The Belarusian Lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
At that time, the principalities that occupied the territory of present Belarus were gravely menaced by the dismal prospects of being invaded by the Mongols and Tatars or attacked by the Crusaders. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL), which came into being in the 13th century and incorporated most of Belarusian lands, managed to repulse the enemies. The core of the new entity included the territory of the Middle Ponemonye (the middle reaches of the Neman River) and the lands along the River Vilia. According to ancient chronicles the town of Novogrudok (situated in the western part of the present territory of Belarus) was the first capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Grand Duke of Lithuania, Mindovg, was invited to rule Novogrudok. Once he came to power, the fusion of Slavonic lands around the town began.
During the 14th century the Duchy absorbed Brest lands, Turov and Pinsk lands and the Principality of Mstislavl. The principalities of Polotsk and Vitebsk acceded to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as autonomous territories. In the 15th century the GDL capital was relocated to the town of Vilno. The official name of the state at that time was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus and Samogitia. By the 16th century the country nurtured the Belarusian ethnicity and fuelled the formation of the Belarusian language.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania gradually became part of the European political system and gained allies. The political situation at that time made the Kingdom of Poland its closest ally. The relationship between the two states evolved from a personal union of their monarchs to the actual union of the countries. The first step in this respect was the Union of Krewo which envisaged the marriage of Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, to Jadwiga, the Queen of Poland. The final step was the Union of Lublin signed in 1569, which translated into the emergence of a new federative state, Rzeczpospolita (Commonwealth).
Main Historic Events
1253 | Mindovg was crowned king of Lithuania in the name of Pope Innocent IV, who called him “special son of the Holy Roman Church”. Mindovg united the Lithuanian Lands and joined a part of neighbouring ones to them. |
1294 | Grand Duke Vytenis conquered Zhemaitia. |
1307 | The Polotsk Principality entering the GDL as an autonomy according to the agreement. |
1323 | The town of Vilnius (former Krivoy town or Krivich-town) was declared the capital of the GDL. |
1345-1377 | The reign of Olgerd in the GDL. During his reign the territory of the Duchy almost doubled. |
1362 | The victory of the GDL warriors headed by Olgerd over united troops of the Golden Horde near the river of Sinie Vody (Blue Waters) (currently the Siniukha river). As a result the GDL joins Dniester and Uzhni Bug basins lands, the lands of Kiev, Chernigov-Seversk, Volynsk, Podolsk and Pereyaslavsk and the Smolensk Principality. |
1377-1392 | The reign of Jagailo Olgerdovich in the GDL (Yakov /Jacob in orthodox religion, the king of Poland named Vladislav the Second, the founder of the Jagiellon dynasty). |
1384 | The emblem of “Pogonya” (the Chase) becomes the emblem of the GDL. |
1385 | The Union of Krewo was a set of promises of Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania for marriage between him and the underage reigning Queen Jadwiga of Poland. Through this marriage a personal or dynastic union between Poland and Lithuania was created. |
1410 | The Battle of Grunwald – the defeat of the Teutonic Order by united armies of the Polish Kingdom and GDL. |
1468 | Edition of the Casimir Code – one of the first codifications of the traditional customs of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Code was written in Belarusian. |
1492–1537 | Wars of the Moscow State with the GDL. |
1529 | Approval and enactment of the 1st Statute of the GDL – the code of feudal rights. It presents a monument of the Belarusian writing, language and juridical thought. |
1557 | There was adopted “Ustav Na Voloki” which regulated the land reform having been implementing since the late 15 century. The aim of the document was the division of farmlands into areas of 21 ha. Each family was supposed to obtain one of the areas. |
1558-1583 | The Livonian War – the struggle among Russia, Sweden, Poland and the GDL for the Baltic States. |
1566 | Approval of the 2nd Statute of the GDL – the code of feudal rights, monument of the Belarusian writing, language and juridical thought. |
1569 | The Union of Lublin It was signed July 1, 1569, in Lublin, Poland, and created a single State, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth was ruled by a single elected monarch who carried out the duties of Polish King and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and governed with a common Senate and parliament (the Sejm).The Union was an evolutionary stage in the Polish-Lithuanian alliance and personal union, necessitated also by Lithuania's dangerous position in wars with Russia. |
