History of Lithuania (1219–1295)
[1] Despite continuous warfare with two Christian orders, the Livonian Order and the Teutonic Knights, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was established and gained some control over the lands of Black Ruthenia, Polatsk, Minsk, and other territories east of modern-day Lithuania that had become weak and vulnerable after the collapse of Kievan Rus'.
For another 120 years Lithuania would remain a pagan empire, fighting against the Teutonic and Livonian Orders during the Northern Crusades during their attempts to Christianize the land.
Vytenis assumed power in 1295, and during the next 20 years laid solid foundations for the Duchy to expand and grow under the leadership of Gediminas and his son Algirdas.
Afterwards, the Knights spent nine years conquering the Nadruvians, Skalvians, and Yotvingians, and from 1283, they were better positioned to threaten the young Lithuanian state from the west.
[8] Under this system, known in England as primogeniture, only the eldest son could inherit lands, which allowed dukes to consolidate their holdings.
For example, in 1207, soldiers were recruited across Lithuania to fight the German religious orders, and in 1212, Daugirutis' treaty with Novgorod shows that he exerted some degree of influence over a vast area.
[5] Mindaugas, the duke who governed southern Lithuania between the Neman and Neris Rivers,[8] eventually became the founder of the state.
[1] In 1236, Duke Vykintas led the Samogitian forces to victory in the Battle of Saule, where the Livonian Order suffered a catastrophic defeat.
The dukes of Galicia and Volhynia managed to gain control over Black Ruthenia, an area ruled by Mindaugas' son Vaišvilkas.
[8] Attacked from the north and south and facing the possibility of unrest elsewhere, Mindaugas was placed in an extremely difficult position, but managed to use the conflicts between the Livonian Order and the Archbishop of Riga in his own interests.
[14] As promised, Mindaugas and his wife Morta were crowned at some time during the summer of 1253, and the Kingdom of Lithuania, proclaimed by the pope in 1251, was soundly established.
The Bishop of Gniezno appointed Vito (Lithuanian: Vitas), a monk of the Dominican Order, to this position, but he was not recognized by Mindaugas or accepted by the populace.
Historical sources do not mention any sponsorship of missionaries, education of priests, or construction of churches during that time, and Bishop Christian went back to Germany in 1259, where he died in 1271.
[5] Immediately after his coronation, Mindaugas transferred some western lands to the Livonian Order – portions of Samogitia, Nadruva, and Dainava.
The deeds might have been falsified by the Order;[11] the case for this scenario is bolstered by the fact that some of the documents mention lands that were not actually under the control of Mindaugas.
He strengthened his influence in Black Ruthenia, in Pinsk, and took advantage of the collapsed Kievan Rus' by conquering Polatsk, a major center of commerce in the Daugava River basin.
[11] He also negotiated a peace with Galicia–Volhynia, and married a daughter to Svarn, the son of Daniel of Galicia, who would later become Grand Duke of Lithuania.
[1] The Samogitians responded by electing Algminas as their war leader, and attacked Courland, as the Order had limited battlefield successes.
Treniota led an army to Cēsis and battled Masovia, hoping to encourage all the conquered Baltic tribes to rise up against the Orders and unite under Lithuanian leadership.
He waged successful battles, but did not manage to capture the fortified castles or spark a coalition of Baltic forces against the Order.
His personal influence grew because Mindaugas was concentrating on the conquest of Rus' lands, dispatching a large army to Bryansk.
[17] In 1265 Vaišvilkas, as a Christian, reconciled with the Livonian Order and, without support from Lithuania, the rebellions among the Balts that had been fueled by Treniota began to subside.
However, in 1272 the Order retaliated, attacking Semigalia and building Dünaburg (Daugavpils) Castle in 1273 on lands nominally controlled by Traidenis.
In 1279 the Order attacked Lithuanian lands, reaching as far as Kernavė, but on their way back they suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Aizkraukle.
This is in part because the two main sources for Lithuanian history in the 13th century, the Hypatian Codex and the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, end in the early 1290s.
The state effectively protected Lithuanians and Samogitians from assimilation induced by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order, the destiny of Prussians, Skalvians, Curonians, Selonians and other Baltic tribes.
[26][better source needed] By about 1430, at its peak during the reign of Vytautas the Great, the Grand Duchy controlled some 930,000 km2 (360,000 sq mi) and almost 2.5 million people.
[27] The period from 1219 to 1295 also shaped future conflicts: the pagan Lithuanians were surrounded by the aggressive Roman Catholic Orders to its north and southwest, and by adherents of the Orthodox Church in the east.
The Catholic Orders' raids intensified after they overcame the "buffer zone" created by Prussians, Nadruvians, Skalvians, Yotvingians, and Semigalians by 1283.
[5] It was inevitable that Lithuania could not endure religious, political, and cultural isolation forever and would have to choose either Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy.
