The House of Gediminas ( Lithuanian : Gediminaičių dinastija ), or simply the Gediminids , were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. A cadet branch of this family, known as the Jagiellonian dynasty , reigned also in the Kingdom of Poland , Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Bohemia . Several other branches ranked among the leading aristocratic dynasties of Poland and Russia into recent times.
31-519: The Gediminas' Cap was used during the inaugurations of Gediminids as Lithuanian monarchs in the Vilnius Cathedral and symbolized the dynasty's continuity. Their monarchical title in Lithuanian primarily was, by some folkloristic data, kunigų kunigas ("Duke of Dukes"), and later on, didysis kunigas ("Great/High Duke") or, in a simple manner, karalius or kunigaikštis . In the 18th century,
62-510: A Gediminas' Cap in the Vilnius Cathedral on his head, despite the Polish nobility 's opposition. Another documented inauguration is the enthronement of Alexander Jagiellon in 1492. Alexander was appointed Grand Duke by his father, nevertheless, a formal election of the ruler was held as part of a general assembly, which was attended for the first time by representatives from all the lands of
93-679: A pastoral exhortation over him. Then the Grand Marshal of Lithuania Petras Jonaitis Mantigirdaitis handed Alexander a bare sword and a sceptre. Subsequently, the Poles considered electing Alexander Jagiellon as the King of Poland, however instead of him John I Albert was elected as the King of Poland in August 1492 and this led to another termination of the Polish–Lithuanian union. Stryjkowski also relayed
124-550: A portrait of Vytautas the Great wearing Gediminas' Cap to commemorate his 500th death anniversary in 1930. In 1936, new design 10 litas coins were minted also with a portrait of Vytautas the Great wearing Gediminas' Cap. Following the recognition by Pope Innocent IV , Mindaugas was crowned as King of Lithuania in July 1253 with a crown manufactured in Riga and provided by Andreas von Stirland,
155-583: Is a priest or Levite, and the members of all the Twelve Tribes are called Israelites because their father is Israel ( Jacob ). In the first lines of the New Testament , the descent of Jesus Christ from King David is counted through the male lineage. Patrilineal or agnatic succession gives priority to or restricts inheritance of a throne or fief to male heirs descended from the original title holder through males only. Traditionally, agnatic succession
186-659: Is applied in determining the names and membership of European dynasties . The prevalent forms of dynastic succession in Europe, Asia and parts of Africa were male-preference primogeniture , agnatic primogeniture , or agnatic seniority until after World War II . The agnatic succession model, also known as Salic law , meant the total exclusion of women as hereditary monarchs and restricted succession to thrones and inheritance of fiefs or land to men in parts of medieval and later Europe. This form of strict agnatic inheritance has been officially revoked in all extant European monarchies except
217-623: Is depicted as a round unsegmented headdress in an armorial compiled for Paweł Holszański . Since 1547 Gediminas' Cap was minted on Lithuanian coins above the coat of arms of Lithuania . Gediminas' Cap lost its significance following the Union of Lublin in 1569 which abolished a separate inauguration of the Lithuanian monarchs in Vilnius Cathedral. In the 20th century, following the Act of Independence of Lithuania , Lithuanian litas banknotes were issued with
248-459: Is sometimes distinguished from cognate kinship, through the mother's lineage, also called the spindle side or the distaff side. A patriline ("father line") is a person's father, and additional ancestors, as traced only through males. In the Bible , family and tribal membership appears to be transmitted through the father. For example, a person is considered to be a priest or Levite , if his father
279-409: Is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor from whom all Y-DNA in living men is descended. An identification of a very rare and previously unknown Y-chromosome variant in 2012 led researchers to estimate that Y-chromosomal Adam lived 338,000 years ago (237,000 to 581,000 years ago with 95% confidence ), judging from molecular clock and genetic marker studies. Before this discovery, estimates of
310-619: The Bishop of Vilnius in Vilnius Cathedral . Its name comes from Grand Duke Gediminas ( c. 1275 –1341), the founder of the Gediminids dynasty and patrilineal ancestor of Lithuanian rulers from the Kęstutaičiai and Jagiellonian dynasties , and symbolized the dynasty's continuity. The cap is mentioned in 16th-century sources and was kept in the Vilnius Castle treasury. It
341-907: The Golitsyn (Galitzine), Kurakin and Trubetskoy ) moved to Muscovy , became thoroughly Russified and are among the princely families of Russia . In Poland, some Gediminid families (such as Olelkowicz-Słucki, Wiśniowiecki , Zbaraski) are extinct, but others survive to the present: Chowański , Czartoryski , Sanguszko , Siesicki (Dowmont-Siesicki, Szeszycki), and Koriatowicz-Kurcewicz .. The Russian Gediminid families include Bulgakov , Golitsin , Kurakin , Khovansky , Troubetzkoy , Mstislavsky , Belsky , and Volynsky . Some of these families also survive, as of 2020. I. The descendants of *Bujwid Vytianis Rex. King Lithuania. I. The descendants of Narimantas : II. The descendants of Algirdas : III. The descendants of Kęstutis IV. The descendants of Jaunutis : V. The descendants of Liubartas (faded in
SECTION 10
#1732845493889372-732: The Lithuanian Civil War (1432–1438) broke out in which Švitrigaila and his supporters were defeated. Jogaila's son Władysław III also titled himself as the Supreme Duke of Lithuania. John I Albert unilaterally declared himself as the Supreme Duke of Lithuania in 1492, but this title was rejected by the Lithuanian Council of Lords . In 1544–1548 Sigismund I the Old expressed his supreme monarchical authority in Lithuania by again using
403-509: The Polish crown was also announced as a property of both the Polish and Lithuanian nobles. Patrilineality Patrilineality , also known as the male line , the spear side or agnatic kinship , is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, rights, names, or titles by persons related through male kin. This
434-517: The Principality of Liechtenstein . By the 21st century, most ongoing European monarchies had replaced their traditional agnatic succession with absolute primogeniture , meaning that the first child born to a monarch inherits the throne, regardless of the child's sex. The fact that human Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) is paternally inherited enables patrilines and agnatic kinships of men to be traced through genetic analysis. Y-chromosomal Adam (Y-MRCA)
465-706: The Union of Krewo that the Lithuanian monarchs would be titled only as the Grand Dukes of Lithuania . The title of the Grand Duke of Lithuania mostly came into force during the reign of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great , who concluded the Ostrów Agreement with his cousin Jogaila in 1392 and the agreement was confirmed in the Pact of Vilnius and Radom in 1401. Since then Jogaila was titled
496-477: The Union of Lublin and will have the right to select a separate monarch. On 29 May 1580, bishop Merkelis Giedraitis in the Vilnius Cathedral presented Grand Duke Stephen Báthory (King of Poland since 1 May 1576) a luxuriously decorated sword and a hat adorned with pearls (both were sanctified by Pope Gregory XIII himself), while this ceremony manifested the sovereignty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and had
527-509: The council of lords . The cap was placed on the ruler's head by the Bishop of Vilnius, while the Grand Marshal presented him with a sword. Following the Union of Lublin , which formed the federative Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, and the death of the last Gediminid ruler Sigismund II Augustus in 1572, separate inaugurations in Vilnius Cathedral were abolished, therefore Gediminas' Cap lost its ceremonial significance. The insignias of
558-461: The Grand Duchy. The course of the ceremony was documented by Maciej Stryjkowski , who reported that after the election lords elevated Alexander in the cathedral. The newly elected ruler was dressed "in a ducal cap with pearls and precious stones set in it, also the usual robe that today the princes of the Reich wear at the imperial coronation ." Then Bishop of Vilnius Wojciech Tabor blessed him and held
589-401: The Great consisted of Gediminas' Cap, sword, ring, flag, and seal. The first inauguration ceremony of a Lithuanian Grand Duke about which there is reliable information is that of Casimir IV Jagiellon , as reported by Jan Długosz . Casimir IV was sent by his older brother King of Poland and Hungary, Supreme Duke of Lithuania Władysław III , to Lithuania to rule in his name. But instead he
620-692: The Lithuanian rulers were not preserved and following the Union of Lublin only the seal (kept by the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania ) and the flag (carried near the ruler by the Grand Flag Bearer of Lithuania) remained. The demand of a separate inauguration ceremony of the Grand Duke of Lithuania was raised by the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (e.g. Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł , Eustachy Wołłowicz , Jan Karol Chodkiewicz , Konstanty Ostrogski ) during
651-510: The Supreme Duke of Lithuania title when his son Sigismund II Augustus was his vicegerent in Lithuania. The inaugurations of the Lithuanian monarchs were held in Vilnius Cathedral and consisted of the placement of Gediminas' Cap on the Lithuanian ruler's head and the presentation of a sword . The cap was placed on the head by the Bishop of Vilnius and the sword was presented by the Grand Marshal of Lithuania . The regalia of Vytautas
SECTION 20
#1732845493889682-645: The Supreme Duke of Lithuania. Vytautas the Great gained the factual rule of Lithuania, which was recognized by the treaties. In 1398, the Lithuanian nobility declared Vytautas the Great as the King of Lithuania and, following the Congress of Lutsk in 1430, the crowning was sanctioned by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor . However, Vytautas died before the crown arrived. Jogaila's brother Švitrigaila also sought to be crowned as King of Lithuania and Emperor Sigismund planned to arrive at Švitrigaila's crowning in Prussia , but
713-449: The cap was: "of red velvet with gold spheres set with precious stones". The last ceremony to elevate a grand duke took place on October 18, 1529, when Sigismund Augustus was elevated to this dignity during his father's lifetime. The ceremony occurred in the great hall of the newly built lower castle , as the cathedral burned down that same year. The young Sigismund Augustus sat on the throne between his parents, surrounded by members of
744-401: The election and inauguration of Sigismund I as Grand Duke of Lithuania on October 20, 1509. The ceremony was again attended by Bishop Wojciech Tabor, who this time not only blessed but also placed a cap on the ruler's head. In turn, Grand Marshal Michael Glinski presented him with a sword. Sigismund received the oath of the Lithuanian lords while sitting on the throne. According to Stryjkowski,
775-464: The first half of the 15th century) VI. Koriatowicz , descended from Karijotas Gediminas%27 Cap Gediminas' Cap ( Lithuanian : Gedimino kepurė ) was the most important regalia of the Lithuanian monarchs who ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the Union of Lublin in 1569. During the inaugurations of Lithuanian monarchs, Gediminas' Cap was placed on the monarch's heads by
806-455: The latter form was changed into tautological didysis kunigaikštis , which nevertheless would be translated as " Grand Duke " (for its etymology, see Grand Prince ). The origin of Gediminas himself is much debated. Some sources say he was Vytenis ' ostler , others that he was of peasant stock. Some historians consider him as the son or grandson of Lithuanian or Yatvingian King/duke Skalmantas . Most scholars agree, however, that Gediminas
837-739: The master of the Livonian Order . Moreover, Pope Alexander IV granted a right to crown Mindaugas' son . In the fall of 1263, Mindaugas and his sons Ruklys and Rupeikis were killed and the fate of his royal crown remains unknown. Subsequent Lithuanian monarchs initially were titled as kings when communicating with Western countries and as Grand Dukes in communications with Ruthenia and tatars . Gediminas titled himself as King of Lithuania and Ruthenians , Duke of Semigallia while Pope John XXII referred to Gediminas as King of Lithuania and many Ruthenians. Since 1377, Jogaila titled himself as King of Lithuania, however in 1385 he agreed in
868-575: The meaning of elevation of the new Grand Duke of Lithuania, this way ignoring the stipulations of the Union of Lublin. Nevertheless, per Union of Lublin the rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were elected in joint Polish–Lithuanian election sejms until the Third Partition in 1795 and received separate titles of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. During the coronations of joint Polish–Lithuanian monarchs ,
899-584: The negotiations of the Union of Lublin, however it was not officially included into it. On 20 April 1576 a congress of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's nobles was held in Grodno which adopted an Universal, signed by the participating Lithuanian nobles, which announced that if the delegates of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania will feel pressure from the Poles in the Election sejm , the Lithuanians will not be obliged by an oath of
930-442: Was Vytenis ' brother (the parentage of Vytenis is explained differently in various fake genealogies, compiled from the 16th century onwards; according to the latest Polish research, his parentage cannot be established). The Eastern Orthodox branches of the family were initially Ruthenized to some extent. The majority of these families (e.g., Czartoryski ) soon converted to Roman Catholicism and became Polonized . Others (e. g.
961-577: Was elected as Grand Duke upon his arrival to Vilnius on June 29, 1440, with the ringing of church bells and the singing of the Te Deum laudamus . This was breaching the agreements of the Union of Grodno (1432) and terminating the Polish–Lithuanian union . It manifested Lithuania as a sovereign state and its ruler Casimir IV Jagiellon stressed himself as a "free lord" ( pan – dominus ). According to historian Edvardas Gudavičius , Bishop of Vilnius put