Home > Vytautas the Great
Vytautas the Great (Vitovt, Witold) (sometimes - Aleksandras I ) 1352- 1430 was Lithuanian grand duke, ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was the son of Kestutis and the cousin of Ladislaus II of Poland (Jagiello, Jogaila). He was prince of Hrodno 1370- 1382, prince of Lutsk 1378- 1389. In 1373- 1382 he waged war against Jogaila, backing his father Kestutis. He was defeated and imprisoned, but he was able to escape to the Teutonic knights in 1382. After participating in several raids against Jogaila, he reconciliated with him later and participated in the signing of Union of Kreva with Poland in 1385Events August 14 Battle of Aljubarrota between the Portuguese under John I of Portugal and the Castilians, under John I of Castile. The decisive Portuguese victory garantees independence and ends the 1383-1385 Crisis John I of Portugal becomes the first P, and was baptised in 1386Events End of reign of Poland by Capet-Anjou family. Dan I is succeeded as ruler of Wallachia by Mircea the Old. The Viking colony of Greenland submits itself to the Norwegian king. Births March 12 Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Ashikaga shogun Deaths 1386. in the CatholicGeneral meaning Catholic means universal or whole''. With respect to the Christian Church, the early Christians used the term to refer to the whole undivided church. It is in that sense that all Christians today claim ownership of the term, including Prot rite (he was also earlier baptised in orthodox rite), getting the name Alexander.
Later he escaped to Teutonic knights twice, until finally he became governor of Lithuania in 1392Events Korean founder of the Joseon Dynasty General Yi Seonggye leads a coup d'etat overthrowing the kingdom of Goryeo and founding the kingdom of Joseon. Afyonkarahisar in western Turkey is conquered by Sultan Beyazid I. Louis de Valois is created the 1s. He conducted his own policy there, and he got support from popeThis article is about the Catholic pope. See Pope (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word pope. The Pope is the Catholic bishop and patriarch of Rome, and ex officio supreme spiritual leader of what might be called the Catholic Communion (that is, Boniface IX for organising a crusade against MongolsThe Mongols are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China, particularly Inner Mongolia. They currently number about 8. 5 million and speak the Mongol language. They form one of the 56 nationalities officially recognized by. After being defeated by the Golden Horde at the Battle of Vorskla in 1399, he again improved relations with Poland, resulting in the union of Vilnius-Radom in 1401. He received the title of Grand duke of Lithuania in the same year. He conquered Smolensk in 1404. He waged war in 1406- 1408 against Muscovy, ending in a peace at Ugra. He also backed an uprising against the Teutonic Order in Samogitia. In 1410 he commanded the Lithuanian army in the battle of Grunwald (also called the battle of Tannenberg or Žalgirio mušis). As a result of the First Treaty of Torun in 1413, he received Samogitia (Lower Lithuania) for his lifetime (Only after another war with the Teutonic Order in 1422, Samogitia was returned to Lithuania for eternal times). He was one of the creators of union of Horodlo with Poland ( 1413)
He backed economic development of his state and introduced many reforms. Under his rule Lithuania slowly became more centralised, as local princes were replaced by the duke's governors. He tried to receive the title of king with the backing of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, but the envoys who were transporting the crown were stopped by Polish magnates in 1429.
Lithuanian rulers
