal. At the peak of greatness and glory, Vytautas lacked only a royal crown, which he declared at the congress of monarchs of Central and Eastern Europe in 1429 in Lutsk in the presence of the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund I, the Polish king Jagiello, the Tver and Ryazan princes, the Moldavian ruler, embassies of Denmark, Byzantium and the Pope. In the autumn of 1430, Prince Vasily II of Moscow, Metropolitan Photius, the princes of Tver, Ryazan, Odoev and Mazovia, the Moldavian ruler, the Livonian master, and the ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor gathered for the coronation in Vilna. But the Poles refused to let through the embassy, which was bringing Vytautas royal regalia from Rome (the Lithuanian “Chronicle of Bykhovets” even says that the crown was taken from the ambassadors and cut into pieces). As a result, Vytautas was forced to postpone the coronation, and in October of the same year he suddenly fell ill and died. It is possible that the Lithuanian Grand Duke was poisoned, since a few days before his death he felt great and even went hunting. Under Vitovt, the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, and its eastern border passed under Vyazma and Kaluga...

“What angered you? Excitement in Lithuania? (Alexander Pushkin)

The daredevil Vitovt had no sons - after a protracted strife, Jagiello's son Casimir ascended to power in 1440, taking the thrones of Lithuania and Poland. He and his immediate descendants worked intensively in Central Europe, and not without success: sometimes the crowns of the Czech Republic and Hungary ended up in the hands of the Jagiellons. But they completely stopped looking to the east and lost interest in Olgerd’s ambitious “all-Russian” program. As you know, nature abhors a vacuum - the task was successfully “intercepted” by the Moscow great-grandson of Vitovt - Grand Duke Ivan III: already in 1478 he laid claim to the ancient Russian lands - Polotsk and Vitebsk. The church also helped Ivan - after all, the residence of the all-Russian metropolitan was Moscow, which means that Lithuanian adherents of Orthodoxy were also spiritually governed from there. However, the Lithuanian princes more than once (in 1317, 1357, 1415) tried to install “their” metropolitan for the lands of the Grand Duchy, but in Constantinople they were not interested in dividing the influential and rich metropolis and making concessions to the Catholic king.

And now Moscow felt the strength to launch a decisive offensive. Two wars take place - 1487-1494 and 1500-1503, Lithuania loses almost a third of its territory and recognizes Ivan III as the “Sovereign of All Rus'”. Further - more: Vyazma, Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky lands (actually, Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky, as well as Bryansk, Starodub and Gomel) go to Moscow. In 1514, Vasily III returned Smolensk, which for 100 years became the main fortress and “gate” on the western border of Russia (then it was again taken away by Western opponents).

Only by the third war of 1512-1522 did the Lithuanians gather fresh troops from the western regions of their state, and the forces of the opponents turned out to be equal. Moreover, by that time the population of the eastern Lithuanian lands had completely cooled down to the idea of joining Moscow. Still, the gap between public views and the rights of subjects of the Moscow and Lithuanian states was already very deep.

One of the halls of the Vilnius Gediminas Tower

Not Muscovites, but Russians

In cases where Lithuania included highly developed territories, the grand dukes maintained their autonomy, guided by the principle: “We do not destroy the old, we do not introduce new things.” Thus, the loyal rulers from the Rurikovich tree (princes Drutsky, Vorotynsky, Odoevsky) retained their possessions completely for a long time. Such lands received “privilege” certificates. Their residents could, for example, demand a change of governor, and the sovereign would undertake not to take certain actions in relation to them: not to “enter” into the rights of the Orthodox Church, not to resettle local boyars, not to distribute fiefs to people from other places, not to “sue” those accepted by local courts decisions. Until the 16th century, on the Slavic lands of the Grand Duchy, legal norms were in force that went back to the “Russian Truth” - the oldest set of laws given by Yaroslav the Wise.

Lithuanian knight. Late 14th century

The multi-ethnic composition of the state was then reflected even in its name - “The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia”, and Russian was considered the official language of the principality... but not the Moscow language (rather, Old Belarusian or Old Ukrainian - there was no big difference between them until the beginning of the 17th century ). Laws and acts of the state chancellery were drawn up there. Sources from the 15th-16th centuries testify: the Eastern Slavs within the borders of Poland and Lithuania considered themselves a “Russian” people, “Russians” or “Rusyns”, while, we repeat, without identifying themselves in any way with the “Muscovites”.

In the northeastern part of Rus', that is, in that which, in the end, was preserved on the map under this name, the process of “gathering lands” took longer and more difficult, but the degree of unification of the once independent principalities under the heavy hand of the Kremlin rulers was immeasurably higher. In the turbulent 16th century, the “free autocracy” (the term of Ivan the Terrible) strengthened in Moscow, the remnants of Novgorod and Pskov liberties, the own “destinies” of aristocratic families and semi-independent border principalities disappeared. All more or less noble subjects performed lifelong service to the sovereign, and attempts by them to defend their rights were regarded as treason. Lithuania in the XIV-XVI centuries was, rather, a federation of lands and principalities under the rule of the great princes - the descendants of Gediminas. The relationship between power and subjects was also different - this was reflected in the model of the social structure and government order of Poland. “Strangers” to the Polish nobility, the Jagiellons needed its support and were forced to grant more and more privileges, extending them to Lithuanian subjects. In addition, the descendants of Jagiello pursued an active foreign policy, and for this they also had to pay the knights who went on campaigns.

Taking liberties with propination

But it was not only due to the goodwill of the great princes that such a significant rise in the gentry - the Polish and Lithuanian nobility - occurred. It’s also about the “world market”. Entering the phase of industrial revolutions in the 16th century, the Netherlands, England, and northern Germany required more and more raw materials and agricultural products, which were supplied by Eastern Europe and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. And with the influx of American gold and silver into Europe, the “price revolution” made the sale of grain, livestock and flax even more profitable (the purchasing power of Western clients increased sharply). Livonian knights, Polish and Lithuanian gentry began to transform their estates into farms, aimed specifically at the production of export products. The growing income from such trade formed the basis of the power of the “magnates” and the wealthy gentry.

The first were the princes - the Rurikovichs and Gediminovichs, the largest landowners of Lithuanian and Russian origin (Radziwills, Sapiehas, Ostrozhskys, Volovichi), who had the opportunity to take hundreds of their own servants to war and occupied the most prominent posts. In the 15th century, their circle expanded to include “simple” “noble boyars” who were obliged to perform military service for the prince. The Lithuanian Statute (code of laws) of 1588 consolidated their broad rights accumulated over 150 years. The granted lands were declared the eternal private property of the owners, who could now freely enter the service of more noble lords and go abroad. It was forbidden to arrest them without a court decision (and the gentry themselves elected local zemstvo courts at their “sejmiks” meetings). The owner also had the right of “propination” - only he himself could produce beer and vodka and sell it to the peasants.

Naturally, corvée flourished in the farms, and along with it other serfdom systems. The statute recognized the right of peasants to only one possession - movable property necessary to fulfill duties to the owner. However, a “free man” who settled on the land of a feudal lord and lived in a new place for 10 years could still leave by paying off a significant sum. However, the law adopted by the national Sejm in 1573 gave the lords the right to punish their subjects at their discretion - up to and including the death penalty. The sovereign now generally lost the right to interfere in the relationship between patrimonial owners and their “living property,” and in Muscovite Rus', on the contrary, the state increasingly limited the judicial rights of landowners.

“Lithuania is like part of another planet” (Adam Mickiewicz)

The state structure of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was also strikingly different from Moscow. There was no central administration apparatus similar to the Great Russian system of orders - with its numerous clerks and clerks. The zemsky podskarbiy (the head of the state treasury - “skarbom”) in Lithuania kept and spent money, but did not collect taxes. Hetmans (troop commanders) led the gentry's militia when it was assembled, but the Grand Duke's standing army numbered only five thousand mercenary soldiers in the 16th century. The only permanent body was the Grand Ducal Chancellery, which conducted diplomatic correspondence and kept the archive - the “Lithuanian Metrics”.

In the year when the Genoese Christopher Columbus set off on his first voyage to the distant “Indian” shores, in the glorious 1492, the Lithuanian sovereign Alexander Kazimirovich Jagiellon finally and voluntarily embarked on the path of a “parliamentary monarchy”: now he coordinated his actions with a number of lords , consisting of three dozen bishops, governors and governors of the regions. In the absence of the prince, the Rada generally completely ruled the country, controlling land grants, expenses and foreign policy.

Lithuanian cities were also very different from Great Russian ones. There were few of them, and they settled reluctantly: for greater “urbanization,” the princes had to invite foreigners - Germans and Jews, who again received special privileges. But this was not enough for foreigners. Feeling the strength of their position, they confidently sought concession after concession from the authorities: in the 14th-15th centuries, Vilno, Kovno, Brest, Polotsk, Lvov, Minsk, Kiev, Vladimir-Volynsky and other cities received their own self-government - the so-called “Magdeburg law”. Now the townspeople elected “radtsy”-councillors, who were in charge of municipal revenues and expenses, and two mayors - a Catholic and an Orthodox one, who judged the townspeople together with the grand-ducal governor, the “voight”. And when craft workshops appeared in cities in the 15th century, their rights were enshrined in special charters.

The origins of parliamentarism: the Val Diet

But let us return to the origins of the parliamentarism of the Lithuanian state - after all, it was its main distinguishing feature. The circumstances of the emergence of the supreme legislative body of the principality - the Valny Sejm - are interesting. In 1507, he first collected for the Jagiellons an emergency tax for military needs - “serebschizna”, and since then it has been like this: every year or two the need for a subsidy was repeated, which means the gentry had to collect. Gradually, other important issues fell into the competence of the “lords’ council” (that is, the Sejm) - for example, at the Vilna Sejm in 1514 they decided, contrary to the princely opinion, to continue the war with Moscow, and in 1566 the deputies decided: not to change anything without their approval single law.

Unlike the representative bodies of other European countries, only the nobility always sat in the Sejm. Its members, the so-called “ambassadors”, were elected by povets (judicial-administrative districts) by local “sejmiks”, received “zero power” from their voters - the gentry - and defended their orders. In general, almost our Duma - but only a noble one. By the way, it is worth comparing: in Russia at that time there also existed an irregularly meeting advisory body - the Zemsky Sobor. It, however, did not have rights even closely comparable to those possessed by the Lithuanian parliament (it had, in fact, only advisory!), and from the 17th century it began to be convened less and less, to be held for the last time in 1653. And no one “noticed” this - now no one even wanted to sit in the Council: the Moscow service people who made up it, for the most part, lived off small estates and the “sovereign’s salary”, and they were not interested in thinking about the affairs of the state. It would be more reliable for them to secure the peasants on their lands...

“Do Lithuanians speak Polish?..” (Adam Mickiewicz)

Both the Lithuanian and Moscow political elites, grouped around their “parliaments,” created, as usual, myths about their own past. In the Lithuanian chronicles there is a fantastic story about Prince Palemon, who with five hundred nobles fled from the tyranny of Nero to the shores of the Baltic and conquered the principalities of the Kyiv state (try to compare the chronological layers!). But Rus' did not lag behind: in the writings of Ivan the Terrible, the origin of the Rurikovichs was traced back to the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus. But the Moscow “Tale of the Princes of Vladimir” calls Gedimina a princely groom who married his master’s widow and illegally seized power over Western Russia.

But the differences were not only in mutual accusations of “ignorance.” A new series of Russian-Lithuanian wars at the beginning of the 16th century inspired Lithuanian sources to contrast their own, domestic, orders with the “cruel tyranny” of the Moscow princes. In neighboring Russia, in turn, after the disasters of the Time of Troubles, the Lithuanian (and Polish) people were looked at exclusively as enemies, even “demons”, in comparison with which even the German “Luthor” looks cute.

So, wars again. Lithuania generally had to fight a lot: in the second half of the 15th century, the combat power of the Teutonic Order was finally broken, but a new terrible threat arose on the southern borders of the state - the Ottoman Empire and its vassal, the Crimean Khan. And, of course, the many times already mentioned confrontation with Moscow. During the famous Livonian War (1558-1583), Ivan the Terrible initially briefly captured a significant part of Lithuanian possessions, but already in 1564, Hetman Nikolai Radziwill defeated the 30,000-strong army of Peter Shuisky on the Ule River. True, the attempt to go on the offensive against Moscow's possessions failed: the Kiev governor, Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky, and the Chernobyl headman, Philon Kmita, attacked Chernigov, but their attack was repulsed. The struggle dragged on: there were not enough troops or money.

Lithuania had to reluctantly go for full, real and final unification with Poland. In 1569, on June 28, in Lublin, representatives of the gentry of the Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania proclaimed the creation of a single Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzecz Pospolita - a literal translation of the Latin res publica - “common cause”) with a single Senate and Sejm; The monetary and tax systems were also unified. Vilno, however, retained some autonomy: its rights, treasury, hetmans and the official “Russian” language.

Here, “by the way,” the last Jagiellon, Sigismund II Augustus, died in 1572; so, logically, they decided to choose the common king of the two countries at the same Diet. For centuries, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth turned into a unique, non-hereditary monarchy.

Res publica in Moscow

As part of the gentry “republic” (XVI-XVIII centuries), Lithuania at first had nothing to complain about. On the contrary, it experienced the highest economic and cultural growth and again became a great power in Eastern Europe. In times of troubles for Russia, the Polish-Lithuanian army of Sigismund III besieged Smolensk, and in July 1610 defeated the army of Vasily Shuisky, after which this unfortunate king was overthrown from the throne and tonsured a monk. The boyars found no other way out than to conclude an agreement with Sigismund in August and invite his son, Prince Vladislav, to the Moscow throne. According to the agreement, Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth concluded an eternal peace and alliance, and the prince pledged not to erect Catholic churches, “not to change the previous customs and ranks” (including serfdom, of course), and foreigners “in the governors and among the officials not to be". He did not have the right to execute, deprive of “honor” and take away property without the advice of the boyars “and all Duma people.” All new laws were to be adopted “by the Duma of the boyars and all the lands.” On behalf of the new Tsar “Vladislav Zhigimontovich”, Polish and Lithuanian companies occupied Moscow. As we know, this whole story ended in nothing for the Polish-Lithuanian contender. The whirlwind of the ongoing Russian unrest swept away his claims to the throne of Eastern Rus', and soon the successful Romanovs, with their triumph, completely marked a further and very tough opposition to the political influence of the West (while gradually succumbing more and more to its cultural influence).

What if Vladislav’s affair had “burnt out”?.. Well, some historians believe that the agreement between the two Slavic powers already at the beginning of the 17th century could have become the beginning of the pacification of Rus'. In any case, it meant a step towards the rule of law, offering an effective alternative to autocracy. However, even if the invitation of a foreign prince to the Moscow throne could actually take place, to what extent did the principles outlined in the agreement correspond to the ideas of the Russian people about a fair social order? Moscow nobles and men seemed to prefer a formidable sovereign, standing above all “ranks” - a guarantee against the arbitrariness of “strong people”. In addition, the stubborn Catholic Sigismund categorically refused to let the prince go to Moscow, much less allow his conversion to Orthodoxy.

The short-lived heyday of Speech

Having lost Moscow, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, however, seized very substantial “compensation”, again regaining the Chernigov-Seversky lands (they were recaptured in the so-called Smolensk War of 1632-1634 already from Tsar Mikhail Romanov).

As for the rest, the country has now undoubtedly become the main breadbasket of Europe. The grain was floated down the Vistula to Gdansk, and from there along the Baltic Sea through the Oresund to France, Holland, and England. Huge herds of cattle from what is now Belarus and Ukraine - to Germany and Italy. The army did not lag behind the economy: the best heavy cavalry in Europe at that time, the famous “winged” hussars, shone on the battlefields.

But the flowering was short-lived. The reduction of export duties on grain, so beneficial to landowners, simultaneously opened up access to foreign goods to the detriment of their own producers. The policy of inviting immigrants to the cities - Germans, Jews, Poles, Armenians, who now made up the majority of residents of Ukrainian and Belarusian cities, especially large ones (for example, Lviv), which was partly destructive for the overall national perspective, continued. The offensive of the Catholic Church led to the displacement of Orthodox burghers from city institutions and courts; cities became “foreign” territory for peasants. As a result, the two main components of the state were disastrously demarcated and alienated from each other.

On the other hand, although the “republican” system certainly opened up wide opportunities for political and economic growth, although broad self-government protected the rights of the gentry from both the king and the peasants, although it could already be said that a kind of rule of law state was created in Poland , in all this there was already a destructive beginning hidden. First of all, the nobles themselves undermined the foundations of their own prosperity. These were the only “full-fledged citizens” of their fatherland, these proud people considered themselves alone as a “political people.” As has already been said, they despised and humiliated peasants and townspeople. But with such an attitude, the latter could hardly be eager to defend the master’s “liberties” - neither in internal troubles, nor from external enemies.

The Union of Brest-Litovsk is not an alliance, but a schism

After the Union of Lublin, the Polish gentry poured into the rich and sparsely populated lands of Ukraine in a powerful stream. There, the latifundia grew like mushrooms - Zamoyski, Zolkiewski, Kalinovski, Koniecpolski, Potocki, Wisniewiecki. With their appearance, former religious tolerance became a thing of the past: the Catholic clergy followed the magnates, and in 1596 the famous Union of Brest was born - a union of the Orthodox and Catholic churches on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The basis of the union was the recognition by the Orthodox of Catholic dogmas and the supreme power of the pope, while the Orthodox Church preserved rituals and services in Slavic languages.

The Union, as one would expect, did not resolve religious contradictions: clashes between those who remained faithful to Orthodoxy and the Uniates were fierce (for example, during the Vitebsk revolt of 1623, the Uniate bishop Josaphat Kuntsevich was killed). The authorities closed Orthodox churches, and priests who refused to join the union were expelled from parishes. Such national-religious oppression ultimately led to the uprising of Bohdan Khmelnitsky and the actual fall of Ukraine from Rech. But on the other hand, the privileges of the gentry, the brilliance of their education and culture attracted Orthodox nobles: in the 16th-17th centuries, the Ukrainian and Belarusian nobility often renounced the faith of their fathers and converted to Catholicism, along with the new faith, adopting a new language and culture. In the 17th century, the Russian language and the Cyrillic alphabet fell out of use in official writing, and at the beginning of the New Age, when the formation of national states was underway in Europe, the Ukrainian and Belarusian national elites became Polonized.

Freedom or bondage?

...And the inevitable happened: in the 17th century, the “golden liberty” of the gentry turned into paralysis of state power. The famous principle of liberum veto - the requirement of unanimity when passing laws in the Sejm - led to the fact that literally none of the “constitutions” (decisions) of the congress could come into force. Anyone bribed by some foreign diplomat or simply a tipsy “ambassador” could disrupt the meeting. For example, in 1652, a certain Vladislav Sitsinsky demanded that the Sejm be closed, and it resignedly dispersed! Later, 53 meetings of the supreme assembly (about 40%!) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ended ingloriously in a similar manner.

But in fact, in economics and big politics, the total equality of the “brother lords” simply led to the omnipotence of those who had money and influence - the “royalty” tycoons who bought themselves the highest government positions, but were not under the control of the king. The possessions of such families as the already mentioned Lithuanian Radziwills, with dozens of cities and hundreds of villages, were comparable in size to modern European states such as Belgium. The “krolevats” maintained private armies that were superior in number and equipment to the crown troops. And at the other pole there was a mass of that same proud, but poor nobility - “A nobleman on a fence (a tiny piece of land - Ed.) is equal to a governor!” - which, with its arrogance, had long instilled in itself the hatred of the lower classes, and was simply forced to endure anything from its “patrons.” The only privilege of such a nobleman could remain only the ridiculous demand that his owner-magnate flog him only on a Persian carpet. This requirement - either as a sign of respect for ancient freedoms, or as a mockery of them - was observed.

In any case, the master's liberty has turned into a parody of itself. Everyone seemed to be convinced that the basis of democracy and freedom was the complete impotence of the state. Nobody wanted the king to become stronger. In the middle of the 17th century, his army numbered no more than 20 thousand soldiers, and the fleet created by Vladislav IV had to be sold due to lack of funds in the treasury. The united Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland were unable to “digest” the vast lands that merged into a common political space. Most neighboring states had long ago turned into centralized monarchies, and the gentry republic with its anarchic freemen without an effective central government, a financial system and a regular army turned out to be uncompetitive. All this, like a slow-acting poison, poisoned the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Hussar. 17th century

“Leave it alone: this is a dispute among the Slavs among themselves” (Alexander Pushkin)

In 1654, the last great war between Russia and Lithuania-Poland began. At first, the Russian regiments and Cossacks of Bogdan Khmelnitsky seized the initiative, conquering almost all of Belarus, and on July 31, 1655, the Russian army led by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich solemnly entered the capital of Lithuania, Vilna. The Patriarch blessed the sovereign to be called the “Grand Duke of Lithuania,” but the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth managed to gather forces and go on the offensive. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, after the death of Khmelnytsky, a struggle between supporters and opponents of Moscow broke out, a civil war raged - “Ruin”, when two or three hetmans with different political views acted simultaneously. In 1660, the Russian armies were defeated at Polonka and Chudnov: the best forces of the Moscow cavalry were killed, and the commander-in-chief V.V. Sheremetev was completely captured. The Muscovites had to leave the newly triumphantly conquered Belarus. The local gentry and townspeople did not want to remain subjects of the Moscow Tsar - the gap between the Kremlin and Lithuanian orders had already run too deep.

The difficult confrontation ended with the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, according to which Left Bank Ukraine went to Moscow, while the right bank of the Dnieper (with the exception of Kyiv) remained with Poland until the end of the 18th century.

Thus, the protracted conflict ended in a “draw”: during the 16th-17th centuries, the two neighboring powers fought for a total of more than 60 years. In 1686, mutual exhaustion and the Turkish threat forced them to sign the "Perpetual Peace". And a little earlier, in 1668, after the abdication of King Jan Casimir, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was even considered a real contender for the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In Russia at this time, Polish clothing came into fashion at court, translations were made from Polish, the Belarusian poet Simeon of Polotsk became the heir’s teacher...

Last August

In the 18th century, Poland-Lithuania still stretched from the Baltic to the Carpathians and from the Dnieper to the Vistula-Oder interfluve, with a population of about 12 million. But the weakened gentry “republic” no longer played any important role in international politics. It became a “traveling inn” - a supply base and theater of military operations for the new great powers - in the Northern War of 1700-1721 - Russia and Sweden, in the War of the "Polish Succession" of 1733-1734 - between Russia and France, and then in The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) - between Russia and Prussia. This was also facilitated by the magnate groups themselves, who focused on foreign candidates during the election of the king.

However, the Polish elite's rejection of everything connected with Moscow grew. “Muscovites” aroused hatred greater than even the “Swabians”; they were perceived as “boors and cattle.” And according to Pushkin, Belarusians and Litvinians suffered from this “unequal dispute” of the Slavs. Choosing between Warsaw and Moscow, natives of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in any case chose a foreign land and lost their homeland.

The result is well known: the Polish-Lithuanian state could not withstand the onslaught of the “three black eagles” - Prussia, Austria and Russia, and became a victim of three partitions - 1772, 1793 and 1795. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth disappeared from the political map of Europe until 1918. After abdicating the throne, the last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Stanislav August Poniatowski, remained to live in Grodno virtually under house arrest. A year later, Empress Catherine II, whose favorite he had once been, died. Paul I invited the ex-king to St. Petersburg.

Stanislav was settled in the Marble Palace; the future Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Prince Adam Czartoryski, saw him more than once in the mornings in the winter of 1797/98, when he, unkempt, in a dressing gown, wrote his memoirs. Here the last Grand Duke of Lithuania died on February 12, 1798. Paul gave him a magnificent funeral, placing the coffin with his embalmed body in the Church of St. Catherine. There, the emperor personally said goodbye to the deceased and placed a copy of the crown of the Polish kings on his head.

However, the dethroned monarch was unlucky even after his death. The coffin stood in the basement of the church for almost a century and a half, until they decided to demolish the building. Then the Soviet government invited Poland to “take back its king.” In July 1938, the coffin with the remains of Stanislav Poniatowski was secretly transported from Leningrad to Poland. There was no place for the exile either in Krakow, where the heroes of Polish history lay, or in Warsaw. He was placed in the Church of the Holy Trinity in the Belarusian village of Volchin - where the last Polish king was born. After the war, the remains disappeared from the crypt, and their fate has haunted researchers for more than half a century.

The Moscow “autocracy”, which gave birth to powerful bureaucratic structures and a huge army, turned out to be stronger than the anarchic gentry freemen. However, the cumbersome Russian state with its enslaved classes was not able to keep up with the European pace of economic and social development. Painful reforms were required, which Russia was never able to complete at the beginning of the 20th century. And the new little Lithuania will now have to speak for itself in the 21st century.

Igor Kurukin, Doctor of Historical Sciences

In the XIV-XV centuries. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia was a real rival of Muscovite Rus' in the struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe. It strengthened under Prince Gediminas (ruled 1316-1341). Russian cultural influence prevailed here at this time. Gedemin and his sons were married to Russian princesses, and the Russian language dominated at court and in official business. Lithuanian writing did not exist at that time. Until the end of the 14th century. Russian regions within the state did not experience national-religious oppression. 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 numerically predominated, with whom the pagan Lithuanians lived quite peacefully, and sometimes unrest 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. There were 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 DUCHIES OF LITHUANIA AND RUSSIAN

In the first half of the 14th century. A strong state appeared in Europe - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia. It owes its origin to Grand Duke Gediminas (1316-1341), who during the years of his reign captured and annexed the Brest, Vitebsk, Volyn, Galician, Lutsk, Minsk, Pinsk, Polotsk, Slutsk and Turov lands to Lithuania. The Smolensk, Pskov, Galicia-Volyn and Kiev principalities became dependent on Lithuania. Many Russian lands, seeking 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 him tribute and supply troops when necessary. Gediminas himself began to call himself “the king of the Lithuanians and many Russians.” The Old Russian (close to modern Belarusian) language became the official language and language of office work of the principality. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania there was no persecution on religious or national grounds.

In 1323, Lithuania had a new capital - Vilnius. According to legend, one day Gediminas was hunting at the foot of the mountain at the confluence of the Vilni and Neris rivers. Having killed a huge aurochs, he and his warriors decided to spend the night near an ancient pagan sanctuary. In a dream, he dreamed of a wolf dressed in iron armor, who howled like a hundred wolves. The high priest Lizdeika, called to interpret the dream, explained that he should build a city in this place - the capital of the state and that the fame of this city would spread throughout the world. Gediminas listened to the priest's advice. A city was built, which took its name from the Vilna River. Gediminas moved his residence here 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 convert to Catholicism and invited artisans, merchants, and farmers to Lithuania. The Crusaders understood that Lithuania’s adoption of Catholicism would mean the end of their “missionary” mission in the eyes of Western Europe. Therefore, they began to incite local pagans and Orthodox Christians 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 military operations against Lithuania. In 1336 they besieged the Samogitian castle of Pilenai. When its defenders realized that they could not resist for long, they burned the castle and themselves died in the fire. On November 15, 1337, Ludwig IV of Bavaria presented the Teutonic Order with a Bavarian castle built near the Nemunas, which was to become the capital of the conquered state. However, this state had yet to be conquered.

After the death of Gediminas, the principality passed to his seven sons. The Grand Duke was considered the one who ruled in Vilnius. 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 repelled 70 campaigns to Lithuania by the Teutonic Order and 30 by the Livonian Order. There was not a single major battle in which he did not take part. Kestutis’s military talent was appreciated even by his enemies: each of the crusaders, as their own sources report, would consider it the greatest honor to shake Kestutis’s hand.

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 Podol to Lithuania. The capture of Kyiv led to a clash with the Mongol-Tatars. In 1363, the army of Algirdas defeated them at Blue Waters, the southern Russian lands were freed 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 campaign against 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 given to the son of Algirdas from his second marriage, Jagiello (Yagello). Andrey (Andryus), the son from his first marriage, rebelled and fled to Moscow, asking for support there. He was received in Moscow and sent to reconquer the Novgorod-Seversky lands from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the fight against Andrei, Jagiello 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 to share with Oleg Ryazansky (also an ally of Mamai) the lands of the Moscow principality. However, Jagiello arrived at the Kulikovo field late: the Mongol-Tatars had already suffered a crushing defeat. Meanwhile, Kestutis learned of a secret agreement 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, Jogaila, together with his brother Skirgaila, captured Vilnius and then Trakai. Kestutis and his son Vytautas were invited to negotiations at Jogaila's headquarters, where they were captured and placed in Krevo Castle. Kestutis was treacherously killed, and Vytautas managed to escape. Jagiello began to rule alone.

In 1383, the Order, with the help of Vytautas and the Samogitian barons, resumed military operations against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The allies captured 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, receiving 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 Jogaila for some time, returned to Lithuania in 1390, and in 1392 an agreement was concluded between the two rulers: Vytautas took possession of 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 appanage princes of power, sending his governors 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 power of Vytautas extended 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’s daughter, Sophia). The Ugra River became the borders 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 the testimony of his contemporaries, was distinguished primarily by deep political talents, he knew how to take advantage of circumstances, correctly outlined the goals of his political aspirations, and advantageously positioned alliances and successfully chose the time to implement his political plans. Extremely reserved and prudent, Olgerd was distinguished by his ability to keep his political and military plans in impenetrable secrecy. Russian chronicles, which are generally not favorable to Olgerd due to his clashes with northeastern Russia, call him “evil,” “godless,” and “flattering”; however, they recognize in him the ability to take advantage of circumstances, restraint, cunning - in a word, all the qualities necessary to strengthen one’s power in the state and to expand its borders. In relation to various nationalities, it can be said that all Olgerd’s sympathies and attention were focused on the Russian people; Olgerd, according to his views, habits and family connections, 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 was its defender before the crusaders and deserved the glory of the people's 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 Russian chronicles know only Olgerd, and German ones only know Keistut.

LITHUANIA AT THE RUSSIA MILLENNIUM MONUMENT

The lower tier of figures is a high relief on which, as a result of a long struggle, 109 finally approved figures are placed, depicting outstanding figures of the Russian state. Under each of them, on a granite base, there is a signature (name), written in a Slavic stylized font.

The figures depicted on the high relief are divided by the author of the Monument project into four sections: 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 directly behind the “Enlighteners” with the figure of Yaroslav the Wise, after which come: Vladimir Monomakh, Gediminas, Olgerd, Vytautas, the princes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Zakharenko A.G. 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. Vol. 2. Novgorod. 1957