Petras Simonas Gedgaudas ( pl, Piotr Senko Giedygołdowicz; died in 1451) was a

Lithuanian noble The Lithuanian nobility or szlachta ( Lithuanian: ''bajorija, šlėkta'') was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania (including during period of foreign rule 1795–191 ...

and diplomat. He briefly was a regent of

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...

(equivalent to the later Voivode of Polotsk) in 1440, regent of

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

( Voivode of Smolensk) in 1447–1451, and castellan of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

in 1451.

Biography

Gedgaudas is first recorded in surviving document in 1429. At the time, he was a court marshal and was sent on a diplomatic mission to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor. The next year he was an envoy to Pope Martin V. These missions were related to the attempts to crown Grand Duke

Vytautas Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...

King of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Kingdom of Lithuania, Lithuania, which was established as an Absolute monarchy, absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three Duke, ducal D ...

. After Grand Duke

Švitrigaila Švitrigaila (before 1370 – 10 February 1452; sometimes spelled Svidrigiello) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432. He spent most of his life in largely unsuccessful dynastic struggles against his cousins Vytautas and Sigismund K� ...

was deposed in 1432, Gedgaudas' father Jurgis Gedgaudas continued to support him and was taken prisoner in the

Battle of Ashmyany The Battle of Ashmiany was a battle fought on 8 December 1432 at Ashmiany between the armies of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis, two pretenders to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Lithuanian Civil War (1432–1438). ...

. Nevertheless, Jurgis regained royal favor and his son Petras even received

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

from

Sigismund Kęstutaitis Sigismund Kęstutaitis ( lt, Žygimantas I Kęstutaitis, pl, Zygmunt Kiejstutowicz; 136520 March 1440) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1432 to 1440. Sigismund was his baptismal name, while his pagan Lithuanian birth name is unknown. He was ...

in 1434. In 1447, Gedgaudas accompanied

Casimir Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the ...

to his coronation in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. The following year, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It is assumed that he died in 1451 as his last will was written that year.

Family and property

His father was Jurgis Gedgaudas, diplomat and

voivode of Vilnius The Voivode of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus vaivada, pl, wojewoda wileński) was a high-ranking officer in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who governed the Vilnius Voivodeship from 1413. He was considered as the most influential member of the Lithuanian Cou ...

. Gedgaudas married Milochna, daughter of

Mykolas Kęsgaila Mykolas Kęsgaila Valimantaitis''Mykolas'' (Michael) is his Christian given name, ''Kęsgaila'' is his pagan given name, and ''Valimantaitis'' is his patronymic used as last name. His sons used ''Kęsgaila'' as their last name. (died ca. 1450) wa ...

Elder of Samogitia The Duchy of Samogitia ( lt, Žemaičių seniūnija, sgs, Žemaitėjės seniūnėjė, pl, Księstwo żmudzkie)Grzegorz Błaszczyk, ''Żmudź w XVII i XVIII wieku: zaludnienie i struktura społeczna'', Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Pozn ...

and ancestor of the Kęsgailos family. The couple had no children, but they adopted Milochna's relative (most likely her niece Anna). After Anna's death, Milochna adopted her nephew . Just like his father, Gedgaudas used the

Leliwa coat of arms Leliwa is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several hundred szlachta families during the existence of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and remains in use today by many of the descendants of these families. The ...

and considered

Vishnyeva Vishnyeva ( be, Ві́шнева, Belarusian Latin alphabet, Višnieva; russian: Вишнево, ''Vishnevo''; pl, Wiszniew; lt, Vyšniavas; yi, ווישנעווע, ''Vishneve'') is an Agrotown (Belarus), agrotown in the Valozhyn District of M ...

his principal estate. After his death, the town was inherited by his cousin

Jonas Manvydas Jonas "Ivaška" Manvydas ( pl, Jan (Iwaszko) Moniwidowicz; died 1458) was a Lithuanian noble. A member of the Manvydas family, he was Voivode of Trakai from 1443 to 1458. Biography Manvydas was first recorded in written sources in May 1423 when h ...

. Gedgaudas funded a Catholic church in Vishnyeva in 1451. He also funded a church in Radashkovichy in 1447; his widow Milochna donated additional funds in 1485. She also donated to

Vilnius Cathedral The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika; pl, Bazylika archikatedralna św. Stanisława Biskupa i św. Władysława, historical: ''Kościół Kated ...

in 1475. Petras Gedgaudas should not be confused with another Petras Gedgaudas, a local Samogitian noble, who founded a Catholic church in

Šiluva Šiluva is a small town of less than 700 inhabitants in Lithuania. It is located in the region of Samogitia. It is a major site of Catholic pilgrimage in Lithuania. History Šiluva was first mentioned in 1457 in relation to the building of th ...

in 1457 and who was the

in 1441-1443.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gedgaudas, Petras Simonas 1451 deaths 15th-century Lithuanian nobility