Some modern historians, challenging the conclusions of the Imperial Geographical Society (although not having access to its archives - no one has worked with the Polotsk Chronicle after Tatishchev), consider Gediminas a descendant of the Zhmudins, who "they have long been sitting on the princely thrones of the destinies of the Polotsk principality - it was weakened and princes from the strong Lietuva (Zhmud) were invited / appointed there, so the annexation of the Polotsk lands took place voluntarily and peacefully"

A question immediately arises, to which no answer is given.
How likely is an invitation (peaceful - there was no conquest) to the princely throne in the Christian center of the leaders of the aboriginal pagans

[ “The Samogites wear bad clothes, and, moreover, in the vast majority of cases they are ashy in color. They spend their life in low and, moreover, very long huts; It is customary to keep cattle, without any partition, under the same roof under which they themselves live. More noble people also use buffalo horns as goblets. ... They blow up the earth not with iron, but with wood ... When they are going to plow, they usually carry with them a lot of logs with which they dig the earth"
S. Herberstein, "Notes on Muscovy", XVI century, about contemporary Zhmudins. (In the XIII century it was even sadder)]

And what guided the inhabitants, preferring them to people from neighboring (Volyn, Kyiv, Smolensk, Novgorod, Mazovia) principalities, who

• represent a powerful public entity
• closer in culture
• closer in language
• dynastically related
• live in cities, know writing and the likeness of laws

And this despite the fact that at that time in Polotsk there was "freedom of Polotsk or Venice"- objectionable rulers were quite often simply expelled.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a feudal state that existed in the 13th-16th centuries. on the territory of part of modern Lithuania and Belarus. The main occupation of the population was agriculture and cattle breeding. Hunting and crafts played an auxiliary role in the economy. The development of handicrafts based on iron production, internal and external trade (with Russia, Poland, etc.) contributed to the growth of cities (Vilnius, Trakai, Kaunas, etc.). In the 9th-12th centuries. feudal relations developed on the territory of Lithuania, the estates of feudal lords and dependent people were formed. Separate Lithuanian political associations had different levels of social and economic development. The decomposition of primitive communal relations and the emergence of the feudal system led to the formation of a state among the Lithuanians. According to the Galicia-Volyn chronicle, the Russo-Lithuanian treaty of 1219 mentions an alliance of Lithuanian princes headed by the "oldest" princes who owned lands in Aukstaitija. This indicates the existence of a state in Lithuania. The strengthening of the grand ducal power led to the unification of the main Lithuanian lands in V. k. L. under the rule of Mindovg (mid-30s of the 13th century - 1263), who also seized some Belarusian lands (Black Russia). The formation of the V. k. L. was accelerated by the need to unite to fight the aggression of the German crusaders, which intensified from the beginning of the 13th century. Lithuanian troops won major victories over the knights in the battles of Siauliai (1236) and Durba (1260).

In the 14th century, during the reign of Gediminas (1316-1341), Olgerd (1345-77) and Keistut (1345-82), . the Principality of Lithuania significantly expanded its possessions, adding all Belarusian, part of Ukrainian and Russian lands (Volyn, Vitebsk, Turov-Pinsk, Kyiv, Pereyaslav, Podolsk, Chernihiv-Seversky lands, etc.). Their inclusion was facilitated by the fact that Russia was weakened by the Mongol-Tatar yoke, as well as the fight against the aggression of German, Swedish and Danish invaders. Joining the Great. princes Lithuanian. Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian lands with more developed social relations and culture contributed to the further development of socio-economic relations in Lithuania. In the annexed lands, the Lithuanian grand dukes retained significant autonomy and immunity rights for local magnates. This, as well as differences in the level of socio-economic development and the ethnic heterogeneity of individual parts of V. k. L., led to the lack of centralization in state administration. 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.

The Lithuanian princes, from the moment of the formation of V. k. L., sought to seize Russian lands. However, the strengthening in the 14th 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) B. k. L. lost Smolensk (captured by Grand Duke Vitovt in 1404), Chernigov, Bryansk, Novgorod-Seversky and other Russians earth. The growth of anti-feudal actions in the lands of V. k. L., the aggravation of intra-class contradictions, the desire for expansion into V., as well as the failures in the Livonian War of 1558-83 against Russia led to the unification of V. k. L. with Poland according to the Union of Lublin in 1569. one state - the Commonwealth.

In the XIV-XV centuries. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia was the real rival of Moscow Russia in the struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe. It was strengthened under Prince Gediminas (ruled in 1316-1341). Russian cultural influence prevailed here at that time. Gedemin and his sons were married to Russian princesses, the Russian language dominated the court and official office work. Lithuanian writing did not exist at that time. Until the end of the XIV century. Russian regions within the state did not experience national-religious oppression. Under Olgerd (ruled in 1345-1377), the principality actually became the dominant power in the region. The position of the state was especially strengthened after Olgerd defeated the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362. During his reign, the state included most of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the Smolensk region. For all the inhabitants of Western Russia, Lithuania became a natural center of resistance to traditional opponents - the Horde and the Crusaders. In addition, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the middle of the XIV century, 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 the Order, with the help of Vytautas and the Samogitian barons, resumed hostilities against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The allies took Trakai and burned Vilnius. Under these conditions, Jagiello was forced to seek support from Poland. In 1385, a dynastic union was concluded between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish state in Krevo (Krakow) Castle. The following year, Jagiello was baptized, given the name Vladislav, married the Polish queen Jadwiga and became the Polish king - the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty, which ruled Poland and Lithuania for over 200 years. Implementing the union in practice, Jagiello created the Vilnius bishopric, baptized Lithuania, and equalized the rights of the Lithuanian feudal lords who converted to Catholicism with the Polish ones. Vilnius received the right of self-government (Magdeburg Law).

Vytautas, who fought Jagiello for some time, returned to Lithuania in 1390, and in 1392 an agreement was concluded between the two rulers: Vytautas received the Principality of Trakai and became the de facto ruler of Lithuania (1392-1430). After campaigns in 1397-1398 to the Black Sea, he brought Tatars and Karaites to Lithuania and settled them in Trakai. Vytautas strengthened the Lithuanian state and expanded its territory. He deprived the power of the specific princes, sending his deputies to manage the lands. In 1395, Smolensk was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and attempts were made to conquer Novgorod and Pskov. The state of Vytautas stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In order to provide himself with a reliable rear in the fight against the crusaders, Vytautas signed an agreement with the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I (who was married to Vytautas' daughter, Sophia). The Ugra River became the border between the great principalities.

OLGERD, aka ALGIDRAS

V. B. Antonovich (“Essay on the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania”) gives us the following masterful description of Olgerd: “Olgerd, according to his contemporaries, was distinguished mainly by deep political talents, he knew how to use circumstances, correctly outlined the goals of his political aspirations, favorably disposed alliances and chose the right time for the implementation of his political plans. Extremely restrained and prudent, Olgerd was distinguished by his ability to keep his political and military plans in impenetrable secrecy. Russian chronicles, which are generally not disposed towards Olgerd due to his clashes with northeastern Russia, call him “evil”, “godless” and “flattering”; however, they recognize in him the ability to use circumstances, restraint, cunning - in a word, all the qualities necessary to strengthen their power in the state and to expand its limits. In relation to various nationalities, it can be said that all the sympathies and attention of Olgerd focused on the Russian people; Olgerd, according to his views, habits and family ties, belonged to the Russian people and served as its representative in Lithuania. At the very time when Olgerd strengthened Lithuania by annexing the Russian regions, Keistut is its defender against the crusaders and deserves the glory of a national hero. Keistut is a pagan, but even his enemies, the crusaders, recognize in him the qualities of an exemplary Christian knight. The Poles recognized the same qualities in him.

Both princes divided the administration of Lithuania so precisely that the Russian chronicles know only Olgerd, and the German chronicles only Keistut.

LITHUANIANS AT THE MONUMENT TO THE MILLENNIUM OF RUSSIA

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

The figures placed on the high relief are divided by the author of the project of the Monument into four departments: Enlighteners, Statesmen; Military people and heroes; Writers and artists...

The Department of State People is located on the eastern side of the Monument and begins immediately after the “Illuminators” with the figure of Yaroslav the Wise, after which come: Vladimir Monomakh, Gedimin, Olgerd, Vitovt, the princes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Zakharenko A.G. The history of the construction of the Monument to the Millennium of Russia in Novgorod. Scientific Notes” of the Faculty of History and Philology of the Novgorod State Pedagogical Institute. Issue. 2. Novgorod. 1957

A multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state that existed in the XIII - 1st half. 16th century in Eastern Europe. At various times, the principality included the lands of Lithuania, certain regions of modern Belarus and Ukraine, ancient Russian Podlachie (Poland), as well as part of Western Russia.

Formation of the principality.

The union of Lithuanian lands, which included Lietuva, the regions of Upity and Deltuva, Siauliai and part of Samogitia, was first mentioned in an agreement in 1219. Among the five senior Lithuanian princes, it is called. In the 1230s, he took a leading position among the Lithuanian princes against the backdrop of the consolidation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, due to the resistance of the Crusaders of the Order of the Sword in Livonia and the Teutonic Order in Prussia. In 1236 Lithuanians and Samogitians defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Saule. By the middle of the XIII century. Black Russia became part of the principality.

The state of Mindovga did not have a permanent capital, the ruler with his retinue moved around the yards and castles, collecting tribute. In order to improve the foreign policy position of the principality and his own power, Mindovg went to establish relations with the Pope and converted to Catholicism along with his inner circle in 1251. With the consent of the Pope, Mindovg was crowned King of Lithuania, thus the state was recognized as a full-fledged European kingdom. The coronation took place on July 6, 1253, it was attended by the master of the Livonian Order Andrei Stirland, the Prussian archbishop Albert Suerber, as well as Dominican and Franciscan monks who poured into the country.

The son of Mindovg Voishelk, renouncing the royal title, took tonsure in an Orthodox monastery in Galich and then in 1255-1258 went on a pilgrimage to Athos.

Due to the dissatisfaction of his subjects with Catholicism and the growing influence of the Teutonic Order, which carried out crusades against the pagans, in 1260 Mindovg broke with Catholicism and supported the Prussian uprising against the order. At this time, Mindovg entered into an alliance with the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky. In 1260-1263 he made several devastating campaigns in Livonia, Prussia and Poland. In 1263, he was killed along with his sons as a result of a conspiracy of his relatives, after which the positions of paganism sharply increased in Lithuania and civil strife broke out.

In 1265, an Orthodox monastery appeared in Lithuania, which contributed to the spread of Orthodoxy among the pagans. The issue of the adoption of Catholicism by Lithuania was repeatedly raised again, but the constant threat from the Livonian Order interfered here.

At the end of the XIII century. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania included the ethnic territory of Lithuania and the territory of modern Western Belarus. Already under the predecessor of Gediminas, whose name is associated with the rise of the importance of the Principality of Lithuania - his elder brother Viten - one of the main centers of Eastern Belarus - Polotsk - became part of the state. In Vitebsk, his son Olgerd reigned, who married the daughter of a local prince. Entered the zone of political influence of Lithuania and Minsk. Apparently, the power of Gediminas extended to Polissya, and the Smolensk lands and even Pskov fell into the zone of political influence.

In 1317, under Patriarch John Glik (1315-1320), an Orthodox metropolis of Lithuania was created with its capital in Novgorodka (Novogrudok - Lesser Novgorod). Apparently, those dioceses that depended on Lithuania, that is, Turov, Polotsk, and then, probably, Kyiv, submitted to this metropolis.

In the early 30s. In the 14th century, in the context of the aggravation of relations between Novgorod and the Moscow prince, there was a rapprochement between Novgorod and Lithuania and Pskov. In 1333, Narimant Gediminovich arrived in Novgorod, who was given control over the western border lands of Novgorod - Ladoga, Oreshek, Korelsky land.

In the west, for the Principality of Lithuania and Gediminas, the situation was much more complicated. Here he had to defend his borders from the Teutonic Order. When in the early 80s. 13th century the knights of the Teutonic Order completed the conquest of the land of the Prussians, the next object of their expansion was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where they encountered active resistance. Lithuania tried to find allies: the princes of Mazovia became them, and then the Polish king Vladislav Loketek.

After the death of Gediminas in the winter of 1340/41, the country was on the verge of collapse. But his son (ruled in 1345-1377) managed not only to stop the civil strife, but also significantly strengthen the principality. In the south, the possessions expanded after the annexation of the Principality of Bryansk (c. 1360). The position of the state was especially strengthened after Olgerd defeated the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362 and annexed the Podolsk land to his possessions. Following that, Olgerd deposed Prince Fyodor, who reigned in Kyiv, subordinate to the Golden Horde, and gave Kyiv to his son Vladimir. The annexed principalities carried vassal duties in the form of paying tribute and participating in hostilities, while the Lithuanian prince did not interfere in the affairs of local government.

In 1368 and 1370. Olgerd twice unsuccessfully besieged Moscow, forced to be distracted by the fight against the crusaders. He supported the princes of Tver in the fight against Moscow. But in 1372 Olgerd made peace with. However, in the last years of his reign, Olgerd lost control over the eastern lands of the principality, primarily Bryansk and Smolensk, which leaned towards an alliance with Moscow, including against the Horde.

After his death, civil strife broke out. One of his sons, Jagiello, ascended the throne, who in September 1380 went to unite with Mamai against the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich, but did not take part in the Battle of Kulikovo. The resumption of war with the Teutonic Order in 1383 forced Jagiello to turn to Poland. As a result, the Agreement of 1385 () provided for the marriage of the Polish princess Jadwiga and Jagiello, the coronation of Jagiello as the king of Poland, the baptism of Jagiello and Lithuanians (in the Catholic faith) and the release of Polish Christians from Lithuanian captivity. So Jagiello from 1386 became both the king of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania. After the death of his wife, Jogaila's rights to the throne were confirmed by the royal council. From then until 1795 the consent of the king's council was necessary for the election of a king.

The Union of Krevo was ambiguously perceived in Lithuania itself. Jagiello relied heavily on the Polish feudal lords. A number of territories were transferred to the Polish elders, and a Polish was placed in Vilna. garrison, which caused discontent of the local boyars. At the head of the Lithuanian opposition was his cousin Vitovt, who began the fight against Jagiello and achieved that he was recognized as the Grand Duke of Lithuania (Vilna-Radom union), but under the supreme authority of Jagiello, so that the union of Lithuania with Poland was preserved.

Vitovt pursued a policy of strengthening the centralization of the state: specific principalities were liquidated, instead of specific princes in the Russian lands, governors appointed from the Lithuanian boyars occupied, so he significantly strengthened the unity of the state and strengthened his power. Now income from tax collection and from the princely economy began to flow into the grand ducal treasury.

In foreign policy, Vitovt, relying on the support of Jagiello, sought to strengthen the position of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in relation to North-Eastern Russia, Veliky Novgorod and Pskov. At the same time, he strove in every possible way for an alliance with the Teutonic Order to support his expansion to the east. According to the Salinsky agreement with the Teutonic Order (1398), Novgorod was recognized as a zone of interests of Lithuania, Pskov - of the Livonian Order; Samogitia was transferred to the Teutonic Order.

According to the Union of Vilna-Radom in 1401, Lithuania remained an independent state in alliance with Poland. In 1404 the Principality of Smolensk became part of Lithuania. Privileges 1432, 1434 equalized in some economic and political rights the Orthodox and Catholic nobility.

In 1409, an uprising against the crusaders began in Samogitia, to which Vitautas openly supported, as a result, the lands were recaptured. In 1410, the combined forces of Poland and Lithuania in the battle of Grunwald defeated the troops of the order. According to the peace concluded in 1411, Samogitia was ceded to the Order only for the lifetime of Jagiello and Vitovt. Since that time, for more than a decade, the fight against the order and its European allies (the main one was Sigismund I of Luxembourg) has become one of the main tasks of the foreign policy of Jagiello and Vitovt.

Development of ON in the 2nd half. 15th - 16th centuries

In the 30s. there was a break in the union between Poland and Lithuania, due to territorial disputes and the struggle of the two elites for influence.

In 1449, the Polish king concluded a peace treaty with Grand Duke Vasily II of Moscow, which divided the zones of influence of the two states in Eastern Europe (in particular, the Novgorod Republic was recognized as a zone of influence of Moscow), forbade each side to accept internal political opponents of the other side and was observed to the end 15th century

At the same time, as a result of the Russian-Lithuanian wars, Lithuania at the beginning of the 16th century. lost about a third of its territory (Chernigov-Seversky lands), in 1514 - Smolensk lands. In these circumstances, Lithuania sought to subjugate Livonia to its influence. After the beginning, under the Treaty of Vilnius in 1559, the suzerainty of Lithuania over the Livonian Order was established. After the 2nd Vilna truce (November 28, 1561), the order's possessions in Livonia underwent secularization and came under the joint possession of Lithuania and Poland.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania within the Commonwealth.

Under Sigismund Augustus (1522-1572) it was concluded (1569). The Grand Duchy of Lithuania united with the Kingdom of Poland into a federal state - the Commonwealth. According to the act of the Union of Lublin, Lithuania and Poland were ruled by a jointly elected king, and state affairs were decided in a common Seimas. However, the legal systems, the monetary system, the army and the governments remained separate, and there was also a border between the two states, on which customs duties were levied. The Lithuanian nobility reacted extremely negatively to the signing of the union, since Lithuania suffered territorial losses in favor of Poland: Podlyakhia (Podlachie), Volhynia and the Principality of Kiev. Livonia was declared the property of both states.

In the XVI-XVIII centuries. gentry democracy dominated in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. By the end of the XVII century. most of the gentry spoke Polish, and since 1697 Polish has been the official language. As a result of the divisions of the Commonwealth, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was ceded to the Russian Empire. On December 14 (25), 1795, the Russian Empress Catherine II issued a manifesto “On the accession to the Russian Empire of the entire part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which, after the cessation of the rebellions in Lithuania and Poland, was occupied by troops.”

An attempt to revive the principality was made on July 1, 1812, by signing a decree on the restoration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, already on November 28 (December 10), Russian troops entered Vilna, thus putting an end to the revived principality.

GREAT PRINCIPALITY OF LITHUANIA (GDL), a state in Eastern Europe in the 13th-16th centuries. The ethnic core is the land of Lietuva in Aukstaitija.

Formation ON. The union of Lithuanian lands, which included Lietuva, the regions of Upita and Deltuva, Siauliai and part of Samogitia, was first mentioned in 1219. In the 1230s and 1240s, the transformation of this union, headed by Prince Lietuva Mindovg (Mindaugas), into a single state was accelerated by the threat emanating from the Teutonic Order. In the fight against him, the GDL claimed the role of unifier of the Balts' lands south of the Western Dvina. In 1236, at the Battle of Saule, Lithuanians and Samogitians defeated the army of the crusaders. By the middle of the 13th century, Black Russia became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From the middle of the 13th century monks of spiritual orders preached in Lithuania. To deter the onset of the order and strengthen his power, Mindovg converted to Catholicism (1251), was crowned (1253) and secured the promise of Pope Alexander IV for the coronation of his son. Under pressure from the Samogitians, who defeated the troops of the Livonian Order at Durben (1260), Mindovg broke with Catholicism. However, since the end of the 13th century, after the assassination of Mindovg and internal strife, which was ended by Troyden (Traidenis; 1269-1281/82), the issue of Lithuania's acceptance of Catholicism was repeatedly raised again. The Lithuanian princes associated his decision with the cessation of the aggression of the Livonian Order.

The ON developed as a poly-ethnic and poly-confessional state, which contributed to the establishment of the power of duumvirs (usually brothers) - the Grand Duke (residence - Vilna, now Vilnius) and his co-ruler (residence - Troki, now Trakai), between whom political power was distributed in various parts of the ON: Boudikid (Butigeidis) (1280s - circa 1290) and Pukuver Budivid (Pukuveras Butvydas) (1280s - circa 1295); Viten (Vityanis) (about 1295-1316) and Gediminas (Gediminas).

From the 2nd half of the 13th century, the cities of Vilna, Troki, Kovno (now Kaunas), Grodno, Novogrudok and others developed, the economic growth of which was facilitated by the policy of the great princes aimed at encouraging trade, establishing international trade relations, attracting European merchants to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and artisans.

In 1307, the Principality of Polotsk was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

heyday ON. During the period of the sole reign of the ancestor of the Gediminovich dynasty, Gediminas (1316-1341) and the reign of his sons Olgerd (Algirdas) (1345-77) and Keistut (Kyastutis) (1345-77, 1381-82), a significant strengthening of the GDL took place. During the offensive on Russian lands in the 1310-1320s, the GDL included the Drutsk, Vitebsk, Minsk, Pinsk, Turov and Slutsk principalities, about 1360 - the Principality of Bryansk, about 1362 - the Principality of Kiev, in the 1360s - Chernigov principality, in the 1340-70s - Volhynia. The annexed principalities entered into a series of agreements with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; the borders of the principalities, the structure of government, the immunity rights of local feudal lords were preserved, in small principalities - local dynasties. The vassal duties of the nobility were the payment of tribute and participation in hostilities. Some representatives of the nobility (Khodkevich, Ostrozhsky, etc.) became part of the top of the largest landowners of the GDL, played a large role in political life. By the middle of the 14th century, the active offensive of the crusaders on the borders of Lithuania was stopped; a period of long positional wars began with periodic invasions of the Order into Samogitia and Lithuanians into Prussia and Zemgalia. At the same time, Samogitia, while maintaining broad autonomy, gradually integrated into the GDL. The rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were rivals of the Moscow princes in the unification of the Russian lands: they supported the Tver principality in the fight against the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and during the campaigns of Olgerd, Lithuanian troops tried to capture Moscow three times.

The struggle for power after the death of Olgerd between his brother Keistut and his son Jagiello, supported by the Teutonic Order, ended in 1382 with the victory of the latter. The renewal of the war with the order in 1383 forced Jagiello to turn to Poland. As a result of the Union of Krevo in 1385, Jagiello became both the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1386. The privileges of Jagiello (1387, 1389) determined the status of Catholicism as the state religion and secured the immune rights of the Catholic Church. At the same time, the Grand Dukes of Lithuania repeatedly tried to establish a special metropolis in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, since Orthodoxy, although it did not have the status of a state church, was preserved in Russian lands and cities (some princes were Orthodox, for example, Gediminovichi, who ruled in Russian principalities). At the same time, measures were taken to prevent the spread of Orthodoxy in ethnically Lithuanian lands. In 1388, the war against Jagiello was started by his cousin, the son of Keistut - Vitautas (Vytautas), supported by the Samogitians and the Teutonic Order. The conflict ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ostrovsky (1392), according to which Vitovt became the ruler of the GDL; the status of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the new state-political formation was also specified. In 1393 Vitovt concluded a peace treaty with Novgorod. Since 1395, Vytautas has been officially referred to as the Grand Duke in documents. According to the Salinsky Treaty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Teutonic Order (1398), Novgorod was recognized as a zone of interests of Lithuania, Pskov - of the Livonian Order; Samogitia was transferred to the Teutonic Order. According to the Union of Vilna-Radom in 1401, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained an independent state in alliance with Poland. In 1404, Vitovt managed to annex the Smolensk principality to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The union with Poland contributed to victories in the fight against the Teutonic Order (the Battle of Grunwald in 1410; the return of Samogitia in 1409-10s, finally in 142). According to the Union of Horodel in 1413, the rights of the Polish gentry were extended to the Catholic feudal lords of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The privileges of 1432 and 1434 equalized the Orthodox and Catholic nobility in certain economic and political rights. "Russian" (Old Belarusian) was in the 15-16 centuries the language of the office of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. By the 1430s, the GDL expanded to the upper reaches of the Oka River and the Black Sea, conquered part of the southern Russian lands from the Golden Horde and included the territories of modern Lithuania, Belarus, as well as parts of modern Ukraine and Russia. In the 14th-15th centuries, a large feudal landownership was formed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Many cities received the Magdeburg Law and became centers of multinational culture.

Development of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 2nd half of the 15th - mid-16th centuries. As a result of the Russian-Lithuanian wars, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost the Verkhovsky principalities, Smolensk, Chernigov, Bryansk, Novgorod-Seversky. From the end of the 15th century, the struggle between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crimean Khanate unfolded. Intervening in the war between the Archbishopric of Riga and the Livonian Order, the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania sought to subjugate Livonia to their influence. According to the Posvolsky agreements of 1557, an alliance of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Livonia was created to oppose the Russian state. After the start of the Livonian War of 1558-83, the Vilnius Treaty of 1559 established the suzerainty of the GDL over the Livonian Order. After the 2nd Vilna truce (November 28, 1561), the order's possessions in Livonia underwent secularization and came under the joint possession of the GDL and Poland.

From the end of the 15th century, the Diets (local and national) of the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania gathered; the privileges of 1447 and 1492 actually put the power of the Grand Duke under the control of the Council of Pans - the council of the nobility and the highest clergy. The rights of the feudal class of the GDL are enshrined in the Lithuanian Statutes (1529, 1566). In the era of the Reformation (mid-16th century), Protestantism (Calvinism in the form of reformism) became widespread among the highest nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the Radziwills and others). Some magnates of Russian origin (Sapieha, Orshansky, Khodkevichi, etc.) converted to Catholicism in the 15th and early 16th centuries.

In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the transition to cash rent was accompanied by an increase in the exploitation of the peasants and an intensification of the struggle between the peasants and the feudal lords. In the middle of the 16th century, with the development of a commodity economy, corvée rent prevailed. From the 1st half of the 16th century book printing in Russian and Lithuanian developed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

ON as part of the Commonwealth. Under the terms of the Union of Lublin in 1569, a new state was created - the Commonwealth, headed by the Polish king, who was also the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who was elected for life by the gentry of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A common Sejm was created, but the GDL and Poland retained their own administration, army, finances, judicial system, and legislation. The gentry received equal rights to own land in any part of the federation. Podlyashskoe and Kiev provinces, Volyn, Podolia went under the authority of the king.

The withering away of Lithuanian statehood gradually proceeded. In the 1560s, local gentry self-government was organized according to the Polish model. In 1579 a university was opened in Vilnius. In 1588, a new Lithuanian statute was issued, which secured the victory of serfdom. In the 17-18 centuries, the Polonization of the nobility of the GDL took place. By the end of the 17th century, most of the gentry spoke Polish, and since 1697 Polish has been the official language of the office of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The GDL was completely abolished in accordance with the May 3rd, 1791 constitution. As a result of the divisions of the Commonwealth, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was ceded to the Russian Empire.

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