Algirdas, (pronounced /ɑlgərdɑːs/, known as Polish: Olgierd, Belarusian: Альгерд, Russian: Ольгерд, b. Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. The Belarusian language, or Belorussian,(беларуская мова BGN/PCGN: byelaruskaya mova, Scientific: belaruskaja mova Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages c. 1296, d. end of May, 1377) was a monarch of medieval Lithuania. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė old literary Lithuanian Didi Kunigiste Letuvos, Ruthenian: Wialikaje Kniastwa Litowskaje Algirdas ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377, which chiefly meant monarch of Lithuanians and Ruthenians. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė old literary Lithuanian Didi Kunigiste Letuvos, Ruthenian: Wialikaje Kniastwa Litowskaje Lithuanians are the Baltic Ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number a little over 3 million The term Ruthenians (Русини Rusyny) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used 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. Kęstutis (kæsˈtuːtıs born ca 1297 died on August 3 or August 15, 1382 in Kreva) was Monarch of medieval Lithuania An empire (from the Latin " Imperium " denoting military Command within the ancient Roman government) is a State that The Baltic states (Balti riigid Baltijas valstis Baltijos valstybės or Baltic countries are three countries in Northern Europe, all members of the The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of

Background

Algirdas was one of the seven sons of the Grand Duke Gediminas. The Title Grand Prince or Great Prince (Magnus Princeps Russian and Ukrainian: Великий князь Velikiy knyaz; Вялíкий Gediminas (ca 1275 – winter 1341 was the Monarch of medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the title lt didysis kunigaikštis (вялікі князь Before his death in 1341 Gediminas divided his domains, leaving the youngest son Jaunutis in possession of the capital Vilnius, with a nominal priority. A realm (rɛlm is the dominion of a monarch king queen emperor empress or other sovereign ruler Jaunutis (literally young man, Ruthenian: Jewnut, Polish: Jawnuta, Belarusian: Jaunut (Яўнут baptized With the aid of his brother Kęstutis, Algirdas drove out the incapable Jaunutis and declared himself a Grand Prince in 1345. Kęstutis (kæsˈtuːtıs born ca 1297 died on August 3 or August 15, 1382 in Kreva) was Monarch of medieval Lithuania The Title Grand Prince or Great Prince (Magnus Princeps Russian and Ukrainian: Великий князь Velikiy knyaz; Вялíкий 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. A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities under sovereign authority within the British Empire and The East Slavs are a Slavic ethnic group, the speakers of East Slavic languages. 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. The Teutonic Order is a German Roman Catholic religious order. This article refers to the medieval Turkic state For the Irish rock band see The Golden Horde (band. The Grand Duchy of Moscow (Великое княжество Московское was a medieval Russian polity centered on Moscow between 1340 and Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland

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. This article refers to the medieval Turkic state For the Irish rock band see The Golden Horde (band. The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey Principal efforts of Algirdas were directed to securing the Slavonic lands which had been a part of the former Kievan Rus. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan 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. Andrew is the English form of a Given name common in many countries Pskov (Псков ancient Russian spelling Пльсковъ Pleskov) in Latvian Pleskava, in Estonian Pihkva, is an ancient city located in The Novgorod Republic (Новгородская республика / Novgorodskaya respublika Новгородская земьля / Novgorodskaya zemlja) was a

Algirdas occupied the important principalities of Smolensk and Bryansk in the western Russia. Smolensk (Смоленск is a city in western Russia, located on the Dnieper River, the administrative centre of Smolensk Oblast. Bryansk01jpg|thumb|left|200px|Forest Museum in Bryansk]]Ziu-9 Bryansk 2056 Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending 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. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of

An important feat of Algirdas was his victory over the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters at the Southern Bug in 1362. The Battle of Blue Waters (Mūšis prie Mėlynųjų Vandenų Битва на Синіх Водах was a medieval battle fought at some time between 24 September and 25 Boh redirects here see also BOH tea. The Western Bug or Buh is another river which flows from Ukraine through Poland 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. Crimea (kraɪˈmiːə or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Крим Автономна Республіка Крим Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Крым

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". The Christianization of Lithuania (Lietuvos krikštas was the event that took place in 1387 initiated by the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland ^[1] According to Hermann von Wartberge and Jan Dlugosz, Algirdas remained a pagan until his death in summer 1377. Jan Długosz ( December 1 1415 - May 19, 1480) also known as Joannes Ioannes or Johannes Longinus or Dlugossius Contemporary Byzantine accounts also support the Western sources: Patriarch Neilos described Algirdas as fire-worshipping prince^[2]; another Patriarch Philotheos excommunicated all Ruthenian noblemen, who helped impious Algirdas^[3]. Algirdas' pagan faith also went into the 14th Byzantine historian's Nicephorus Gregoras' accounts^[4]. Nicephorus Gregoras (Νικηφόρος Γρηγοράς (c 1295-1360 Byzantine Historian, man of learning and religious controversialist was born at Heraclea

Algirdas was burned on a ceremonial pyre together with 18 horses and many of his possessions in a wood near Maišiagala'^[5] most probably in Kukaveitis forest shrine. A pyre (from the Greek: πυρά pyrá, from πυρ pýr, fire is a structure usually made of Wood, for burning a body as part of a ^[6] His descendants include the noble families of Troubetzkoys, Czartoryskis, and Sanguszkos. Trubetskoy ( English) Трубецкой ( Russian) Trubiacki ( Belarusian Czartoryski ( Polish plural Czartoryscy) is the Surname of a Polish - Lithuanian Magnate family also known as the Familia Sanguszko ( Belarusian: Сангушка) is a Polish - Lithuanian noble family of the Ruthenian stock from Gediminid dynasty

In retrospect Algirdas appeared to the Orthodox faithful of Ukraine and Belarus as a champion of Orthodoxy. Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Belarus ( Belarusian Беларусь / Biełaruś is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east 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. The Bychowiec Chronicle (also spelled Bykhovets, Bykovets or Bychovec) named the Letopis of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania is an anonymous 16th 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^[7][8], 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. Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Києво-Печерська лавра Kyievo-Pechers’ka lavra; Киево-Печерская лавра Kievo-Pecherskaya lavra) 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. Albert Wijuk Kojałowicz (Albertas Vijūkas-Kojelavičius Wojciech Wijuk Kojałowicz Koialovicius-Wijuk Albertus 1609–1677 was a Polish–Lithuanian historian theologian Macarius I (Russian Макарий I born Mikhail Petrovich Bulgakov (Михаил Петрович Булгаков (1816-1882 was the Metropolitan of Volodymyr Antonovych ( Włodzimierz Antonowicz; 1834 - 1908-03-21, Kiev was a prominent Ukrainian Historian and one of the leaders of the Ukrainian The Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius is the main Orthodox Christian church of Lithuania.

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. The litas ( ISO currency code LTL symbolized as Lt plural litai or litų) is the currency of Lithuania. Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. Ruthenian (also Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller rustic" is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world 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. Jogaila, later Władysław II Jagiełło (b about 1362 d 1 June 1434 was Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. The Jagiellons (Jogailaičiai Jagiellonowie were a royal Dynasty originating from Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European

See also

• Gediminids
• House of Algirdas – family tree of Algirdas

References

General

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Gediminids ( Lithuanian: Gediminaičiai, singular Gediminaitis) were a Dynasty of Monarchs of the medieval Lithuania House of Algirdas refers to the siblings children and grandchildren of Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377 The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

Inline