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[[Image:Gedimin_grav_xvii.jpg|thumb|Gediminas, duke of Lithuania - engraving of XVII ct.]]
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==User-reported==
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'''Gediminas''' (known as '''Giedymin''' in [[Ruthenian language|Ruthenian]] and Polish, in [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]: as '''Гедымiн''' ('''Hiedymin''') and '''Гедзiмiн''' ('''Hiedzimin'''), in [[Russian language|Russian]]: Гедимин; ca. [[1275]] – winter [[1341]] under [[Bayerburg]]) was the [[Monarch]] of medieval [[Lithuania]] with the title '''didysis kunigaikštis''' which would be translated as '''High King''' according to the contemporary perception. The later construct for its translation is Grand Duke (for its etymology, see [[Grand Prince]]). He was the ruler of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], which chiefly meant monarch of [[Lithuanians]] and [[Ruthenians]] [[1316]] – [[1341]]. He was the true founder of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a [[Balts|Baltic]]-[[Slavic peoples|-Slavic]] empire claiming the heritage of ancient [[Kievan Rus]]. He has a reputation of inveterate [[paganism|pagan]] who fiercely resisted all attempts to [[christianize]] his country, though the case is actually somewhat more complex.
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==Origin==
{{Userlinks|S9635695A}} Seems like a [[WP:USERNAME|random string of numbers]] with Caps Lock on. [[User:Bibliotheque|<code>biblio</code>]][[Special:Emailuser/Bibliotheque|<code>theque</code>]] [[User talk:Bibliotheque|<font color="red" face="stencil">(Talk)</font>]] 10:30, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
He was supposed by the earlier chroniclers to have been the ostler of [[Vytenis]], Grand Duke of Lithuania, but more probably he was Vytenis' younger brother and the son of [[Butvydas]] ([[Pukuwer]]), another Lithuanian grand duke. In any case, his purported [[Rurikid]] origin was a later fake. According to the latest research, even his grandfather cannot be named with certainty. Gediminas became [[Grand Duke]] (''didysis kunigaikštis'') of [[Lithuania]] in [[1316]] at the age of forty and ruled for 25 years.
==Choice of religion==
He inherited a vast ___domain, comprising [[Lithuania]] proper, [[Samogitia]], [[Red Rus]]sia, [[Polatsk]] and [[Minsk]]; but these possessions were environed by powerful and greedy foes, the most dangerous of them being the [[Teutonic Knights]] and the [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword]]. The systematic raiding of Lithuania by the knights under the pretext of converting it had long since united all the Lithuanian tribes against the common enemy; but Gediminas aimed at establishing a dynasty which should make Lithuania not merely secure but mighty, and for this purpose he entered into direct diplomatic negotiations with the [[Holy See]]. At the end of [[1322]] he sent letters to Pope [[John XXII]] soliciting his protection against the persecution of the knights, informing him of the privileges already granted to the [[Dominicans]] and the [[Franciscans]] in Lithuania for the preaching of God's Word, and desiring that legates should be sent to receive him also into the bosom of the church.
[[image:Gedyminas_Vilnius.jpg|thumb|left|Gediminas memorial in Vilnius]]
On receiving a favorable reply from the Holy See, Gediminas issued circular letters, dated 25th of January [[1325]], to the principal [[Hansa]] towns, offering a free access into his domains to men of every order and profession from nobles and knights to tillers of the soil. The immigrants were to choose their own settlements and be governed by their own laws. Priests and monks were also invited to come and build churches at [[Vilnius]] and [[Navahradak]]. In October [[1323]] representatives of the archbishop of [[Riga]], the [[bishopric of Dorpat|bishop of Dorpat]], the king of [[Denmark]], the Dominican and Franciscan orders, and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order assembled at Vilnius, when Gediminas confirmed his promises and undertook to be baptized as soon as the papal legates arrived. A compact was then signed at Vilnius, in the name of the whole Christian World, between Gediminas and the delegates, confirming the promised privileges.
But the christianizing of Lithuania was by no means to the liking of the Teutonic Knights, and they used every effort to nullify Gediminas far-reaching design. This, unfortunately, was too easy to do. Gediminas chief object was to save Lithuania from destruction at the hands of the Germans. But he was still a pagan reigning over semi-pagan lands; he was equally bound to his pagan kinsmen in Samogitia, to his [[Orthodox]] subjects in [[Belarus]], and to his [[Catholic]] allies in [[Masovia]]. His policy, therefore, was necessarily tentative and ambiguous, and, might very readily be misinterpreted.
Thus his raid upon [[Dobrzyn]], the latest acquisition of the knights on Polish soil, speedily gave them a ready weapon against him. The [[Prussia]]n bishops, who were devoted to the knights, at a [[synod]] at [[Elbing]] questioned the authority of Gediminas letters and denounced him as an enemy of the faith; his Orthodox subjects reproached him with leaning towards the Latin heresy; while the pagan Lithuanians accused him of abandoning the ancient gods. Gediminas disentangled himself from his difficulties by repudiating his former promises; by refusing to receive the papal legates who arrived at [[Riga]] in September [[1323]]; and by dismissing the [[Franciscans]] from his territories. These apparently retrogressive measures simply amounted to a statesmanlike recognition of the fact that the pagan element was still the strongest force in Lithuania, and could not yet be dispensed with in the coming struggle for nationality.
At the same time Gediminas through his ambassadors privately informed the papal legates at Riga that his difficult position compelled him for a time to postpone his steadfast resolve of being baptized, and the legates showed their confidence in him by forbidding the neighboring states to war against Lithuania for the next four years, besides ratifying the treaty made between Gediminas and the archbishop of Riga. Nevertheless in [[1325]] the Order, disregarding the censures of the church, resumed the war with Gediminas, who had in the meantime improved his position by an alliance with [[Wladislaus I of Poland|Wladislaus Lokietek]], king of Poland, whose son [[Casimir the Great|Casimir]] now married Gedymin's daughter [[Aldona Ona|Aldona]].
==Incorporation of Slavic lands== [[Image:Lidacastle.jpg|thumb|250px|Gedymin's castle in Belarus]]
While on his guard against his northern foes, Gediminas from [[1316]] to [[1340]] was aggrandizing himself at the expense of the numerous Slavonic principalities in the south and east, whose incessant conflicts with each other wrought the ruin of them all. Here Gediminas triumphal progress was irresistible; but the various stages of it are impossible to follow, the sources of its history being few and conflicting, and the date of every salient event exceedingly doubtful. One of his most important territorial accretions, the principality of [[Halych-Volynia]]; was obtained by the marriage of his son [[Lubart]] with the daughter of the Galician prince; the other, [[Kiev]], apparently by conquest.
While exploiting Slavic weakness in the wake of the [[Mongol invasion of Russia|Mongol invasion]], Gediminas wisely avoided war with the [[Golden Horde]], a great regional power at the time, while expanding Lithuania's border towards the [[Black Sea]]. He also secured an alliance with the nascent grand duchy of [[Muscovy]] by marrying his daughter, Anastasia, to the grand duke [[Simeon of Russia|Simeon]]. But he was strong enough to counterpoise the influence of Muscovy in northern Russia, and assisted the republic of [[Pskov]], which acknowledged his overlordship, to break away from [[Novgorod the Great|Great Novgorod]].
==Domestic affairs==
His internal administration bears all the marks of a wise ruler. He protected the Catholic as well as the Orthodox clergy, encouraging them both to civilize his subjects; he raised the Lithuanian army to the highest state of efficiency then attainable; defended his borders with a chain of strong fortresses; and built numerous castles in towns including [[Vilnius]], the capital to be. At first he moved the capital to the newly built town of [[Trakai]], but in 1323 re-established a permanent capital in Vilnius. [[Image:Lithuania Raudone Gediminas Oak.jpg|thumb|right|An oak in [[Raudone]] under which Gediminas is reputed to have been mortally wounded.]]
Gediminas died in the winter of [[1341]] in [[Veliuona]] of a wound received at the nearby siege of [[Raudonė|Bayersburg]] castle. He was married three times, and left seven sons and six daughters. Two of his sons perished in battle. [[Jaunutis]] initially ruled [[Vilnius]] after the death of his father and was formally Grand Duke of Lithuania until his elder brothers [[Algirdas]] and [[Kęstutis]] returned from military campaigns in [[Ruthenia]] and forced him to abdicate his throne in their favor.
==References==
*{{1911}}
== Father ==
:[[Pukuwer]] ([[13th century]] – [[1296]]), Grand Duke of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]] [[1291]] – [[1296]]
== Wives ==
:[[Wida]], daughter of [[Widmund]]
:[[Olga of Salamakenks|Olga]], daughter of [[Wsewelod of Salamakenks]]
:[[Jewna]], daughter of [[Prince]] Iwan of [[Polatsk]] (? – [[1344]])
== Brothers ==
:[[Vytenis]]; [[13th century]] – [[1316]]), Grand Duke of Lithuania [[1296]] – [[1316]]
:[[Wojn]] (? – after [[1342]]), Prince of [[Polatsk]] [[1315]] – 13??
:[[Fiodor]] (? - ca [[1362]]), Prince of [[Kiev]]
:[[Algimantas|Olgimunt]] (Borys)
== Sons ==
:[[Manvydas]] ([[Monwid]]) (ca [[1288]] – [[ca 1342]]), Prince of [[Kiernow]] and [[Slonim]]
:[[Narimantas]] (Gleb, Dawid; ca [[1295]] – [[2 February]] [[1348]]), Prince of [[Pinsk]] 13?? – [[1348]], [[Polatsk]], [[Black Ruthenia]]
:[[Algirdas]] (Algirdas; ca [[1296]] – end of May [[1377]]), Grand Duke of Lithuania [[1345]] – [[1377]]
:[[Jaunutis]] (Jaunutis, Iwan; ca [[1300]] – after [[1366]]), Grand Duke of Lithuania [[1341]] – [[1345]], Prince of [[Izjaslawl]] [[1346]] – [[1366]]
:[[Kęstutis]] (Kestutis; [[1297]] – [[15 August]] [[1382]] [[Krewa]]), Prince of [[Trakai]], Grand Duke of Lithuania [[1381]] – [[1382]]
:[[Koriat]] (Michal; ca [[1300]] – ca [[1362]]), Prince of [[Navahradak]] [[1341]] – [[1347]]
:[[Lubart]] (Lubko, Lubartas, Dymitr; ca [[1300]] – [[1384]]), Prince of [[Polatsk]] 13?? – [[1342]], [[Volodymyr-Volyns'kyi|Wlodzimierz]], [[Luck]] [[1340]] – 138?, [[Volynia]] [[1340]] – [[1349]], [[1350]] – [[1366]], [[1371]] – [[1383]], King of [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicja]] (independent kingdom [[1253]] – [[1349]]) [[1340]] – [[1349]]
== Daughters ==
:[[Maria of Lithuania|Maria]] (ca [[1300]] – [[1349]]), [[Princess]] of Lithuania
:[[Aldona Ona|Aldona]] (Anna; after [[1309]] – [[26 May]] [[1339]]), Princess of Lithuania, [[Queen consort|Queen]] of [[Piast Poland|Poland]] [[1333]] – [[1339]]
:[[Damilla]] (Elzbieta; [[14th century]] – [[1364]]), Princess of [[Plock]]
:[[Eufemia]] ([[14th century]] – [[5 February]] [[1342]]), Princess of [[Halicz]] and [[Volodymyr-Volyns'kyi|Wlodzimierz]]-[[Halicz]]
:[[Augusta-Anastazja|Augusta]] (Anastazja; [[14th century]] – [[11 March]] [[1345]]), Grand Princess of [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]]-[[Moscow]]
==See also==
* [[Gediminaiciai|Gediminaiciai (Gediminids)]]
* [[Columns of Gediminas]]
* [[List of Belarusian rulers]]
* [[List of Lithuanian rulers]]
== External links==
* [http://www.istorija.net/ Pages and Forums on the Lithuanian History]
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{{succession box | before=[[Vytenis]] | title=[[List of Lithuanian rulers|Grand Prince of Lithuania]] | years=[[1316]]-[[1341]]| after=[[Jaunutis]]}}
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[[Category:Gediminids]]
[[Category:Lithuanian nobility|Giedymin]]
[[Category:Lithuanian rulers|Giedymin]]
[[Category:Belarusian rulers|Hiedzimin]]
[[Category:Belarusian nobility]]
[[Category:1275 births|Giedymin]]
[[Category:1341 deaths|Giedymin]]
[[Category:History of Lithuania|Gediminas]]
[[Category:History of Ukraine|Giedymin]]
[[Category:History of Belarus|Giedymin]]
[[be:Гедзімін]]
[[cs:Gediminas]]
[[de:Gediminas]]
[[et:Gediminas]]
[[fr:Gediminas]]
[[lt:Gediminas]]
[[lv:Ģedimins]]
[[ja:ゲディミナス]]
[[no:Gediminas av Litauen]]
[[pl:Giedymin (wielki książę litewski)]]
[[ru:Гедимин]]
[[uk:Гедимін]]
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