
The papal bull regarding Lithuania's placement under the jurisdiction of the
Bishop of RomeThe
Kingdom of Lithuania was a
Lithuanian
monarchy which existed from 1251 to roughly 1263.
The status of a kingdom was granted by
Pope Innocent IV, when the state was placed under the jurisdiction of the
Bishop of Rome, on
July 17,
1251. Two years later, the Lithuanian ruler
Mindaugas was crowned as the
King of Lithuania. In 1259,
Mongols under
Burundai invaded the southern border of the kingdom, sacking a few towns and defeating a Lithuanian army. After the assassination of Mindaugas and his sons in 1263, the country reverted to
paganism, and its status of a kingdom was lost.
There was also an attempt by
Vytautas the Great (ruled 1401–1430) to receive a royal crown. He was proclaimed king, and Lithuania a kingdom, by Emperor
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor in 1430, but the royal crown, which was sent by Sigismund to Vytautas, was intercepted by
Polish noblemen. Soon afterwards Vytautas died, without being crowned as king.
In 1918, a
Kingdom of Lithuania was briefly created as a German
client-state, with
Mindaugas II as
King of Lithuania. Following
Germany's defeat in World War I a few months later, the kingdom was superseded by the
Act of Independence of Lithuania.