Grand Duchy of Lithuania Algirdas
or
Olgerd (c. 1296 – May, 1377) was a
monarch of medieval
Lithuania. Algirdas ruled the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377, which chiefly meant monarch of
Lithuanians and
Ruthenians. With the help of his brother
Kęstutis, who defended western border of Duchy he created a vast
empire stretching from the
Baltics to the
Black Sea and reaching within fifty miles of Moscow.
Background
Algirdas was one of the seven sons of the
Grand Duke Gediminas. Before his death in 1341 Gediminas divided his
domains, leaving the youngest son
Jaunutis in possession of the capital
Vilnius, with a nominal priority. With the aid of his brother
Kęstutis, Algirdas drove out the incapable Jaunutis and declared himself a
Grand Prince in 1345. Thirty two years of his reign (1345-1377) were devoted to the development and expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Algirdas has managed to make it one of the greatest states in Europe and the largest in the continent.
Two factors are supposed to have contributed to achieve this result; the extraordinary political sagacity of Algirdas and the life-long devotion of his brother Kęstutis. A neat division of their
dominions is illustrated by the fact, that Algirdas appears almost only in
East Slavic sources, whereas the Western chronicles are aware of mostly Kęstutis. The
Teutonic knights in the north and the
Tatar hordes in the south were equally bent on the subjection of Lithuania, while Algirdas' eastern and western neighbors
Muscovy and
Poland generally were hostile competitors.
Expansion of Lithuania
Algirdas not only succeeded in holding his own, but acquired influence and territory at the expense of Muscovy and the
Golden Horde, and extended the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the northern shore of the Black Sea. Principal efforts of Algirdas were directed to securing the
Slavonic lands which had been a part of the former
Kievan Rus. He procured the election of his son
Andrew as the Prince of
Pskov, and a powerful minority of the citizens of the
Republic of Novgorod held the balance in his favor against the Muscovite influence, however his ascendancy in both these commercial centres was at the best precarious.
Algirdas occupied the important principalities of
Smolensk and
Bryansk in the western Russia. Although his relations with the grand dukes of Muscovy were friendly on the whole, as he has married two
Orthodox Russian princesses, this did not prevent him from
besieging Moscow in 1368 and again in 1372, both times unsuccessfully.
An important feat of Algirdas was his victory over the Tatars in the
Battle of Blue Waters at the
Southern Bug in 1362. It resulted in breaking up of the powerful
Kipchak horde and compelled the khan to migrate still farther south and establish his headquarters for the future in the
Crimea.
Religion and death
Modern historians argue, that "For Gediminas and Algirdas, retention of paganism provided a useful diplomatic tool and weapon... that allowed them to use promises of
conversion as a means of preserving their power and independence". According to
Hermann von Wartberge and
Jan Długosz, Algirdas remained a pagan until his death in summer 1377. Contemporary Byzantine accounts also support the Western sources: Patriarch Neilos described Algirdas as
fire-worshipping prince; another Patriarch Philotheos excommunicated all Ruthenian noblemen, who helped
impious Algirdas. Algirdas' pagan faith also went into the 14th Byzantine historian's
Nicephorus Gregoras' accounts.
Algirdas was burned on a ceremonial
pyre together with 18 horses and many of his possessions in a wood near
Maišiagala most probably in Kukaveitis forest shrine located at . His proposed burial site is undergoing archaeological research since 2009.
His descendants include the noble families of
Troubetzkoys,
Czartoryskis, and
Sanguszkos.
In retrospect Algirdas appeared to the Orthodox faithful of
Ukraine and
Belarus as a champion of Orthodoxy. The 16th-century
Bychowiec Chronicle and 17th-century
Hustynska Chronicle maintain that he converted to Orthodox Christianity at some point prior to his marriage to Maria of Vitebsk in 1318. Although several Orthodox churches were indeed built in Vilnius during his reign, later assertions about his baptism find no corroboration in sources dating from Algirdas' life, leading most scholars to reject them as spurious. Despite the contemporary accounts, as well as modern studies
[ ], some Russian historians, such as Batiushikov, claim that Algirdas had been an Orthodox ruler.
Nevertheless, the dubious tradition about Algirdas' Orthodox conversion lived on. The commemoration book of the
Kiev Monastery of the Caves, underwritten by Algirdas' descendants, recorded his
baptismal name as "Demetrius" as early as 1460s. Following
Wojciech Wijuk Kojałowicz and
Macarius I,
Volodymyr Antonovych writes that Algirdas took monastic vows several days before his death and was interred at the
Cathedral of the Theotokos, Vilnius under the monastic name Alexius.
Algirdas is said to have ordered the death of
Anthony, John, and Eustathius of Vilnius, who were later
glorified as martyrs of the
Russian Orthodox Church.
Assessment
Litas commemorative coin with an image of Algirdas
Unlike his descendants, Algirdas wisely vacillated between Muscovy and Poland, spoke
Lithuanian and amongst others the
Ruthenian language, and was more inclined to follow the majority of his
pagan and Orthodox subjects rather than to alienate them by promoting
Roman Catholicism. His son
Jogaila, however, ascended the Polish throne, converted to Roman Catholicism and founded
the dynasty which ruled Lithuania and Poland for nearly 200 years.
See also
