Name	Vytautas the Great
Title	Grand Duke of Lithuania
Reign	August 4, 1392 – October 27, 1430
Othertitles	Duke of Trakai Postulated King of Hussites
Predecessor	Skirgaila
Successor	Švitrigaila
Royal house	House of Kęstutis
Dynasty	Gediminids
Father	Kęstutis
Mother	Birutė
Birth date	~1350
Birth place	Senieji Trakai
Death date	October 27, 1430
Death place	Trakai
Place of burial	Vilnius, Vilnius Cathedral }}

Vytautas (Lithuanian: '''', , , Rusyn: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', Italian: ''Vito il Grande''); styled "the Great" from the 15th century onwards; c. 1350 October 27, 1430) was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. Vytautas was the ruler (1392–1430) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which chiefly encompassed the Lithuanians and Ruthenians. He was also the Prince of Hrodna (1370–1382) and the Prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), postulated king of Hussites.

In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revered as a national hero and was an important figure in the national rebirth in the 19th century. ''Vytautas'' is a popular male given name in Lithuania. In commemoration of 500 years of Vytautas' death Vytautas Magnus University was named after him. Monuments in his honour were built in many towns in the independent Republic of Lithuania during the interwar period, 1918–1939.

Struggle for power

1377–1384

Vytautas' father, Kęstutis, and his uncle Algirdas, were brothers and did not compete for power. Algirdas was the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Kęstutis was primarily responsible for defense against the Teutonic Knights. However, after Algirdas' death in 1377, his son Jogaila, became Grand Duke. The harmonious relationship of his father and uncle ended, and a struggle for power between them ensued. In 1380, Jogaila signed the secret Treaty of Dovydiškės with the Teutonic Knights against Kęstutis. When Kęstutis discovered this in the following year, he seized Vilnius, imprisoned Jogaila, and made himself Grand Duke. However, Jogaila managed to escape and raised an army against Kęstutis, and his son Vytautas. The two opposing sides confronted each other but never engaged in battle. Kęstutis was ready to negotiate, but he and Vytautas were arrested and transported to Kreva Castle. One week later, Kęstutis was found dead. Whether he died of natural causes or was murdered is still a matter of debate amongst historians. In 1382, Vytautas was able to escape from Kreva. After the escape, he sought help from the Teutonic Knights. At the time Jogaila was negotiating with the Teutonic Order. They formulated the Treaty of Dubysa, by which Jogaila promised to accept Christianity, become an ally of the Order, and give the Order some territory of Samogitia up to the Dubysa River. However, the treaty was never ratified. In summer 1383, the war between Jogaila and the Order started up again. Vytautas was baptised in the Catholic rite, receiving the name of Wigand (Lithuanian: ''Vygandas''). Vytautas participated in several raids against Jogaila. In January 1384, Vytautas again promised to cede part of Samogitia, to the Teutonic Order, up to the Nevėžis River in return for the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania. However, in July of the same year, Vytautas decided to abandon the Teutonic Knights and reconciled with Jogaila. He then proceeded to burn three important Teutonic castles, and he redeemed all Kęstutis' lands, except for Trakai.

1389–1392

Vytautas participated in the signing of Union of Kreva with Poland in 1385 and he was re-baptised in 1386 in the Catholic rite, receiving the name Alexander. This treaty provided for the marriage of Jogaila to Jadwiga of Poland, and for him to become the King of Poland. He left his brother Skirgaila as a regent of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, he was unpopular with the people and Vytautas saw an opportunity to become the Grand Duke again. In 1389 he started a war and attacked Vilnius but failed. Vytautas was forced to ask the Teutonic Knights for help for the second time in the beginning of 1390. Vytautas had to promise to keep the original agreement of 1384, and turn over Samogitia to the Order. His army now attacked Lithuanian lands.

To further advance his influence, Vytautas married his only daughter Sophia to Vasili I of Russia in 1391. The Polish nobility was unhappy that Jogaila, their new king, now Władysław II Jagiełło, spent too much time on the affairs of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was clear that the war could continue for years and would not bring any benefit to the country. In 1392, Wladyslaw II Jagiełło's envoy, Henry of Masovia, offered Vytautas to become his regent instead of Skirgaila. Vytautas accepted and once again burned three Teutonic castles and returned to Vilnius. Jagiełło and Vytautas signed the Astrava Treaty in which Vytautas redeemed all Kęstutis' lands, including Trakai, and was given more. He could rule Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the name of Wladyslaw II Jagiełło. After Vytautas death all lands and powers were to be returned to the King of Poland.

Grand Duke of Lithuania

Policy towards the East

Vytautas continued Algirdas' vision to control as many Muscovy lands as possible. Many lands were already under the Grand Duke's rule, but the rest were controlled by the Mongols. Tokhtamysh, Khan of the Golden Horde, sought Vytautas' help when he was removed from the throne in 1395 after his defeat by Timur. An agreement was reached that Vytautas would help Tokhtamysh to regain power, and the Horde would cede more lands to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in return. In 1398, Vytautas' army attacked a part of the Crimea and built a castle there. Now Lithuania spanned from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. A number of Tatar captives were brought to the ethnic Lithuania.

Inspired by this successful campaign, Vytautas and Wladyslaw II Jagiełło won support from Pope Boniface IX for organising a crusade against the Mongols. This political move also demonstrated that Grand Duchy of Lithuania had fully accepted Christianity and was defending the faith on its own, and that the Teutonic Knights had no further basis for attacks against Lithuania. The campaign resulted in total defeat at the Battle of the Vorskla River in 1399. Over twenty princes, including two brothers of Wladyslaw II Jagiełło, were killed, and Vytautas himself barely escaped alive. This came as a shock to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. A number of territories revolted against Vytautas, and Smolensk was retaken by its hereditary ruler, George of Smolensk and not re-conquered by Lithuanians until 1404. Vytautas waged a war in 1406-1408 against his son-in-law Vasili I of Moscow and Švitrigaila, a brother of Jogaila who with the support of the Teutonic Order had declared himself grand prince. A major stand-off between the two armies ended without a battle in the Treaty of Ugra, by which Velikiy Novgorod was granted to Jogaila's brother Simeon Lingwen, and the important city of Pskov to Jogaila's envoy Jerzy Nos, the latter settlement a clear violation of the treaty of Raciąż. The war with Muscovy ended in December 1408, on terms which made further conflict with the Teutonic Order inevitable, despite Hermann II of Celje's attempt to negotiate a solution.

Wars against the Teutonic Order

In 1398 in preparation for the crusade against the Golden Horde, Vytautas had signed the Treaty of Salynas with the Teutonic Knights and transferred Samogitia to them. Samogitia was especially important for the order because it separated Teutonic Knights, based in Prussia, from the Livonian Order, based in Latvia. The two orders desired to unite and form a mighty force. However, the knights ruled Samogitia only for three years, because in 1401 the Samogitians, supported by Vytautas, rebelled and burned two castles. The knights received support from Švitrigaila, brother of Jagiełło, who desired to take Vytautas' title. In 1404 Peace of Raciąż was signed which, in essence, repeated the Treaty of Salynas: Samogitia was transferred to the Teutonic Knights. Poland promised not to support Lithuania in case of another war. The knights promised to support Vytautas in the east and not to support any Gediminid who could have claims to the Grand Duke of Lithuania title. However, the treaty did not solve the problems, and all the parties prepared for a war.

In 1408 Vytautas reached peace in the east and returned to Samogitia matters. In 1409 the second Samogitian uprising, backed by Vytautas, against the Teutonic Knights started. The rebels burned Skirsnemunė castle. Since both Poland and Lithuania supported the rebels, the war started. Vytautas gathered a large army from 18 lands under his control. The army joined Polish forces and advanced towards the Teutonic headquarters at the castle of Marienburg (present-day Malbork). In 1410 Vytautas himself commanded the forces of the Grand Duchy in the Battle of Grunwald (also called the Battle of Tannenberg). The battle ended in a decisive Polish-Lithuanian victory. Even though the siege of Marienburg was unsuccessful, the Teutonic Knights never regained their strength and from then on posed a reduced threat to Poland-Lithuania.

As a result of the Peace of Thorn of 1411, Vytautas received Samogitia for his lifetime. However, the parties could not agree on the border. Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, agreed to mediate the dispute. In 1413, it was declared that the whole right bank of the Neman River was Samogitia and therefore belonged to Lithuania. The Teutonic Knights disagreed and a new war started in 1414. The war lasted for just a couple of months and the dispute was brought to the Council of Constance. Even though the dispute was not resolved, the Samogitians had a chance to present their case to the leaders of Europe. It is seen as an important event in the diplomatic history of Lithuania. Several other mediation attempts failed and yet another war with the Teutonic Order started in 1422. After a couple of months of fighting, the Treaty of Lake Melno was signed. Samogitia was returned to Lithuania in perpetuity, while the city of Memel (present-day Klaipėda) and surrounding territories stayed with the Order. This border, as established by the treaty, remained stable for some 500 years until the Memel Territory dispute of 1923. With peace established, Vytautas could now concentrate on reforms and the relationship with Poland.

Relationship with Poland

In 1399 Jadwiga of Poland and her newborn died in childbirth. Jogaila's power in Poland was jeopardised as he was a foreigner king with no other ties to the throne but his wife. Also, the defeat at Vorskla forced a re-evaluation of the relationship between Poland and Lithuania. The result was the Union of Vilnius and Radom in 1401. Vytautas was granted wide autonomy, but after his death the title and powers of Grand Duke of Lithuania were to be transferred to the king of Poland or vice versa. In case Jagiełło died first without an heir, the Polish nobility agreed not to elect a new king without consulting Vytautas. The unique feature of this union was that the Lithuanian nobility presented their own document: for the first time somebody other than dukes played a role in the state matters.

Vytautas was one of the creators of the Union of Horodło with Poland in 1413. According to the act of the union, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was to retain a separate Grand Duke and its own parliament. At the same time both the Polish and Lithuanian Sejms were to discuss all the important matters jointly. This union was important culturally as well as politically because it granted Lithuanian Christian nobles the same rights as the Polish szlachta. This act did not include Orthodox nobles. This paved the way for more contacts and cooperation between the nobles of Poland and of Lithuania.

In January of 1429 Vytautas already had received the title of King of Lithuania with the backing of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, but the envoys who were transporting the crown were stopped by Polish magnates in autumn of 1430. Another crown was sent, but Vytautas died in the Trakai Island Castle several days before it reached Lithuania. He was buried in the Cathedral of Vilnius. The knowledge about his remains has been lost.

According to 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vytautas "was certainly the most imposing personality of his day in Eastern Europe, and his martial valour was combined with statesmanlike foresight."

Reforms

Vytautas backed the economic development of his state and introduced many reforms. Under his rule the Grand Duchy of Lithuania gradually became more centralised, as local princes with dynastic ties to the throne were replaced by the governors loyal to Vytautas. The governors were rich landowners who formed the basis for the Lithuanian nobility. During Vytautas' rule, the influential Radziwiłł and Goštautai families began their rise.

Family

Born in 1350 in the castle of present-day Senieji Trakai, Vytautas was the son of Kęstutis and his second wife Birutė. Vytautas was a cousin and childhood friend of Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło), who became King of Poland in 1386. Around 1370, he married Anna, who gave birth to Sophia of Lithuania, the only child of Vytautas. She was married to Vasily I, Grand Prince of Moscow. After Anna's death in 1414, Vytautas married her niece Juliana Olshanska, daughter of Ivan Olshanski.

See also

Gediminids

House of Kęstutis – family tree of Vytautas

Order of Vytautas the Great

Notes

References

Inga Deidulė, Vytauto Didžiojo įvaizdžio genezės mįslė, - "ieškokite moterų", Vartiklis. Accessed May 20, 2006. Andrius Mingėla, Vytautas Lietuvos didysis kunigaikštis, Juventa high school. Accessed May 20, 2006.

Oscar Halecki, Borderlands of Western Civilization: A History of East Central Europe, 2nd edition, Chapter 8, Simon Publications, July 2001, ISBN 0-9665734-8-X

Vytautas and Karaims, Lithuanian Karaims Culture Community. Accessed May 20, 2006.

Category:1350 births Category:1430 deaths Category:Lithuanian nobility Category:Belarusian rulers Category:Gediminids Category:People of the Hussite Wars Category:Grand Dukes of Lithuania Category:Kings of Lithuania Category:Pretenders to the Bohemian throne Category:Burials at Vilnius Cathedral Category:People in the Battle of Grunwald Category:People from Vilnius County

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Name	Vytautas Kernagis
Birth name	Vytautas Kernagis
Background	solo_singer
Origin	Vilnius, Lithuania
Born	May 19, 1951
Death date	March 15, 2008
Genre	Sung poetry, pop, rock, folk
Occupation	Vocalist, actor, television presenter.
Years active	1966–2007 }}

Vytautas Kernagis (May 19, 1951 – March 15, 2008) was a Lithuanian singer-songwriter, bard, actor, director, and television announcer. He is considered a pioneer of Lithuanian sung poetry.

Career

Vytautas Kernagis attended M.K.Čiurlionis and Vilnius 23rd schools. In 1973, he graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. He was a member of the pioneering Lithuanian big beat bands ''Aisčiai'' (1966–1968) and ''Rupūs miltai'' (1969–1972). Kernagis recorded his first album of sung poetry in 1978. Kernagis also took part in the first Lithuanian rock opera ''Velnio nuotaka'', first Lithuanian musical ''Ugnies medžioklė su varovais'' (1976), and first Lithuanian musical for a puppet theatre ''Šokantis ir dainuojantis mergaitės vieversėlis''.

Kernagis suffered from gastric cancer and died March 15, 2008. He was cremated and interred in the Antakalnis Cemetery in Vilnius.

Filmography

''Kai aš mažas buvau'' (When I was little) (1968)

''Mažoji išpažintis'' (Little confession) (1971)

''Atsiprašau '' (I'm sorry) (1982)

''Kažkas atsitiko'' (Something happened) (1986)

''Anastasija'' (Anastasia) (2006)

Discography

''Akustinis'' (1978 LP album, 1994 CD ir MC, 2006, Vilniaus plokštelių studija)

''Baltojo nieko dainelės'' (1979, Vilniaus plokštelių studija; 2000, „"Čiki Piki")

''Vytautas Kernagis'' (1979 LP, Melodia C60-10889-90)

''Kabaretas „Tarp girnų“'' (1982 small vinyl, 1984 LP, Vilniaus plokštelių studija)

''Vytautas kernagis Čikagoje'' (1985, Cassettes studija)

Dainos teatras:

* ''Žvilgsnis nuo kalno'' (1986, Vilniaus plokštelių studija)

* ''Eik savo keliu'' (1987, Vilniaus plokštelių studija)

* ''Povo link...'' (1989, Vilniaus plokštelių studija)

* ''Apie medžioklę'' (1990, Vilniaus plokštelių studija)

''Keistumas'' (1991 m., "Lituanus")

''Dainos teatras – Abėcėlė'' (1993, "Bomba")

''Vaikai vanagai'' (1994, "Bomba")

''Kabaretas „Tarp girnų“ 1979–1994'' (1994 m., "Bomba")

''Baltas paukštis'' (1998, Vilniaus plokštelių studija)

''Teisingos dainos'' (2003, "Tigris")

''Dainos teatras'' (2006)

''Klasika'' (2007, 5 CD collection):

* ''Akustinis''

* ''Baltojo nieko dainelės''

* ''Dainos teatras''

* ''Teisingos dainos''

Awards

1995 - Antanas Šabaniauskas' musical award

2000 - "Bravo" award

2002 - Officer's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas

2008 - National Award of the Culture and Art for the professionality of modern creation and artistry.

References

External links

Vytautas Kernagis Fund

Category:1951 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Deaths from stomach cancer Category:Recipients of the Lithuanian National Prize Category:Songwriters Category:Lithuanian pop musicians Category:Lithuanian television presenters

es:Vytautas Kernagis lv:Vītauts Ķernaģis lt:Vytautas Kernagis bat-smg:Vytautas Kernagis

Name	Vytautas Babravičius
Birth name	Vytautas Babravičius
Background	solo_singer
Origin	Lithuania
Born	10th of March 1952
Genre	country music, folk rock
Occupation	Vocalist, journalist
Years active	since 1967 }}

Vytautas Babravičius, stage name Simas, is a Lithuanian country and folk rock musician. He is often described as a founder of Lithuanian country music scene.

Musical career

Babravičius began his musical career while studying engineering at a university and playing at student's parties since 1967. In 1979 he founded a country music band Deficitai, that quickly became popular for being different than officially allowed music of the time. Group was dissolved in 1983. Later Babravičius pursued solo career under stage name Simas while working as journalist. In 1987 he founded band Runos and released a LP ''Vyturėliai jūs mano''.

Simas' solo songs were popular during the Singing Revolution.

1996 Simas' issued first country music CD in Lithuania called ''Ąžuolams, liepoms''. Many times he did participate in Visagino Country music festival.

In 2007 he celebrated his 40th season on the scene

Awards

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas

References

Category:Lithuanian musicians Category:Lithuanian journalists Category:Living people Category:1952 births

lt:Vytautas Babravičius

Vytautas Barkauskas (born 1931) is a Lithuanian composer and is a Professor of Composition of the Lithuanian Academy of Music, where he has taught since 1961.

Career

Barkauskas has degrees in mathematics (1953) and music composition (1959) from the University of Vilnius. He was one of the most active avant-garde composers in Lithuania in the 1960s, influenced by Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold Lutosławski and György Ligeti.

However he has now moved towards more intuitively arranged sounds, striving to create naturally beautiful music, writing more chamber music. "I do not restrict myself to any single, defined compositional system, but am constantly searching for a natural stylistic synthesis. I strive to make my music expressive, emotional and of a concerto type", Barkauskas says.

His works have been performed at international festivals, competitions and concerts in various European, American and Asian countries, and have been interpreted by Gidon Kremer, Lothar Faber, Yuri Bashmet, David Geringas, Joachim Greiner, Juozas Domarkas, Raimundas Katilius, Ruth Palmer and others.

Vytautas Barkauskas is a winner of the Lithuanian State Prize. In 2000 his "Journey of the Princess. Fairy Tale", Op. 114 was awarded the prize at the composers' competition dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis. His symphonic piece entitled "At the End is the Beginning", Op. 115 was awarded the prize at the "Sinfonia Baltica" International Composers' Competition in 2001. In 2003 the composer was awarded the Lithuanian National Award. In 2005 he won the prize for the best chamber work ("Echoes" for percussion solo) at the composers' competition organized by the Lithuanian Composers' Union.

Compositions

Sources

Page about Barkauskas from Lithuanian Music and Information Publishing Centre

Sikorski Publishers

Category:1931 births Category:Lithuanian composers Category:Music educators Category:Living people Category:Recipients of the Lithuanian National Prize

de:Vytautas Barkauskas (Komponist) lt:Vytautas Barkauskas (1931) fi:Vytautas Barkauskas