By Gloria O’Brien
When
Gediminas had seven sons:
Montvydas and Narimantas, born to his first
wife, Vida; Algirdas and Kestutis, born to his second wife, Olga; and
Liubartas, Karijotas and Jaunutis, born to his third wife, Jieva. Among
Gediminas’ daughters, important in building dynastic relationships with
other rulers, were Aldona, Elzbieta, Maria, Eufemia,and
Aigusta/Anastasia.
Gediminas ruled by
partitioning
It soon became obvious that
Jaunutis was not qualified to be Grand Duke and ruler of all
Algirdas and Kestutis were
full brothers in every sense of those words. They shared the same father
and mother, they were close in age, they shared a
commonality of purpose, respected and supported each other and undoubtedly
shared a bond of brotherly affection. There appears to have never been a
disagreement or misunderstanding between them, and they worked in such complete
harmony that many look upon their era as a diarchy, or the rule of two.
However, it was always plain that it was Algirdas who held the role and title
of Grand Duke, though Kestutis could have been called his alter ego.
Kestutis’ plans and decisions were always trusted and accepted and looked
upon as coming from Algirdas himself. In practice, Algirdas held the
state and Kestutis, the noble warrior, was responsible for defending
The 13th and 14th centuries
brought a scourge to the Lithuanian populace, in the form of hordes of
well-equipped mounted knights, many wearing
white garments decorated with large black crosses, and fired with a lust for
battle that had been engendered by the Crusades. The struggle against the
Saracens had largely petered out by then, but the bloody zeal that drove those
wars survived among
The medieval world considered
the pagan
The Teutonic Knights,
formally named the German Order of the Hospital of the Virgin Mary in
Algirdas and his brother
Kestutis were mature, experienced warriors and capably led the resistance and
retaliation against the constant attacks visited upon the Lithuanian people by
the knights and their allies. Kestutis was well-known for his valor and
daring, for his determination and ability as a leader. Algirdas was
intelligent and clever, an excellent administrator, a skillful diplomat and a
shrewd tactician. Abstemious, silent and uncommunicative, he customarily
shared his battle plans with no one but Kestutis, often surprising his
commanders with orders to execute unexpected maneuvers.
In February of 1345, the
Teutonic Knights and their allies amassed a large army and began a march from
Crossing the Nemunas, the
knights were disappointed to find, instead of opportunity for murder and loot,
ashes and emptiness. They contented themselves with attacking Veliuona,
thinking that would draw the Lithuanian forces into open combat, where the
knights with their larger army would have the advantage. Instead,
Algirdas fostered rumors that the Lithuanians were marching to attack Semba, a
territory in
Algirdas had been waiting for
just this opportunity. He led his forces, numbering 15,000, in an abrupt
turn north, and attacked a poorly-defended and unready Livonia (present-day
Latvia and Estonia), ravaging Jelgava, Žiemgala, Tervete and Mintauja,
Duobelė and Venta, along with several villages surrounding Riga, advancing
through much
territory along the Lielupė, finally marching back through Sigulda toward
Lithuania with treasure and more than 2,000 prisoners. Algirdas,
combining his army with that of Kestutis, then attacked Rastenburg, where he
very deliberately left an indelible impression upon
The Livonian Order was
traumatized by these events, and the Teutonic Knights and their leaders
received much blame and criticism for an incompetent and disorganized
campaign. But frequent full-scale campaigns and smaller, but no less
brutal raids by the Knights and their confederates continued unabated during
the rest of Algirdas’ reign and beyond. It became fashionable for
ambitious young scions of Europe’s ruling houses to visit the Teutonic
strongholds in Prussia, with the express purpose of joining a foray into
Lithuanian lands, a “pagan-hunting expedition” arranged as a
pleasant diversion, during which the young men could display their
“courage”, thereby helping to earn their spurs. They returned
to their homes boasting of the numbers of defenseless Lithuanians they had
murdered during these hunts, without regard to age or gender, and were honored
for their accomplishments.
However, make no mistake, the
Lithuanians gave as good as they got. Their incursions into Teutonic
territory were numerous and destructive. Displaying the same fierceness
as their opponents, Algirdas and Kestutis with their allies laid waste to areas
of
At the same time, none of
this prevented Algirdas’ inexorable expansion into Rus territories, south
and eastward. During Algirdas’ reign,
One might think that so much
military activity would preclude the possibility of any private life, but
Algirdas found time to marry twice. Both wives were Christians of the
Eastern Rite – daughters of princes of
In 1377, Algirdas was about
81 years old, and found himself too old and weak to wield his sword in combat
planned against the Poles. He retired alone to his personal property in
Maišiagala, where he died on May 24th. Algirdas received a ceremonial
pagan funeral, in the Kukovaičių forest, not far from
Maišiagala. His corpse was ritually cremated, along with a number of
his horses, expensive bejeweled robes, a
quantity of gold and silver, and other property. His widow, Julijona,
Jogaila’s mother, took custody of his ashes, and caused them to be
inclosed in the wall of the Orthodox church of the Assumption in
The title and privileges of
Grand Duke devolved upon Jogaila,
notwithstanding the existence of his own older brothers, and, more important,
Kestutis, Algirdas’ younger brother and de facto co-ruler, any one of
whom could have asserted a legitimate claim. However, Jogaila was given
all support by Kestutis and Vytautas, probably because the always faithful
Kestutis honored Algirdas’ wish that his favorite son should
inherit. For a short time, the former dual system of government
continued, with the new Grand Duke seeking and accepting his uncle’s
counsel and advice, but unavoidably,
fractures in the relatonship developed. Eventually, Jogaila went his own
way, forming treacherous alliances, ignoring Kestutis and alienating
Vytautas. Events led to the death of Kestutis and enmity between Jogaila
and Vytautas --- but that, after all, is
another story.
© Gloria
O‘Brien 2006
Sources:
Encyclopedia Lituanica
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
“DLK Algirdas” – Dr. A. Budreckis – Simo Kudirkos
Šiauliu Kuopa - NY, 1981
“Was Grand Prince Algirdas an Orthodox Christian?”
– Rasa Mažeika - Lituanus - Winter 1987
“Lietuvos Didieji Kunigaikščiai” –
Ignas Jonynas -
Mokslo ir
Encyklopedijų Leidykla Vilnius 1996
“Algirdas ir Jo Ainiai” – Jurgis Minajevas –
“Voruta”?