Duchy of Lithuania
Duchy of Lithuania Lietuvos kunigaikštystė ( Division of Grand Duchy of Lithuania | |||||||
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13th century–1413 | |||||||
Jogaila | |||||||
• 1392–1413 | Vytautas | ||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||
• Established | 13th century | ||||||
1413 | |||||||
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Today part of | Belarus Lithuania Latvia |
The Duchy of Lithuania (
History
The formation emerged in the central and eastern part of present-day Lithuania, known as Aukštaitija, or the Lietuva Land (
After the expansion of the Lithuanian state in the 13th century, when it became known as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Lithuania (1251–1263), the Duchy of Lithuania became an administrative unit, governed by dukes[3] and inherited through dynastic links. The main administrative center of the Duchy until the late 13th century might have been Kernavė.
It is possible that the Duchy of Lithuania, which became known as the Duchy of Vilnius from the 14th century on,[4] was formed out of the eastern part of the original Duchy of Lithuania under the rule of Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytenis at the end of the 13th century; its southwestern part was turned into a separate Duchy of Trakai, under the dominion of Gediminas, who had established himself in the newly built Senieji Trakai Castle. It is known for certain that the Duchy of Trakai existed as the domain of Kęstutis at the beginning of his rule in 1337. It was a progenitor of the future Trakai Voivodeship.
The last Duke of Lithuania (
See also
- Lithuania portal
- History of Lithuania
- History of Lithuania (1219–1295)
- History of Vilnius
- Lithuania proper
References
- ^ C. Rowell, Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-central Europe, 1295–1345
- ^ "Viduramžių Lietuvos visuomenė" (in Lithuanian). Archived from the original on 2007-04-19. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
- ^ Known as kunigaikštis in Lithuanian, a word derived from kunigas, itself derived from the German künig, meaning "king"
- ^ Gudavičius, Edvardas. "Vilniaus kunigaikštystė". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2 November 2023.