David ( be, Давыд Гарадзенскі, lt, Dovydas Gardiniškis, killed in 1326) was a castellan of Grodno and one of the most famous military commanders of

Gediminas Gediminas ( la, Gedeminne, ; – December 1341) was the king or Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death. He is credited with founding this political entity and expanding its territory which later spanned the area ranging from t ...

Grand Duke 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 ...

. He might have been a son of

Daumantas of Pskov Daumantas or Dovmont ( Russian: Довмонт, Belarusian: Даўмонт, Christian name Timothy (russian: Тимофей), ; c. 1240? – 17 May 1299), was a Lithuanian prince best remembered as a military leader of the Principality of ...

and great grandson of Alexander Nevsky.

Maciej Stryjkowski Maciej Stryjkowski (also referred to as Strykowski and Strycovius;Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN. t. 6, 1997 – ) was a Polish historian, writer and a poet, known as the author of ''Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Rutheni ...

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 family and frequently led in battle the united Lithuanian– Ruthenian armies. David is mentioned for the first time in 1314 when he helped to relieve a siege of

Navahradak Novogrudok ( be, Навагрудак, Navahrudak; lt, Naugardukas; pl, Nowogródek; russian: Новогрудок, Novogrudok; yi, נאַוואַראַדאָק, Novhardok, Navaradok) is a town in the Grodno Region, Belarus. In the Middle A ...

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 ...

. In 1319, David was in charge of 800 men who raided Prussia as far as

Łyna river Łyna may refer to: * Łyna River (Russian: Лава ''Lava'', German: ''Alle''), a river in Poland and Russia * Łyna, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (German: ''Lahne''), a village in Poland near the source of the river {{geodis ...

. However, on their way back they were attacked by the

Komtur Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...

of Tapiau (present-day

Gvardeysk Gvardeysk ( rus, Гварде́йск, p=ɡvɐrˈdʲejsk, a=RU-Gvardejsk.ogg), known prior to 1946 by its German name ( lt, Tepliava; pl, Tapiawa/Tapiewo), is a town and the administrative center of Gvardeysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, R ...

) and lost all booty. Four years later, he took part in the Pskovian

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

Danish Estonia Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

. At the time, Pskov was nominally under Novgorod, 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. 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, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...

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 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