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Tautvilas
Tautvilas (or Tautvila; died 1263) was Duke of Polotsk and one of Dausprungas' sons and nephews of King of Lithuania Mindaugas. Tautvilas together with his brother Gedvydas and uncle Vykintas waged a civil war against Mindaugas. The war resulted in Mindaugas' coronation. In 1248, Mindaugas sent Tautvilas, Edivydas, and Vykintas to conquer Smolensk promising that they could keep what they would conquer. On the Protva River they defeated the Duke of Moscow but lost to the Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal. After discovering about the failure, Mindaugas took their land and property for himself. At the beginning of 1249, Tautvilas, Edivydas, and Vykintas fled to Daniel of Galicia, who was married to Tautvilas' sister. They formed a powerful coalition with the Samogitians, the Livonian Order, and Vasilko of Volhynia in opposition to Mindaugas. An internal war erupted. While Daniel and the Livonian Order were organizing military campaigns into Mindaugas lands, Tautvilas travelled to Riga, whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mindaugas
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 acco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Mindaugas
The House of Mindaugas was the first royal family of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, centered on Mindaugas, the first known and undoubted sovereign of Lithuania. He was crowned as King of Lithuania in 1253 and assassinated ten years later. His known family relations end with children; there is no data on his great-grandchildren or any relations with the Gediminids, a dynasty of sovereigns of Lithuania and Poland that started with Butigeidis ca. 1285 and ended with Sigismund II Augustus in 1572. Historians have to make considerable assumptions trying to reconstruct the full family tree because of extremely scarce written sources about the early history of Lithuania. The matter is further complicated by the 16–17th century genealogies, most famously the Bychowiec Chronicle, that mixed legends and facts into one. The legends about Palemonids, a noble family from the Roman Empire who settled in Lithuania and gave rise to the Duchy, are quite popular and widespread in these genealogies. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gedvydas
Gedvydas (or Edivid) (believed to have died ca. 1253) was one of the sons of Dausprungas and nephews of King of Lithuania Mindaugas. Gedvydas together with his brother Tautvilas and uncle Vykintas waged a civil war against Mindaugas. Gedvydas' brother and uncle were more active and Gedvydas played just a secondary role in the conflict. The war resulted in coronation of Mindaugas. In 1248, Mindaugas sent Tautvilas, Gedvydas, and Vykintas to conquer Smolensk promising that they could keep what they would conquer. On the Protva River they defeated Duke of Moscow but near Zubtsov lost to the Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal. After discovering about the failure, Mindaugas took their land and property for himself. At the beginning of 1249, Tautvilas, Gedvydas, and Vykintas fled to Daniel of Halych, who was married to Gedvydas' sister. They formed a powerful coalition with the Samogitians, the Livonian Order, and Vasilko of Volhynia in opposition to Mindaugas. An internal war erupted. Daniel and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vykintas
200 px, Monument to Duke Vykintas in Tverai Vykintas (died ) was Duke of Samogitia and a rival to the future King of Lithuania, Mindaugas. In 1236 he probably led the Samogitian forces in the Battle of Saule against the Livonian Order. The Order suffered a great defeat and was near the brink of collapse, forcing it to become a branch of the Teutonic Knights. In 1248 Mindaugas sent Vykintas, Tautvilas, and Edivydas on a military campaign against Smolensk. They were unsuccessful and Mindaugas tried to deprive them of their estates. The three men then organized a vast coalition against Mindaugas which included Tautvilas' brother-in-law Daniel of Halych, the Livonian Order, and the Samogitians. The dukes of Halych-Volhynia managed to gain control over Black Ruthenia, an area ruled by Vaišvilkas. In 1250, the Livonian Order organized two major raids, one against the Nalšia lands and the other against the domains of Mindaugas and those parts of Samogitia that still supported hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voruta
Voruta may have been the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Lithuania during the reign of king Mindaugas in the 13th century. Voruta is mentioned briefly in a written source only once and its exact location is unknown. Despite all the uncertainties, the concept of Voruta is well-known and popular in Lithuania. Historiography Mindaugas, the first and the only crowned Lithuanian king, defended himself in Voruta during an internal war against his nephews Tautvilas and Edivydas and Duke of Samogitia Vykintas in 1251. This information, taken from the Hypatian Chronicle, is the only recorded message about Voruta. A castle of Mindaugas was mentioned on two more occasions, but neither its name nor location was specified. It is unclear whether these brief mentions referred to the same location. Nevertheless, some historians in 19th and 20th centuries called it "the first capital of Lithuania" and attempted to identify its location. In total there were about fif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Principality Of Vitebsk
The Principality of Vitebsk ( be, Віцебскае княства) was a Ruthenian principality centered on the city of Vitebsk in modern Belarus, that existed from its founding in 1101 until it was inherited into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1320, and only nominally until 1508. History The area around Vitebsk was controlled by the principality of Polotsk beginning from the 10th century. Following the death of Vseslav of Polotsk in 1101, Polotsk was divided into Principality of Polotsk#Decline, six smaller principalities each to be inherited by one of his six surviving sons. Vseslav's second born son, Sviatoslav Vseslavich inherited the lands surrounding Vitebsk and started the Vitebsk branch of the Prince of Polotsk, princes of Polotsk. In 1106, Sviatoslav had partaken in a raid against the Baltic tribes in Semigallia with his brothers. In 1127, the prince of Kiev, Mstislav I of Kiev, Mstislav Vladimirovich, began a war with the Prince of Polotsk, princes of Polotsk over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dausprungas
Dausprungas (also ''Dovsprunk'' in Russian sources, died before 1238) was the older brother of Mindaugas, the first King of Lithuania. Dausprungas is mentioned in the peace treaty with Galicia–Volhynia in 1219 among the 21 early dukes of Lithuania as one of the five elder dukes, the other four being Živinbudas, Daujotas, Mindaugas and Viligaila (Daujotas' brother). Since Dausprungas is the only known brother of Mindaugas, Mindaugas' nephews Edivydas and Tautvilas are presumed to be his sons. If that is true, then Dausprungas is father-in-law of Daniel of Halych and he was also married to Vykintas' sister. Because it is known that Mindaugas used to kill his relatives to gain power and because Dausprungas is not mentioned in any other sources, some imply that he was killed by Mindaugas, but others rebut since his sons still ruled their lands in 1248. See also * House of Mindaugas – family tree of Dausprungas *Palemonids The Palemonids were a legendary dynasty of Grand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lithuanians, who were at the time a polytheistic nation born from several united Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija. The Grand Duchy expanded to include large portions of the former Kievan Rus' and other neighbouring states, including what is now Lithuania, Belarus and parts of Ukraine, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Moldova. At its greatest extent, in the 15th century, it was the largest state in Europe. It was a multi-ethnic and multiconfessional state, with great diversity in languages, religion, and cultural heritage. The consolidation of the Lithuanian lands began in the late 13th century. Mindaugas, the first ruler of the Grand Duchy, was crowned as Catholic King of Lithuania in 1253. The pagan state was targeted in a religious crusade by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal allegiance, services and/or payments. The fees were often lands, land revenue or revenue, revenue-producing real property like a watermill, held in feudal land tenure: these are typically known as fiefs or fiefdoms. However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including governmental office, rights of exploitation such as hunting, fishing or felling trees, monopolies in trade, money rents and tax farms. There never did exist one feudal system, nor did there exist one type of fief. Over the ages, depending on the region, there was a broad variety of customs using the same basic legal principles in many variations. Terminology In ancient Rome, a "benefice" (from the Latin noun , meaning "benefit") was a gif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daugava
, be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea , mouth_coordinates = , subdivision_type1 = Country , subdivision_name1 = Belarus, Latvia, Russia , length = , source1_elevation = , mouth_elevation = , discharge1_avg = , basin_size = , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_size = , pushpin_map_caption = , pushpin_map_alt = The Daugava ( ltg, Daugova; german: Düna) or Western Dvina (russian: Западная Двина, translit=Západnaya Dviná; be, Заходняя Дзвіна; et, Väina; fi, Väinäjoki) is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. It rises close to the source of the Volga. It is in length, of which are in Latvia and are in Russia. It is a westward-flowing river, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dnieper
} The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe, after the Volga, Danube, and Ural rivers. It is approximately long, with a drainage basin of . In antiquity, the river was part of the Amber Road trade routes. During the Ruin in the later 17th century, the area was contested between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia, dividing Ukraine into areas described by its right and left banks. During the Soviet period, the river became noted for its major hydroelectric dams and large reservoirs. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster occurred on the Pripyat, immediately above that tributary's confluence with the Dnieper. The Dnieper is an important navigable waterway for the economy of Ukraine and is connected by the Dnieper–Bug Canal to other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Principality Of Polotsk
The Principality of Polotsk ( be, По́лацкае кня́ства, ''Polackaje kniastva''; la, Polocensis Ducatus), also known as the Duchy of Polotsk or Polotskian Rus', was a medieval principality of the Early East Slavs. The origin and date of state establishment is uncertain. Rus' Chronicles mention Polotsk being conquered by Vladimir the Great, and thereafter it became associated with the Rurik dynasty and Kievan Rus'. The principality was supposedly established around the ancient town of Polotsk (modern Polatsk, Belarus) by the tribal union of Krivichs. In the second half of the 10th century, Polotsk was governed by its own dynasty; its first ruler mentioned in the chronicles was the semi-legendary Rogvolod (?–978), better known as the father of Rogneda. The principality was heavily involved in several succession crises of the 11th–12th centuries and a war with the Land of Novgorod. By the 13th century it was integrated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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