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Gediminas

Type Figure Region Lithuania Time c. 1275–1341 Also known as Gedimin、Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania

Gediminas (c. 1275–1341), Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1316 to 1341 and founder of the Gediminid dynasty, greatly expanded Lithuanian territory to Ki…

Timeline

  1. 1321–1325Kiev · KievIn the early 1320s Gediminas continued expanding eastward, taking control of Kiev around 1323 and appointing his eldest son Narutis as governor of Kiev, extending Lithuanian power deep into the Dnieper basin. At the same time he countered Teutonic Knight penetration of the Baltic through military and diplomatic means, consolidating rule over Belarus and the Polotsk region.
  2. 1323–1330Vilnius · VilniusIn 1323 Gediminas moved his capital to Vilnius and undertook large-scale construction of the new city; in 1325 he wrote to Pope John XXII, seeking reconciliation with the Christian world in exchange for guarantees of safe passage for merchants and religious tolerance. In the late 1320s he maintained complex diplomacy with the Teutonic Knights, Poland, and the Rus' principalities, making Lithuania a key power in the eastern European balance between 1321 and 1330.

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