David ( be, Давыд Гарадзенскі, lt, Dovydas Gardiniškis, killed in 1326) was a

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

and one of the most famous military commanders of Gediminas,

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—House ...

. He might have been a son of Daumantas of Pskov and great grandson of

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...

. Maciej Stryjkowski claims that David was married to one of the daughters of Gediminas. He seems to have been a middleman between the pagan Gediminas and the Christian princes of the

Rurikid The Rurik dynasty ( be, Ру́рыкавічы, Rúrykavichy; russian: Рю́риковичи, Ryúrikovichi, ; uk, Рю́риковичі, Riúrykovychi, ; literally "sons/scions of Rurik"), also known as the Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was ...

family and frequently led in battle the united

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n–

Ruthenia Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin as one of several terms ...

n armies. David is mentioned for the first time in 1314 when he helped to relieve a siege of Navahradak by the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. He did not engage in battle, but instead destroyed food supplies that the Order left behind. As a result, many knights died of starvation and exhaustion on their way back to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

. In 1319, David was in charge of 800 men who raided Prussia as far as Łyna river. However, on their way back they were attacked by the Komtur of Tapiau (present-day Gvardeysk) and lost all booty. Four years later, he took part in the

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

ian punitive expedition to Danish Estonia. At the time, Pskov was nominally under

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

, which was entangled in a conflict with

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

and could not defend Pskov from the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after the ...

. In response to the looting in Ladoga and

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...

provinces, David, invited by Pskov nobles, led an expedition to Danish Estonia, an ally of the Order. In March and May 1324, the Order unsuccessfully besieged his native city. Since the end of 1324, David was based in Grodno. In November 1324, he raided the lands of Masovian dukes who were allied with the Teutonic Order. Later, they complained to the pope that David destroyed one city, 117 villages, and many churches and monasteries. In 1326, he led the Lithuanian armies on the

raid on Brandenburg The Raid on Brandenburg was a Polish–Lithuanian raid on the Margraviate of Brandenburg in February–March 1326. With papal approval and encouragement, King Władysław I of Poland allied with Gediminas of Lithuania and organized the raid again ...

and on the way back he was traitorously killed by a Masovian knight.

References

* * {{cite encyclopedia , last=Šapoka , first=Adolfas , editor=Vaclovas Biržiška , encyclopedia=Lietuviškoji enciklopedija , title=Dovydas , year=1937 , publisher=Spaudos Fondas , volume=6 , location=Kaunas , pages=1334–1336, language=lt 1326 deaths Ruthenian nobility Year of birth unknown Medieval Lithuanian nobility 13th-century Lithuanian people 14th-century Lithuanian people