The Duchy of Alšėnai () was a feudal patrimony of the

Alšėniškiai The House of Alšėniškiai (, ) was a Lithuanian by origin Ruthenianized and predominantly Eastern Orthodox princely family of Hipocentaur coat of arms. Their patrimony was the Duchy of Alšėnai, which included the castles of Rokantiškės a ...

in the late 13th and mid-16th centuries.

History

It was first mentioned in 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 ...

, where , son of (slavicized as ''Holsza'', son of ''Romunt''), according to legend, was the one who "founded a town on the river Korablis; He arose from there, began reigning and called himself the duke of Alšėnai".

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 ...

also relates the origins of the Alšėniškiai family to Alšis Romuntavičius (), coming from the line of

Dausprungas Dausprungas (also ''Dovsprunk'' in Ruthenian 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 Lith ...

. The dukes of Alšėnai held high positions in the Lithuanian state for a long time. In 1440 and 1492, meetings were held in Alšėnai to determine the candidates for the Grand Ducal throne. In the middle of the 16th century, the ancestral possession of the Alšėniškiai passed to the Sapiega family.

Geography

The duchy's center was Alšėnai (now Halshany) and it was the territory between the rivers Vilija and

Nemunas Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its southern channel. It drains ...

. In the 15th century, the duchy stretched from north to south - from Vilkmergė (now

Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; ) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius. It is the administrative center of the Ukmergė District Municipality. Ukmergė (Vilkmergė) was mentioned for the first time as a ...

) and Pastavy to Hlusk and Turov, from east to west - from

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

to Masty.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Cite journal , last=Wolff , first=Józef , author-link=Józef Wolff , url=https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=139252 , title=Kniaziowie litewsko-ruscy od końca czternastego wieku , journal=Biblioteka Instytutu Historii Uam , year=1895 , location=Warszawa , pages=94–115 , language=pl , trans-title=Lithuanian-Ruthenian princes from the end of the fourteenth century 16th-century disestablishments 13th-century establishments Olshanski family