29 Facts About Gediminas

Gediminas was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until death.

Gediminas is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius.

Various theories have claimed that Gediminas was either his predecessor Grand Duke Vytenis' son, his brother, his cousin, or his hostler.

Baranauskas disagrees, believing Skalmantas was Butvydas' brother rather than his father, and that Vytenis and Gediminas were therefore cousins.

Gediminas became the Grand Duke in 1316 at the age of 40 and ruled for 25 years.

Gediminas inherited land consisting of Lithuania proper, Samogitia, Navahrudak, Podlasie, Polotsk and Minsk.

Gediminas allied himself with the Tatars against the Teutonic Order in 1319.

Gediminas asked that legates should be dispatched to him in order to be baptized.

Nevertheless, disregarding the censures of the church, the Order resumed the war with Gediminas by murdering one of his delegates sent to welcome the Grand Master for his arrival to Riga in 1325.

Gediminas's strategy was to gain the support of the Pope and other Catholic powers in his conflict with the Teutonic Order by granting a favourable status to Catholics living within his realm and feigning a personal interest in the Christian religion.

Gediminas ordered them to renounce Christianity, and had them killed when they refused.

Gediminas conquered a long series of cities across Belarus and northern Ukraine as well, but the various stages of these battles are impossible to follow.

From about 23 km south west of Kiev, Gediminas defeated Stanislav of Kiev and his allies in the Battle on the Irpin River.

Gediminas then besieged and conquered Kiev sending Stanislav, the last descendant of the Rurik Dynasty to ever rule Kiev, into exile first in Bryansk and then in Ryazan.

Gediminas secured an alliance with the nascent Grand Duchy of Moscow by marrying his daughter, Anastasia, to the grand duke Simeon.

However, Gediminas offsetted the influence of Muscovy in northern Russia, and assisted the republic of Pskov, which acknowledged his overlordship, to break away from Great Novgorod.

Gediminas was known for protecting Catholics and Orthodox people in addition to pagans, and he is known for improving the efficiency of the Lithuanian Army.

Gediminas died in 1341, presumably killed during a coup d'etat.

Gediminas was cremated as a part of a pagan ceremony in 1342, which included a human sacrifice, with his favourite servant and several German slaves being burned on the pyre with the corpse.

Gediminas was succeeded by one of his sons, Jaunutis, who was unable to control the unrest in the country, as a result of which he was deposed in 1345 by his brother Algirdas.

Gediminas was a founder of a new Lithuanian dynasty; the Gediminids, and laid the foundations of the state's expansion while sometimes referred as the "true" state founder.

Gediminas consulted his vision with his priest Lizdeika who told him the dream spoke of a city that must be built at the exact place and decided to build a fortification on the confluence of rivers Vilnia and Neris, where the place of his vision was pointed out.

Gediminas is depicted on a silver Litas commemorative coin, issued in 1996.

Gediminas is widely celebrated in Belarus as an important figure of national history.

In September 2019, a monument to Gediminas was unveiled in Lida.

In 1323 Gediminas sent seven letters to various recipients in western Europe.

The cross' usage in a pagan ruler's seal is explained as a diplomatic action because Gediminas did not accept baptism in his life and kept Lithuania pagan, despite several negotiations.

Some arguments state that Gediminas had two wives, one pagan and another Orthodox.

Gediminas is said to have left seven sons and six daughters including:.