View source for Grand Duchy of Lithuania

{{Short description|European state from c. 1236 to 1795}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = Grand Duchy of Lithuania
| common_name = Lithuania
| iso3166code = omit
| status = State union
| status_text = *[[Sovereign state]] {{small|(1236–1386, 1440–1447, 1492–1501)}}
*[[Personal union]] with the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Crown]] of the [[Kingdom of Poland]] {{small|(1386–1440, 1447–1492, 1501–1569)}}
*[[Real union]] with the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Crown]] of the [[Kingdom of Poland]] {{small|([[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], 1569–1795)}}
| life_span = {{circa}} 1236–1795{{efn|Unsuccessful [[Constitution of 3 May 1791]] envisioned a unitary state whereby the Grand Duchy would be abolished; however, an addendum to the Constitution, known as the [[Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations]], restored Lithuania on 20 October 1791.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tumelis |first1=Juozas |title=Abiejų Tautų tarpusavio įžadas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/abieju-tautu-tarpusavio-izadas/ |website=[[Vle.lt]] |access-date=9 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>}}
| government_type = {{plainlist|
*[[Hereditary monarchy]] (1230–1572)
*[[Elective monarchy]] (1572–1795)}}
| event_start = Consolidation began
| year_start = 1180s
| event_end = [[Third Partition of Poland|Third Partition]]
| date_end = 24 October
| year_end = 1795
| event1 = [[Kingdom of Lithuania]]
| date_event1 = 1251–1263
| event2 = [[Union of Krewo]]
| date_event2 = 14 August 1385
| event3 = [[Union of Lublin]]
| date_event3 = 1 July 1569
| p1 = Kingdom of Lithuania
| s1 = Kingdom of Prussia
| flag_s1 = Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1750-1801).svg
| s2 = Russian Empire
| flag_s2 = Flag of Russia.svg
| s3 = West Galicia
| flag_s3 = Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg
| image_flag = Royal banner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.svg
| flag_border = no
| flag = Flag of Lithuania
| flag_type = Royal Banner{{efn|Supposed appearance of the royal (military) banner with design derived from a 16th century coat of arms<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the national coat of arms |url=https://www.lrs.lt/sip/portal.show?p_r=38110&p_k=2 |website=[[Seimas]] |access-date=8 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Herby Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej i Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego. Orły, Pogonie, województwa, książęta, kardynałowie, prymasi, hetmani, kanclerze, marszałkowie |date=1875–1900 |publisher=[[Jagiellonian Library]] |pages=6, 30, 32, 58, 84, 130, 160, 264, 282, 300 |url=https://polona.pl/item/herby-rzeczypospolitej-polskiej-i-w-x-litewskiego-t-1-orly-pogonie-wojewodztwa,OTc2MzQzMjc/6/#info:metadata |access-date=21 August 2021 |language=pl}}</ref>}}
| image_coat = Coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.svg
| symbol = Coat of arms of Lithuania
| symbol_type = Coat of arms
| image_map = Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1430.png
| image_map_caption = The Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the height of its power in the 15th century.
| capital = {{plainlist|
*''[[Voruta]]'' (hypothetical; 13th century)
*[[Kernavė]] <small>(after 1279 – before 1316 or 1321)</small>
*[[Senieji Trakai|Trakai]] <small>(c. 1316–1323)</small>
*[[Vilnius]] <small>(from 1323)</small>}}
| common_languages = [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Ruthenian language|Ruthenian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Latin]], [[German language|German]], [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]], [[Karaim language|Karaim]] (see {{format link|#Languages}})
| religion = {{plainlist|
*[[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]
*[[Lithuanian mythology|Lithuanian polytheism]]
*[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]]
*[[Calvinism]]
*[[Judaism]]
*[[Islam]]}}
| currency = 
| leader1 = [[Mindaugas]] <small>(first)</small>
| leader2 = [[Stanisław August Poniatowski]] <small>(last)</small>
| year_leader1 = 1236–1263 (from 1251 as [[Kingdom of Lithuania|King]])
| year_leader2 = 1764–1795
| title_leader = [[List of Lithuanian monarchs|Grand Duke]]
| legislature = [[Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Seimas]]
| house1 = [[Lithuanian Council of Lords|Council of Lords]]
| type_house1 = Privy Council
<!-- Area and population of a given year -->| stat_year1 = 1260<ref name="Gyventojai">{{cite web |last1=Vaitekūnas |first1=Stasys |title=Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės gyventojai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/lietuvos-didziosios-kunigaikstystes-gyventojai/ |website=[[Vle.lt]] |access-date=19 September 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>
| stat_area1 = 200000
| stat_pop1 = 400,000
| stat_year2 = 1430<ref name="Gyventojai"/>
| stat_area2 = 930000
| stat_pop2 = 2,500,000
| stat_year3 = 1572<ref name="Gyventojai"/>
| stat_area3 = 320000
| stat_pop3 = 1,700,000
| stat_year4 = 1791<ref name="Gyventojai"/>
| stat_area4 = 250000
| stat_pop4 = 2,500,000
| stat_year5 = 1793<ref name="Gyventojai"/>
| stat_area5 = 132000
| stat_pop5 = 1,800,000
| footnotes = {{notelist}}
}}
The '''Grand Duchy of Lithuania''' was a [[sovereign state]] in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century,<ref name="Baranauskas">{{cite web |last=Baranauskas |first=Tomas |url=http://viduramziu.istorija.net/valstybe.htm |title=Lietuvos valstybės ištakos |trans-title=The Lithuanian State |language=lt |publisher=viduramziu.istorija.net |location=Vilnius |year=2000 |access-date=20 July 2016 |archive-date=29 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160929234205/http://viduramziu.istorija.net/valstybe.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> succeeding the [[Kingdom of Lithuania]], to the late 18th century,<ref>{{cite book |last=Sužiedėlis |first=Saulius |title=Historical dictionary of Lithuania |year=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Md. |isbn=978-0-8108-4914-3 |page=119 |edition=2nd}}</ref> when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 [[Partitions of Poland|partitions of Poland–Lithuania]]. The state was founded by a [[Polytheism|polytheistic]] confederation of [[Lithuanians (tribe)|Lithuanian tribes]] from [[Aukštaitija]].<ref name="Snyder">{{cite book |last=Snyder |first=Timothy |title=The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999 |year=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-10586-5 |pages=17–18}}</ref> By 1440 the grand duchy had become the largest European state, controlling an area from the [[Baltic Sea]] in the north to the [[Black Sea]] in the south.{{sfn|Rowell|1994|pp=289-290}}<ref>Ch. Allmand, ''The New Cambridge Medieval History''. Cambridge, 1998, p. 731.</ref><ref>Encyclopædia Britannica. [https://www.britannica.com/place/grand-duchy-of-Lithuania Grand Duchy of Lithuania]</ref>

The grand duchy expanded to include large portions of the former [[Kievan Rus']] and other neighbouring states, including what is now [[Belarus]], [[Lithuania]], most of [[Ukraine]] as well as parts of [[Latvia]], [[Moldova]], [[Poland]] and [[Russia]]. It was a [[multinational state|multi-ethnic]] and [[multiconfessionalism|multiconfessional]] state, with great diversity in languages, religion, and cultural heritage.

The consolidation of the Lithuanian lands began in the late 13th century. [[Mindaugas]], the first ruler of the grand duchy, was crowned as the [[Catholic]] [[King of Lithuania]] in 1253. The pagan state was targeted in [[Northern Crusade|a religious crusade]] by the [[Teutonic Knights]] and the [[Livonian Order]], but survived. Its rapid territorial expansion started late in the reign of [[Gediminas]],{{sfn|Rowell|1994|p=289}} and continued under the co-leadership of his sons, [[Algirdas]] and [[Kęstutis]].<ref>Z. Kiaupa. "Algirdas ir LDK rytų politika." Gimtoji istorija 2: Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (Lietuvos istorijos vadovėlis). CD. (2003). Elektroninės leidybos namai: Vilnius.</ref> Algirdas's son [[Jogaila]] signed the [[Union of Krewo]] in 1386, bringing two major changes in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: the [[Christianization of Lithuania|conversion to Christianity]] of Europe's last pagan state,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kowalska-Pietrzak |first=Anna |date=2015 |title=History of Poland During the Middle Ages |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/71989082.pdf |website=Core}}</ref> and the establishment of a [[dynastic union]] between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland]].<ref>N. Davies. ''Europe: A History''. Oxford, 1996, p. 392.</ref> This marked the beginning of the rule of other countries by the [[patrilineal]] members of the Lithuanian ruling [[Gediminids|Gediminid]] dynasty, who since the 14th–15th centuries ruled not only Lithuania, but also [[History of Poland during the Jagiellonian dynasty|Poland]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526)|Hungary]], [[Croatia in personal union with Hungary|Croatia]], [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]], and [[Moldavia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Gediminaičiai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/gediminaiciai/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=20 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jogailaičiai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/jogailaiciai/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=20 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>

The reign of [[Vytautas the Great]], son of Kęstutis, marked both the greatest territorial expansion of the grand duchy and the defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the [[Battle of Grunwald]] in 1410.<ref name="EP">{{cite web |title=Lithuania and the Enlargement of the European Union |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/enlargement/briefings/11a2_en.htm |website=[[European Parliament]] |date=2000-10-24 |access-date=10 November 2023}}</ref> It also marked the rise of the [[Lithuanian nobility]]. After Vytautas's death, Lithuania's relationship with the [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]] greatly deteriorated.<ref name="palikimas"/> Lithuanian noblemen, including the [[Radziwiłł family|Radvila family]], attempted to break the personal union with Poland.<ref>J. Kiaupienë, "Valdžios krizës pabaiga ir Kazimieras Jogailaitis." Gimtoji istorija 2: Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (Lietuvos istorijos vadovėlis). CD. (2003). Elektroninės leidybos namai: Vilnius.</ref> However, unsuccessful [[Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars|wars]] with the [[Grand Duchy of Moscow]] forced the union to remain intact.

Eventually, the [[Union of Lublin]] of 1569 created a new state, the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. In this [[federation]], the Grand Duchy of Lithuania maintained its political distinctiveness and had separate ministries, laws, army, and treasury.{{sfn|Stone|2001|p=63}} The federation was terminated by the passing of the [[Constitution of 3 May 1791]], when it was supposed to become a single country, the Commonwealth, under one monarch, one parliament and with no Lithuanian autonomy. Shortly afterward, the unitary character of the state was confirmed by adopting the [[Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations]]. However, the newly reformed Commonwealth was invaded by Russia in 1792 and partitioned between neighbouring states. A truncated state (whose principal cities were [[Kraków]], [[Warsaw]] and [[Vilnius]]) remained that was nominally independent. After the [[Kościuszko Uprising]], the territory was completely [[Partitions of Poland|partitioned]] among the [[Russian Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]] in 1795.

==Etymology==
{{See also|Name of Lithuania}}
[[File:Lietuvos vardas. The first name of Lithuania in writing 1009.jpg|thumb|left|Lithuania's name in writing, 1009]]
The name of Lithuania (''Litua'') was first mentioned in 1009 in [[Annals of Quedlinburg]]. Some older etymological theories relate the name to a small river not far from [[Kernavė]], the core area of the [[Duchy of Lithuania|early Lithuanian state]] and a possible first capital of the would-be Grand Duchy of Lithuania, is usually credited as the source of the name. This river's original name is [[Lietava River|Lietava]].<ref name=Zigmas2>Zigmas Zinkevičius. Kelios mintys, kurios kyla skaitant Alfredo Bumblausko Senosios Lietuvos istoriją 1009–1795m. Voruta, 2005.</ref> As time passed, the suffix -''ava'' could have changed into -''uva'', as the two are from the same suffix branch. The river flows in the lowlands and easily spills over its banks, therefore the traditional Lithuanian form ''liet''- could be directly translated as ''lietis'' (to spill), of the root derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''leyǝ-''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?single=1&basename=/data/ie/piet&text_number=++2322&root=config|title=Indo-European etymology : Query result|website=starling.rinet.ru}}</ref> However, the river is very small and some{{Who|date=February 2024}} find it improbable that such a small and local object could have lent its name to an entire nation. On the other hand, such a fact is not unprecedented in world history.<ref name=Zigmas>{{cite journal |first=Zigmas |last=Zinkevičius |url=http://www.voruta.lt/archyvas/74/253 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510083828/https://www.voruta.lt/archyvas/74/253 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 May 2022 |title=Lietuvos vardo kilmė |journal=Voruta |issn=1392-0677 |date=30 November 1999 |volume=3 |issue=669 |language=lt }}</ref> A credible modern theory of etymology of the name of Lithuania (Lithuanian: ''Lietuva'') is Artūras Dubonis's hypothesis<ref name="Dubonis">{{Cite book|last=Dubonis|first=Artūras|title=Lietuvos didžiojo kunigaikščio leičiai: iš Lietuvos ankstyvųjų valstybinių struktūrų praeities (Leičiai of Grand Duke of Lithuania: from the past of Lithuanian stative structures|publisher=Lietuvos istorijos instituto leidykla|location=Vilnius|year=1998|language=lt}}</ref> that Lietuva relates to the word ''[[leičiai]]'' (plural of ''leitis'', a social group of warriors-knights in the early Grand Duchy of Lithuania). The title of the ''Grand Duchy'' was consistently applied to Lithuania from the 14th century onward.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bojtár |first=Endre |title=Foreword to the Past: A Cultural History of the Baltic People |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Er1_CwAAQBAJ |year=1999 |publisher=Central European University Press |isbn=978-963-9116-42-9 |page=179}}</ref>

[[File:Piersy statut VKL - first Statut of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia.png|thumb|left|The first page of a manuscript copy of the First Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]
By the early 16th century, the preamble of the 1529 [[Statute of Lithuania]] referred to the state in full as the "Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Samogitia and other [lands]".<ref name="Kotljarchuk">{{cite thesis |last=Kotljarchuk |first=Andrej |title=In the Shadows of Poland and Russia: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden in the European Crisis of the mid-17th Century |type=PhD |publisher=Södertörn University |year=2006 |page=13 |url=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:16352/FULLTEXT01.pdf |access-date=2025-12-03 |isbn=91-89315-63-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Loewe |first1=Karl F. von |title=Studien Zur Geschichte Osteuropas |date=1976 |publisher=Brill Archive |isbn=978-90-04-04520-0 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncYUAAAAIAAJ&dq=written+laws+given+to+the+state,+the+grand+principality+of+lithuania&pg=PA19 |language=en}}</ref> Similarly the ruler's title changed to "King of Lithuanians and Ruthenians, ruler and duke of Semigallia" when [[Semigallia]] became part of the state.<ref>Between Two Worlds: A Comparative Study of the Representations of Pagan Lithuania in the Chronicles of the Teutonic Order and Rus'</ref><ref>[https://www.lndm.lt/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Gedimino-laiskai-Galutinis-visas.pdf Lietuvos valdovo žodis pasauliui: atveriame mūsų žemę ir valdas kiekvienam geros valios žmogui]</ref> The 1529 edition of the Statute described the titles of [[Sigismund I the Old]] as "King of Poland, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Samogitia, Mazovia, and other [lands]".<ref name="Kotljarchuk" /> However, in the final Third Statute of Lithuania (adopted in 1588) the country's name was written only as the "Grand Duchy of Lithuania".<ref>{{cite web |title=PIRMAS SKYRIUS. Apie mūsų, valdovo, asmenį |url=https://www.3statutas.lt/pirmas-skyrius/ |website=Trečiasis Lietuvos Statutas |language=lt}}</ref>

Naming convention of both title of ruler (''[[hospodar]]'')<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHrTxHmegRYC&dq=Hospodar+grand+duchy+of+lithuania&pg=PA664|title=The Crimean Khanate and Poland-Lithuania: International Diplomacy on the European Periphery (15th–18th Century). A Study of Peace Treaties Followed by Annotated Documents.|first=Dariusz|last=Kolodziejczyk|date=2011|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004191907 |via=Google Books}}</ref> and the state changed as it expanded its territory. Following the decline of the [[Kingdom of Ruthenia]]<ref>Depending on translation of the source, here and below original Rus' name can be translated as Russia or Ruthenia.</ref> and incorporation of its lands into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, [[Gediminas]] started to title himself as "King of Lithuanians and many Ruthenians",<ref>{{cite book |title=Gedimino laiškai [Letters of Gediminas] |publisher=[[Vilnius University]], Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore |location=[[Vilnius]] |page=2 |url=http://www.šaltiniai.info/files/literatura/LC00/Gedimino_lai%C5%A1kai.LC0600.pdf |access-date=30 May 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqVYDwAAQBAJ&dq=king+of+lithuanias+and+many+ruthenians&pg=PA405|title=Reading the Middle Ages, Volume II: From c. 900 to c. 1500|edition=3rd|first=Barbara H.|last=Rosenwein|date=2018|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1442636804 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfwOEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Letwinorum+et+multorum+Ruthenorum+rex%22&pg=PA106|title=Making a Great Ruler: Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania|first=Giedrė|last=Mickūnaitė|date= 2006|publisher=Central European University Press|isbn=978-6155211072 |via=Google Books}}</ref> while the name of the state became the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Ruthenia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_4rAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Grand+Duchy+of+Lithuania+and+russia%22|title=An Historical Geography of Russia|first=William Henry|last=Parker|date=11 November 1969|publisher=Aldine Publishing Company|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5L1oAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Grand+Duchy+of+Lithuania+and+russia%22|title=Russia, the Giant that Came Last|first=Joshua|last=Kunitz|date=11 November 1947|publisher=Dodd, Mead|via=Google Books}}</ref> 

The country was also referred to as the Republic of Lithuania ({{langx|la|Respublica Lituana}}) since at least the mid-16th century, even before the Union of Lublin in 1569.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuolys |first=Darius |date=2005 |title=Lietuvos Respublika : idėjos ištakos |url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2005~1367151482423/ |journal=Senoji Lietuvos literatūra |pages=157–198 |issn=1822-3656}}</ref>

==History==

===Establishment of the state===
{{Main|History of Lithuania (1219–1295)|Lithuanian land confederation||Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuanian Crusade}}

[[File:Ancient Lithuanian lands.svg|thumb|left|175px|[[Lithuanians (tribe)|Eastern Old Lithuanians]] and their lands in the 11th–12th centuries]]
[[File:Baltic Tribes c 1200.svg|thumb|left|175px|[[Balts]] in the 12th century]]
[[File:Lithuania in the map of Pietro Vesconte, 1321.png|thumb|left|175px|Lithuania in the [[Mappa mundi]] of [[Pietro Vesconte]], 1321. The inscription reads: ''{{langx|la|Letvini pagani|label=none}}'' – pagan Lithuanians.]]
[[File:Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae, et Regionum Adiacentium exacta Descriptio.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Description of [[Kernavė]] as "{{langx|la|Kiernow primum M. Duci Lith. domicilium|label=none}}" ({{langx|en|Kernavė, the first residence-capital of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania}}) in the [[Radziwiłł map]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Łuczyński |first=Jarosław |date=2013 |title=Przestrzeń Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego na mapie Radziwiłłowskiej Tomasza Makowskiego z 1613 roku w świetle treści kartograficznej i opisowej |url=https://www.zapiskihistoryczne.pl/files/issues/75faa561dc57d9779d97e4010a158dc2_ZH_2013_1_LuczynskiN.pdf |journal=Zapiski Historyczne |language=pl |publisher=[[Bank of Lithuania]] |volume=78 |issue=1 |page=87}}</ref>]]
The [[name of Lithuania|first mention of the name Lithuania]] is found in the ''[[Annals of Quedlinburg]]'', which describes the missionary expedition of [[Bruno of Querfurt]] to Yotvingians.{{sfn|Kiaupa|Kiaupienė|Kuncevičius|2000|p=40}} In the 12th century, Slavic chronicles refer to Lithuania as one of the areas attacked by the [[Rus' people|Rus']]. Pagan Lithuanians initially paid [[tribute]] to [[Polotsk]], but they soon grew in strength and organized their own small-scale raids. At some point between 1180 and 1183 the situation began to change, and the Lithuanians started to organize sustainable military raids on the [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] provinces, raiding the [[Principality of Polotsk]] as well as [[Pskov]], and even threatening [[Novgorod]].<ref name="Lituanica"/> The sudden spark of military raids marked consolidation of the Lithuanian lands in [[Aukštaitija]].<ref name=Baranauskas/> The Lithuanians are the only branch within the Baltic group that managed to create a [[Sovereign state|state entity]] in premodern times.<ref name="LithuaniaHistoryBr">{{cite web |title=Lithuania – History |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Lithuania/History#ref37336 |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=21 May 2021}}</ref>

The [[Lithuanian Crusade]] began after the [[Livonian Order]] and [[Teutonic Knights]], crusading [[Military order (society)|military order]]s, were established in [[Riga]] and in [[Prussia]] in 1202 and 1226 respectively. The Christian orders posed a significant threat to pagan Baltic tribes, and further galvanized the formation of the Lithuanian state. The peace treaty with [[Galicia–Volhynia]] of 1219 provides evidence of cooperation between Lithuanians and [[Samogitia]]ns. This treaty lists [[List of early Lithuanian dukes|21 Lithuanian dukes]], including five senior Lithuanian dukes from Aukštaitija ([[Živinbudas]], [[Daujotas]], [[Vilikaila]], [[Dausprungas]] and [[Mindaugas]]) and several dukes from [[Žemaitija]]. Although they had battled in the past, the Lithuanians and the Žemaičiai now faced a common enemy.<ref>Lithuania Ascending p. 50</ref> Likely Živinbudas had the most authority<ref name=Lituanica/> and at least several dukes were from the same families.<ref>A. Bumblauskas, ''Senosios Lietuvos istorija, 1009–1795'' [The early history of Lithuania], Vilnius, 2005, p. 33.</ref> The formal acknowledgement of common interests and the establishment of a hierarchy among the signatories of the treaty foreshadowed the emergence of the state.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Iršėnas |first1=Marius |last2=Račiūnaitė |first2=Tojana |title=The Lithuanian Millennium: History, Art and Culture |date=2015 |publisher=[[Vilnius Academy of Arts]] Press |location=Vilnius |isbn=978-609-447-097-4 |page=45 |url=https://leidykla.vda.lt/Files/_TheLithuanianMillenium_2015_per.pdf |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>

===Kingdom of Lithuania===
{{Main|Kingdom of Lithuania}}

Mindaugas, the duke<ref>By contemporary accounts, the Lithuanians called their early rulers ''kunigas'' (''kunigai'' in plural). The word was borrowed from [[German language|German]] – ''kuning'', ''konig''. Later on ''kunigas'' was replaced by the word ''kunigaikštis'', used to describe to medieval Lithuanian rulers in modern Lithuanian, while ''kunigas'' today means ''priest''.</ref> of southern Lithuania,{{sfn|Kiaupa|Kiaupienė|Kuncevičius|2000|pp=43–127}} was among the five senior dukes mentioned in the treaty with Galicia–Volhynia. The [[Livonian Rhymed Chronicle]], reports that by the mid-1230s, Mindaugas had acquired supreme power in the whole of Lithuania.<ref name="LV"/> In 1236, the Samogitians, led by [[Vykintas]], defeated the Livonian Order in the [[Battle of Saule]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Battle of Saule |url=http://visitlithuania.net/lithuania/history/major-battle/1661-the-battle-of-saule |website=VisitLithuania.net |access-date=5 July 2021 |archive-date=25 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625113823/http://visitlithuania.net/lithuania/history/major-battle/1661-the-battle-of-saule |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Order was forced to become a branch of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, making Samogitia, a strip of land that separated [[Livonia]] from Prussia, the main target of both orders. The battle provided a break in the wars with the Knights, and Lithuania exploited this situation, arranging attacks on the Ruthenian provinces and annexing [[Navahrudak]] and [[Hrodna]].<ref name=LV/>

In 1248, a civil war broke out between Mindaugas and his nephews [[Tautvilas]] and [[Edivydas]]. The powerful coalition against Mindaugas included Vykintas, the Livonian Order, [[Daniel of Galicia]] and [[Vasilko of Volhynia]]. Taking advantage of internal conflicts, Mindaugas allied with the Livonian Order. He promised to convert to Christianity and exchange some lands in western Lithuania in return for military assistance against his nephews and the royal crown. In 1251, Mindaugas was baptized and [[Pope Innocent IV]] issued a [[papal bull]] proclaiming the creation of the [[Kingdom of Lithuania]]. After the civil war ended, Mindaugas was crowned as [[Monarchy of Lithuania|King of Lithuania]] on 6 July 1253, starting a decade of relative peace. Mindaugas later renounced Christianity and converted back to paganism. Mindaugas tried to expand his influence in [[Polatsk]], a major centre of commerce in the [[Daugava (river)|Daugava River]] basin, and [[Pinsk]].<ref name=LV/> The Teutonic Knights used this period to strengthen their position in parts of Samogitia and Livonia, but they lost the [[Battle of Skuodas (1259)|Battle of Skuodas]] in 1259 and the [[Battle of Durbe]] in 1260.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Batūra |first1=Romas |title=Places of Fighting for Lithuania's Freedom |publisher=[[General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania]] |pages=1–2 |url=http://www.tb.lt/Leidiniai/sisteminis_katalogas/Humanitariniai%20mokslai/Istorija/2010-places%20of%20fighting.pdf |access-date=5 July 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029090124/http://www.tb.lt/Leidiniai/sisteminis_katalogas/Humanitariniai%20mokslai/Istorija/2010-places%20of%20fighting.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> This encouraged the conquered Semigallians and [[Old Prussians]] to rebel against the Knights.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Baranauskas |first1=Tomas |authorlink=Tomas Baranauskas |title=Medieval Lithuania – Chronology 1183–1283 |url=http://viduramziu.istorija.net/en/c1183.htm |website=viduramziu.istorija.net |access-date=5 July 2021 |archive-date=15 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615231921/http://viduramziu.istorija.net/en/c1183.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Encouraged by [[Treniota]], Mindaugas broke the peace with the Order, possibly reverted to [[Lithuanian mythology|pagan beliefs]]. He hoped to unite all Baltic tribes under the Lithuanian leadership. As military campaigns were not successful, the relationships between Mindaugas and Treniota deteriorated. Treniota, together with [[Daumantas of Pskov]], assassinated Mindaugas and his two sons, Ruklys and Rupeikis, in 1263.<ref name="SLI"/> The state lapsed into years of internal fighting.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 13–18th century |url=http://valstybingumas.lt/EN/saltiniu-apzvalga/LDK-laikotarpis/Pages/default.aspx |website=valstybingumas.lt |publisher=[[Seimas]] |access-date=21 May 2021}}</ref>

===Rise of the Gediminids===
{{Main|Gediminids}}

{{See also|Palemonids}}
[[File:Gedimino bokštai. Columns of Gediminas. 1416.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Columns of Gediminas]]]]
[[File:Gedimino pilis by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg|thumb|175px|[[Gediminas' Tower]] and other remnants of the [[Vilnius Castle Complex#History of the Upper Castle|Upper Castle in Vilnius]]]]
From 1263 to 1269, Lithuania had three grand dukes – [[Treniota]], [[Vaišvilkas]], and [[Svarn|Švarnas]]. The state did not disintegrate, however, and [[Traidenis]] came to power in 1269. Traidenis strengthened Lithuanian control in [[Black Ruthenia]], fought with the Livonian Order, winning the [[Battle of Karuse]] in 1270 and the [[Battle of Aizkraukle]] in 1279, and assisted the [[Yotvingians]]/Sudovians to defend from the [[Teutonic Order]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Traidenis |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/traidenis/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=3 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> For his military assistance, [[Nameisis]] recognized Traidenis as his [[Suzerainty|suzerain]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jasas |first1=Rimantas |title=Nameisis |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/nameisis/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=3 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> There is considerable uncertainty about the identities of the grand dukes of Lithuania between Traidenis' death in 1282 and the assumption of power by [[Vytenis]] in 1295. The country's capital was located in [[Kernavė]] until 1316 or 1321 where Traidenis and Vytenis mainly resided and led to its prosperity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kernavė Castle Hills |url=http://www.truelithuania.com/kernave-castle-hills-508 |website=TrueLithuania.com |date=2 February 2012 |access-date=3 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="TrakaiKpd"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Luchtanas |first1=Aleksiejus |title=Kernavė |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/kernave/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=3 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>

During this time, the Orders finalized their conquests. In 1274, the [[Great Prussian Rebellion]] ended, and the Teutonic Knights proceeded to conquer other Baltic tribes: the [[Nadruvians]] and [[Skalvians]] in 1274–1277, and the Yotvingians in 1283; the Livonian Order completed its conquest of Semigalia, the last Baltic ally of Lithuania, in 1291.{{sfn|Kiaupa|Kiaupienė|Kuncevičius|2000|pp=45–72}} The Orders could now turn their full attention to Lithuania. The "buffer zone" composed of other Baltic tribes had disappeared, and Grand Duchy of Lithuania was left to battle the Orders on its own.<ref>{{cite web |title=Balt {{!}} people |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Balt |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Gediminids|Gediminid dynasty]] ruled the grand duchy for over a century, and Vytenis was the first ruler of the dynasty.<ref>''Lithuania Ascending'' p. 55</ref> During his reign Lithuania was in constant war with the Order, the Kingdom of Poland, and Ruthenia. Vytenis was involved in succession disputes in Poland, supporting [[Boleslaus II of Masovia]], who was married to a Lithuanian duchess, [[Gaudemunda of Lithuania|Gaudemunda]]. In Ruthenia, Vytenis managed to recapture lands lost after the assassination of Mindaugas and to capture the principalities of {{Interlanguage link|Principality of Pinsk|lt=Pinsk|lt|Pinsko kunigaikštystė}} and [[Principality of Turov|Turov]]. In the struggle against the Order, Vytenis allied with [[Riga]]'s citizens; securing positions in Riga strengthened trade routes and provided a base for further military campaigns. Around 1307, Polotsk, an important trading centre, was annexed by military force.<ref>New Cambridge p. 706</ref> Vytenis also began constructing a defensive castle network along [[Nemunas]].<ref name="VytenisVle">{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |last2=Matulevičius |first2=Algirdas |last3=Varakauskas |first3=Rokas |authorlink1=Edvardas Gudavičius |title=Vytenis |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vytenis-2/ |website=[[Vle.lt]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> Gradually this network developed into the main defensive line against the Teutonic Order.<ref name="VytenisVle"/>

===Territorial expansion===
{{Main|Battle on the Irpin River|Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars}}

[[File:Lithuanian state in 13-15th centuries.png|thumb|175px|Lithuanian state in 13–15th centuries]]
The expansion of the state reached its height under Grand Duke [[Gediminas]], also titled by some contemporaneous German sources as ''Rex de Owsteiten'' ({{langx|en|King of [[Aukštaitija]]}}),{{sfn|Rowell|1994|p=50}} who created a strong central government and established an empire that later spread from the [[Black Sea]] to the [[Baltic Sea]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Gediminas {{!}} grand duke of Lithuania |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gediminas |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Toynbee |first1=Arnold Joseph |author-link=Arnold J. Toynbee |title=A Study Of History (Volume II) |date=1948 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Great Britain]] |page=172 |edition=4th impression |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499044/page/n181/mode/2up |access-date=11 July 2021}}</ref> In 1320, most of the principalities of western Rus' were either vassalized or annexed by Lithuania. In 1321, Gediminas [[Battle on the Irpen' River|captured Kiev]], sending [[Stanislav of Kiev|Stanislav]], the last [[Rurikid]] to rule [[Kiev]], into exile. Gediminas also re-established the permanent capital of the Grand Duchy in [[Vilnius]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Vilnius {{!}} national capital, Lithuania |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Vilnius |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref> presumably moving it from [[Senieji Trakai|Old Trakai]] in 1323, which previously served as the country's capital since 1316 or 1321.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trakai – The Old Capital of Lithuania |url=https://visitworldheritage.com/en/eu/trakai%E2%80%94the-old-capital-of-lithuania/6826ddf9-a346-479d-bd4b-1c739cacc189 |website=VisitWorldHeritage.com |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="TrakaiKpd">{{cite web |title=Trakų senamiestis |url=https://kvr.kpd.lt/#/static-heritage-detail/F9B728D7-4183-47C1-9E88-073CAA8AFA8C |website=Department of Cultural Heritage of Lithuania |access-date=3 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Markauskienė |first1=Julijana |title=Senųjų Trakų seniūnija |url=https://www.vilnijosvartai.lt/vietoves/senuju-traku-seniunija/ |website=Vilnijosvartai.lt |access-date=3 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> The state continued to expand its territory under the reign of Grand Duke [[Algirdas]] and his brother [[Kęstutis]], who both ruled the state harmonically.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kęstutis {{!}} duke of Lithuania |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kestutis |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Algirdas {{!}} grand duke of Lithuania |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Algirdas |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref> During the [[inauguration]]s of [[List of Lithuanian monarchs|Lithuanian monarchs]] until 1569, the [[Gediminas' Cap]] was placed on the monarch's heads by the [[Bishop of Vilnius]] in [[Vilnius Cathedral]].<ref name="Kepure">{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |author-link=Edvardas Gudavičius |title=Gedimino kepurė |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/gedimino-kepure/ |website=[[Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija]] |access-date=19 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>
[[File:Lutsk castle tower.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Lubart's Castle]] in Ukraine, built by the son of Gediminas' [[Liubartas]] in the mid-14th century, is famous for the [[Congress of Lutsk]] which took place in 1429]]
[[File:Lithuania Territorial Extension 1430.svg|thumb|Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the rule of Vytautas the Great (1392–1430)]]
Lithuania was in a good position to conquer the western and the southern parts of the former [[Kievan Rus']]. While almost every other state around it had been [[Mongol invasion of Rus'|plundered or defeated by the Mongols]], the hordes stopped at the modern borders of Belarus, and the core territory of the Grand Duchy was left mostly untouched. The weak control of the Mongols over the areas they had conquered allowed the expansion of Lithuania to accelerate. Rus' principalities were never incorporated directly into the [[Golden Horde]], maintaining vassal relationships with a fair degree of independence. Lithuania annexed some of these areas as vassals through diplomacy, as they exchanged rule by the Mongols or the [[Grand Prince of Moscow]] with rule by the Grand Duchy. An example is [[Novgorod]], which was often in the Lithuanian sphere of influence and became an occasional dependency of the Grand Duchy.<ref>{{citation |last=Hinson |first=E. Glenn |title=The Church Triumphant: A History of Christianity Up to 1300 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cY1SymrAGeEC&pg=PA438 |year=1995 |publisher=Mercer University Press |isbn=978-0-86554-436-9 |page=438}}</ref> Lithuanian control resulted from internal frictions within the city, which attempted to escape submission to [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Moscow]]. Such relationships could be tenuous, however, as changes in a city's internal politics could disrupt Lithuanian control, as happened on a number of occasions with Novgorod and other East-Slavic cities.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania managed to hold off Mongol incursions and eventually secured gains. In 1333 and 1339, Lithuanians defeated large Mongol forces attempting to regain [[Smolensk]] from the Lithuanian sphere of influence. By about 1355, the State of [[Moldavia]] had formed, and the Golden Horde did little to re-vassalize the area. In 1362, regiments of the Grand Duchy army defeated the Golden Horde at the [[Battle at Blue Waters (1362)|Battle at Blue Waters]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Borys |last=Cherkas |url=http://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2011/12/30/66894/|script-title=uk:Битва на Синіх Водах. Як Україна звільнилася від Золотої Орди|trans-title=Battle at Blue Waters. How Ukraine freed itself from the Golden Horde |language=uk |publisher=istpravda.com.ua |date=30 December 2011 |access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>

In 1380, a Lithuanian army allied with Russian forces to defeat the Golden Horde in the [[Battle of Kulikovo]], and though the rule of the Mongols did not end, their influence in the region waned thereafter. In 1387, Moldavia became a vassal of Poland and, in a broader sense, of Lithuania. By this time, Lithuania had conquered the territory of the Golden Horde all the way to the Dnieper River. In a crusade against the Golden Horde in 1398 (in an alliance with [[Tokhtamysh]]), Lithuania invaded northern Crimea and won a decisive victory. In an attempt to place Tokhtamish on the Golden Horde throne in 1399, Lithuania moved against the Horde but was defeated in the [[Battle of the Vorskla River]], losing the steppe region.<ref>{{cite web |title=Battle of the Vorskla River |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Vorskla-River |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

===One of the largest European countries, ruled by Gediminids–Jagiellonians===
{{Main|Union of Krewo|Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392)|Jagiellonian dynasty}}

[[File:Polska 1386 - 1434.png|thumb|175px|[[Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty|Poland and Lithuania]] in 1386–1434]]
[[File:Traku pilis by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg|thumb|175px|[[Trakai Island Castle]], built by Grand Duke Vytautas, which served as a residence of Lithuanian Grand Dukes<ref>{{cite web |title=Trakų pilys |url=https://www.archyvai.lt/exhibitions/pilys/trakai.htm |website=Lietuvos vyriausiojo archyvaro tarnyba |access-date=3 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>]]
Lithuania was Christianized in 1387, led by [[Jogaila]], who personally translated Christian prayers into the [[Lithuanian language]]<ref>{{citation |last=Kloczowski |first=Jerzy |title=A History of Polish Christianity |year=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-36429-4 |page=55}}</ref>{{Sfn|Dubonis|2016|p=5}} and his cousin Vytautas the Great who founded many Catholic churches and allocated lands for parishes in Lithuania. The state reached a peak (becoming one of the largest countries territorially in Europe) under [[Vytautas the Great]], who reigned from 1392 to 1430.<ref name="EP" /> Vytautas was one of the most famous rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, serving as the [[Grand Duke]] from 1401 to 1430, and as the [[Prince]] of [[Hrodna]] (1370–1382) and the Prince of [[Lutsk]] (1387–1389). Vytautas was the son of [[Kęstutis]], uncle of Jogaila, who became King of Poland in 1386, and he was the grandfather of [[Vasili II of Moscow]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Vytautas the Great {{!}} Lithuanian leader |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vytautas-the-Great |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1410, Vytautas commanded the forces of the Grand Duchy in the [[Battle of Grunwald]]. The battle ended in a decisive Polish–Lithuanian victory against the [[Teutonic Order]]. The [[Lithuanian Crusade|war of Lithuania against military Orders]], which lasted for more than 200 years, and was one of the longest wars in the history of Europe, was finally ended. Vytautas backed the economic development of the state and introduced many reforms. Under his rule, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania slowly became more centralized, as the governours loyal to Vytautas replaced local princes with dynastic ties to the throne. The governours were rich landowners who formed the basis for the nobility of the Grand Duchy. During Vytautas' rule, the [[Radziwiłł]] and [[Goštautas]] families started to gain influence.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jasas |first1=Rimantas |last2=Matulevičius |first2=Algirdas |title=Radvilos |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/radvilos/ |website=[[Vle.lt]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Jurginis |first1=Juozas |title=Goštautai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/gostautai/ |website=[[Vle.lt]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>
[[File:Jan Matejko, Bitwa pod Grunwaldem.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Battle of Grunwald]], 1410, with [[Ulrich von Jungingen]] and [[Vytautas]] at center]]
[[File:Valdovu by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg|thumb|175px|Restored [[Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania]], which was reconstructed in a [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance style]] by [[Sigismund I the Old]] and his son [[Sigismund II Augustus]]]]
In 1440, [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] was sent by his older brother [[Władysław III of Poland|Władysław III]] to Lithuania to rule in his name, however instead a manifestation of the sovereignty of Lithuania occurred when Casimir was elected as the Grand Duke of Lithuania upon his arrival to Vilnius on 29 June 1440 and subsequently titled himself as a "free lord" (''pan – dominus''), this way breaching the agreements of the [[Union of Grodno (1432)]] and terminating the [[Polish–Lithuanian union]]; Casimir also became the King of Poland in 1447.<ref>{{cite web |title=1440 06 29 Vilniaus katedroje atlikta Kazimiero Jogailaičio pakėlimo Lietuvos didžiuoju kunigaikščiu ceremonija |url=https://www.delfi.lt/archive/1440-06-29-vilniaus-katedroje-atlikta-kazimiero-jogailaicio-pakelimo-lietuvos-didziuoju-kunigaiksciu-ceremonija.d?id=22446442 |access-date=11 November 2023 |website=[[DELFI]], [[Lithuanian Institute of History]] |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |title=Lietuvos feodalinės visuomenės ir jos valdymo sistemos genezė: 2 dalis |url=https://vrm.lrv.lt/uploads/vrm/documents/files/LT_versija/Veikla/Vidaus%20reikal%C5%B3%20istorija/2dalis.pdf |website=[[Ministry of the Interior (Lithuania)]] |language=lt |page=8 |access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> Following Casimir's death in 1492, the factual termination of the Polish–Lithuanian union also occurred during the reign of Casimir's sons [[Alexander Jagiellon]] and [[John I Albert]] who had respectively ruled Lithuania and Poland separately in 1492–1501.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spečiūnas |first1=Vytautas |title=Jonas Albrechtas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/jonas-albrechtas/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=10 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>

The rapid expansion of the influence of [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Moscow]] soon put it into a comparable position to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and after the annexation of [[Novgorod Republic]] in 1478, Muscovy was among the preeminent states in [[Baltic states|northeastern Europe]]. Between 1492 and 1508, [[Ivan III]] further consolidated Muscovy, winning the key [[Battle of Vedrosha]] and capturing such ancient lands of [[Kievan Rus']] as [[Chernihiv]] and [[Bryansk]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Matulevičius |first1=Algirdas |title=Vedrošos mūšis |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vedrosos-musis/ |website=[[Vle.lt]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>

On 8 September 1514, the allied forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, under the command of Hetman Konstanty Ostrogski, fought the [[Battle of Orsha]] against the army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, under Konyushy Ivan Chelyadnin and Kniaz Mikhail Golitsin. The battle was part of a long series of [[Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars]] conducted by Russian rulers striving to gather all the former lands of Kievan Rus' under their rule. According to ''Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii'' by Sigismund von Herberstein, the primary source for the information on the battle, the much smaller army of Poland–Lithuania (under 30,000 men) defeated the 80,000 Muscovite soldiers, capturing their camp and commander. The Muscovites lost about 30,000 men, while the losses of the Poland–Lithuania army totalled only 500. While the battle is remembered as one of the greatest Lithuanian victories, Muscovy ultimately prevailed in the war. Under the 1522 peace treaty, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania made large territorial concessions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zikaras |first1=Karolis |title=Battle of Orsha 1514 |date=2017 |publisher=[[Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania]] |location=Vilnius |isbn=978-609-412-068-8 |pages=1–18 |url=https://kam.lt/download/59353/or%C5%A1os%20m%C5%AB%C5%A1is%20angli%C5%A1kas%202017%20lr.pdf |access-date=5 July 2021}}{{dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

===Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth===
{{Main|Union of Lublin|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}}

[[File:Rzeczpospolita voivodships.png|thumb|175px|The Grand Duchy of Lithuania within the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] c. 1635]]
[[File:The Great Seal of Lithuania (with Vytis) from the reign of Sigismund III Vasa, 1623.png|thumb|175px|The preservation of the Great Seal of Lithuania (pictured, dating to 1623) when concluding the Union of Lublin meant that the [[Election sejm|elected monarchs]] [[Legal instrument|acts]] without being confirmed with the Lithuanian seals were [[Void (law)|void]] in Lithuania. These Lithuanian seals were in possession of the [[Grand Chancellor of Lithuania|Lithuanian Grand Chancellor]] (Great Seal) and {{ill|Lithuanian Vice-Chancellor|lt|Lietuvos pakancleris}} (Lesser Seal).<ref name="Bumblauskas2010">{{cite book |last1=Bumblauskas |first1=Alfredas |title=Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštija ir jos tradicija |date=2010 |publisher=Vilniaus universiteto leidykla |location=Vilnius |isbn=978-9955-33-632-7 |page=167 |url=https://etalpykla.lituanistika.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:B.03~2010~1367174479524/B.03~2010~1367174479524.pdf |access-date=27 December 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |last2=Spečiūnas |first2=Vytautas |title=Kancleris |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/kancleris/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=27 December 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |title=Pakancleris |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/pakancleris/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=27 December 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>]]
The wars with the Teutonic Order, the loss of land to Moscow, and the continued pressure threatened the survival of the state of Lithuania, so it was forced to ally more closely with Poland, forming a [[real union]] with the [[Kingdom of Poland]] in the [[Union of Lublin]] of 1569. The union was formally called the [[Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], however now commonly known as the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. During the period of the Union, many of the territories formerly controlled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were transferred to the [[Crown of the Polish Kingdom]], while the gradual process of [[Polonisation|Polonization]] slowly drew Lithuania itself under Polish domination.<ref name="EBMakuch">{{cite encyclopedia |first=Andrij |last=Makuch |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |title=Ukraine: History: Lithuanian and Polish rule |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/History |access-date=20 July 2016 |quote="Within the [Lithuanian] grand duchy the Ruthenian (Ukrainian and Belarusian) lands initially retained considerable autonomy. The pagan Lithuanians themselves were increasingly converting to Orthodoxy and assimilating into the Ruthenian culture. The grand duchy's administrative practices and legal system drew heavily on Slavic customs, and an official Ruthenian state language (also known as Rusyn) developed over time from the language used in Rus. Direct Polish rule in Ukraine in the 1340s and for two centuries thereafter was limited to Galicia. There, changes in such areas as administration, law, and land tenure proceeded more rapidly than in Ukrainian territories under Lithuania. However, Lithuania itself was soon drawn into the orbit of Poland following the dynastic linkage of the two states in 1385/86 and the baptism of the Lithuanians into the Latin (Roman Catholic) church."}}</ref><ref name="EBLublin">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |title=Union of Lublin: Poland-Lithuania [1569] |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Union-of-Lublin |access-date=20 July 2016 |quote=Formally, Poland and Lithuania were to be distinct, equal components of the federation, [...] But Poland, which retained possession of the Lithuanian lands it had seized, had greater representation in the Diet and became the dominant partner.}}</ref><ref name="EBStranga">{{cite encyclopedia |first=Aivars |last=Stranga |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |title=Lithuania: History: Union with Poland |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Lithuania/History |access-date=12 August 2016 |quote=While Poland and Lithuania would thereafter elect a joint sovereign and have a common parliament, the basic dual state structure was retained. Each continued to be administered separately and had its own law codes and armed forces. The joint commonwealth, however, provided an impetus for cultural Polonization of the Lithuanian nobility. By the end of the 17th century, it had virtually become indistinguishable from its Polish counterpart.}}</ref>

Following the death of Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus in 1572, a joint Polish–Lithuanian monarch was to be elected as in the Union of Lublin it was agreed that the title "Grand Duke of Lithuania" will be received by a jointly elected monarch in the [[Election sejm]] on his accession to the throne, thus losing its former institutional significance, however the Union of Lublin guaranteed that the institution and the title "Grand Duke of Lithuania" will be preserved.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |title=Didysis kunigaikštis |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/didysis-kunigaikstis/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=4 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="Kepure"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tyla |first1=Antanas |title=Elekcinis seimas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/elekcinis-seimas/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=4 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>

In 1573, [[Henry III of France|Henry Valua]] was [[1573 Polish–Lithuanian royal election|elected]] as the first joint Polish–Lithuanian monarch, however his rule was short and he never personally visited the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, despite being announced as the Grand Duke of Lithuania.<ref>{{cite web |title=1574 06 18 Lenkijos karalius, Lietuvos dk Henrikas Valua slapta pabėgo iš Lenkijos į Prancūziją |url=https://www.delfi.lt/archive/1574-06-18-lenkijos-karalius-lietuvos-dk-henrikas-valua-slapta-pabego-is-lenkijos-i-prancuzija.d?id=22443655 |website=Lithuanian Institute of History, DELFI |access-date=4 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>

The double election of 1575 was held in the presence of a small number of Lithuanian lords, who additionally supported the Habsburg candidate Emperor Maximilian II, however, the race for the crown was won by Stephen Báthory, crowned on May 1, 1576.<ref name=":03">{{cite book |author=Urszula Augustyniak |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdEsAQAAIAAJ |title=Historia Polski, 1572–1795 |publisher=Wydaw. Naukowe PWN |year=2008 |isbn=978-83-01-15592-6 |pages=557–558 |language=Polish}}</ref> The Lithuanian lords, at a convention in Grodno (on 8–20 April 1576), protested this choice, threatening to break the union and giving themselves the right to choose a separate ruler.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kiaupinienė |first1=Jūratė |date=2021 |title=Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės Seimas – valstybės modernizacijos grandis (1572–1587 metai) |url=https://journals.lnb.lt/parliamentary-studies/article/download/725/720/1097 |journal=Parlamento Studijos |language=lt |publisher=Lithuanian Institute of History |volume=20 |pages=31–32 |access-date=4 November 2023}}</ref> However, the king managed to rally the Lithuanian delegation by promising to preserve their rights and freedoms.<ref name=":03" /> On May 29, 1580, in [[Vilnius Cathedral]], King and Grand Duke [[Stephen Báthory]] received from the hand of the bishop of Samogitia [[Merkelis Giedraitis]] a [[blessed sword and hat]], given by Pope [[Pope Gregory XIII|Gregory XIII]] through the envoy Paweł Uchański.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Besala |first=Jerzy |title=Stefan Batory |year=1992 |pages=295–296}}</ref> This was a recognition by the Pope of the ruler's successes in the struggle against the infidels.<ref name=":12" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Petrus |first=Jerzy T. |date=1977 |title=Miecze poświęcane królewicza Władysława Zygmunta i króla Jana III |trans-title=Blessed swords of Prince Władysław Zygmunt and King Jan III. |journal=Biuletyn Historii Sztuki |volume=39 |pages=157}}</ref> In Lithuania, this ceremony was treated as the celebration of the elevation of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, during which Lithuania's sovereignty was manifested.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vavelio pilies lobyne – ir Lietuvos, Valdovų rūmų istorija |url=https://www.valdovurumai.lt/lt/naujienos/i/2680/vavelio-pilies-lobyne-ir-valdovu-rumu-istorija20220721/ |access-date=6 November 2023 |website=Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bues |first1=Almut |date=2005 |title=Politinė ceremonialo paskirtis elekcinėje monarchijoje: Lenkija-Lietuva XVI–XVIII a. |url=https://www.istorija.lt/data/public/uploads/2021/02/lim-2003-2-1-a.-bues-politine-ceremonialo-paskirtis-elekcineje-monarchijoje-p.-5-20.pdf |journal=Lietuvos istorijos metraštis |language=lt |volume=2 |page=9 |access-date=6 November 2023}}</ref> Báthory's reign was marked with successful [[Livonian campaign of Stephen Báthory|Livonian campaign]] against tsar [[Ivan the Terrible]]'s military forces, which resulted in the reintegration of [[Polotsk]] to Lithuania and the restoration of control of the [[Duchy of Livonia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Steponas Batoras |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/steponas-batoras/ |access-date=4 November 2023 |website=Vle.lt |language=lt}}</ref>

[[File:Statut Vialikaha Kniastva Litoŭskaha. Статут Вялікага Княства Літоўскага.jpg|thumb|upright|The Third Statute of Lithuania (confirmed in 1588), which stated that Poland and Lithuania have equal rights within the Commonwealth<ref name="3S"/>]]
The rule of Lithuania by the Gediminid–Jagiellonian family representatives resumed through [[Matrilineality|matrilineal line]] following the death of Báthory (1586) when [[Sigismund III Vasa]] (son of [[Catherine Jagiellon]]) was [[1587 Polish–Lithuanian royal election|elected in 1587]].<ref name="Raila"/> On 28 January 1588, Sigismund III confirmed the [[Statutes of Lithuania#Third Statute|Third Statute of Lithuania]] which stated that the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is a [[federation]] of two countries – Poland and Lithuania where both countries have equal rights within it and separated the powers of the ruler, the [[Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Seimas]], the executive and the courts (this for the first time in European history ensured the [[rule of law]] in the state, but Lithuania's citizens, who were subjects to the Statute, were only nobles).<ref name="3S">{{cite web |last1=Andriulis |first1=Vytautas |title=Trečiasis Lietuvos Statutas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/treciasis-lietuvos-statutas/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=27 December 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> During the [[Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611)]] Polish and Lithuanian forces achieved victory and restored ''[[status quo ante bellum]]'', notably winning the decisive [[Battle of Kircholm]] in 1605, while during the [[Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618)]] Polish and Lithuanian armies achieved territorial gains (e.g. restored the control of [[Siege of Smolensk (1609–1611)|Smolensk]], the capital of the [[Smolensk Voivodeship]], in 1611) and for the first time [[Polish–Lithuanian occupation of Moscow|fully captured]] Russia's capital [[Moscow]] in 1610.<ref name="Raila"/> Sigismund III's son, [[Władysław IV Vasa]], began ruling Lithuania in 1632 and achieved military success and popularity during the [[Smolensk War]], but he renounced his claims to the Russian throne per the [[Treaty of Polyanovka]] in 1634 and failed at reclaiming the Swedish throne.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vladislovas Vaza |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vladislovas-vaza/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=27 December 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="Raila"/>

[[John II Casimir Vasa]]'s reign was initially marked with disastrous military loses as during the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]] in the mid-17th century most of the territory of Lithuania was annexed by the [[Tsardom of Russia]] and even the Lithuania's capital Vilnius was [[Battle of Vilnius (1655)|captured for the first time by a foreign army and ravaged]].<ref name="Raila">{{cite web |last1=Raila |first1=Eligijus |title=ATR nelaimių šimtmetis |url=http://www.xn--altiniai-4wb.info/index/details/102 |website=Šaltiniai.info |access-date=8 November 2023}}</ref> In 1655, Lithuania unilaterally [[Union of Kėdainiai|seceded]] from Poland, declared the Swedish King [[Charles X Gustav of Sweden|Charles X Gustav]] as the Grand Duke of Lithuania and fell under the [[Swedish Lithuania|protection of the Swedish Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kėdainių sutartis |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/kedainiu-sutartis/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=8 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> However, by 1657 Lithuania was once again a part of the Commonwealth following the Lithuanian revolt against the Swedes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lietuvių sukilimas prieš švedus |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/lietuviu-sukilimas-pries-svedus/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=8 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> Lithuania's capital Vilnius was liberated in 1661.<ref>{{cite web |title=1661 12 03 Vilniaus pilyje kapituliavo rusų įgula |url=https://www.delfi.lt/archive/1661-12-03-vilniaus-pilyje-kapituliavo-rusu-igula.d?id=26316243 |website=DELFI |access-date=8 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>

Throughout this Polish–Lithuanian Union period, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained a separate state and retained many rights in the federation (including separate name, territory, coat of arms, ministries, ruling system, laws, army, courts, treasury, and seal) until the [[Constitution of 3 May 1791|Constitution of 3 May]] and [[Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations]] were passed in 1791.<ref name="HistoryOfLithuania2013">{{cite book |last1=Eidintas |first1=Alfonsas |last2=Bumblauskas |first2=Alfredas |last3=Kulakauskas |first3=Antanas |last4=Tamošaitis |first4=Mindaugas |last5=Kondratas |first5=Skirma |last6=Kondratas |first6=Ramūnas |title=The history of Lithuania |date=2013 |publisher=Eugrimas |location=[[Vilnius]] |isbn=978-609-437-163-9 |page=101 |edition=2nd |url=http://urm.lt/uploads/default/documents/Travel_Residence/history_of_lithuania_new.pdf |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="LiublinoUnija">{{cite web |last1=Jasas |first1=Rimantas |title=Liublino unija |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/liublino-unija/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=1 May 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="Bumblauskas2010"/>

===Partitions and the Napoleonic period===
Following the [[Partitions of Poland|partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], most of the lands of the former Grand Duchy were directly annexed by the [[Russian Empire]], the rest by [[Prussia]]. In 1812, just prior to the [[French invasion of Russia]], the former Grand Duchy revolted against the Russians. Soon after his arrival in Vilnius, Napoleon proclaimed the creation of a [[Commissary Provisional Government of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] which, in turn, renewed the [[Polish-Lithuanian Union]].<ref name="Sobczyński">{{cite book |author=Marek Sobczyński |title=Procesy integracyjne i dezintegracyjne na ziemiach litewskich w toku dziejów |trans-title=The process of integration and disintegration in the territories of Lithuania in the course of history |language=pl |publisher=Zakład Geografii Politycznej, [[University of Łódź]] |url=http://geopol.geo.uni.lodz.pl/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ziemie_litewskie.pdf |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025557/http://geopol.geo.uni.lodz.pl/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ziemie_litewskie.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The union was never formalized, however, as only half a year later Napoleon's ''[[Grande Armée]]'' was pushed out of Russia and forced to retreat further westwards. In December 1812, Vilnius was recaptured by Russian forces, bringing all plans for the recreation of the Grand Duchy to an end.<ref name="Sobczyński"/> Most of the lands of the former Grand Duchy were re-annexed by Russia. The [[Augustów Voivodeship]] (later [[Augustów Governorate]]), including the counties of [[Marijampolė]] and [[Kalvarija, Lithuania|Kalvarija]], was attached to the [[Congress Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], a rump state in personal union with Russia.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

==Administrative division==
{{Main|Administrative divisions of Lithuania}}

<gallery>
File:Divisions of Lithuania 1385.svg|Lithuania and its administrative divisions in 1385.
File:1430 m. LDK administracinis susiskirstymas.svg|Lithuania and its administrative divisions in 1430
File:LDK administracinis susiskirstymas XVI amžiuje.png|Administrative divisions of Lithuania in the 16th century
File:Lithuania in the 17th century.png|Lithuania and its administrative divisions in the 17th century
</gallery>

Administrative structure of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1413–1564).<ref>{{cite web |title=Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės administracinis teritorinis suskirstymas |url=https://www.vle.lt/Straipsnis/Lietuvos-Didziosios-Kunigaikstystes-administracinis-teritorinis-suskirstymas-117510 |website=vle.lt |access-date=9 June 2020 |language=LT}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="col"| Voivodeship (Palatinatus)
!scope="col"| Established
|-
!scope="row"| [[Vilnius Voivodeship|Vilnius]]
| 1413
|-
!scope="row"| [[Trakai Voivodeship|Trakai]]
| 1413
|-
!scope="row"| [[Duchy of Samogitia|Samogitian eldership]]
| 1413
|-
!scope="row"| [[Kiev Voivodeship|Kiev]]
| 1471
|-
!scope="row"| [[Polotsk Voivodeship|Polotsk]]
| 1504
|-
!scope="row"| [[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1507–1795)|Naugardukas]]
| 1507
|-
!scope="row"| [[Smolensk Voivodeship|Smolensk]]
| 1508
|-
!scope="row"| [[Vitebsk Voivodeship|Vitebsk]]
| 1511
|-
!scope="row"| [[Podlaskie Voivodeship (1513–1795)|Podlaskie]]
| 1514
|-
!scope="row"| [[Brest Litovsk Voivodeship|Brest Litovsk]]
| 1566
|-
!scope="row"| [[Minsk Voivodeship|Minsk]]
| 1566
|-
!scope="row"| [[Mstsislaw Voivodeship|Mstislavl]]
| 1569
|-
!scope="row"| [[Volhynian Voivodeship (1569–1795)|Volhyn]]
| 1564–1566
|-
!scope="row"| [[Bracław Voivodeship|Bratslav]]
| 1564
|-
!scope="row"| [[Duchy of Livonia]]
| 1561
|}

==Cities==
{{Main|List of cities in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania}}

[[File:Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae Main.jpg|thumb|[[Radziwiłł map]] of Lithuania from 1613, featuring around 1020 settlements.]]
In Lithuania, the first proto-urban settlements formed in the 9th–13th centuries, often around castles where craftsmen and merchants settled, with [[Vilnius]], [[Kaunas]], [[Kernavė]], [[Merkinė]], and [[Veliuona]] becoming early centers; in the Christianized regions of the Grand Duchy, towns such as [[Gardinas]] (Grodno), [[Lyda]] (Lida), and [[Naugardukas]] (Navahrudak) developed, while [[Klaipėda]] was established in the Teutonic Order’s domain. Many smaller settlements remained agrarian and did not resemble the Western European urban model, and systematic town development only accelerated after 1387, when Vilnius received [[Magdeburg rights]], followed soon after by [[Brest (Belarus)|Brest]] and Grodno. True cities were considered only those with municipal self-government and a magistrate, although the term was also applied to administrative centers without formal rights or to places unable to exercise them effectively; trade and crafts distinguished them from rural settlements. The municipal authority was the magistrate, while judicial functions were carried out by bench courts, and royal cities were overseen by a vogt, though the presence of noble and ecclesiastical jurisdictions often hindered growth. In the 15th–16th centuries, urban rights spread to both Lithuanian and Slavic cities, including [[Kyiv]], [[Polotsk]], [[Vitebsk]], and [[Smolensk]], while the burgher estate gradually formed from merchants and wealthy artisans; larger cities (Vilnius, Gardinas, [[Trakai]], Kaunas, [[Kėdainiai]]) were multiethnic, inhabited not only by Lithuanians but also Ruthenians, Poles, Jews, Germans, Tatars, and Karaites. The [[Volok Reform]] (1553–1557) reorganized cities into rectangular plots, introduced regular squares with town halls, and stimulated trade, guilds, and privileges, leading to a sharp increase in the number of towns with self-government. However, the mid-17th-century wars with Russia and Sweden devastated Lithuania’s urban centers, causing massive population losses, and subsequent crises such as the Great Northern War, famine, and plague delayed recovery until the mid-18th century. In 1776, the autonomy of many declining cities was abolished, but the urban law of 1791 restored municipal rights to 42 cities and granted them for the first time to 18 others, reaffirming Magdeburg principles in the last decades of the Grand Duchy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/lietuvos-miestai/|title=Lietuvos miestai|website=[[vle.lt]]}}</ref>

==Military==
[[File:Lithuanian Military History. The elite warrior of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, early 15th century, reconstruction. Lithuania, VDKM.jpg|thumb|[[Leitis]] — the elite warrior of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, early 15th century, reconstruction.]]
The Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a key institution that shaped the state’s political and military power from the 13th to the 18th century. Its origins lay in early local militias formed by Lithuanian tribes, where all able-bodied men were called to defend their land. As the Grand Duchy emerged under Mindaugas, the army became more centralized, combining the forces of local dukes and their retinues (kariaunos). Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, Lithuanian troops fought constant wars against the Teutonic and Livonian Orders, as well as against Rus’ principalities and the Golden Horde. This period saw the gradual transition from irregular tribal warfare to a structured military system, including permanent garrisons, fortifications along the Nemunas River, and organized cavalry units. The army’s weaponry evolved from simple axes and spears to swords, bows, and eventually [[firearms]] and [[artillery]]. By the 15th and 16th centuries, under rulers such as Vytautas the Great, the Lithuanian army reached a high level of organization and discipline, modeled increasingly on Western European forces. The introduction of the noble levy made military service the main duty of the nobility, while wealthier magnates maintained their own well-equipped regiments. The army, led by grand and field hetmans, became a professional institution capable of large-scale campaigns, achieving major victories at the Battle of Grunwald (1410) against the Teutonic Order and Orsha (1514) against Muscovite forces. Over time, specialized branches developed, including [[heavy cavalry]], [[hussars]], [[dragoons]], artillery, and later, frontier guards for border defense. However, by the 17th and 18th centuries, continuous wars with Sweden, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire, combined with internal political decline and growing foreign influence, weakened the Grand Duchy’s military strength. Despite attempts at reform—such as the creation of regular regiments and national cavalry brigades—the army struggled to match the resources of neighboring powers. Following the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century, the Lithuanian army was officially disbanded in 1795. Nevertheless, its military traditions endured, inspiring later uprisings in [[November Uprising|1830–31]] and [[January Uprising|1863–64]], where Lithuanian insurgents again took up arms in the fight for national independence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/lietuvos-didziosios-kunigaikstystes-kariuomene/|title=Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės kariuomenė|website=[[vle.lt]]}}</ref>

==Religion and culture==
===Christianity and paganism===
{{See also|Lithuanian mythology|Christianization of Lithuania}}
[[File:Lithuania and Vytis (Pogonia) in 1544.jpg|thumb|left|190px|A facsimile of a page from [[Sebastian Münster]] atlas [[Cosmographia universalis]] (first edition 1544), describing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1544]]
[[File:Vilnius University Great Courtyard 1, Vilnius, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Church of St. Johns, Vilnius|Church of St. Johns]] in Vilnius. Example of [[Vilnian Baroque]] style<ref>{{cite web |title=Vilniaus baroko mokykla |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vilniaus-baroko-mokykla/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=3 November 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>]]
[[File:Vilnius St Anns church.jpg|thumb|upright|[[St. Anne's Church, Vilnius|St. Anne's Church]] and the church of the [[Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard, Vilnius|Bernardine Monastery]] in [[Vilnius]]. Two examples of [[Gothic architecture]].]]
After the baptism in 1252 and coronation of King [[Mindaugas]] in 1253, Lithuania was recognized as a Christian state until 1260, when Mindaugas supported an uprising in [[Courland]] and (according to the German order) renounced Christianity. Up until 1387, Lithuanian nobles professed their own religion, which was [[polytheistic]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vardys |first1=Vytas Stanley |title=Christianity in Lithuania |url=http://www.lituanus.org/1988/88_3_02.htm |website=Lituanus.org |publisher=[[Lituanus]] |access-date=14 May 2021 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729134520/http://www.lituanus.org/1988/88_3_02.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ethnic Lithuanians were very dedicated to their faith. The pagan beliefs needed to be deeply entrenched to survive strong pressure from missionaries and foreign powers. Until the 17th century, there were relics of old faith reported by counter-reformation active [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] priests, like feeding [[žaltys]] with milk or bringing food to graves of ancestors. The lands of modern-day [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]], as well as local [[duke]]s (princes) in these regions, were firmly [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox]] Christian (Greek Catholic after the [[Union of Brest]]), though. While pagan beliefs in Lithuania were strong enough to survive centuries of pressure from military orders and missionaries, they did eventually succumb. A separate [[Metropolitanate of Lithuania|Eastern Orthodox metropolitan eparchy]] was created sometime between 1315 and 1317 by the Constantinople Patriarch [[John XIII of Constantinople|John XIII]]. Following the [[Galicia–Volhynia Wars]] which divided the [[Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia]] between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the [[Kingdom of Poland]], in 1355 the [[Halych metropoly]] was liquidated and its eparchies transferred to the metropoles of Lithuania and Volhynia.<ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CA%5CHalychmetropoly.htm Halych metropoly]. [[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]</ref>

In 1387, Lithuania [[Christianization of Lithuania|converted]] to [[Catholicism]], while most of the Ruthenian lands stayed [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]], however, on 22 February 1387, Supreme Duke [[Jogaila]] banned Catholics marriages with Orthodox, and demanded those Orthodox who previously married with the Catholics to convert to Catholicism.<ref name="Jogaila">{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |last2=Jučas |first2=Mečislovas |last3=Matulevičius |first3=Algirdas |title=Jogaila |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/jogaila/ |website=[[Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija]] |access-date=19 May 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> At one point, though, [[Pope Alexander VI]] reprimanded the Grand Duke for keeping non-Catholics as advisers.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofthepope06pastuoft#page/146/mode/2up |last=von Pastor |first=Ludwig |author-link=Ludwig von Pastor |title=The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages |year=1899 |volume=6 |page=146 |access-date=18 July 2016 |quote="...he wrote to the Grand Duke of Lithuania, admonishing him to do everything in his power to persuade his consort to 'abjure the Russian religion, and accept the Christian Faith.'"}}</ref> Consequently, only in 1563 did Grand Duke [[Sigismund II Augustus]] issue a privilege that equalized the rights of Orthodox and Catholics in Lithuania and abolished all previous restrictions on Orthodox.<ref>{{cite web |title=1563 06 07 "Vilniaus privilegija" sulygino Lietuvos DK stačiatikių ir katalikų teises |url=https://www.delfi.lt/archive/1563-06-07-vilniaus-privilegija-sulygino-lietuvos-dk-staciatikiu-ir-kataliku-teises.d?id=22432182 |website=[[DELFI]] |publisher=[[Lithuanian Institute of History]] |access-date=14 May 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> There was an effort to polarise Orthodox Christians after the Union of Brest in 1596, by which some Orthodox Christians acknowledged papal authority and Catholic catechism, but preserved their liturgy. The country also became one of the major centres of the Reformation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wisner |first=Henryk |author-link=Henryk Wisner |date=1975 |title=The Reformation and National Culture: Lithuania |url=https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/602764.pdf |journal=Odrodzenie I Reformacja W Polsce |volume=20 |pages=69–79}}</ref>
<!-- Somebody should write about Renaissance and Lithuanians studying in Italy and the culture, science and education that flourished-->

In the second half of the 16th century, Calvinism spread in Lithuania, supported by the families of [[Radziwiłł]], [[Chodkiewicz]], [[Sapieha]], [[Dorohostajski]] and others. By the 1580s the majority of the senators from Lithuania were [[Calvinist]] or [[Socinianism|Socinian]] Unitarians ([[Jan Kiszka]]).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Slavenas |first1=Maria Gražina |title=The Reformation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania |url=https://www.lituanus.org/1997/97_1_05.htm |website=Lituanus.org |publisher=[[State University of New York]] |access-date=14 May 2021 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405215843/https://www.lituanus.org/1997/97_1_05.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1579, [[Stephen Báthory]], King of [[Poland]] and Grand Duke of Lithuania, founded [[Vilnius University]], one of the oldest universities in [[Northern Europe]]. Due to the work of the Jesuits during the [[Counter-Reformation]] the university soon developed into one of the most important scientific and cultural centres of the region and the most notable scientific centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref>Vilniaus Universitetas. [http://www.vu.lt/site_files/InfS/Leidiniai/Vilnius_University_1579_2004.pdf History of Vilnius University]. Retrieved on 2007.04.16</ref> The work of the Jesuits as well as conversions from among the Lithuanian senatorial families turned the tide and by the 1670s [[Polish Reformed Church|Calvinism]] lost its former importance though it still retained some influence among the ethnically Lithuanian peasants and some middle nobility.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Islam===
{{See also|Islam in Lithuania|Lipka Tatars}}
[[File:Coin of the time of Vladimiras Algirdas (1362-1394). Imitating a Gulistan mint dang of Jani Beg (Jambek). Uncertain Kiev region mint. Pseudo-Arabic legend.jpg|thumb|upright|Coin of the [[Principality of Kiev]], around the time of [[Vladimir Olgerdovich]] (1362–1394), imitating a [[Gulistan mint]] ''dang'' of [[Golden Horde]] ruler [[Jani Beg]] (Jambek). Uncertain Kiev region mint. Pseudo-Arabic legend.<ref>For reference: Gulistan coinage of [[Jani Beg]]: [[File:Coin of Jani Beg, Gulistan mint. Dated AH 753 (1352-3 CE).jpg|30px]]</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khromov |first1=Kostiantyn |last2=Khromova |first2=Iryna |title=COINAGE GENESIS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE POLITICAL AUTONOMY ON THE LITHUANIAN-HORDE BORDER LANDS the second half of the 14th – the first half of the 15th century |journal=Ukraina Lithuanica: Студії З Історії Великого Князівства Литовського |date=2019 |pages=13–14 |url=http://62.244.28.214/images/5/UL_5.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Suchodolski |first1=Stanisław |last2=Bogucki |first2=Mateusz |title=Money Circulation in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times: Time, Range, Intensity : International Symposium of the 50th Anniversary of Wiadomości Numizmatyczne : Warsaw, 13–14 October 2006 |date=2007 |publisher=Avalon |isbn=978-83-89499-43-1 |page=199 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=twgXAQAAIAAJ |language=en|quote="The first coins, anonymous (Type I), roughly imitate Tatar coins of Jani beg struck in Gulistán in the years 1351–1353 (Kozubovs'kyi 1994). Kozubovs'kyi regarded them as the oldest coins of Volodymyr from the sixties to the early eighties but Khromov, while facing some recent finds ( or a find ) from the Sumy province, is of the opinion that they were struck earlier, between 1354–63 under the rule of the Ruirikid Prince [[Fiodor of Kiev]], and that they were struck somewhere to the east of the capital town, in the Sumy region ( Khromov 2004, 2006 )."}}</ref>]]
[[Islam]] in [[Lithuania]], unlike many other northern and western European countries, has a long history starting from 14th century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Muslims in Poland and Eastern Europe : widening the European discourse on Islam|last=Górak-Sosnowska, Katarzyna.|date=2011|publisher=University of Warsaw. Faculty of Oriental Studies|isbn=978-8390322957|pages=207–208|oclc=804006764}}</ref> Small groups of Muslim [[Lipka Tatars]] migrated to ethnically Lithuanian lands, mainly under the rule of Grand Duke [[Vytautas the Great|Vytautas]] (early 15th century). In Lithuania, unlike many other European societies at the time, there was religious freedom. Lithuanian Tatars were allowed to settle in certain places, such as [[Trakai]] and [[Kaunas]].<ref name="Akiner2009-2">{{cite book|author=Shirin Akiner|title=Religious Language of a Belarusian Tatar Kitab: A Cultural Monument of Islam in Europe : with a Latin-script Transliteration of the British Library Tatar Belarusian Kitab (OR 13020) on CD-ROM|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FEJ7F2cmCt0C&pg=PA51|year=2009|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-03027-4|pages=51–}}</ref> [[Keturiasdešimt Totorių]] is one of the oldest Tatar settlements in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After a successful military campaign of the [[Crimean Peninsula]] in 1397, Vytautas brought the first [[Crimean Tatars|Crimean Tatar]] prisoners of war to [[Trakai]] and various places in the [[Duchy of Trakai]], including localities near [[Vokė]] river just south of Vilnius. The first mosque in this village was mentioned for the first time in 1558. There were 42 Tatar families in the village in 1630.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Hussain|first=Tharik|date=2016-01-01|title=The amazing survival of the Baltic Muslims|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35170834|access-date=2021-10-26}}</ref>

===Judaism===
{{Expand section|date= May 2022}}
{{See also|History of the Jews in Lithuania|Crimean Karaites}}

==Languages==
[[File:Constitution of May 3 in Lithuanian language.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Constitution of 3 May 1791|Constitution of 3 May]], one of the first official state documents issued in both [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], Lithuanian edition]]

===Linguistic groups===
[[File:Cover page of 'Knyga nobažnystės' from 1653 in Lithuanian.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Lithuania's name in the Lithuanian language on a 1653 book cover ({{Lang|lt|dides Kunigiſtes Lietuwos}})]]
[[File:Lithuanian language in the 16th century.png|thumb|upright|Area where according to [[Zigmas Zinkevičius]] the [[Lithuanian language]] was predominantly spoken in the 16th century]]
The majority of inhabitants of [[Lithuania proper]], which included the voivodeships of [[Vilnius Voivodeship|Vilnius]], [[Trakai Voivodeship|Trakai]] and [[Duchy of Samogitia|Samogitia]], spoke Lithuanian.{{sfn|Stone|2001|p=4}} These areas remained almost wholly Lithuanian-speaking, both colloquially and by ruling nobility.{{sfn|Dubonis|2002}} Despite its frequent oral use, Lithuanian did not begin to be used in writing until the 16th century.{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=18}}

Ruthenians, ancestors of modern Belarusians and Ukrainians, living in the eastern and southern lands of the Grand Duchy spoke [[Ruthenian language]].{{sfn|Stone|2001|p=4}} The Ruthenian language had an old writing tradition.<ref name="O'Connor2006">{{citation |last=O'Connor |first=Kevin |title=Culture and Customs of the Baltic States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IpR0-OrrwssC&pg=PA115 |page=115 |year=2006 |access-date=12 August 2016 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33125-1}}</ref> The language of the Orthodox Church was [[Old Church Slavonic]], while official documents used the so-called [[Chancery Ruthenian]], close to but not identical to the spoken language, which over time absorbed many Lithuanian and Polish words.{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=22}}{{Sfn|Gudavičius|2006|p=646}}{{Sfn|Wiemer|2003|pp=110–111}}

Some Poles (mainly [[Burgher (social class)|burghers]], clergy, merchants, and [[szlachta]]) moved to Lithuania, although this migration was small-scale.<ref name="Potasenko">{{cite book |last1=Potašenko |first1=Grigorijus |title=Multinational Lithuania: History of Ethnic Minorities |date=2008 |publisher=Šviesa |isbn=978-5430052508 |pages=23–25}}</ref> After the [[Union of Lublin]], this movement significantly increased.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leśniewska-Napierała |first1=Katarzyna |title=Geograficzno-polityczne uwarunkowania sytuacji mniejszości polskiej na Litwie i Łotwie po 1990 r. |date=2015 |publisher=[[University of Łódź]] |isbn=978-83-7969-952-0 |pages=37–38 |language=pl}}</ref> Polish was adopted also gradually by the local inhabitants.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} Already in early 16th century, Polish became the Lithuanian magnates' first language.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} The following century it was adopted by the Lithuanian nobility in general.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=554}} The Polish language also penetrated other social strata: the clergy, the townspeople, and even the peasants.{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=34}} Since the 16th century, [[Polish language|Polish]] was used much more often than other languages for writing.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} Polish finally became the Commonwealth's official chancellery language in 1697.<ref name="BurantZubek1993">{{cite journal |last1=Burant |first1=S. R. |last2=Zubek |first2=V. |year=1993 |title=Eastern Europe's Old Memories and New Realities: Resurrecting the Polish-lithuanian Union |journal=East European Politics & Societies |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=370–393 |doi=10.1177/0888325493007002007 |issn=0888-3254 |s2cid=146783347}}</ref><ref name="Zinkevičius">{{cite web |last=Zinkevičius |first=Zigmas |date=1995 |title=Lietuvos Didžiosios kunigaikštystės kanceliarinės slavų kalbos termino nusakymo problema |url=http://viduramziu.istorija.net/socium/zinkevicius1995.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710180554/http://viduramziu.istorija.net/socium/zinkevicius1995.htm |archive-date=10 July 2009 |access-date=19 July 2016 |publisher=viduramziu.istorija.net |language=lt |location=Vilnius}}</ref>{{sfn|Stone|2001|p=46}}{{sfn|Wiemer|2003|pp=109–114}}

Other important ethnic groups throughout the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were [[Lithuanian Jews|Jews]].<ref name="BurantZubek1993" /> Jews spoke mainly in the eastern dialect of Yiddish.{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=21}} The [[Lithuanian Tatars]] used a language of [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak origin]] that was full of borrowings from [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and [[Arabic]].{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=28}} It ceased to be used in the 16th century, and was replaced by Ruthenian and Polish, written in the [[Arabic alphabet]].{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=28}} Brought in 1397 from Crimea, [[Crimean Karaites|Karaites]] used a dialect of West [[Karaim language|Karaite language]], while [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] was used for religious purposes.{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=29}}

In addition, [[Livonia]], which had been politically connected to the Grand Duchy since the mid-16th century, was inhabited by [[Latgalians]] who spoke a [[Latgalian language|dialect]] of the [[Latvian language]].{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=20}} Inhabiting the towns, mainly in Livonia, the mostly Protestant Germans used a local variety of German called ''Baltendeutsch''.{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=21}} Prussian and Yotvingians refugees, pushed out by the Teutonic Knights, also found their footing in the Grand Duchy.{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=20}} Similarly, Russian Old Believers emigrated to Lithuanian lands in the 17th century.{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2013|p=21}}

=== Languages of administration ===
[[File:Title of the Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1588.svg|thumb|upright|Title of the Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania written in the Ruthenian language, 1588]]
The Grand Duchy's linguistic and ethnic situation, as well as the fusion of Lithuanian and Ruthenian elements in its culture, became the trigger for a long-running debate among historians from Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine over whether the state was essentially Lithuanian or Ruthenian-Lithuanian, in which the more advanced Ruthenian culture played a central role.{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=24}}

Before the Lithuanian expansion into the Ruthenian lands, Lithuanian was the only language of public life.{{Sfn|Walczak|2019|p=233}} However, the conquests, already initiated by [[Mindaugas]] in 13th century, began the process of fusing Ruthenian and Lithuanian culture and, in the absence of its own writing tradition, adopting Ruthenian as the language of administration and written communication.{{Sfn|Walczak|2019|p=233}}{{Sfn|Frost|2015|pp=24, 308}} From at least the time of [[Vytautas]], but probably much earlier, the language of internal administration was [[Chancery Ruthenian]], a language similar to, but not the same as, the spoken language used by Ruthenians living in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.{{Sfn|Wiemer|2003|pp=110–111}} As for the correspondences with foreign courts the grand ducal chancellery prepared it in the language appropriate to the recipient: Latin for the correspondence with the West, German with the [[Teutonic Order]] and Chancery Ruthenian with the East Slavic and Tatar rulers.{{sfn|Stone|2001|p=4}}<ref>Kamuntavičius, Rustis. ''Development of Lithuanian State and Society.'' Kaunas: Vytautas Magnus University, 2002. p. 21.</ref>{{sfn|Kiaupa|Kiaupienė|Kuncevičius|2000|p=152}}

[[File:1501. Roman Catholic churches within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where the priests must know the Lithuanian language.svg|thumb|175px|The Grand Duke of Lithuania, [[Alexander Jagiellon]], specified that the Roman Catholic priests in these 28 churches must know the Lithuanian language, according to his letter of 18 September 1501, which was addressed to the Bishop of Vilnius Albertas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fijał |first1=Jan |last2=Semkowicz |first2=Władysław |date=1948-01-01 |title=Kodeks dyplomatyczny katedry i diecezji Wilenskiej. Tomu 1. Zeszyt 3 (1501–1507, uzupełn. 1394–1500) (W Krakowie 1948) |url=https://www.academia.edu/45078413 |journal=Codex Diplomaticus Ecclesiae Cathedralis Necnon Dioceseos Vilnensis. Voluminis I. Fasciculus 3 (1501–1507, Addenda 1394–1500). |pages=616–617}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baranauskas |first=Tomas |date=2009-01-01 |title=Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė ir lietuvių tauta |trans-title=The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Lithuanian nation |url=https://www.academia.edu/3715377 |journal=Lietuvių tauta |language=lt |volume=11: Tirpstančios lietuvių žemės |page=82}}</ref>]]
The language used at court continued to be Lithuanian until the mid-16th century, the other being Ruthenian; later, both languages began to be replaced by Polish.{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=48}} Ruthenian culture dominated the courts of the [[Gediminids|Gediminid]] princes since the 14th century, especially those ruling directly over Ruthenian subjects.{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=160}}{{sfn|Kiaupa|Kiaupienė|Kuncevičius|2000|p=109}} Grand Duke [[Jogaila]] was most likely bilingual, knowing and speaking Lithuanian and Ruthenian, and was able to communicate in the [[Samogitian dialect]] of the Lithuanian language.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baronas |first1=Darius |url=https://www.lkma.lt/site/files/file/leidiniai/Zemaiciu_krikstas.pdf |title=Žemaičių krikštas: tyrimai ir refleksija |date=2013 |publisher=[[Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science]] |isbn=978-9986-592-71-6 |location=[[Vilnius]] |pages=33–34 |language=lt |access-date=17 July 2021}}</ref>{{Sfn|Frost|2015|pp=159–160}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Statkuvienė |first1=Regina |title=Jogailaičiai. Kodėl ne Gediminaičiai? |url=https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/istorija/jogailaiciai-kodel-ne-gediminaiciai-582-1056552 |access-date=17 July 2021 |website=15min.lt |language=lt}}</ref> The Lithuanian language was still strongly present at the Vilnius court of [[Casimir Jagiellon]], who had to learn it when he assumed power in the Grand Duchy in 1444.{{Sfn|Dubonis|2016|p=6}} Casimir's assumption of power in Poland in 1447 marked the end of the existence of a separate court in Vilnius (it later existed only in years 1492–1496 and 1544–1548{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=319}}). Many Lithuanians and Ruthenian nobles joined the court in Kraków, they learned Polish language over time.{{Sfn|Frost|2015|pp=320–321}} Casimir was the last Grand Duke to know the Lithuanian language.{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=320}} From 1500, the elite of the Lithuanian state rapidly adopted the Polish language.{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=319}}{{sfn|Kiaupa|Kiaupienė|Kuncevičius|2000|p=195}}

The process of moving away from Ruthenian to Polish in administration was soon apparent. The first were the nobles of [[Podlachia]], who adopted Polish laws as early as the 1440s, and repeatedly demanded that official documents be written in Polish, since they no longer knew Ruthenian.{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=482}} The political reforms of 1564–1566 established [[sejmik]]s, local land courts, appellate courts modelled on Polish system, through which the Polish language flowed into Lithuania.{{sfn|Dubonis|2002|p=477}} The first codification of Lithuanian laws, the Statute of Lithuania, was issued in Chancery Ruthenian (1529), but was quickly translated into Latin (1530) and Polish (1532).{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=418}} [[kanclerz|Court Chancellor]] of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania [[Lew Sapieha]] noted in the preface of the [[Statutes of Lithuania|Third Statute of Lithuania]] (1588) that all state documents to be written exclusively in Ruthenian.{{Sfn|Dubonis|2002|p=476}} Despite this, after the Polish translation of the statute was published in 1614, it was not reissued in Ruthenian ever again.{{Sfn|Wisner|2008|p=267}} Polish was increasingly used in official documents, especially after the Union of Lublin.{{sfn|Stone|2001|p=46}} Finally, in 1697, the Sejm, as part of the equalization of law between Lithuania and Poland, confirmed that only the Polish language was to be used in administration in Lithuania,{{sfn|Wiemer|2003|pp=109–114}}<ref name="O'Connor2006" /> although Ruthenian continued to be used on a few official documents until the second half of the 18th century.<ref name="Zinkevičius" />

[[File:Old Lithuanian texts. Order of Ladislaus IV Vasa forbiding hunting in neighouring Prussia, 1639.jpg|thumb|175px|King [[Władysław IV Vasa|Władysław IV's]] universal of March 22, 1639 forbidding his subjects to hunt on the territory of [[Duchy of Prussia|Ducal Prussia]]. The universal was translated into Old Lithuanian at the Prussian chancellery.{{sfn|Dubonis|2002|p=56}}]]
After the baptism, the use of Latin, the main language of learning and writing in Western Europe, also spread in Lithuania as a language of official documents. In the 14th–16th centuries it functioned as the second language of the grand ducal chancellery, though it was used less frequently than Ruthenian in internal administration.{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=63}} This development coincided with the mid-15th-century spread of the legend about the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] origin of the Lithuanian nobility (the [[Palemonids|Palemon myth]]) and the idea of a special affinity between Lithuanian and Latin. These notions led some mid-16th-century intellectuals to advocate replacing Ruthenian with Latin, which they regarded as the "native" language of Lithuanians.{{sfn|Dubonis|2016|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Kiaupa|Kiaupienė|Kuncevičius|2000|p=194}}

Despite the emergence of Lithuanian-language literature in the 16th century, Lithuanian did not obtain the status of a chancellery language in the Grand Duchy until the late 18th century.{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|pp=56–62}} This contrasted with neighboring [[Duchy of Prussia|Prussia]], where issuing official documents in Lithuanian, especially those addressed to Lithuanian-speaking subjects, became customary as early as the 16th century.{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=56}} The Prussian chancellery even translated into Lithuanian two royal universals of 1639 and 1641, originally written in Latin for King [[Władysław IV Vasa|Władysław IV]], which forbade subjects of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Commonwealth]] from crossing into Prussia (then a Polish fief).{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=56}} In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first official document in Lithuanian was a translation of the Polish text of the [[Constitution of May 3]], issued in 1791.{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=62}} Several further documents appeared in Lithuanian during the [[Kościuszko Uprising]].{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=62}} In everyday practice, however, Lithuanian was spoken in administrative offices and used by officials when dealing with residents who could not communicate in other languages.{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=64}} The Vilnius city charter of 18 November 1551 required that court summonses and verdicts be announced in Lithuanian, Polish, and Ruthenian;{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=55}}{{Sfn|Dubonis|2002||p=478}} a similar charter was issued earlier in Kaunas in 1540.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Butėnas |first1=Domas |title=Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės valstybinių ir visuomeninių institucijų istorijos bruožai XIII–XVIII a. |date=1997 |publisher=Lietuvos istorijos instituto leidykla |location=Vilnius |pages=145–146}}</ref>{{Sfn|Dubonis|2002||p=475}}{{sfn|Dziarnovič|2013|p=55}}

==Demographics==
{{See also|Demographic history of Poland#Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795)}}
In 1260, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the land of [[Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]], and ethnic Lithuanians formed the majority (68%) of its 400,000 people.<ref name="Letukiene"/> With the acquisition of new [[Ruthenia]]n territories, in 1340 this portion decreased to 30%.<ref>Letukienė, N., ''Istorija, Politologija: Kurso santrauka istorijos egzaminui'', 2003, p. 182; there were about 0.37 million Lithuanians of 0.7 million of a whole population by 1340 in the territory of 350 thousand km<sup>2</sup> and 0.42 million of 1.4 million by 1375 in the territory of 700 thousand km<sup>2</sup>. Different numbers can also be found, for example: Kevin O'Connor, ''The History of the Baltic States'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, {{ISBN|0-313-32355-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=b3b5nU4bnw4C&dq=million+%22Grand+Duchy%22&pg=PA17 Google Print, p. 17]. Here the author estimates that there were 9 million inhabitants in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and 1&nbsp;million of them were ethnic Lithuanians by 1387.</ref> By the time of the largest expansion towards [[Kievan Rus'|Rus']] lands, which came at the end of the 13th and during the 14th century, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was 800 to 930 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, just 10% to 14% of which was ethnically Lithuanian.<ref name="Letukiene"/>{{sfn|Wiemer|2003|pp=109, 125}}

On 6 May 1434, Grand Duke [[Sigismund Kęstutaitis]] released his privilege which tied the Orthodox and Catholic [[Lithuanian nobles]] rights in order to attract the [[Ruthenian nobility|Slavic nobles]] of the eastern regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who supported the former Grand Duke [[Švitrigaila]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Žygimanto Kęstutaičio privilegija |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/zygimanto-kestutaicio-privilegija/ |website=[[Vle.lt]] |access-date=16 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>

An estimate of the population in the territory of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania together gives a population at 7.5&nbsp;million for 1493, breaking them down by ethnicity at 3.75&nbsp;million [[Ruthenians]] (ethnic [[Ukrainians]], [[Belarusians]]), 3.25&nbsp;million Poles and 0.5&nbsp;million Lithuanians.<ref name="Pogonowski1989">{{citation |last=Pogonowski |first=Iwo |author-link=Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski |title=Poland: A Historical Atlas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw8oAQAAMAAJ |year=1989 |publisher=Dorset |isbn=978-0-88029-394-5 |page=92 |postscript=- Based on 1493 population map}}</ref> With the [[Union of Lublin]], 1569, Lithuanian Grand Duchy lost large part of lands to the Polish Crown.

According to an analysis of the tax registers in 1572, [[Lithuania proper]] had 850,000 residents of which 680,000 were Lithuanians.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės gyventojai|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/lietuvos-didziosios-kunigaikstystes-gyventojai/|website= [[Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija]]|language=lt}}</ref>

In the mid and late 17th century, due to Russian and Swedish invasions, there was much devastation and population loss on throughout the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,<ref name="Kotilaine2005">{{citation |last=Kotilaine |first=J. T. |title=Russia's Foreign Trade and Economic Expansion in the Seventeenth Century: Windows on the World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57LnE5DO2rQC&pg=PA45 |access-date=12 August 2016 |year=2005 |publisher=Brill |isbn=90-04-13896-X |page=45}}</ref> including ethnic Lithuanian population in [[Vilnius voivodeship|Vilnius surroundings]]. Besides devastation, the Ruthenian population declined proportionally after the territorial losses to [[Russian Empire]]. By 1770 there were about 4.84&nbsp;million inhabitants in the territory of 320 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, the biggest part of whom were inhabitants of Ruthenia and about 1.39&nbsp;million or 29% – of ethnic Lithuania.<ref name="Letukiene"/> During the following decades, the population decreased in a result of [[Partitions of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|partitions]].<ref name="Letukiene"/>

==Legacy==
[[File:CATECHISMVSA PRAsty Szadei (in Lithuanian language) by Martynas Mažvydas, published in Königsberg, 1547 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|The first printed book in [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''[[Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas]]'' by [[Martynas Mažvydas]]]]
[[Old Prussians|Prussian tribes]] (of [[Balts|Baltic]] origin) were the subject of Polish expansion, which was largely unsuccessful, so Duke [[Konrad of Masovia]] invited the [[Teutonic Knights]] to settle near the Prussian area of settlement. The fighting between Prussians and the Teutonic Knights gave the more distant Lithuanian tribes time to unite. Because of strong enemies in the south and north, the newly formed Lithuanian state concentrated most of its military and diplomatic efforts on expansion eastward.

The rest of the former Ruthenian lands were conquered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Some other lands in Ukraine were vassalized by Lithuania later. The subjugation of Eastern Slavs by two powers created substantial differences between them that persist to this day. While there were certainly substantial regional differences in Kievan Rus', it was the Lithuanian annexation of much of southern and western Ruthenia that led to the permanent division between Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Russians, and even four Grand Dukes of Lithuania are appeared on the [[Millennium of Russia]] monument.

In the 19th century, the romantic references to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were an inspiration and a substantial part of both the [[Lithuanian national revival|Lithuanian]] and [[Belarusian national revival|Belarusian]] national revival movements and [[Romanticism in Poland]].

Notwithstanding the above, Lithuania was a kingdom under Mindaugas, who was crowned by the authority of Pope Innocent IV in 1253. Vytenis, Gediminas and Vytautas the Great also assumed the title of King, although uncrowned by the Pope. A failed attempt was made in 1918 to revive the Kingdom under a German Prince, [[Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach]], who would have reigned as Mindaugas II of Lithuania.

In the first half of the 20th century, the memory of the multiethnic history of the Grand Duchy was revived by the people connected with the [[Krajowcy]] movement,<ref>{{cite web |last=Gil |first=Andrzej |url=http://www.iesw.lublin.pl/projekty/pliki/IESW-121-02-07.pdf |title=Rusini w Rzeczypospolitej Wielu Narodów i ich obecność w tradycji Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego – problem historyczny czy czynnik tworzący współczesność? |trans-title=Ruthenians/Rus/Rusyns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and their presence in the tradition of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – an historical problem or contemporary creation? |language=pl |publisher=Instytut Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej (Central and Eastern European Institute) |access-date=12 August 2016 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001115011/http://www.iesw.lublin.pl/projekty/pliki/IESW-121-02-07.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Pawełko-Czajka |first=Barbara |url=http://icbs.palityka.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/09-13_Pawelko.pdf |title=The Memory of Multicultural Tradition of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Thought of Vilnius Krajowcy |publisher=International Congress of Belarusian Studies |volume=3 |date=2014 |access-date=12 August 2016}}</ref> such as [[Ludwik Abramowicz (1879–1939)|Ludwik Abramowicz]], [[Konstancja Skirmuntt]], [[Michał Pius Römer]], Juozapas Albinas Herbačiauskas, [[Józef Mackiewicz]] and [[Stanisław Mackiewicz]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gałędek |first=Michał |url=https://www.academia.edu/3303424 |title=Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie w myśli politycznej Stanisława Cata-Mackiewicza |journal=Ostatni Obywatele Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego &#91;Last Citizens of Grand Duchy of Lithuania&#93;, Eds. T. Bujnicki, K. Stępnik, Lublin: University of Mariae Curie Skłodowska Press |date=January 2003 |trans-title=The Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Political Thought of Stanisław Cat-Mackiewicz |language=pl |publisher=academia.edu |access-date=12 August 2016 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406235417/https://www.academia.edu/3303424 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="VMU2011">{{cite web |first=Kauno |last=Diena |author2=Vaida Milkova |url=http://www.vdu.lt/en/milosz-s-anniversary-in-the-context-of-dumb-politics/ |title=Miłosz's Anniversary in the Context of Dumb Politics |publisher=Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania |date=5 May 2011 |access-date=12 August 2016}}</ref> This feeling was expressed in poetry by [[Czesław Miłosz]].<ref name="VMU2011"/>

[[File:Lithuanian soldiers during the Battle of Žalgiris reconstruction 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Medieval-like Lithuanian soldiers during the [[historical reenactment]] of the [[Battle of Grunwald]] in 2009]]
The [[Act of Independence of Lithuania]], signed by the [[Council of Lithuania]] on February 16, 1918, proclaimed that "the Council of Lithuania, as the sole representative of the Lithuanian nation, based on the recognized right to [[self-determination|national self-determination]], and on the [[Vilnius Conference]]'s resolution of September 18–23, 1917, proclaims the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania, founded on democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital, and declares the termination of all state ties which formerly bound this State to other nations".<ref>{{cite web |title=Act of 16 February |url=https://lrkt.lt/en/legal-information/lithuanias-independence-acts/act-of-16-february/365 |website=Official website of the [[Constitutional Court of Lithuania]]}}</ref> In the [[preamble]] of the most recent [[Constitution of Lithuania]], adopted during the [[1992 Lithuanian constitutional referendum]], the continuity of Lithuanian statehood is also stressed.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania |url=https://www.lrs.lt/home/Konstitucija/Constitution.htm |website=Official website of the [[Seimas]]}}</ref>

[[Pseudoscience|Pseudoscientific]] theory of [[litvinism]] was developed since the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bakaitė |first1=Jurga |title=LRT FAKTAI. Ar lietuviams reikia bijoti baltarusių nacionalinio atgimimo? |url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/1128520/lrt-faktai-ar-lietuviams-reikia-bijoti-baltarusiu-nacionalinio-atgimimo |website=Lrt.lt |access-date=4 July 2021 |language=lt |date=27 December 2019}}</ref>

Famous Lithuanian sports clubs [[BC Žalgiris]] and [[FK Žalgiris]] as well the [[Žalgiris Arena|largest indoor arena in Lithuania]] are named after the [[Battle of Grunwald]] ({{langx|lt|Žalgirio mūšis|label=none}}).

According to the 10th article of the ''Law on the State Flag and Other Flags of the Republic of Lithuania'' ({{langx|lt|Lietuvos Respublikos valstybės vėliavos ir kitų vėliavų įstatymas}}), adopted by the [[Seimas]], the [[Flag of Lithuania#State (historical) flag|historical Lithuanian state flag]] (with horseback knight on a red field, which initial design dates back to the reign of Grand Duke [[Vytautas the Great]])<ref>{{cite web |title=The Historical Lithuanian State Flag |url=https://grybauskaite.lrp.lt/en/institution/coat-of-arms-and-flags-of-lithuania/the-historical-lithuanian-state-flag/20806 |website=[[President of Lithuania]] ([[Dalia Grybauskaitė]]) |date=5 January 2015 |access-date=13 May 2021 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407060523/https://grybauskaite.lrp.lt/en/institution/coat-of-arms-and-flags-of-lithuania/the-historical-lithuanian-state-flag/20806 |url-status=dead }}</ref> must be constantly raised over the most important governmental buildings (e.g. [[Seimas Palace]], [[Government of Lithuania]] and its [[Government of Lithuania#Ministries|ministries]], Lithuanian [[court]]s, [[municipal council]] buildings) and significant historical buildings (e.g. [[Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania]], [[Trakai Island Castle]]), also in [[Kernavė]] and in the site of the [[Senieji Trakai Castle]].<ref>{{cite web |title=I-1497 Lietuvos Respublikos valstybės vėliavos ir kitų vėliavų įstatymas |url=https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.1488/asr |website=e-seimas.lrs.lt |publisher=[[Seimas]] |access-date=13 May 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>

==See also==
{{cmn|
* [[History of Belarus]]
* [[History of Lithuania]]
* [[History of Ukraine]]
* [[List of cities in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]
* [[List of heads of state of Lithuania]]
}}

==References==
<references>
*<ref name="LV">V. Spečiūnas. ''Lietuvos valdovai (XIII-XVIII a.): Enciklopedinis žinynas''. Vilnius, 2004. p. 15-78.</ref>
*<ref name="Letukiene">{{Cite journal |last1=Letukienė |first1=Nijolė |last2=Gineika |first2=Petras |title=Istorija. Politologija: kurso santrauka istorijos egzaminui |publisher=Alma littera |location=Vilnius |year=2003 |page=182 |language=lt}}. Statistical numbers, usually accepted in historiography (the sources, their treatment, the method of measuring is not discussed in the source), are given, according to which in 1260 there were about 0.27&nbsp;million Lithuanians out of a total population of 0.4&nbsp;million (or 67.5%). The size of the territory of the Grand Duchy was about 200 thousand km<sup>2</sup>. The following data on population is given in the sequence – year, total population in millions, territory, Lithuanian (inhabitants of ethnic Lithuania) part of population in millions: 1340 – 0.7, 350 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, 0.37; 1375 – 1.4, 700 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, 0.42; 1430 – 2.5, 930 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, 0.59 or 24%; 1490 – 3.8, 850 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, 0.55 or 14% or 1/7; 1522 – 2.365, 485 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, 0.7 or 30%; 1568 – 2.8, 570 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, 0.825 million or 30%; 1572, 1.71, 320 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, 0.85 million or 50%; 1770 – 4.84, 320 thousand km<sup>2</sup>, 1.39 or 29%; 1791 – 2.5, 250 km<sup>2</sup>, 1.4 or 56%; 1793 – 1.8, 132 km<sup>2</sup>, 1.35 or 75%</ref>
* <ref name="Lituanica">''Encyclopedia Lituanica''. Boston, 1970–1978, Vol.5 p.395</ref>
* <ref name="SLI">Senosios Lietuvos istorija p. 44–45</ref>
*<ref name="palikimas">J. Kiaupienė. Gediminaičiai ir Jogailaičiai prie Vytauto palikimo. Gimtoji istorija 2: Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (Lietuvos istorijos vadovėlis). CD. (2003) Elektroninės leidybos namai: Vilnius.</ref>
</references>

==Bibliography==
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* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Rusini (Gudowie) |encyclopedia=Kultura Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego. Analizy i obrazy |location=Kraków |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |author-link1=Edvardas Gudavičius |editor1-last=Ališauskas |editor1-first=Vytautas |editor2-last=Jovaiša |editor2-first=Liudas |editor3-last=Paknys |editor3-first=Mindaugas |editor4-last=Petrauskas |editor4-first=Rimvydas |editor5-last=Raila |editor5-first=Eligijus |publication-date=2006 |pages=544–560 |trans-title=Ruthenians (Gudais)}}
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==External links==
{{commons category|Grand Duchy of Lithuania}}
* [http://www.ldkistorija.lt/index.php?lang=2 History of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]
* [http://www.conflicts.rem33.com/images/The%20Baltic%20States/grd_lithuania.htm Cheryl Renshaw. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1253–1795]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080507190109/http://www.stankiewicz.e.pl/index.php?kat=8&sub=78 Grand Duchy of Lithuania]
* [http://www.lyczkowski.net/en/map/grand-duchy-of-lithuania.html Grand Duchy of Lithuania administrative map]
* [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CL%5CI%5CLithuanian6Ruthenianstate.htm Lithuanian-Ruthenian state] at the [[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]
* [https://www.fsf.vu.lt/users/zennor/pub/NorkusWorldPoliticalScienceReview.pdf Zenonas Norkus. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Retrospective of Comparative Historical Sociology of Empires]

{{Lithuania topics}}
{{Belarus topics}}
{{Ukraine topics}}
{{Empires}}
{{Portal bar|History|Lithuania|Belarus|Ukraine}}
{{Authority control}}

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