The exact date of birth of Vytautas is unknown. According to secondary descriptions in the annals, historians came to the conclusion that he was born around 1350. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt was the son of Keistut and the nephew of Olgerd and at birth did not lay claim to power over the whole state. He proved his supreme position among compatriots for many years in numerous civil and external wars.
Power struggle
In 1377, Uncle Vytautas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Algerd, died. Power passed to his son Jagiello. Keistut, who was the Trok prince, recognized his nephew as the elder and returned to his urgent business - the fight against the Catholic crusaders who created their military orders in the Baltic states. Jagiello, however, was afraid of his uncle. In addition, his paranoia was strengthened by the advice of his associates.
Jagiello went into an alliance with the crusaders to deprive Keistut of his inheritance. Soon a civil war broke out, in which the future Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas also took part. In 1381, together with his father, he defeated Jagiello. Keistut briefly became the ruler of the whole country, and Vitovt became his heir.
Civil War
Already in the following year, 1382, an uprising broke out in Lithuania against the government of Keistut. Together with Vitovt he was captured and was strangled in a dungeon. The son fled to the Teutonic Order. Three years later, Poland and Lithuania entered into a union, thus virtually merging into one state. Jagiello moved his capital to Krakow. Then Vytautas obtained from his cousin the return of the Grand Duchy to him as governor.
However, soon the conflict between them broke out with renewed vigor. Vytautas again had to flee to the crusaders, with whom he lived for three years, preparing for a triumphant return to his homeland. In 1392, after a series of battles, the brothers signed the Ostrov Agreement. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas regained his title again. Formally, he recognized himself as a vassal of the Polish king, but historians consider precisely 1392 the date of the beginning of his de facto independent rule.
Campaigns against the Tatars
After the end of the civil war, Vytautas could finally pay attention to Lithuania’s external enemies. On the southern borders, his state bordered on the steppe, which was under the control of the Tatars. In 1395, the Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh suffered a crushing defeat from the army of Tamerlane. He fled to Vilna, seeking refuge there.
What did Vitovt do in this situation? The Grand Duke of Lithuania, whose biography is an example of an active military leader who fought with all dangerous neighbors, could not miss such a chance. He sheltered Tokhtamysh and began to gather troops for future raids on the steppe. In 1397, the army of the prince crossed the Don and, not meeting much resistance, robbed and destroyed the Tatars' sites. When the weakened horde finally decided to battle, the advantage was clearly not in its favor. The Lithuanians defeated the steppes and took more than a thousand prisoners.
But Vitovt, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, did not stop there. Interesting facts about the Crimea prompted him to go to this uncharted peninsula, where the opponents of Tokhtamysh wandered and stored their wealth. Before, the Lithuanian army had never climbed so far deep into enemy territory. Vytautas hoped that his success would inspire the pope to declare a pan-European crusade against the Tatars. If such a campaign really began and ended with success, then the prince could count on a royal title and a significant increase in territories in the east.
Battle of Vorskla
However, the crusade under the patronage of Rome did not happen. Meanwhile, the Tatars were able to settle internal conflicts and unite in order to defeat Western enemies. Stepnyakov was led by Khan Timur Kutlug and his Temnik Edigey. They gathered a large army of several tens of thousands of soldiers.
What could he oppose to them and whom could Vitovt, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, collect under his banners? The domestic policy of the ruler allowed him to find a compromise between different parts of Lithuanian society. First of all, he faced the dilemma of relations with the Russian Orthodox population living in a larger area of the country. Vytautas patronized these people and their governors, thanks to which he was able to earn a good reputation.
His ideas about a punitive campaign against the Tatars found a response not only among his Orthodox population, but also among some independent Russian princes. Together with Vitovt, the Smolensk ruler agreed to speak. Significant help also came from Poland and even the Teutonic Order. These Catholics agreed to act as a united front against the steppes. Finally, with Vitovt there were Tatars loyal to Tokhtamysh.
An army of about 40 thousand men advanced east in 1399. The decisive battle took place on Vorskla - a tributary of the Dnieper. The army of Vytautas was the first to launch an offensive, and she even managed to squeeze out the Tatars. However, the second half of the nomads made a maneuver in advance, bypassing the Lithuanian squad. At a decisive moment, the Tatars hit the rear of the Christians and pressed them to the river. The battle ended in defeat. Vytautas himself was wounded and barely escaped. After this failure, he had to forget about expansion into the steppe and the royal title. Many Russian and Lithuanian princes died in the battle: the rulers of Polotsk, Bryansk and Smolensk.
New Union with Poland
After the defeat in Vorskla, Vitovt’s power was in jeopardy. He lost many supporters, while in Lithuania his new opponent became more active. They became Svidrigailo Olgerdovich - the younger brother of Jagiello and the prince of Vitebsk. Under these conditions, Vitovt decided to conclude a new union with Poland. At the end of 1400, he met with Jagiello near Grodno, where the monarchs signed a document marking a new stage in the development of relations between Krakow and Vilna.
What was the essence of the agreement and why was it so important? Jagiello recognized Vitovt’s lifelong ownership of Lithuania, which actually deprived Svidrigailo of any rights to the throne. His struggle became meaningless and obviously doomed to failure. For his part, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, after his death, undertook to transfer the throne to Jagiello or his heir. If it were not for him, then the throne of Lithuania would have passed to the person elected by the vote of the aristocrats. At the same time, the Poles guaranteed equal rights to Russian Orthodox boyars. This treaty became known as the Vilnius-Radom Union.
Conflict with German Knights
The lost war with the Tatars was a strong, but not fatal blow. Soon Vitovt recovered from her. The focus of his attention was on relations with the Teutonic Order. For many decades, the Crusaders seized land from Lithuania and Poland, while they were engaged in civil wars. Now the monarchs were allies, which means that they were given the opportunity for coordinated allied actions against the Teutonic Order.
Vytautas was interested in returning the lands of zemait, and Jagiello wanted to get back East Pomerania, as well as Helminsky and Mikhalovsky lands. The war began with an uprising in emaitija. Dissatisfied with the Teutonic rule was supported by Vitovt. The Grand Duke of Lithuania, whose brief biography is a series of ongoing military campaigns, decided that this was the best chance to launch an attack on the crusaders.
Campaign against the Teutonic Order
At the first stage of the war, both sides of the conflict acted indecisively. The only serious success of the Poles and Lithuanians was the capture of the Bydgoszcz fortress. Soon the opponents entered into a peace treaty. However, he was short-lived, being a respite necessary for opponents in order to mobilize their reserves. The Master of the Order, Ulrich von Junginen, enlisted the support of the Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxembourg. Another fuel for the Germans was foreign mercenaries. By the time of the resumption of hostilities, the crusaders had an army of 60 thousand people.
The Polish army consisted mainly of feudal lords who came to the militia along with their small detachments. The Lithuanians were supported by the Czechs. Their leader was Jan ižka - the future famous leader of the Hussites. Were on the side of Vytautas and the Russian units, including the Prince of Novgorod of Novgorod Lugveni. At the military council, the Allies decided to take different routes to Marienburg, the capital of the Teutonic Order. The coalition possessed forces approximately equal to those of the crusaders (about 60 thousand people).
Battle of Grunwald
If at the first stage of the war the German knights invaded Poland, now the Poles and Lithuanians themselves attacked the possessions of the Order. July 15, 1410 there was a general battle of the Great War (as it was called in the Lithuanian chronicles). The Allied Army was commanded by Jagiello and Vytautas. The Grand Duke of Lithuania, whose portrait photo is in every textbook on European medieval history, was already a legend among his contemporaries. All compatriots and even his opponents admired the stubbornness and persistence of the ruler, thanks to which he achieved his goals. Now he was one step away from ridding his country of danger in the person of the Catholic crusaders forever.
The place of the decisive battle was the vicinity of the town of Grunwald. The Germans were the first to arrive here. They strengthened their own positions, dug masked pit-traps, placed guns and shooters and began to wait for the enemy. Finally, the Poles and Lithuanians arrived and took their positions. Jagiello was in no hurry to attack first. However, at the crucial moment Vytautas decided to attack the Germans without the order of the Polish king. He moved his units forward, immediately after the crusaders opened fire on their opponents from all their bombers.
About an hour, the knights tried to repel the attacks of the Lithuanians and Tatars (Vytautas also had Crimean cavalry in the service). Finally, the Order Marshal Friedrich von Wallenrod ordered a counterattack. The Lithuanians began to retreat. It was a well-thought-out maneuver initiated by Vytautas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He saw the death of the German army surrounded by the crusaders who had lost their organized system. Everything happened exactly as the military commander intended. At first, the knights decided that the Lithuanians were running in a panic, and rushed after them at full speed, while losing their battle formation. As soon as part of the German army reached the camp of Vitovt, the prince gave the order to close the ranks and surround the enemy. This mission was placed on the shoulders of the Novgorod prince of Lugvenia. He coped with his task.
Meanwhile, most of the Teutonic army fought with the Poles. It seemed that the victory was already in the hands of the Germans. The warriors of Jagiello even lost the Krakow banner, however, it was soon returned to its place. The outcome of the battle was decided by introducing additional reserves into the battle, which were waiting in the rear. The Poles used them more effectively than the crusaders. In addition, Vytautas’s cavalry unexpectedly hit the Germans from their flank, which dealt a fatal blow to the Order’s army. Magister Jungingen died on the battlefield.
The Allies won, and this success predetermined the outcome of the war. Then followed the unsuccessful siege of Marienburg. Although it had to be removed, the Germans agreed to give up all the land they had previously seized and to pay a huge indemnity. The Great War won marked the future dominant position in the Union of Poland and Lithuania region and the decline of Catholic orders in the Baltic states. The undoubted hero returned to his homeland Vitovt. The Grand Duke of Lithuania got back Zemaitiya, as he wanted on the eve of the conflict.
Relations with Moscow
Vitovt had her only daughter, Sophia. He married her to Prince of Moscow Vasily I, the son of Dmitry Donskoy. The ruler of Lithuania tried to maintain friendly relations with his son-in-law, although this was hindered by his desire to continue expanding eastward at the expense of Russian lands. The two states became opposite political centers, each of which could unite the East Slavic lands. Vytautas was even baptized according to the Orthodox rite, however, later he converted to Catholicism.
The stumbling block for Moscow-Lithuanian relations was Smolensk. The Grand Duke of Lithuania, Russian Vytautas, tried several times to join him. He also actively intervened in the domestic politics of the Pskov and Novgorod republics. They sent Vitovt an army, as was the case with the Battle of Grunwald. Due to Russian lands, the Grand Duke expanded the borders of his state to the banks of the Oka and Mozhaysk near Moscow.
The grandson of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas was the son of Basil I Basil the Dark II. He ascended the throne as a child in 1425. His father understood that Moscow had too little strength to fight the Lithuanians and Tatars at the same time. Therefore, he strongly conceded to his father-in-law in border disputes, avoiding war. Basil I, dying, asked Vytautas to protect the new prince from encroachments on power. Grandson of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas was Vasily II. It was this kinship that did not allow applicants to the throne to stage a coup.
Last years
Towards the end of his life, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas was the oldest monarch in Europe. In 1430, he was 80 years old. On the eve of the anniversary, the governor held a congress in Lutsk, to which he invited Jagiello, Sigismund of Luxembourg (who soon became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire), papal legates, and numerous Russian princes. The mere fact that so many powerful rulers gathered at this event already suggests that Vitovt was one of the most significant political figures of his time.
At the Lutsk Congress, the prospects for the coronation of an old man were discussed. If he took the title, equivalent to that which Jagiello had, then Lithuania would finally become independent and receive protection in the West. However, the Poles resisted coronation. It never happened. Vytautas died shortly after the congress in Troki, October 27, 1430. The place of his burial is still unknown. Vytautas was the Grand Duke of Lithuania for 38 years. It was during his reign that this state flourished. The following princes became completely dependent on Poland. The union of the two countries was called the Commonwealth.