Vaidotas

In reliable historical sources he is mentioned only twice: as defender of Kaunas Castle in 1362 and as ruler of Navahrudak.

According to the chronicles of Wigand of Marburg, he was the commander of the garrison of the newly built Kaunas Castle during the three-week siege in April 1362.

[1][2] The defeat was one of the largest and important military victories of the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century against Lithuania.

[4] Because of very limited historical sources, Vaidotas is sometimes confused with Vaidutis (Waydutte), son of Butautas and grandson of Kęstutis.

[5] In his 1999 monograph on the early Gediminids, Polish historian Jan Tęgowski [pl] provided the following biography of Vaidotas: he was the eldest son of Kęstutis and Birutė; was captured at Kaunas in 1362, but returned before 1365 and received Navahrudak; converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and was baptized as Ivan; had two sons Jerzy and Konrad; in 1384, during the Lithuanian Civil War (1381–84), accompanied Vytautas to the Teutonic Order; in 1389, visited the Order as Vytautas' envoy; died after 1390.