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House of Gediminas is the immediate family of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and the beginning of the Gediminid dynasty that ruled Lithuania since ca. 1285. The last Gediminid to rule Poland-Lithuania was Sigismund II Augustus who died in 1572. The dynasty gave rise to many noble families in Lithuania, Poland and Russia.
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[edit] Origins
Due to scarce sources the origins of the family are not clear and are subject to scholarly debates. For a long time only two versions of origin were available. Chronicles, written well after Gediminas' death by the Teutonic Knights, a long-standing enemy of Lithuania, imagined that Gediminas was ostler of Grand Duke Vytenis.[1] Supposedly Gediminas killed his master and assumed the throne. Another version, also produced in much later years, proclaimed that Gediminas was son of Vytenis.[1] However, it is clear that this cannot be the case because the two were of about the same age. In 1868 a letter dated 1323 by Council of Riga was published. It contained a little note calling Vytenis "brother and predecessor" of Gediminas.[1] Since that time history textbooks almost universally represent Vytenis and Gediminas as brothers. Historian Tomas Baranauskas believes that the word "brother" was taken too literally and that the two were in fact cousins.[1]
It is known that Vytenis was son of Butvydas, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1291 to 1295. However no hard evidence exists about Butvydas' father and Gediminas' grandfather. While some genealogies give Traidenis as the ancestor,[2] it is very unlikely because later marriage of Gediminas daughter Eufemija and Traidenis great-grandson would have violated canon law and would have been noticed by the pope.[3] More recent research shows it might have been Skalmantas. In 1975 historian Jerzy Ochmański noted that Zadonshchina, a poem from the end of the 13th century, has lines where two sons of Algirdas name their ancestors: "We are two brothers – sons of Algirdas, and grandsons of Gediminas, and descendant of Skalmantas."[1] Ochmański assumed that the poem skipped a generation, that is Butvydas, and jumped to the unknown ancestor. This led to believe that Skalmantas is the long-sought ancestor of the Gediminids.[4] Other sources mention Skalmatas, the last ruler of Sudovians, who could not resist the advancing Teutonic Knights and his tribe was subjugated.[5] He died after 1280 and left three sons, and it has been suggested that he might be the same person.[3] However no other facts support this hypothesis. Tomas Baranauskas does not agree that the poem skipped a generation and believes that Skalmantas was brother of Butvydas - thus Vytenis and Gediminas were cousins.[1]
[edit] Siblings of Gediminas
[edit] Children of Gediminas
[edit] Graphic representation
| Skalmantas ? | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Butigeidis Duke of Lithuania |
Butvydas Duke of Lithuania |
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| Fiodor* Duke of Kiev |
Vainius Duke of Polatsk |
Vytenis Duke of Lithuania |
Gediminas Duke of Lithuania |
Margiris ? Duke of Samogitia |
NN daughter ? | ||||||||||||||||||
| Liubka | Žvelgutis | NN son | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Marija* Duchess of Tver ? |
Aldona Baptized: Ona Queen of Poland |
Danutė Baptized: Elzbieta Duchess of Plock |
Eufemija Baptized: Marija Duchess of Halych |
Aigustė Baptized: Anastasia Duchess of Moscow |
NN daughter ? Duchess of Pskov ? |
||||||||||||||||||
| Vytautas ? Duke of Trakai ? |
Manvydas Duke of Slonim |
Narimantas Baptized: Gleb Duke of Pinsk |
Algirdas Duke of Lithuania |
Kęstutis Duke of Lithuania |
Jaunutis Baptized: Iwan Duke of Lithuania |
Karijotas Baptized: Michal Duke of Navahrudak |
Liubartas Baptized: Dymitr Duke of Volhynia |
||||||||||||||||
| 1 son | 3 sons | 20 children | 10 children | 2 sons | 6 or 7 sons | 3 sons | |||||||||||||||||
* Pagan name unknown; Christian (baptism) name provided Main source: (Lithuanian) Nikžentaitis, Alvydas (1989). Gediminas. Vilnius: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija, 7-16. |
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[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f (Lithuanian) Baranauskas, Tomas (1996-11-23). "Gedimino kilmė". Voruta 44 (278). Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ (Russian) (1995) Families of the Nobility of the Russian Empire. Second Volume. Princes. St. Petersburg: Vesti. ISBN ISBN 5-86153-012-2.
- ^ a b Rowell, C. S. (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-central Europe, 1295-1345, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press, 52-54. ISBN 9780521450119. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
- ^ Jokimaitis, Rimantas; Algis Kasperavičius, Eugenijus Manelis, Beatričė Stukienė (1999). World and Lithuanian History. VI-XVIII centuries, The World and Lithuania. Vilnius: Kronta, 118-135. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ "Skomantas". Encyclopedia Lituanica V: 210. (1970-1978). Ed. Simas Sužiedėlis. Boston, Massachusetts: Juozas Kapočius. LCC 74-114275.
- ^ Kiaupa, Zigmantas; Jūratė Kiaupienė, Albinas Kunevičius [1995] (2000). The History of Lithuania Before 1795, English, Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of History, 114. ISBN 9986-810-13-2.
[edit] See also
- Palemonids – legendary dynasty of Romans who settled in Lithuania
- House of Mindaugas – the first royal family of Lithuania
