Vytenis
gigatos | March 30, 2022
Summary
Vytenis (Polish: Witenes) (1260 – 1316) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1295 to 1316.
He was the first ruler of the Gediminid dynasty to rule for a considerable period of time. By the beginning of the 14th century, his reputation surpassed that of Gediminas, considered by modern historians to be one of the most influential Lithuanian rulers. Vytenis”s rule was marked by constant wars in an attempt to expand the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the detriment of the Ruthenians, the Masovians, and the Teutonic Order.
Vytenis is mentioned for the first time in 1292 during, the Masovian campaign started by his father Butvydas: an army of 800 men reached Łęczyca. After the death of Butvydas, in about 1295, Vytenis succeeded him in the office of Grand Duke. The new ruler was soon involved in disputes of succession in Poland and sided with Boleslaus II of Masovia, married to the Lithuanian duchess Gaudemunda: the other faction was led by Ladislaus I of Poland. In Ruthenia, Vytenis managed to regain the lands lost after the assassination of Mindaugas and to subdue the principalities of Pinsk and Turaŭ.
The crusade against pagan Lithuania and Samogitia intensified and a new chapter began when in 1290 the Prussians and other Baltic tribes were conquered by the Teutonic Knights and the Order of Livonia. During the reign of Vytenis, a network of defensive castles was established and strengthened along the banks of the Neman and Jūra rivers; the Knights had built their own castles exactly on the opposite bank. During this period, the Teutonic Order was attempting to establish a corridor along the Baltic Sea in Samogitia to join the Livonian Order to the north. During the reign of Vytenis, the Teutonic Knights organized about 20 raids into Samogitia. The Grand Duke took countermeasures to undermine the influence of the local Samogitian nobles, as evidenced by an increasing number of traitors and refugees. It seems that Gediminas was helping Vytenis to control the nobles, who seriously considered resettling in Prussia as vassals of the Teutonic Knights. The Order also consolidated its control over Semigallia, where the Lithuanians had stationed their garrisons after the Battle of Aizkraukle. The Order captured the castle of Dynaburg, controlled by the Lithuanians since 1281, in 1313.
One of the most important achievements of Vytenis was the alliance with the city of Riga. In 1297 the differences between the Archbishop of Riga, the bourgeoisie of Riga and the Livonian Order triggered an internal war. Vytenis offered help to the citizens of Riga and even made vague promises to convert to Christianity, in order to ease religious tensions between pagan soldiers and Christian residents. Vytenis successfully invaded Livonia, destroyed Karkus Castle north of Riga, and defeated the order at the Battle of Turaida, in which Livonian Landmeister Bruno and 22 knights also died. When Livonia was secured, Vytenis executed eleven campaigns in the territories of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia in 1298-1313, including a particularly bloody one in Brodnica, where the entire population was massacred. The Grand Duke was aided by a historical event in 1308 involving the Teutonic Knights: when they conquered Pomerania, territorial disputes arose with Poland.
Positioned in a fortification in the immediate vicinity of the city, a Lithuanian garrison remained in Riga until 1313, when the city”s residents surrendered it to the Order and sent the pagans away. Good relations with Riga fostered economic relations and consolidated Lithuanian influence in the Daugava Basin, especially after Polack, an important trading center, surrendered to Lithuania in 1307. Thanks to the close contacts with Riga, Vytenis invited the Franciscan friars not to close the Catholic church located in Navahrudak so that German merchants could go there in 1312. In the religious sphere, it seems that Vytenis had laid the foundation for the creation of the metropolitan see of Lithuania between 1315 and 1317. The office of metropolitan was functional in the competition between Vilnius and Moscow for religious supremacy in Ruthenia.
Vytenis passed away in about 1315 without any heirs. The circumstances of his death are not known. For a long time Russian historians claimed that he was struck by lightning, based on a source of the time. However, it is possible that this was a spelling error on the part of the scribe, who was repeating a pro-Teutonic version of the story that Gediminas killed his master Vytenis in order to usurp his throne. Vytenis is last mentioned in September 1315 during the unsuccessful siege of Christmemel, the first castle built by the Teutonic Knights on the right bank of the Nemunas River. Historians know of only one son of Vytenis, a certain Žvelgutis (sometimes Swalegote), who probably died before his father. Given the background, Gediminas, Vytenis” brother, was able to become the Grand Duke of Lithuania. During his reign, the Grand Duchy became an important military and political power in Eastern Europe.
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