Vytautas - Grand Duke of Lithuania. IN
Vytautas, baptized Alexander (1350-1430), Prince of Grodno, Grand Duke of Lithuania (from 1392), son of Keistut, cousin of Jagiello.
Grodno was the residence of Lithuanian princes and Polish kings. In 1391, the city received small (incomplete) Magdeburg law (that is, city self-government) from Grand Duke Jagiello; in 1398, Grand Duke Vytautas made it the second capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the best, after Vilna, city of the principality. In Grodno, Vytautas gathered his troops before the Battle of Grunwald with the Teutons in 1410. After the victory at Grunwald, the city began to develop rapidly, and the Grodno “ saving"Over time, it became one of the richest in the state.
The stone castle in Grodno was built by Vytautas at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century. In 1393, the crusaders captured and destroyed the castle, but Vytautas raised it from the ruins. In 1398, the old castle was seized. Vitovt and his wife Anna almost died in the fire. They were awakened by the squeal of a tame monkey. Instead of the burnt wooden castle, Vytautas ordered the construction of a stone one. From the previous building, only a round tower remained; the new castle had five towers and walls up to 2.5-3 meters thick. A steep 30-meter high castle hill and a 50-meter moat increased the inaccessibility of the castle. Many important events in the life of Vytautas are connected with Gorodensky Castle. Here, on January 19, 1390, he concluded an alliance agreement with the Order. Here in 1410 an army gathered for a campaign against Prussia. Here, on October 1, 1418, Vitovt celebrated his wedding with his third wife, Princess Ulyana Golshanskaya.
Biography
Vytautas (lit. Vytautas, Belarusian Vitaut, Polish Witold; circa 1350 - October 27, 1430) - Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1392. Son of Keistut, nephew of Olgerd and cousin of Jagiello. Prince of Grodno in 1370-1382, Lutsk in 1387-1389, Troki in 1382-1413. Proclaimed king of the Hussites. One of the most famous rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, nicknamed the Great during his lifetime.
He was baptized three times: the first time in 1382 according to the Catholic rite under the name Wigand, the second time in 1384 according to the Orthodox rite under the name Alexander and the third time in 1386 according to the Catholic rite also under the name Alexander.
Vytautas was born around 1350. The exact date of his birth is unknown. Chronicler Konrad Bitschin (German: Conrad Bitschin), when describing the Battle of Rudau (1370), mentioned that Vytautas who took part in the battle was twenty years old. According to Cromer, in 1430 Vytautas was eighty. Vitovt's father Keistut and his uncle Olgerd ruled jointly and did not fight for power among themselves. Olgerd was the Grand Duke and was involved in eastern and southern affairs, Keistut led a stubborn struggle with the Teutonic knights in the north-west. Vitovt’s mother was Keistut’s second wife, Biruta, about whom very little is known.
Vitovt was not the eldest child in the family. He had five brothers and three sisters:
- Woidat (d. after 1401) - mentioned only twice in reliable sources. According to the Chronicle of Bykhovets, he died at a young age;
- Voishvil (Paterg) - died at a young age;
- Butovt - in 1365 he was baptized in Königsberg under the name Henry, in 1369-1381 he was at the court of Emperor Charles IV;
- Zhigimont (Sigismund; killed in 1440) - Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1432 to 1440;
- Tovtivil (baptized - Conrad; killed in 1390) - supporter of Vytautas;
- Maria (Miklovsa) - wife of Ivan Tverskoy;
- Danuta (baptized Anna) - wife of Janusz Mazowiecki;
- Rimgaila (baptized Elizabeth) is the wife of Henry of Mazowiecki.
The first information about Vytautas dates back to the late 1360s. In 1368 and 1372 he took part in Olgerd's campaigns against Moscow. In 1376, already as the Prince of Grodno, he took part in the campaign against Poland. Since 1377, he undertook independent campaigns in the lands of the Teutonic Order.
Activity
He took part in his father’s campaigns against Moscow (1368 and 1372), Poland and Prussia. After the death of Olgerd (1377), Vytautas fought with his heir Jagiel, first (1381 - 82) as his father's assistant, and then independently (1382 - 84). When, having no means to protect his power in Lithuania, Jagiello decided to unite Lithuania with the Kingdom of Poland through marriage with Jadwiga, Vytautas reconciled with him and, as the regional prince of Lithuania, participated in Jagiello’s government activities (1384 - 90). As the position of Jagiello, who became the Polish king and introduced Lithuania into the Polish crown (1386), strengthened, his attitude towards Vytautas changed; contrary to his promise, he did not give Trok to Vytautas.
In 1390, Vytautas, with the help of the Teutonic Order, began to conquer Lithuania. At the same time (1390), Vytautas’s rapprochement with Moscow took place: Grand Duke Vasily I married his daughter Sophia. Peace was concluded in 1392; Vitovt received all of his father's inheritance and was recognized as the Grand Duke of Lithuania for life.
Having occupied the grand-ducal table, Vitovt immediately presented the regional princes with a demand for " obediently"which significantly reduced their ownership rights and undermined the original" old times"Having met a refusal, partly supported by the population, Vitovt forcibly destroyed a number of large regional principalities, more closely united the remote parts of his state; various and different incomes and free lands passed to him from the regional princes, on which Vitovt either started his own farm, or planted his service people.
The Lithuanian boyars were betrayed by Vytautas, because he set the independence of Lithuania as the main principle of his activities. The significance acquired by the Lithuanian boyars before the union was consolidated and developed by the acts and events that accompanied it (the legalization of the electivity of the throne and the participation of the boyars in the election of the Grand Duke, the destruction of regional principalities, the creation of large administrative posts). Attracting the sympathies and hopes of the boyars and other segments of the population, Vitovt formed a strong state, not alien to Polish borrowings and not nationally homogeneous, but skillfully welded together by a single anti-Polish sentiment and powerfully directed from one center.
In the hands of Vitovt was also the ideological center of the Russian land - Kyiv, which Vitovt took advantage of, showing concern for Orthodoxy. However, the Polish-Catholic influence that surged into Lithuania, against the will of Vytautas, imparted to the ethnographic difference in the composition of the population the nature of national and political enmity.
In 1395, Vytautas annexed Smolensk, which was relatively weak and territorially connected with it, to Lithuania; in 1395 - 96 he successfully fought against Ryazan; in 1397 - 98 Vytautas successfully fought with the Tatars; in 1398 Tokhtamysh asked him for help. Successes in external affairs and the strengthening of Lithuania’s internal forces made Vytautas’s dependence on Poland fragile. Meanwhile, in Poland they demanded the complete subordination of Lithuania. When Jadwiga turned to Vytautas for tribute, he, with the approval of his boyars, refused and concluded not only a separate peace with the Order, which he had been seeking for a long time (since 1392, Vytautas helped Jogaila in the fight against the Order), but also an alliance agreement aimed against Poland (October 12, 1398, at the Salin Congress), on the terms:
- concessions to the Order of Zhmudi, which crashed into his possessions;
- concluding an agreement with Poland only with the general consent of the allies;
- obligations of Vytautas and the order to help each other in the conquest of Novgorod by the first, and Pskov by the second.
Lithuanian and Russian boyars proclaimed Vytautas king. However, Jagiello achieved a successful resolution of the conflict, thanks to the failure of Vytautas in the fight against the Tatars. In 1399, with minor help from the order and Poland, Vytautas organized a large campaign against the Tatars in the steppe, which unsuccessfully ended on August 12 of the same year with the Battle of the Vorskla River. Without giving up the fight against the Tatars after this, Vytautas turned his main attention to the settlement of relations with Poland, where, after the death of Jadwiga (1399), Jogaila’s position became complicated to the point of the possibility of his deposition and return to Lithuania.
The Vilna Act on January 18, 1401 confirmed the agreement of 1392. The charters of the Lithuanian (at the same time) and Polish (March 11) lords established that if Jogaila dies before Vytautas, then the Polish king will not be elected without his and his boyars’ knowledge. Jagiello approved the Salina Treaty, which was explained in favor of the Poles by an act of August 17, 1402. Vytautas's strict loyalty in his Polish relations in itself created the ground for complications with the order. Misunderstandings due to the fugitive Zhmudins and the betrayal of Vytautas Svidrigail, who turned to the order, led to an unsuccessful campaign of 1402 - 4 (peace on May 23, 1404, generally on the old principles). In 1401, the Vyazemsk princes (unsuccessfully) and Smolensk raised an indignation. The fruitless campaign against Novgorod in 1401 ended in peace. In 1402, the Ryazan people were defeated in an attempt to capture Bryansk. The movement to the East intensified after peace with the order: in 1405 Smolensk was conquered, in 1406 the Pskov city of Kolozhe was captured. The latter led to a war with Moscow: the fruitless campaigns of 1406-8 ended in peace. Vitovt's influence increased in Novgorod, which was connected with Lithuania through old trade routes. Relations with the Tatars, after slight hesitations, were established peacefully.
In 1409, the issue of the fugitive Zhmudins was renewed. Outwardly good relations (Vytautas helped the order in Zhmud, the Order of Vitovt - in Russian affairs) deteriorated. Poland took the side of Lithuania, and war began in August.
On July 15, 1410, not far from Tannenberg, the so-called Battle of Grunwalden took place, fatal for the order. He was saved from final death only by Vytautas’s fear that the strengthening of Poland at the expense of the order would be to his own detriment. Although Vytautas’s relations with Poland, established by the peace treaties of Thorn (with the order: Zhmud goes into the lifelong possession of Jagiello and Vytautas; 1411) and Lyubovlsky (with the indecisive ally of the order, Emperor Sigismund, 1412) - were honorable and profitable, still from the victory over the knights Poland won more. Vytautas and his advisers wanted more.
According to the Gorodel Acts (October 2, 1413), Lithuania from a temporarily autonomous grand duchy became autonomous forever; the Lithuanian boyars are granted some new rights (the acceptance of Lithuanian boyars into Polish coats of arms, the establishment of positions and Polish-Lithuanian diets in the Polish manner, but all this is only for Catholics). The Gorodel acts developed the privileges of the nobility - the military class par excellence. The available military forces of Vytautas at this time were reinforced by the Tatars, whom he settled many within Lithuania after the campaigns of 1397 - 98, with little interest in the question of faith, as well as wealthy peasants, for whom military service replaced all the burdens and duties, and the bourgeoisie of privileged cities (under Magdeburg law penetrates into Lithuania in Vytautas). Misunderstandings with the order began between Jagiello and Vytautas almost immediately after the conclusion of peace; their goals were not fully achieved, and the agreement allowed for different interpretations. In the summer of 1414, a war began, which intermittently lasted until September 27, 1422 (the Peace of Melny, according to which the order lost Zhmud forever).
At the same time, Vytautas began relations with the Czech Hussites, hostile to Emperor Sigismund, who offered him the Czech crown. Vitovt agreed and sent Olgerd’s grandson, Sigismund Koributovich, to the Czechs with a significant detachment. However, the unanimous protest of the spiritual and secular authorities of Europe forced Vytautas and Jagiello, in agreement with whom he acted, to break off the established connection with the Czechs (Treaty of Kesmarck 1423).
Occupied primarily in the West, Vytautas in the East now acted less energetically. In 1415 - 16, the Western Russian bishoprics were separated from the all-Russian metropolitanate; Gregory Tsamblak was elected metropolitan. The division continued until 1419, when Vitovt apparently reconciled with Photius of Moscow. Tsamblak went to the Council of Constance on the matter of uniting churches, but to no avail (1418). Friendly, and from 1423, protective relations with Moscow, an alliance treaty with Tver (August 3, 1427), dependence of the Ryazan (1427) and other Upper Oka princes, peace with Novgorod (except for the disagreements of 1412-14 and the war of 1428) and Pskov (except for the war of 1426-27) - characterize Vitovt’s Russian relations. In the Tatar East, Vytautas diligently intervened in troubles and victoriously repelled raids (especially in 1416, 21 and 25). The entire right-bank steppe to the Black Sea recognized his power.
After the conclusion of the Peace of Melny, Vitovt began to support the almost completely weakened order and Sigismund against the increasingly stronger Poland. The idea of a royal crown, inspired by the latter (and previously flashed by Vytautas) corresponded to the old dream of Vytautas and his advisers about the independence of Lithuania from Poland. Jagiello at the Lutsk Congress (beginning of 1429) agreed to the coronation of Vytautas, but then, under the influence of his lords, took it back. Vytautas tried to do without him, but amid negotiations and preparations he died (October 27, 1430). Vytautas’s business was fragile: his acquisitions turned out to be short-lived, the unbroken connection with Poland introduced and strengthened Polish-Catholic influence in Lithuania, which aggravated the national question in it to a political degree; The Gorodel union was violated by the unauthorized election of Svidrigail, with the participation of the Orthodox boyars; as a result of the Tatar policy of Vytautas, the powerful Crimean Khanate of Girey was created, dangerous for Lithuania.
Memory
Many objects in Lithuania, Belarus and Poland are named in honor of Grand Duke Vytautas. Vytautas is a popular name in Lithuania (lit. Vytautas), less popular in Belarus (belor. Vitaut) and Poland (Polish. Witold). The university in Kovno (Lithuania) is named after Vytautas the Great.
Monuments to the Grand Duke were erected in Kovno, Kernav, Vilna, Stare Troki, Birštonas, Betygala, Perloy, Velen and many other cities. The sculptural image of Prince Vytautas is also part of the monument “ Millennium of Russia" and the monument " Grunwald» in Krakow.
The latest monument was erected on September 23, 2010 in the village of Pelesa, Voronovo district, Grodno region of Belarus. The author is the famous Lithuanian sculptor Algimantas Sakaluskas. The sculpture is more than 6 meters high and is made of a special type of oak.
Name " " carries the AKSM-420 trolleybus produced by Belkommunmash (2007).
Alexey Venediktov- 18 hours and 8 minutes in Moscow. Alexey Venediktov and Natalya Ivanovna Basovskaya are at the microphone. Good afternoon
Natalya Basovskaya- Hello!
A. Venediktov- Happy belated birthday again! Well, you went on a spree, I must admit.
N. Basovskaya- Yes.
A. Venediktov- Our listeners are simply furious, I would say.
N. Basovskaya- Guilty. I'll fix it.
A. Venediktov- Here.
N. Basovskaya- And I’m starting today.
A. Venediktov- So. Natalya Ivanovna live. And, of course, we will have drawings. Our 8 winners will each receive 3 archived issues of the Dilettant magazine of their choice, and a guide to the Baltics from the Orange Guide series, Moscow, Eksmo, 2016. Here it is, fresh. I show it to everyone on the network. Well, the Baltic states... Today we have not only the Baltic states, of course. Well, our very first winner will receive this figurine of a winged hussar that I brought from northern Poland. Such a collectible figurine. There are... there is a whole museum like this. Yes? The military museum makes such hussars from approximately the same time. The question is very simple. Our hero today, Grand Duke Vitovt, was a nominal leader for 5 years, including the Moscow State. In what capacity was he the head of the Moscow state? In what capacity was Grand Duke Vitovt for 5 years the head legally, by the way, by the way, the head of the Moscow state? Plus 7 985 970 45 45. Don't forget to subscribe. Well, or the “Call” account. Or via the Internet.
Natalya Ivanovna Basovskaya, I must tell you that since in our program we shy away from the history of Russian political figures, some people always appear at the junctions who are also the head of a foreign state...
N. Basovskaya- Certainly.
A. Venediktov- ... but a big player in the history of the Moscow or Russian state. I decided to look, to conduct a quick analysis of where the last time, today, perhaps, the Lithuanian Prince Vytautas was mentioned. Do you know where?
N. Basovskaya- No.
A. Venediktov- Now you will laugh. Announcement: “From August 8 to August 21, researchers will be excavating the Tyagin fortress and the tower built by the Lithuanian prince Vytautas in the Kherson region.” Where is the estate? Where is the water? Where is Lithuania? And where is the south of Ukraine? This is where our boy went.
N. Basovskaya- Of course, Vytautas... Years of life: approximately 1350, - there is no exact date, - 1430. We see about 80 years. And the latest information from sources is that, yes, he passed away at a very advanced age, simply incredibly advanced for that era.
A. Venediktov- ... elder, yes.
N. Basovskaya- In the history of Lithuania, he is absolutely mentioned only with the nickname Great Vytautas or Vytautas. No other way.
A. Venediktov- He is their Peter I.
N. Basovskaya- Yes. And this is really... This is the 2nd half of the 14th century, especially the 30s of the 15th century. This is the time when the Principality of Lithuania, squeezed on all sides by those who would not mind including it, and nominally included most of all, of course, in a unification, in a kind of unification with Poland, which then in the 16th century for some time became the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , this unusual state. Literally a translation of what the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is – a state of 2 nations. An attempt to unite equally. It was always very difficult. Always very painful. But this very XIV-XV century is significant in that it is precisely the exit not only of Lithuania, and we cannot talk about this, but of the north, the northwestern part. The whole of central, central and northwestern Europe entered the then world historical arena. If before that they were absolutely dominated after the fall of Great Rome, the emerging and formed France and Germany were absolutely dominant. Very different, but dominant. Italy. On the islands, of course, the role of the English kingdom increased. Then the rather distant, but noticeably knotted Spanish kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula joined. These were all undisputed leaders. And central Europe was generally considered some kind of wild land. But indeed the Lithuanians, and this is northern, not so much even central, northwestern Europe, are the last pagans in Europe. And this is important. Many pictures and iconographic materials from the late Middle Ages have been preserved, where the authors, not at all... hardly caricaturing, trying to do something evil, depict the Baltic peoples, here is the future state population, the future Baltic states as savage peoples, quite very warlike.
A. Venediktov- In skins.
N. Basovskaya- Yes. But they look almost primitive. Not as hussar-like as on your collectible figurine. In fact, this is also, of course, a certain amount of exaggeration. There is no absolute adequacy in history at all, but that was the perception. And therefore, the reign of Vytautas, under which the role of the Lithuanian lands, namely the Lithuanian state, which arose in the 13th century, was not so early. If the formation of France as a whole, well, its foundation ends in the 10th century, in England - in the 11th century, then this is the 13th. It's a different pace. It is closer to our Russian pace. Well, in general, well, the Russian lands were also considered the region of absolutely wild people, quite scary, and terribly distant. This view through the lens of the former Western Roman Empire and the Western European region is what has long defined and continues to define the dominant thinking of Western Europeans even today: we will instill our values in everyone. Oh God! Even the east. This is a pretty hopeless idea. They have such advanced thinking. But in fact, if you look closely at the XIV-XV centuries, it is central and northwestern Europe that burst into pan-European history. And Vitovt is a very characteristic figure in this sense. Like all the rulers of that era, and this is the Middle Ages, he also lived most of his life as a pagan. He adopted Christianity almost at the same time as his cousin Jagiello, but also too late. This is the 80s of the XIV century.
A. Venediktov- And I took different ones three times.
N. Basovskaya- Moved here and there. In this sense, he resembles Henry IV of Navarre. Paris is worth a mass. Vilna is worth a mass. Everything is worth...
A. Venediktov- Smolensk is worth a mass.
N. Basovskaya- Smolensk is worth... In order to talk better with the Russian lands, and he had big plans for the Moscow state, certainly big and generally not alien to reality, you can change your faith. Or rather, a confession, not a faith. Christian faith.
A. Venediktov- Yes, confession. Yes.
N. Basovskaya- He changed his confession. This is such a person. And this seems to be a typical figure. What did he do all his long life? Reflected enemy pressure on Lithuania. The matter is understandable and worthy. At the same time, he tried to annex as much as possible to the small - what would happen - to the small Lithuanian lands and fought with all opposition, fought against conspiracies. Moreover, there could be any methods here. And yet there is a bright spot in his biography, which we will return to later. This is, of course, his role in the Battle of Grunwald with the Teutonic Order in 1410. Here his role is indisputable, positive, noticeable, and not always appreciated, because formally his cousin Jagiello was considered higher, because Jagiello was also the king of Poland. But Vytautas never became king, although he really wanted to. So, what can we say, based on Alexei Alekseevich’s favorite expression, about our boy? After all, even Vytautas, the formidable Vytautas, was once a boy. He was born around 1350 in Trakai. He died there later, that’s how it happened. The circle of his life closed like this. Its origin? Father Kistutis, as Lithuanian authors write, or Keistut, as is customary...
A. Venediktov- Keistut. Yes.
N. Basovskaya- Yes, in our historiography. Yes, we understand, Keistut, Grand Duke of Lithuania. But, it’s true, he was a Grand Duke, he was called and titled for a very short time. In 1381-82. In fact, he was simply the brother of the more permanent Grand Duke of Lithuania, his brother Olgerd. Keistut was a descendant, came from a family... His father was the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas. This is the basis of the glory of the Lithuanian ruling house. Mother, Keistut's 2nd wife, named Biruta. Vitovt's mother, very little is known about her except that she died tragically, and even the details of her death are given differently. But one very interesting detail slips through. There is a version that Biruta was a pagan priestess. And it's very real. It is very difficult for us to imagine this...
A. Venediktov- So our mother is a pagan priestess?
N. Basovskaya- Apparently so, because this is precisely this line - the exit from paganism, from the most deeply patriarchal times to feudal civilization, let's call it that. That she was a pagan priestess, whom he forcibly took as his wife, and she, as a priestess, should not have been anyone’s wife, with this same Keistut, who in the future - there will be details about him now - is such a noble father of Vytautas, he is noble. But every medieval noble person has features that make you gasp. So, the earliest we know personally about Vytautas. At about 13 years old, he was forced, together with Keistut, his father, to flee from court conspiracies and danger. It must be said that we often approach Russian history, we Russians, are very critical, somehow acutely painful, we often say: “Oh, our princes, they say, are the worst. That’s how they fought each other, blinded each other, killed.” Believe me, the Lithuanian ones are even sharper. In a very small territory, unlike the Moscow Principality, there is a completely bloody court conspiracy history. And so he was apparently 13 years old when he and his father were forced to flee from the emerging court coup. Where to run?
A. Venediktov- Where?
N. Basovskaya- To the worst enemies. To the Teutonic Order.
A. Venediktov- Wait, there are all enemies there. The Horde is the enemy. Moscow is the enemy. The Poles are enemies. The Teutons are enemies.
N. Basovskaya- ... tried to make friends. The main enemy is still the order.
A. Venediktov- Then the order.
N. Basovskaya- At this moment the order.
A. Venediktov- It's clear.
N. Basovskaya- The Order was strong. Two words about the order. The Teutonic Order was formed in the 12th century, in 1128 in the city of Jerusalem. God! Where is Lithuania? Where is Jerusalem?
A. Venediktov- Well, yes.
N. Basovskaya- As you just said, where is this, where is this. Kherson. What is Kherson? Lithuania, Jerusalem. The goal is to help rich Germans, nobles, poor pilgrims who go to the holy lands to worship, as well as the sick. That is, the noblest ideas. In 1189, the son of Frederick I Barbarossa, the German Emperor, betrayed the military character of the order. And from then on he became more and more militant. Their white cloak with a black cross was simply a symbol of growing militancy. At the head is a man called the Hochmeister. In the 13th century, their residence was moved to Venice, but they did not gain a foothold there and moved their residence to Prussia, which they conquered by fire and sword.
A. Venediktov- But the Prussians were also pagans.
N. Basovskaya- The Prussians are pagans. Ethnically related, perhaps, to the Balts, the ancestors of the Lithuanians, and partly to the Slavs. There's a lot of controversy there. Well, a very distinctive tribe of Prussians. And there, having taken away the land from them, well, like the Spaniards did from the natives of America. They cleared the area and settled in. And essentially this order, created with such sweet tasks and peacekeeping, kind, noble, but turns into something completely different. Here's the correct way of Frederick II... And this was such a very curious ruler... an emperor and poet with romantic inclinations. Here I quote why he supports this order in Prussia, plants it there, resettles and encourages it: “To introduce there, among the Prussians, good customs, good customs, which means forcibly making them Christians, and laws to strengthen the faith and establishing a prosperous peace between the inhabitants.” This is the world we know. Once again I compare with the natives of America.
A. Venediktov- And they run there.
N. Basovskaya- The Order is becoming militant. The Order becomes dangerous for Lithuania and all its neighbors. But in a critical state and then more than once, Vitovt will seek refuge there. First of all, it's nearby. And, secondly, if they agreed that they would accept, then they will protect.
A. Venediktov- Knights.
N. Basovskaya- My God! Well, what if Finist the Falcon, a patriot of Athens, in the 5th century BC ended up running to the main enemies of the Greeks - the Persians. This is the life of this era. Everyone is against everyone. So there they took refuge. But then the situation changed, he returned with his father. We know that at about the age of 18 he begins to participate in military campaigns, and this becomes his lifelong occupation. To fight, to conquer, to resist conquerors, to seize lands that can be seized - this is his whole life. Father Keistut ruled jointly with his brother Olgerd. They were both called equal rulers. But in fact, Olgerd Keistut was officially titled Grand Duke only after his death for a very short time. They divided the spheres.
A. Venediktov- Well, very friendly, by the way. I looked there...
N. Basovskaya- They didn’t fight.
A. Venediktov- They never stood up to each other.
N. Basovskaya- Absolutely.
A. Venediktov- Well, I didn’t find it, you might say.
N. Basovskaya- It would seem that this will be the case between their sons. Yes? Vytautas and Jagiello. No.
A. Venediktov- No.
N. Basovskaya- These were peaceful. Olgerd is called the Grand Duke. Keistut doesn't mind. Olgierd gives Keistut responsibility for, so to speak, the northwestern part of Lithuania. And this is the most terrible border.
A. Venediktov- Well, Teuton.
N. Basovskaya- Hot Spots. Warband. And, nevertheless, there are no conspiracies or any bloody battle between them. And here Vitovt is a participant in Olgerd’s campaigns, several campaigns, including against Moscow. This is where the connection begins, which... Everything is interesting, amusing - or what? so to speak, in the life of Vytautas. Hostile military actions are intertwined, the era is such, with some other considerations. Over time, dynastic ties, changes in confessions, and so on will be added to this. In 1376 he is 26 years old. He takes part in the campaign against Poland. Poland is a terrible enemy. Who would have thought here in the 14th century that they would agree on a joint state, because Poland definitely has a chance of absorbing this small principality. It's small. Ethnically different. More economically backward. And Poland has more opportunities to annex it. Since 1377, he has carried out several independent campaigns, Vytautas, against the Teutonic Order. He was hiding there. I went there on hikes. And again he will hide. And in 1377 the same year...
A. Venediktov- Let me remind you, 3 years before the Battle of Kulikovo. Let's just put it into this story. It's all brewing...
N. Basovskaya- Yes, some...
A. Venediktov- Yes, it’s all cooking over there.
N. Basovskaya- This whole Eastern Europe is some kind of cauldron.
A. Venediktov- Yes.
N. Basovskaya- Olgerd, Vitovt’s uncle, is dying. And Father Keistut shows something...unprecedented nobility. The expression noble Keistut, noble father of Vytautas begins. He recognizes Olgerd’s son Jagiello as the Grand Duke instead of saying: “Well, now I am. I helped him all the time. I stayed". He recognizes the Grand Duke of Lithuania...
A. Venediktov- His nephew Jagiello.
N. Basovskaya- ... his nephew Jagiello, the absolute same age as our great Vytautas, his cousin. And in general, the step, of course, is so risky from a psychological, human point of view. And why? And why? And why is it better? And now he paid for it, so to speak...
A. Venediktov- Here, of course.
N. Basovskaya- ... nobility Keistut.
A. Venediktov- This is how it is accepted.
N. Basovskaya- I don’t know whether there was nobility behind this, it’s hard to say. You never know. It looks like this: he nobly admitted and paid very heavily. Having recognized him... Having given him the grand-ducal throne, having somehow answered, probably, Vytautas’s questions about why this was so, already in 1381 Keistut by chance from a secret informant, a servant of the crusaders - what a knot! - I learned that there was a secret agreement between Jagiello, his beloved nephew, and the order against Keistut. Well, actually I can imagine how upset he was. But he was upset in a businesslike manner. In November 1381, he immediately organized a campaign against Vilna, the future Vilnius, took this Vilnius, removed Jagiello from power, and proclaimed himself Grand Duke. And then he again took an oath from Jagiello not to covet the grand-ducal throne. He did not execute, did not torture, did not imprison and sent him to distant lands. These are Krevsky and Vitebsky. Familiar Belarusian places.
A. Venediktov- Well, they’re too far away...
N. Basovskaya- For them.
A. Venediktov- Distant for them. Yes. Distant for them.
N. Basovskaya- Amazing. The fact is that these same oaths appeared very often throughout the Middle Ages and in ancient history. Make a terrible oath.
A. Venediktov- On the Bible, if you are a Christian.
N. Basovskaya- If you are a Christian, on the Bible. The Greeks have a terrible oath in the face of Zeus the Thunderer. Well, now lightning is going to strike. Nothing happens when these terrible oaths are broken. Doesn't happen. But people take these oaths again. What about Jagiello sent? That's it, he left with his oath. A year later in 1382...
A. Venediktov- The year of the capture of Moscow by Tokhtamysh.
N. Basovskaya- How good...
A. Venediktov- I’m just connecting so that people understand, it’s nearby, it’s nearby.
N. Basovskaya- Great.
A. Venediktov- A horde is moving nearby.
N. Basovskaya- And most importantly, Tokhtamysh will appear now.
A. Venediktov- Yes.
N. Basovskaya- He will appear in a very interesting relationship with Vitovt. So, mutiny. Jagiello starts a rebellion.
A. Venediktov- Well…
N. Basovskaya- Attracts 2 more of his brothers, very warlike, against Keistut. And on August 3, 1382, Keistut’s death was buried here. They met two Lithuanian troops, Keistut and the oathbreaker Jagiello. This is where the terrible end of Keistut began. And, probably, the idea of vengeance for him, which will not leave Vytautas, although he will know, will be forced to get closer to Jagiello at times. These are typical friends-enemies.
A. Venediktov― Natalya Ivanovna Basovskaya, Alexey Venediktov in the program “Everything is so” about the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas. After the news we will return to the studio.
A. Venediktov: 18- 35 in Moscow. I asked you in what capacity our today’s hero, the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, governed, legally governed the Russian Moscow state. And it must be said that he was formally a regent, because he was the grandfather of the young Grand Duke Vasily II, the future Vasily the Dark. He was a grandfather and, accordingly... Dmitry Donskoy was the grandfather of this... Vasily II had two grandfathers. But Dmitry Donskoy was no longer there. He died in 1389. And Vytautas ruled formally until his death, until the year 30...
N. Basovskaya- Theoretically, yes.
A. Venediktov- Yes.
N. Basovskaya“And I wouldn’t mind making it more real if I could.” He is his only daughter, his only...
A. Venediktov- Now we will talk about this.
N. Basovskaya- ... extradited to Muscovy...
A. Venediktov- An only child, I would even say.
N. Basovskaya- Yes, this is his only child.
A. Venediktov- The heiress. The heiress. Our winners. A figurine of a Polish hussar and... on account... Lord, my God!
N. Basovskaya- Guide.
A. Venediktov― An orange guide to the Baltics was received... and plus the choice of three issues of “Diletant” was received by Victor, whose phone number ends with 15. The rest of our winners receive a guide to the Baltics and also magazines. This is Elena, whose phone number ends with 04, Evgeny - 50, Oleg - 49, Georgy - 10, Boris - 83, Alexey - 96 and Alexander - 43. He was the regent.
We'll talk about Moscow history later. Yes? But now we have...
N. Basovskaya- And we left our hero...
A. Venediktov- Yes. When dad died.
N. Basovskaya- ...before the break...
A. Venediktov- When dad died.
N. Basovskaya- ... at a dramatic moment. Now dad will die. It was August 3, 1382. Two Lithuanian troops met. Conspirator, oathbreaker Jagiello and father of Vitovt Keistut. Vytautas in his father's army. Near Vilna. They didn't want to fight each other. There have been situations when in these... Then everything somehow escalates. In general, it was worse in Western Europe. During the civil wars, the French sometimes killed the French so mercilessly until they found Henry of Navarre, ready to maneuver. At this moment they didn’t really want to fight, and the leaders understood this. Therefore, negotiations were started. It's a good thing. Noble Keistut arrived to negotiate with Jagiello. Not the other way around. Not Jagiello...
A. Venediktov- To the Jagiello camp.
N. Basovskaya- Oh, yes. To the Jagiello camp. Still, he had something special in the structure of his body.
A. Venediktov- He had the structure of his body that he considered him like a brother... Here is a brother. He never fought with Olgerd.
N. Basovskaya- ... Olgerd. And he believed in blood ties, in government.
A. Venediktov- Yes. Maybe yes.
N. Basovskaya- Moreover, he arrived there with his wife Biruta, son Vitovt and wife Vitovt. Here is a whole team - yes, - in a family way. Let's arrange negotiations. They are all captured during these negotiations. Everyone is imprisoned not in one place, but in different ones. And where his father and mother, these same Biruta and Keistut, were imprisoned in terrible conditions, they were killed. He was strangled. And there is a version - she was drowned in the river. So I think that there was something connected with past paganism, some kind of special idea. But all this is infinitely cruel. And Vitovt was lucky. He ran, of course, to the Master of the Teutonic Order, the Hochmeister, dressed in the dress of his wife’s maid. It’s very bad that the image of the mighty Vytautas in this woman’s attire is drawn in my mind. But it was. In his wife's maid's dress. The wife remained in captivity. He took a big risk with his wife. He got lucky. She survived because Jagiello realized very quickly... I say they have a very strange relationship, rapprochement - divergence, friendship - enmity. Realizing that he had completely fallen into a rage, Vytautas quickly gathered troops in Samogitia, the westernmost part of Lithuania. There was an ethnically unique population there, which greatly revered Geistut, who protected them... for many years, defending them from the orders of the order and encroachments. And therefore Jagiello was afraid and let his wife go. In 1383, a year after these dramatic events, Vytautas was baptized according to the Catholic rite and received the name Vigant. But I must say, under this name he is absolutely not in history...
A. Venediktov- I could not resist.
N. Basovskaya- ... did not appear. This remains in theory. And just a year later - what a dramatic life! - in 1384, Vytautas suddenly broke off relations with the Teutonic Order. There are still 26 years until the Battle of Grunwald, where the order will be defeated essentially forever. He suddenly, with the help of a conspiracy, pretends that he will go on a campaign there on the border of Lithuania, arranges a feast with the people of the order, as if with allies. At the feast they are killed. And he captured several order fortresses, including Marienburg. That is, he could be insidious. Still, many authors, well, there are not many of them who have written about them, try to sculpt two opposite images: the insidious, bad Jagiello... Well, it’s not for nothing that he became the king of Poland. This is having an impact. But Vitovt, our Vitovt is still better. They are very similar, these friends and enemies. Vytautas breaks not only with the order, but also with the Catholic Church. True, only for 2 years. In 1384, he was baptized again, now according to the Orthodox rite. What is this? What is this? And he gets the name Alexander. He, probably, these plans of Moscow... plans connected with the Moscow principality are pushing him to such a step that, perhaps, he will overtake and outstrip his Jagiello, because in his constant campaigns, repelling dangers, he, however, However, it does not forget to grab Russian, relatively speaking, Belarusian, Ukrainian lands and territories. There are more and more of them.
A. Venediktov- Well, they sent me that by the middle of his reign, apparently, when he was already the Grand Duke, about 80 percent of the population were Slavs, future Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians.
N. Basovskaya- Absolutely correct. He captured...
A. Venediktov- There are a few Poles.
N. Basovskaya- ...Russian-Belarusian lands to Mozhaisk.
A. Venediktov- Where is Mozhaisk? Is it here?
N. Basovskaya- Well, here is the Moscow region.
A. Venediktov- Yes. His…
N. Basovskaya- ... will go there soon.
A. Venediktov- The Grand Duchy of Lithuania extended to Mozhaisk.
N. Basovskaya- To Mozhaisk. I went on trips to Moscow several times. Moreover, he captured Kyiv, but did not make it his residence. Smolensk, Vyazma. I really appreciated the annexation of Smolensk, because the border was so widened, it was such a wall against Poland.
A. Venediktov- Yes.
N. Basovskaya- This is protection from the Poles. Vyaz and a number of areas in the upper Oka. Now this is Kaluga... Well, not within the exact boundaries. Sample areas. Kaluga, Tula, Oryol. That is absolutely incredible. And he returned to Catholicism in 1987. Still, he did not bring Orthodoxy to these Slavic lands. But at the moments of capture, this person, who was, as it were, on the border of Orthodoxy, should have evoked in them something like that this was the worst thing. They didn’t have much choice, yes. And these are huge territories for a small Lithuanian principality. His authority is growing. But in fact, great successes. And here he has a probable, very interesting ally - Takhtomysh.
A. Venediktov- The same one.
N. Basovskaya- Who burned Moscow.
A. Venediktov: At 82- M.
N. Basovskaya- Which, of course, caused enormous damage to the Russian lands. But he was expelled from the horde. And now he is an exile. And he, seeing this warlike Vytautas, goes to some kind of battle with him... The campaigns of Timur and Tamerlane are also mixed in here. In general, times are crazy.
A. Venediktov- Yes Yes.
N. Basovskaya- XIV century. He enters into negotiations with Vitovt as with a strong sword. Need a sword. Here he is, Vitovot - the sword man. And he promises, a label has been preserved, a document has been preserved in which Tokhtamysh, who had nothing at that moment, promised Vitovt all the Moscow lands if their joint campaign was successful. That is, alternatives to European history, which today seems so clear, so alternative...
A. Venediktov- Linear.
N. Basovskaya- ... linear, it was not at all like any other story.
A. Venediktov- But Vitovt chose a different move, the one you were talking about.
N. Basovskaya- Yes. He actually chose the dynastic move. This is the year 1391. But he tried to take joint action with Tokhtamysh. They were just very unfortunate. And the dynastic move is peaceful. Marriage of the only daughter Sophia. He, Vytautas, had, as far as I remember, three marriages and an only child from the 2nd marriage. This is the child Sophia from his 2nd wife Anna Smolenskaya. In general, it must be said that Russian princesses enjoyed more and more attention in European history in dynastic politics. So I sometimes called it so harshly “dynastic goods,” but in reality it is so. These dynastic marriages, especially those concluded with minors, were often only a fiction, only a political game. But Anna Smolenskaya turned out to be different. This was a real political figure who tried to use Vytautas, so to speak, for the benefit of his son Vasily. Terrible... The formidable shadow of the Grand Duke of Lithuania... In reality, this did not mean anything, but it meant a potential alliance, and, of course, Vitovt gave birth to the idea of uniting and leading the Lithuanian and Moscow lands.
A. Venediktov- Moreover, 2 years before this, Dmitry Donskoy dies.
N. Basovskaya- Yes. And now we need a figure. You need a charismatic figure. But Jagiello also understood this.
A. Venediktov- So.
N. Basovskaya- Our famous cousin. In 1392 - everything was on the heel - Jagiello suddenly declared Vytautas also the Grand Duke of Lithuania, but under his supremacy.
A. Venediktov- Like those Olgerd and Keistut.
N. Basovskaya - Yes Yes. It follows from the document that the supremacy is practically nominal. In response, Vitovt spends the next 3 years still doing the same thing - fighting, fighting. In 1395 he took possession of Smolensk and turned Smolensk into a real vassal possession of the Principality of Lithuania. Now he seems to be approaching the Moscow lands. But the order’s threat... Here it’s like a problem of choice, what’s worse, what’s worse, what’s more dangerous? The order was more terrible. And I can give you a version of why. The Catholic Church, a branch of the Christian Church since 1054 compared to the Orthodox branch in politics, in its confessional policy was much more prone to violence, converting everyone, the entire subject population, only to this denomination. Orthodox in this sense... Well, I can’t say anything special, or even explain why. Byzantium had a terrible political central power, but the church was somewhat suppressed by it. Maybe that’s why the Orthodox Church is not so totalitarian. And so, when peoples found themselves between threats, they perceived the threat from Catholicism, and the knightly Teutonic Order, spiritual-knightly, became very energetic and strong, as the main threat. Both Jagiello and Vytautas came to this conclusion, becoming closer again. Jagiello began to involve his brother, whom he called the Grand Duke, in solving administrative issues. Obviously, things were heading towards a lasting reconciliation, because the order’s threat became inevitable. The fact is that in their order lands, in this territory of former Prussia... There are special works, very interesting, on this topic. They busily organized farming and trade in German. They became very rich. And therefore their army is well armed and energetic. Have money. There are funds. And there is a threat of expansion of these territories, because this is how the entire civilization of this era lives. They develop extensively. More land, more producers, more wealth. And therefore a decision is made to try to create some kind of coalition, some kind of unification of the Slavic peoples of any confession and the Catholic one - this is Poland - and those who will support with some nuances. Well, there is a version that Jan Zizka personally took part among the Czech volunteers. This is an ethnic slogan. This is a slogan against the harsh totalitarianism of the order. And this is hostility to the order, which has become sinister. The old ideas of poverty, helping the poor and the sick have long been forgotten. Many figures appeared at the top of the order, violating all these vows, principles, covenants. Man is weak, he violates many things. But when something very important is trampled upon, people grow in protest, protest against the top of the order, behaving like predators under the former slogans of charitable assistance to believers, great hostility has grown. And this is reflected in the descriptions of the famous Battle of Grunwald given by Slavic sources. The brightest is, of course, the Polish chronicler Jan Dlugosz, a wonderful person. Years of life 1415-1480. Graduated from Krakow University. He was Archbishop of Lviv, educator of the children of King Casimir IV. Participated in negotiations with the Teutonic Order of the Czech Republic and Hungary. I saw the order with my own eyes. And he wrote the famous “History of Poland”. 12 books in Latin. This is the birth of the Polish literary language. And he described the Battle of Grunwald. This is a picture... This is a script, a movie script. If you are very loving people who understand history, then you will see how he describes it in...
A. Venediktov- We must remind you that Vitovt is the commander-in-chief.
N. Basovskaya - So, Vi... Officially leads the battle Jagiello. It symbolizes, it stands on a hill with a banner and symbolizes this unity of peoples, troops. And Vitovt really, Vitovt really commands. They always had something like this... like between Keistut and Olgerd. Dlugosz described how crows, a flock of crows, flew over the field, precisely towards the knights, predicting their defeat. It rained and the crows flew by. And suddenly the Slavic warriors saw a cross in the sky. They are predicted to win. All this is described in a completely medieval way. Of course, the roar of the battle lasted 3 days... It lasted, of course, continuously for 3 days. But the rivers were stained with blood. Epic description. And Vitovt personally played a very interesting and important role in this battle. Vytautas, like a normal medieval cynic, placed 3 lines of Russian knights, heavily armed knights from the Smolensk land, in the center of his army. Dlugosh, who has no sympathy for the Russians, writes that they covered themselves with immortal glory. He placed the knights dismounted on the ground. This was already done in the 100 Years' War. Henry II Plantagenet did this in battles against the French. They had to take on the 1st main blow of the strongest part of the order's army - the cavalry. Many thousands of people took part. We will never be able to say for sure. But it is quite possible that it is no less than 30-40 thousand on each side. The main attack by heavy cavalry is scary. They must die because they cannot leave. Knights in heavy weapons of the 14th century, early 15th century - this armor is heavy, not very ... not ideally mobile. Not even they can not run away, not leave. They should stand like a wall. They stood as Dlugosz describes. They died line after line. But he writes how they died, fighting to the end. And at that moment there was light infantry, and these were Lithuanian warriors... These were lightly armed from the peasant masses and lower knighthood, of course, frightened by this cavalry... And there was Polish cavalry too. And then they faltered. The Polish knights seemed to freeze neither forward nor backward. And the Lithuanian light infantry felt that in a minute they would be trampled by the horses of the knights, and they ran away and ran. Vitovt knew, knew the area very well. And he knew that there was a lake ahead of them, and they would not run far. He caught up with them, rebuilt them and returned them. And I say: “Film script.” As Dlugosz writes: “It flashed over the field...” Over the field, where it was unclear who was winning, where the situation was very dubious. People are dying on both sides. It is unclear who will defeat whom. He almost killed Jagiello... A boy saved him there. A German knight almost killed him. “It flashed over the field: “Lithuania is coming back!” Lithuania is back! I hear it as a symphony of hope, as a symphony of joy. Well, this is one of the best descriptions of medieval battles. It even seems to me that the French descriptions, which I read a lot in chronicles, are weaker, because the French always have this desire to embellish - well, croissard-like - to decorate with such colors as a child’s coloring of the valor of knights, it prevails. This victory was very important for Vytautas, for his fate. But what he apparently dreamed of all his life did not happen. He is a victim... There is only one colossal battle that I did not mention. In 1399, together with Tokhtamysh, he was beaten on the Vorskla River. Otherwise victorious, he wanted to die with a crown on his head.
A. Venediktov- Well, yes.
N. Basovskaya- Jagiello is the king.
A. Venediktov- Yes, Polish.
N. Basovskaya- And I want to be king. And the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund I promised him the crown. The coronation was scheduled for 1430. And the crown was brought according to orders...
A. Venediktov- A specially made crown.
N. Basovskaya- And the special crown was brought from Hungary, it was made there, through Poland. Polish magnates stole the crown.
A. Venediktov- Intercepted.
N. Basovskaya- Intercepted...
A. Venediktov- Gopniks.
N. Basovskaya- ... to ... Hooligan prank. Well, what do you want? If in that era when the Duke of Burgundy wanted to be crowned, to become king, the Pope was kidnapped for several days.
A. Venediktov- And here is some kind of crown.
N. Basovskaya- But here’s the thing. The crown was stolen and the coronation could not take place. Sigismund was also discouraged. He is the son of Emperor Charles IV the famous, who gave the golden bull to the Luxembourg dynasty. And it so happened that it’s sad to say, the great warrior Vitovt, he is a warrior, failure was only with Tokhtamysh... Well, there was no need to be friends with Tokhtamysh. The Battle of Vorskla... It’s not even clear why he was so defeated there. Well, the authors I have read cannot explain this. He died, I am convinced, of grief.
A. Venediktov- At 80 years old.
N. Basovskaya- When he learned that there was no crown, he immediately took it and died. Amazing life.
A. Venediktov- But we must remind you that his descendant through his daughter, who married Vasily Dmitrievich, is Vasily II the Dark - right? - and Ivan the Terrible is his descendant. All these Rurikovichs...
N. Basovskaya- There is in our history...
A. Venediktov- ...they are his descendants. Yes.
N. Basovskaya- ... his trace. Well, in the Battle of Grunwald, and throughout Slavic and Central European history. In his own way, he is a wonderful person, reflecting all the features of the era. But it’s somehow very sad that he died of grief.
A. Venediktov- We also read and watch films based on Henryk Sienkiewicz, read Henryk Sienkiewicz, if you like. Thank you very much. It was the “Everything is So” program. Natalya Ivanovna Basovskaya returned to duty. And Alexey Venediktov. Every Saturday, every Saturday at 16:00... Oh! We'll be with you at 6 p.m.
Nobel laureate in literature
- Bulak-Balakhovich Stanislav
commander of the Belarusian People's Army - Vasilkovsky Oleg
head of the BPR diplomatic mission in the Baltic states - Geniusz Larisa
“a bird without a nest” - poetess, keeper of the BNR archive - Duzh-Dushevsky Claudius
author of the national flag sketch - Kondratovich Kiprian
Minister of Defense of the BPR - Vaclav Lastovsky
Prime Minister of the Belarusian People's Republic, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR - Lutskevich Anton
Elder of the Rada of the Ministry of BPR - Lutskevich Ivan
Kulturtrager Belarus - Lesik Yazep
Chairman of the BPR Rada, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR - Skirmunt Roman
elite of the Empire and Prime Minister of the BPR
Belarusian People's Republic
one of the creators of the modern literary language, author of the anthem "Pursuit"
humanist, educator, heretic, church reformer
- Mindovg (1248-1263)
King of the Prussians and Litvins - Voyshelk (1264-1267)
son of Mindovg, who annexed Nalshany and Diavoltva - Schwarn (1267-1269)
son-in-law of Mindaugas and son of the King of Rus' - Viten (1295 - 1316)
“conceive a coat of arms for yourself and for the entire Principality of Lithuania: a knight of armor on a horse with a sword” - Gediminas (1316-1341)
V. prince who united Lithuania and the Principality of Polotsk - Olgerd (1345-1377)
V. prince who gathered all Belarusian lands into a single state - Jagiello (1377-1381)
V. Prince of Lithuania and King of Poland. Union of Krevo - (1381-1382)
"The Oath of Keistut" and the first mention of the oral Old Belarusian language - (1392-1430)
and the beginning of the "Golden Age" of ON - Svidrigailo (1430-1432)
rebellious prince who broke the union with Poland - Henry of Valois (1575-1586)
first elected king and c. prince - Stefan Batory (1575-1586)
liberator of Polotsk from Ivan the Terrible and patron of the Jesuits - Zhigimont III Vase (1587-1632)
king of the Swedes, Goths, Wends - Stanisław II August (1764-1795)
the last king and in. prince - Jagiellonians
nine Slavic kings
Grand Dukes of Lithuania
the Tuteisha gentry and the founders of the Red Church in Minsk.
priest and Belarusian nationalist, prisoner of the Trostinets camp
and the Belarusian epic "Song of the Bison"
Kremlin commandant, defender of Smolensk
castellan Garta, right hand of Gediminas
rebel 1830 and 1863, sculptor
Prince of Nalshansky and Pskov
ethnographer, economist, founder of Belarusian national historiography, compiler of the "Map of the Settlement of the Belarusian Tribe"
first diplomat of the Republic of Ingushetia in Japan, author of the first Russian-Japanese dictionary
philomath, litvin, insurgent, scientist
"eternal wanderer", astronomer and artist
general of Central Lithuania, last knight of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Minsk elders and governors, founders of the development of the historical center of Minsk
Kostrovitsky coat of arms Baybuza and Vong
Jaska Haspadar s pad Wilni, national hero
ethnographer, academician, compiler of the "Map of Settlement of the Belarusian Tribe"
national hero of Belarus, Poland and the USA
sculptor
"Belarus numar adzin va ўіm svetse"
Orsha cornet, hero of the "Trilogy"
Archbishop of Polotsk, "Holy Apostle of Unity"
Colonel "lisovchikov"
V. Prince Vitovt
Vytautas, baptized Alexander (1350 - October 27, 1430) - Grand Duke of Lithuania (1392-1430).
Prince of Grodno (1370-82), Lutsk (1387-89), Troki (1382-13). Proclaimed king of the Hussites.
He was baptized three times - the first time in 1382 according to the Catholic rite, the second time in 1384 according to the Orthodox rite under the name Alexander and the third time in 1386 according to the Catholic rite also under the name Alexander.
Vytautas ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for almost 40 years. Under him, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania reached the peak of its territorial development.
In the "Song of the Bison" of 1523, he appears as the legendary prince of the "golden age", an example of a ruler.
Only the princess chalked the Koran
Vitauta, prince of the Lithuanian Dziarzhava…
Three*, who stole all the light from the three-year-old thirst,
In front of Litsvin, the washcloths were collected from the pack.
[*Three - Turk, Tatar, Muscovite] In surviving documents written in “Russian writing,” he called himself (Not).
Vytautas
Chronology of events
Vitovt's father Keistut and his uncle Olgerd ruled jointly and did not fight for power among themselves.
Olgerd was the Grand Duke and was involved in eastern and southern affairs, Keistut fought with the Teutonic knights in the north-west.
1377 Dies in. book Olgierd. His son Jagiello becomes the new Grand Duke.
1419 After the death of the Czech king Wenceslas, the Hussites proclaim Vytautas king.
1421 The Czech Sejm declared Vytautas to have lost the Czech throne “due to failure to appear.”
1422 Vytautas sends a Lithuanian army of five thousand, led by Prince Zhigimont Koributovich, to help the Hussites, which, together with the Hussites, repelled four crusades of the imperial troops.
1429 Congress in Lutsk - agreement on the coronation of Vytautas. With the participation of the King of Germany (Roman King) and the future Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, Vytautas, Jagiello, the legate of the Pope, the princes of Ryazan, Odoev, Novgorod, Pskov, as well as envoys of the Grand Duke of Moscow and the Prince of Tver, the Teutonic Order, the Golden Horde, the Principality Moldavian, Danish king, Byzantine emperor.
1430 Vytautas dies before his coronation. The rebellious Svidrigailo, who fought for this title with Vytautas for almost 40 years, becomes the new Grand Duke.
["Vytautas Belt" (National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus) - a ceremonial belt set, found near the village of Litva (Molodechno district, Minsk region).
Made by Italian craftsmen of one of the Genoese colonies in Crimea at the end of the 14th century. It is considered a gift to Vytautas from the Crimean Khan Hadji Giray.
]
http://litopys.org.ua/gramxiv/grb.htm
http://naviny.by/rubrics/culture/2015/04/13/ic_news_117_456691/
be-x-old.wikipedia.org
be.wikipedia.org Internecine wars. Campaigns in Rus'. Civil War (1381-1384). Civil War (1389-1392). War with the Horde. The Great War with the Teutonic Order. .
Participation in battles: Capture of Orsha. Capture of Smolensk. Conquest of Podolia. Battle of Vorskla. Battle near Krapivna. Battle near Vyazma. Battle on the banks of the Ugra. Battle of Grunwald
(Vytautas) Grand Duke of Lithuania (from 1392)
Son of Trotsky (Trakai) and Zhmud Prince Keistut from the wife Biruta, who was forcibly taken as his wife.
From a young age, Vitovt became acquainted with the dangers of life, growing up in military campaigns. In 1363, he and his father hid in the domain of the order. In 1370 he took part in the campaign Olgerda and against the Germans, in 1372—in march to Moscow, and in 1376 he again attacked the Germans.
In 1377 Olgierd succeeded by his son Jagiello, whom Keistut recognized as the Grand Duke. However, clashes soon arose between them, during which Keistut was treacherously captured by his nephew, sent to Krevo and strangled there, and he himself Vytautas spent several years in captivity in Vilna.
In 1382, having changed into the dress of his wife’s maid, Vytautas fled to his son-in-law from Mazovia Prince Janusz, and then went to Prussia to the Master of the German Order in Maenburg, from where he continued to maintain contact with the Lithuanians. Vitovt's successes frightened Jagiello, and he besieged his wife, who went to her husband.
At this time, many Lithuanian princes and boyars had already moved to Vytautas. Despite the protests Jagiello the master continued to prepare for the campaign against Lithuania. He got from Vytautas consent to be baptized (Vytautas took the name Vitanda) and to accept the patronage of the order after the seizure of power in Lithuania.
At the beginning of the campaign, the knights managed to take Troki. Leaving a German garrison there, they gave up the city of Bitov along with the Marienburg fortress, in which it was going to house the Lithuanians who flocked to it from everywhere. However, the successes of the knights did not last long. Soon Jagiello And Skirgailo drove them out of Troki.
Vitovt went to Königsberg and began to negotiate with the order again. He ceded to him Zhmud, through which the route from Prussia to Livonia ran. Soon Vitovt managed to defeat Jogaila, however, this did not give him any tangible results.
Vytautas understood that after his death the Principality of Lithuania would go to the order, and this forced him to look for other means to preserve his state. Knowing this, Jagiello, who had long been entrenched in Poland, secretly through his boyars proposed his plan to Vytautas. The Lithuanian prince Vitovt received an inheritance from Brest, Drogichin, Melnik, Velsk, Surazh, Kamenets, Volkovysk and Grodno. For his part he had to swear Jogaila in loyalty and filial respect, he undertook to warn of conspiracies against him, not to communicate with any embassies and not to enter his homeland with troops. Fatherland Vytautas— Troki remained behind Skirgayl, but then Jagiello still gave it away Vytautas.
Vytautas accepted these conditions and finally decided to solemnly throw off the guardianship of the order. Having gathered, as it were, for a campaign against Lithuania, in June 1384 he moved to Jurgenburg, where he invited the local to a feast Commander von Kruste. During the feast, Vitovt's relative Sudemund attacked the fortress, burned it, slaughtering the entire garrison. The same fate befell the fortresses of Marienverden, Neuhaus and others.
Thus, Vytautas broke both political and religious ties with the order, converting from Catholicism to Orthodoxy. Master of the Order Zollner von Rothenstein I tried in vain to pull Vytautas to your side. The brothers left for Krakow, where Vytautas again converted to Catholicism, continuing to call himself Alexander, the name he adopted when converting to Orthodoxy.
However, the agreement established between Jagiello and Vitovt, it was soon violated. While on a hunt, Jagiello, secretly from Vytautas, signed an act declaring Skirgaila the Grand Duke of Lithuania, while Skirgailo was also declared Prince Trotsky, which should have especially outraged Vytautas, since the Trotsky principality was always considered his fatherland. Vitovt had only Podlesie left, and he was called the Prince of Grodno.
Upon learning of the signed Jagiello act, Vytautas on May 3, 1388 abdicated all obligations towards the king and the Polish crown. Jagiello went to increase Vitovt's inheritance at the expense of lands in Volyn, including Lutsk and Vladimir. But the very next year, Jogaila’s hostility again manifested itself, and then Vytautas assembled a secret council of his boyars, with whom he discussed the current situation. It was decided to seize Vilna by cunning, but the operation failed, and Vytautas had no choice but to again come under the protection of the order.
At the beginning of 1390, an agreement was signed with the order, according to which Vytautas assumed all previous obligations. After this, he convened a congress of Zhmudins and Prussian knights in Königsberg, at which an alliance was concluded against common enemies and trade relations were established. Already in the acts of this congress, Vytautas was named king, but he himself called himself the Prince of Lithuania. Soon after this, in January 1391, the marriage of Vytautas’ daughter Sophia took place with Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I Dmitrievich.
The following 1392, under the leadership of the master Conrad Wallenrod a new campaign against Lithuania took place. The knights placed two fortresses near Kovno, which, together with Ritterswert, were given to Vitovt. Leaving him with part of the army, they advised Vitovt to turn to Moscow for help. Vitovt managed to take possession of Grodno, and it seemed that soon all of Lithuania would be in his hands.
All this forced Jagiello begin negotiations with Vytautas, at which he promised to give him his father’s inheritance. Hoping to get even more over time, Vitovt accepted the offer Jagiello and under plausible pretexts he freed from the hands of the order all his relatives and friends who remained hostages there. In order not to arouse the suspicions of the knights, Vitovt left only one brother there Conrad. The unsuspecting knights continued to build fortresses for Vytautas and plant their garrisons in them, when suddenly Vytautas unexpectedly attacked them. Then the Germans burned Surazh and destroyed Grodno. Vytautas could not prevent them from doing this, because on instructions Jagiello went against Koribut and Skirgail, whom he expelled from Vitebsk. Vitovt also saw his benefit in this campaign, since Vitebsk now passed to him. Having planted Skirgaila in Kyiv, Jagiello declared Vytautas the Grand Duke of Lithuania under his almost nominal supremacy.
The borders of Lithuania began to expand: Vitovt captured Orsha, conquered the Drutsk princes and in 1395 captured Smolensk. In the south, Vytautas took Podolia from the Koriatovichs, and then received it from Jogaila and crown Podolia. Vitovt's possessions in the west were in contact with Chervonnaya Rus, in the south and east they reached almost the Tatar uluses. The Tatars of the Golden Horde reckoned with Vytautas. He welcomed into his lands the exiled Tokhtamysh, once he himself installed his protege in the Horde Khan Kerimberdey, near Azov he took an entire Tatar ulus, settling it not far from Vilna along the Vake River. However, in 1399 on the banks of the Vorskla River Vitovt suffered a terrible defeat from Edigei. I took advantage of this Ryazan Prince Oleg, who returned Smolensk to his son-in-law Yuri Svyatoslavich. But three years later, Vytautas again took possession of the city.
Vitovt's plans became more and more ambitious. He was eager to measure his strength with Moscow - it was not for nothing that he bore the title of Grand Duke not only of Lithuania, but also of Russia. Vitovt clearly sought to capture Pskov and Novgorod, which forced the Pskov and Novgorod residents to ask for help from the Grand Duke of Moscow, Vitovt's son-in-law.
Three times the father-in-law and son-in-law came together, but never once did they come to the point of battle. Their dates ended peacefully: in 1406 they met near Krapivna, in 1407 - near Vyazma and in 1408— on the banks of the Ugra. Troubles in the Horde allowed the Grand Duke of Moscow to act freely in relation to Lithuania. At that time Jagiello was already preparing for war with the order and called Vytautas to his aid.
July 15, 1410 occurred Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg), in which the master and many knights died. Having felt solid ground under him, Vitovt now decided to isolate his state in church terms, for which he needed a special metropolitan for his Orthodox subjects. In 1414, the Novograd Council of Orthodox bishops was convened, electing Gregory Tsamblak to this title.
By the end of the first quarter of the 15th century, Vitovt concluded quite profitable agreements with the Moscow, Tver and Ryazan princes. The Moscow prince promised not to help Novgorod and Pskov, and the Tver and Ryazan princes promised to be his allies. In 1426 Vitovt went to Pskov, and in 1428 to Novgorod, from which he took a large ransom. Lithuania increasingly took on the appearance of a well-organized state. Vytautas destroyed the appanages, granted self-government to many cities ( Magdeburg law), equalized the rights of the people. Separating himself politically from Poland, Vytautas allowed through it the penetration of strong European influence, softening the morals and customs of his land.
Now Vytautas only needed a royal crown. He decided to achieve this too, in which Emperor Sigismund, who had his own plans for Poland, also assisted him. At the beginning of 1429, Sigismund came to Vytautas with the goal of placing a royal crown on his head and at the same time quarreling him with Jagiello. However, the emperor met opposition here from both the Polish magnates and the gentry. The pope also spoke out against Vitovt. The crown intended for Vytautas was intercepted by the Polish lords, and Vytautas’s whole venture failed.
All these shocks had such an effect on Vytautas that he died that same year.
Vytautas - Grand Duke of Lithuania since 1392, cousin of Jogaila and son of Keistut. One of the most famous rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, during his lifetime he was nicknamed the Great. In 1395, he annexed the rather weak, but territorially connected Smolensk to Lithuania. In 1395 to 1396 he successfully fought against Ryazan, and in 1398 he successfully fought against the Tatars. Lithuania became independent from Poland. He concluded a separate peace and treaty of alliance with the Teutonic Order, which were directed against Poland on October 12, 1398. Many objects in Lithuania, Poland and Belarus are named in honor of the Grand Duke. The university in Kaunas also bears his name. The sculpture of Vytautas is considered part of the Grunwald monument and the Millennium of Russia monument. He had many boyars under his command. In many legends, they endowed him with mythological properties and qualities; my opinion is that for them he symbolized the transition from the old way of life to a new one, which is why during his lifetime he was nicknamed the Great Ruler of the Principality of Lithuania.
Biography
According to approximate data, the prince was born in 1350. He was baptized three times: twice according to the Catholic rite and once according to the Orthodox rite under the name Alexander. He was born into a large family, where he had three sisters and three brothers. The first information about Vytautas dates back to 1360. From a young age, the prince became acquainted with combat and military life with his father. He lived 80 years, 60 of them he was married. The prince had three wives. He had a daughter, Sophia, from Anna Smolenskaya. Other sources also said that he also had a son. In 1368-72 he took part in campaigns against Moscow, and in 1376 he took part in campaigns against Poland. In 1377 he independently undertook a campaign against the lands of the Teutonic Order. Relying on Russian and Lithuanian boyars, Vytautas fought for the independence of Lithuania and achieved recognition of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Under Vitovt, Lithuanian possessions reached Mozhaisk and the upper reaches of the Oka. Vitovt took away Southern Podolia from the Tatars and his possessions expanded to the Black Sea, and he also stubbornly fought with the German knights. Jagiello and Vytautas became the organizers of the pogrom in the Battle of Grunwald against German knights in 1410. Vytautas in 1422 returned Samogitia to Lithuania, which was captured in 1398. With the help of his servicemen, he tried to eliminate the Gediminovich princes in Rus' and promote his governors there. The abolition of princes in Kyiv, Podolia, and Vitebsk by Prince Vytautas led to an increase in the political level of the Lithuanian boyars. Subsequently, Vytautas would become the hero of the Battle of Grunwald, in which he forever undermined the power of his eternal enemy, the Teutonic Order. The Moscow, Ryazan and Tver princes concluded profitable agreements with Vitovt.
The Moscow prince promised not to provide assistance to Pskov and Novgorod, and the Ryazan and Tver princes promised to become his allies. Then for more than 30 years he will rule the Great Lithuanian and Russian Duchy. Then the descendants of the “Cossack Mamai” will be in the service of the Moscow sovereign, and Elena Glinskaya will be the wife of Prince Vasily and the mother of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. It is likely that in the veins of the Russian sovereign there was the blood of one of the most dangerous and powerful rivals of the Moscow state. At the congress in Lutsk in 1429, a congress took place that showed the significant role of the Principality of Lithuania in European politics. The coronation of the prince was supposed to take place, which was postponed to 1430, but the prince did not live to see it. He died on September 27, 1430. On September 23, 2010, a monument to Prince Vitovt was erected in Belarus. The sculpture is more than six meters high and is made of a special type of oak. The name “Vytautas” is also used by the AKSM-420 trolleybus.
