Information AboutSvitrigaila |
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REBELLION AGAINST VYTAUTAS He was born to Algirdas and Uliana Of Tver . He was baptized by his father into Eastern Orthodoxy . At the age of 11, he (together with his brother Jogaila ) was converted in Krakow into Roman Catholicism and changed his first name from Lev to Boleslaw. At that time, the town of Polotsk was the capital of his lands. In 1392 , however, Svitrigaila made an ill-fated attempt to seize neighbouring Vitebsk , but was ousted by his cousin Vytautas of Lithuania to Prussia . While living abroad, Svitrigaila sided with the Teutonic Knights in their prolonged struggle against Vytautas. In 1400 , he was allowed to return to Lithuania , receiving Podolia as his demesne. Four years later, he moved eastward to Severia . DEFECTION TO MOSCOW AND ITS AFTERMATH It is believed that Svitrigaila sympathized with the Russians, being born of a Russian mother ( Ulyana Of Tver ) and married to a princess of Tver . When the war broke out between Vytautas and his Muscovite Son-in-law in 1408 , Svitrigaila cast his lot with the latter, surrendering all the Severia n towns to the Russian army and defecting to Moscow . During his brief stay in Muscovy , Svitrigaila was rewarded with Volokolamsk and several other towns and put in charge of the Russian army operating against Vytautas. Lacking any military talent, he failed to win a single battle and, on hearing about the invasion of Edigu , fled to Lithuania, pillaging Serpukhov on his way. Back in Lithuania, he was apprehended as an inveterate traitor and a dangerous pretender and imprisoned in the castle of Kremenets for 9 years. Finally delivered by Prince Daniel of Ostrog , he escaped to Hungary . It was through mediation of the Holy Roman Emperor and his brother Jagailo that he was allowed to return to Lithuania as a sovereign ruler of Severia in 1420 . GRAND DUKE OF LITHUANIA Upon Vytautas 's death in 1430 , Svitrigaila immediately pressed his claim to the throne. He was supported by the Ruthenian and Orthodox population of the Grand Duchy Of Lithuania , while the Lithuanian and Catholic population advanced Zygimantas Kestutaitis as a rival candidate. At last Svitrigaila prevailed over his rivals, and was crowned the Grand Duke of Lithuania in Vilnius . Svitrigaila started his reign by proclaiming full independence of the Grand Duchy from Poland and granting important privileges to his Orthodox subjects. That enraged Poland, which declared a war on Svitrigaila and occupied the Podolia n towns, notably the key castle of Kamenets-Podolsky . Svitrigaila sought help in the West and instigated the Teutonic Knights invasion of Poland. Despite the successful operations of his generals, he eschewed a decisive battle and signed an armistice in Lutsk , obtaining from Poland full recognition of his claims. DOWNFALL AND LATER YEARS In 1432 , however, Zygimantas of Starodub raised a rebellion and, supported by ethnic Lithuanians and Poles, overran much of the Grand Duchy. Svitrigaila, constrained to leave the Lithuanian capital for Vitebsk , was thoroughly defeated near the Svyataya River in 1435 . Despite continued support from Ruthenians in Kiev , Podolia , and Volhynia , he fled to Krakow , sueing for peace. After his proposals were dismissed, Svitrigaila had to leave the country for ignominious exile in Wallachia , where he was reported to have become a shepherd. In 1440 Zygimantas was assassinated by Lithuanian nobles, and Svitrigaila returned to rule Podolia and Volhynia . At the age of 70 (or 85, according to some sources), he was too old to resume his endless struggle for the Lithuanian throne. Shortly before his death in Lutsk in 1452 , he bequeathed all his possessions in Podolia and Volynia to the Lithuanian state. TITLES Prince of Vitebsk 1392 – 1393 , 1430 – 1436 , Podolia 1400 – 1402 , Novhorod-Siversky 1404 – 1408 , 1420 – 1438 , Chernihiv 1419 – 1430 , Grand Prince of Lithuania ( 1430 - 1432 ), Pan of Volhynia 1437 – 1452 . RELATIVES Mother : Uliana Of Tver 1350 (ca 1325 – 1392 ) Father : Algirdas (ca 1296 – end of May 1377 ), Grand Prince of Lithuania 1345 – 1377 Brothers : Demetrius I Starszy ( 1327 – 12 May 1399 Battle Of The Worskla River ), Prince of Trubczewsk 1357 – 1399 , Briansk 1357 – 1379 , Starodub 1370 – 1399 , Druck 13?? – 13?? : Andrzej ( 14th Century – 12 August 1399 ), Prince of Polock 1342 – 1387 , Pskow 1341 – 1343 , 134? – 1348 , 1377 – 1379 , 1394 – 1396 : Konstanty ( 14th Century – before 30 October 1390 ), Prince of Czartorysk : Wlodzimierz ( 14th Century – after October 1398 ), Prince of Kiev , Kopyl , Slutsk : Fiodor (Theodore; 14th Century – 1399 ), Prince of Rylsk 1370 – 1399 , Ratnie 1387 – 1394 , Briansk 1393 : Wladyslaw II Jagiello (ca 1351 – 1 June 1434 Grodek Jagiellonski ), Grand Prince of Lithuania 1377 – 1381 , 1382 – 1392 , King of Poland 1386 – 1434 : Skirgiello (Iwan; ca 1354 – 11 January 1397 Kijow ), Prince of Troki 1382 – 1395 , Kijow 1395 – 1397 , Regent of Lithuania : Korybut (Dymitr; after 1350 – after 1404 ), Prince of Novgorod-Seversky 1386 – 1392 / 93 : Lingweni (Szymon; 14th Century – after 19 June 1431 ), Prince of Mscislaw , regent of Great Novgorod : Korygiello (Kazimierz; after 1350 – 1390 ), Prince of Mscislaw , regent : Wigunt (Aleksander; after 1350 – 28 June 1392 ), Prince of Kiernow Sisters : Fiedora (born 14th Century ) : Nowosielska ( 14th Century – ?) : Agrypina (Maria; 14th Century – 1393 ) : Kenna (Joanna; ca 1350 – 27 April 1368 ), Princess of Slupsk : Helena (after 1350 – 15 September 1438 ), Princess of Borowsko-Sierpuchowsk and third part of the Principality of Moscow , Princess of Wolock and Rzhev 1389 – 1405 , Horodeck and Uglich 1405 – 1410 : Maria (after 1350 - ?), Princess of Lithuania : Wilheida (Katarzyna; after 1350 – after 4 April 1422 ), Princess of Lithuania : Aleksandra (after 1350 – 19 June 1434 ), Princess of Czersk , Rawsk , Sochaczewsk , Plock , Gostynin , Plonsk , Wisk , Kujawy and Belsk : Jadwiga (after 1350 – after 1407 ), Princess of Oswiecim 1395 / 96 – 1405 SEE ALSO : Gediminaiciai : List Of Belarusian Rulers : List Of Lithuanian Rulers |