Kingdom of Lithuania
Kingdom of Lithuania | |||||||||
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1251–1263 | |||||||||
![]() Kingdom of Lithuania at its peak | |||||||||
Capital | Kernavė | ||||||||
Common languages | Lithuanian, Ruthenian | ||||||||
Religion |
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Hereditary feudal absolute monarchy | |||||||||
King | |||||||||
• 1251–1263 | Mindaugas | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Established | 17 July 1251 | ||||||||
• Coronation of Mindaugas | 6 July 1253 | ||||||||
• Mindaugas assassinated | 12 September 1263 | ||||||||
Currency | Ilgasis | ||||||||
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The Kingdom of Lithuania was a
Other monarchs of Lithuania were referred to as grand dukes, kings or emperors in extant foreign written sources as the size of the realm and their power expanded or contracted. This practice can be compared to that of British, Japanese and many other monarchs who are known as kings or emperors in spite of not being crowned with the assent of the Pope. Because Lithuania was pagan in the 13th century, Lithuanian monarchs were not granted the title of a Catholic monarch even though extant Christian sources referred to Lithuanian rulers as kings or emperors regardless of their religious affiliation. [3] For instance, Gediminas titled himself King of Lithuania and Rus, and Duke of Semigalia. The Pope also addressed him as King.
The confusion stems from eastern and western European traditions of royal hierarchy and titles. In Eastern Europe, the title of grand duke equalled king and sometimes emperor. In Western Europe, the title of grand duke is reserved to monarchs of small polities and ranks junior to king and emperor.
After the formal Christianization[4] and especially after the creation of the personal union with Poland, the Kings of Poland–Lithuania retained the separate titles of Grand Dukes of Lithuania and Kings of Poland (similarly to how the Emperors of Austria–Hungary had retained the separate titles of Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, to some extent).
The Catholic crown was to be received from the Pope or Holy Roman Emperor, but being multireligious and powerful, Lithuania was not subservient to either and with rare exceptions did not pursue the title. For diplomatic reasons three further attempts were made to re-establish the Kingdom status – by Vytautas the Great in 1430, by Švitrigaila who wanted to continue Vytautas' attempts at the coronation, and by the Council of Lithuania in 1918.
King Mindaugas
In the early 13th century, Lithuania was inhabited by various
The coronation and the alliance with the Livonian Order allowed for a period of peace between Lithuania and Livonia. During that time, the Lithuanians expanded east, while Livonia attempted to conquer
Attempts to re-establish the Kingdom
There was an attempt by Grand Duke
Following the
After Lithuania
See also
Lithuania portal
- Duchy of Lithuania
- Grand Duchy of Lithuania
- Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)
- Lithuania proper
References
- ^ ISBN 9986-34-020-9.
- ^ "kolonizacija ir Lietuvos valstybė iki XIII a." www.mle.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 12 September 2021.
Lietuvos karalystės įkūrimas buvo iš dalies sėkmingas bandymas sujungti visas baltų žemes (ir prūsus) į vieną valstybę.
- ^ "Codex diplomaticus Lithuaniæ (1253-1433), ed. E. Raczynski" (in Latin). Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ Phillips 1998, p. 78.
- ^ Darius, Baronas (2006). "THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN FOREST LITHUANIANS AND STEPPE TATARS IN THE TIME OF MINDAUGAS" (PDF). Lithuanian Historical Studies (11): 1–16.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 9986-9216-9-4. Archived from the originalon 3 March 2008.
- ^ Frost 2015, p. 142-150.
- ISBN 0-295-98093-1.
- ^ Frost 2015, p. 148-149
- OCLC 100463.
Bibliography
- Phillips, J. R. S. (1998). The Medieval Expansion of Europe. ISBN 978-0-19-820740-5.
- ISBN 978-0-19-820869-3.)
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