The exact date of Vitovt's birth is unknown. According to secondary descriptions in the annals, historians have concluded that he was born around 1350. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt was the son of Keistut and the nephew of Olgerd, and at birth did not claim power over the entire state. He proved his supreme position among compatriots over the years in numerous civil and foreign wars.
Struggle for power
In 1377 Vitovt's uncle, Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd, died. Power passed to his son Jagiello. Keistut, who was the prince of Trok, recognized his nephew as a senior and returned to his daily business - the fight against the Catholic crusaders who created their military orders in the B altic states. Jagiello, however, was afraid of his uncle. In addition, his paranoia was reinforced by the advice of those close to him.
Jagiello made an alliance with the Crusaders in order to deprive Keistut of his lot. Soon a civil war began, in which the future Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt also took part. In 1381, together with his father, he defeated Jagiello. Keistut briefly became the ruler of the wholecountry, and Vitovt - his heir.
Civil War
Already in the next year - 1382, an uprising broke out in Lithuania against the power of Keistut. Together with Vitovt, he was captured and strangled in prison. The son fled to the possession of the Teutonic Order. Three years later, Poland and Lithuania entered into a union, thus actually merging into one state. Jagiello moved his capital to Krakow. At the same time, Vytautas obtained from his cousin the return of the Grand Duchy to him as a governor.
However, soon the conflict between them broke out with renewed vigor. Vitovt again had to flee to the crusaders, where he lived for three years, preparing for a triumphant return to his homeland. In 1392, after a series of battles, the brothers signed the Ostrov agreement. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt again regained his title. Formally, he recognized himself as a vassal of the Polish king, but historians consider 1392 to be the date of the beginning of his actual independent rule.
Campaigns against the Tatars
After the end of the civil war, Vytautas could finally turn his attention to Lithuania's external enemies. On the southern borders, his state bordered on the steppe, which was under the control of the Tatars. In 1395, the Khan of the Golden Horde, Tokhtamysh, suffered a crushing defeat from the army of Tamerlane. He fled to Vilna seeking refuge there.
What did Vytautas do in this situation? The Grand Duke of Lithuania, whose biography is an example of an active military leader who fought with all dangerous neighbors, could not miss such a chance. He shelteredTokhtamysh and began to gather troops for future raids in the steppe. In 1397, the prince's army crossed the Don and, without encountering much resistance, plundered and destroyed the Tatars' camps. When the weakened horde finally decided to fight, the odds were clearly not in its favor. The Lithuanians defeated the steppes and took more than a thousand prisoners.
But Vitovt, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, did not stop there. Interesting facts about the Crimea prompted him to go to this unexplored peninsula, where the opponents of Tokhtamysh roamed and kept their we alth. Before the Lithuanian army had never climbed so far deep into enemy territory. Vitovt hoped that his successes would inspire the Pope to declare an all-European crusade against the Tatars. If such a campaign really began and ended in success, then the prince could count on the royal title and a significant increase in territories in the east.
Battle on Vorskla
However, the crusade under the patronage of Rome did not happen. Meanwhile, the Tatars were able to settle internal conflicts and unite in order to defeat the Western enemies. The Stepnyakovs were led by Khan Timur Kutlug and his temnik Yedigei. They gathered a large army of several tens of thousands of warriors.
What could oppose them and whom could Vytautas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, gather under his banner? The internal policy of the ruler allowed him to find a compromise between different parts of the Lithuanian society. First of all, he faced the dilemma of relations with the Russian Orthodoxpopulation living in the greater part of the country. Vytautas took care of these people and their governors, thanks to which he was able to earn a good reputation.
His ideas about a punitive campaign against the Tatars resonated not only with his Orthodox population, but also with some independent Russian princes. Together with Vitovt, the Smolensk ruler agreed to speak. Significant help also came from Poland and even the Teutonic Order. These Catholics agreed to act as a united front against the steppes. Finally, with Vitovt there were Tatars loyal to Tokhtamysh.
A force of about 40,000 marched east in 1399. The decisive battle took place on the Vorskla, a tributary of the Dnieper. Vitovt's army was the first to launch an offensive, and even managed to push the Tatars back. However, the second half of the nomads made a maneuver in advance, bypassing the Lithuanian squad. At the decisive moment, the Tatars struck at the rear of the Christians and pushed them to the river. The battle ended in defeat. Vitovt himself was wounded and barely escaped. After this failure, he had to forget about the expansion into the steppe and the royal title. Many Russian and Lithuanian princes died in the battle: the rulers of Polotsk, Bryansk and Smolensk.
New Union with Poland
After the defeat at Vorskla, Vitovt's power was under threat. He lost many supporters, while his new opponent became more active in Lithuania. They became Svidrigailo Olgerdovich - the younger brother of Jagiello and the prince of Vitebsk. Under these conditions, Vitovt decided to conclude a new union with Poland. At the end of 1400 hemet with Jagiello near Grodno, where the monarchs signed a document that marked a new stage in the development of relations between Krakow and Vilna.
What was the essence of the treaty and why was it so important? Jagiello recognized Vitovt's lifetime right to own Lithuania, which in fact deprived Svidrigailo of any rights to the throne. His struggle became meaningless and obviously doomed to failure. For his part, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt, after his death, undertook to transfer the throne to Jagiello or his heir. If it were not for him, then the throne of Lithuania should have passed to a person elected by a vote of aristocrats. At the same time, the Poles guaranteed equal rights to the Russian Orthodox boyars. This treaty became known as the Union of Vilna-Radom.
Conflict with German knights
The lost war with the Tatars was a strong, but not fatal blow. Soon Vytautas recovered from her. His focus was on relations with the Teutonic Order. The crusaders for many decades took land from Lithuania and Poland while they were occupied by civil wars. Now the monarchs were allies, which meant that they were faced with the possibility of coordinated allied actions against the Teutonic Order.
Vytautas was interested in returning the lands of the Samogitians, and Jagiello wanted to get back the Eastern Pomerania, as well as the Chelm and Michalov lands. The war began with an uprising in Samogitia. Vytautas supported those dissatisfied with the Teutonic rule. Grand Duke of Lithuania, briefwhose biography is a series of ongoing military campaigns, decided that this was the best chance to launch an offensive against the crusaders.
Campaign against the Teutonic Order
At the first stage of the war, both sides of the conflict acted indecisively. The only serious success of the Poles and Lithuanians was the capture of the Bydgoszcz fortress. Soon the opponents concluded a peace treaty. However, it was short-lived, turning out to be a respite needed by opponents in order to mobilize their reserves. The master of the order, Ulrich von Junginen, enlisted the support of the Hungarian king Sigismund Luxembourg. Another fuel for the Germans was foreign mercenaries. By the time hostilities resumed, the crusaders had an army of 60,000 men.
The Polish army consisted mainly of feudal lords who came to the militia along with their small detachments. The Lithuanians were supported by the Czechs. Their leader was Jan Zizka, the future famous leader of the Hussites. There were also Russian units on the side of Vitovt, including the Novgorod prince Lugveniya. At the military council, the allies decided to go by different roads to Marienburg, the capital of the Teutonic Order. The coalition had forces approximately equal to those of the crusaders (about 60 thousand people).
Battle of Grunwald
If at the first stage of the war the German knights invaded Poland, now the Poles and Lithuanians themselves attacked the possessions of the Order. On July 15, 1410, the decisive battle of the Great War took place (as it was called in the Lithuanian chronicles). armythe allies were commanded by Jagiello and Vitovt. The Grand Duke of Lithuania, whose portrait photo is in every textbook on European medieval history, was already a legend among his contemporaries then. All compatriots and even his opponents admired the perseverance and perseverance of the ruler, thanks to which he achieved his goals. Now he was one step away from ridding his country forever of the danger of the Catholic crusaders.
The surroundings of the town of Grunwald became the place of the decisive battle. The Germans arrived first. They fortified their own positions, dug camouflaged pit traps, placed their cannons and shooters, and began to wait for the enemy. Finally the Poles and Lithuanians arrived and took up their positions. Jagiello was in no hurry to attack first. However, at the most crucial moment, Vytautas decided to attack the Germans without the order of the Polish king. He moved his units forward, just after the crusaders opened fire on the opponents with all their bombards.
For about an hour the knights tried to repulse the attacks of the Lithuanians and Tatars (Vytautas also had Crimean cavalry in his service). Finally, Marshal of the Order Friedrich von Wallenrod ordered a counteroffensive. The Lithuanians began to retreat. It was a well-thought-out maneuver initiated by Vitovt, the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He saw the death of the German army surrounded by crusaders who had lost their organized system. Everything happened exactly as the commander intended. At first, the knights decided that the Lithuanians were fleeing in panic, and rushed after them at full speed, while losing their battle order. As soon as part of the German army reachedVitovt's camp, the prince gave the order to close ranks and surround the enemy. This mission was entrusted to the Novgorod prince Lugveny. He did his job.
Meanwhile, most of the Teutonic army fought with the Poles. It seemed that victory was already in the hands of the Germans. The warriors of Jagiello even lost the Krakow banner, however, it was soon returned to its place. The outcome of the battle was decided by the introduction of additional reserves into the battle, which were waiting in the rear. The Poles used them more effectively than the crusaders. In addition, Vitovt's cavalry unexpectedly hit the Germans from their flank, which de alt a fatal blow to the army of the order. Master Jungingen died on the battlefield.
The Allies won, and this success sealed the outcome of the war. Then followed the unsuccessful siege of Marienburg. Although it had to be removed, the Germans agreed to give up all the lands they had previously captured and pay a huge indemnity. The Great War won marked the future dominance in the region of the union of Poland and Lithuania and the decline of Catholic orders in the B altics. Vitovt returned to his homeland as an undoubted hero. The Grand Duke of Lithuania got Samogitia back, as he wanted on the eve of the conflict.
Relations with Moscow
Vytautas had an only daughter Sophia. He gave her in marriage to the Moscow prince Vasily I - the son of Dmitry Donskoy. The ruler of Lithuania tried to maintain friendly relations with his son-in-law, although this was hindered by his own desire to continue expansion to the east at the expense of Russian lands. two statesbecame opposite political centers, each of which could unite the East Slavic lands. Vytautas was even baptized according to the Orthodox rite, however, later he converted to Catholicism.
Smolensk has become a stumbling block for Moscow-Lithuanian relations. The Grand Duke of Lithuania, the Russian Vitovt, tried several times to annex it. He also actively intervened in the internal politics of the Pskov and Novgorod republics. They sent armies to Vytautas, as was the case with the Battle of Grunwald. At the expense of the Russian lands, the Grand Duke expanded the limits of his state to the banks of the Oka and Mozhaisk near Moscow.
The grandson of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt was the son of Vasily I Vasily the Dark II. He ascended the throne as an infant in 1425. His father understood that Moscow had too few forces to fight the Lithuanians and Tatars at the same time. Therefore, he in every possible way yielded to his father-in-law in border disputes, avoiding war. Vasily I, dying, asked Vitovt to protect the new prince from encroachments on power. The grandson of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt was Vasily II. It was this relationship that did not allow the pretenders to the throne to stage a coup.
Recent years
By the end of his life, Grand Duke Vitovt of Lithuania was the oldest monarch in Europe. In 1430 he was 80 years old. On the eve of the anniversary, the ruler arranged a congress in Lutsk, to which he invited Jagiello, Sigismund Luxembourg (who soon became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire), papal legates and numerous Russian princes. The mere fact that so many powerful rulers came to this event already indicates that Vytautas was one of the most significant political figures of his time.
Prospects for the coronation of the old man were discussed at the Lutsk Congress. If he had taken a title equivalent to that of Jagiello, then Lithuania would have finally become independent and received protection in the West. However, the Poles resisted the coronation. It never happened. Vitovt died shortly after the congress in Troki, on October 27, 1430. The place of his burial is still unknown. Vitovt was the Grand Duke of Lithuania for 38 years. It was during his reign that the heyday of this state fell. The following princes fell into final dependence on Poland. The union of the two countries was called the Commonwe alth.
