Živinbudas was one of the five senior

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 dukes mentioned in the

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

with Halych-Volhynia in 1219. The treaty lists a total of 21 dukes, five of them being elder or superior. Since Živinbudas is mentioned first in the list, it is presumed that he was the supreme ruler of Lithuania. He is not mentioned in any other sources and the mention in the treaty is the only bit of information available about him. However, some historians argue he was ancestor of

Traidenis Traidenis ( pl, Trojden, be, Трайдзень) (died 1282) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1270 (or 1269) until 1282. He is the second most prominent, after Mindaugas, Grand Duke of Lithuania in the 13th century. His reign ended a seven-ye ...

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—Hous ...

ca. 1270-1282. That is probably influence of the

Palemonids The Palemonids were a legendary dynasty of Grand Dukes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The legend was born in the 15th or 16th century as proof that Lithuanians and the Grand Duchy are of Roman origins. Already Jan Długosz (1415–1480) wrote ...

legends popularized by fake 16th century genealogies that connected a mythical Palemon, a prince of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isl ...

who settled in Lithuania in the 10th century, to the

Gediminids The House of Gediminid or simply the Gediminids ( lt, Gediminaičiai, sgs, Gedėmėnātē, be, Гедзімінавічы, pl, Giedyminowicze, uk, Гедиміновичі;) were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that re ...

, an established dynasty.For example, family tree in lists a number of people known only from 16th century sources like the

Bychowiec Chronicle The Bychowiec Chronicle (also spelled ''Bykhovets'', ''Bykovets'' or '' Bychovec'') is an anonymous 16th-century chronicle of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although one of the least reliable sources of the epoch, it is considered the most extensive ...

. The Russian Gustinskaya Chronicle mentions Živibundas under the year 1218.

References

13th-century deaths Lithuanian nobility Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Year of death unknown Place of death unknown 13th-century Lithuanian people {{Lithuania-noble-stub