Mindaugas Sakalauskas
Mindaugas (german: Myndowen, la, Mindowe, orv, Мендог, be, Міндоўг, pl, Mendog, c. 1203–1263) is the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only crowned King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians. The contemporary and modern sources discussing his ascent mention strategic marriages along with banishment or murder of his rivals. He extended his domain into regions southeast of Lithuania proper during the 1230s and 1240s. In 1250 or 1251, during the course of internal power struggles, he was baptised as a Roman Catholic; this action enabled him to establish an alliance with the Livonian Order, a long-standing antagonist of the Lithuanians. During the summer of 1253 he was crowned King of Lithuania, ruling between 300,000 and 400,000 subjects. While Mindaugas's ten-year reign as king was marked by many state-building ...
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Alexander Guagnini
Alexander Guagnini ( pl, Alexander Gwagnin, it, Alessandro Guagnini dei Rizzoni; 1538 in Verona, Republic of Venice – 1614 in Kraków, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) was a Venetian-born Polish writer, military officer, chronicler and historian of Italian heritage. He is known as a Crown Rotmistrz of Poland and Commandant of Vitebsk. Guagnini fought for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Livonian War and the Moldavian Magnate Wars. Gwagnin is known for publishing the Latin book ''Sarmatiae Europeae descriptio, quae Regnum Poloniae, Lituaniam, Samogitiam, Russiam, Masoviam, Prussiam, Pomeraniam... complectitur'', usually translated as ''"A Description of Sarmatian Europe"'' (printed in Kraków, 1578), which contained descriptions of the countries of Eastern Europe (history, geography, religion, traditions, etc.). The full name of his work is called ''"Sarmatiae Europeae descriptio, quae regnum Poloniae, Litvaniam, Samogitiam, Rvssiam, Massoviam, Prvssian, Pomera ...
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