Gediminas
Gediminas ruled Lithuania from about 1315 to 1341 and built the largest state in Europe while remaining a pagan. His origins are obscure; he was probably the brother of his predecessor Vytenis. What he inherited was a Baltic duchy under permanent crusade by the Teutonic Knights in the north and the Livonian Order in the west, whose legal justification for attacking it was that its people were heathens. His answer was expansion in the other direction. The Mongol destruction of Kyivan Rus had left a vacuum in the east, and Gediminas moved into it — taking Polotsk, Vitebsk, Minsk, Turov and Pinsk, and establishing influence over Kyiv itself, largely by marriage, treaty and protection rather than conquest. He ruled a state in which most subjects were Orthodox Slavs, kept their princes in place, protected their church, and used Ruthenian as the language of administration. He founded Vilnius, first mentioned in his letters of 1323, which are the other reason he is remembered. He wrote to the pope, to the Hanseatic cities, to the Franciscans and Dominicans, inviting merchants, craftsmen and farmers to settle, promising freedom of religion and exemption from taxes, and indicating a willingness to consider baptism. Papal legates came. He then declined, telling them that Christians could worship in their way, Ruthenians in theirs, and Lithuanians in theirs, and that he had never promised otherwise. The offer had served its purpose in splitting his enemies from the Order. He was killed besieging a Teutonic castle around 1341. His grandson Jogaila took the crown of Poland.
- Lived: 1275 CE – 1341 CE
- Nationality: Lithuanian
- Roles: grand_duke, ruler, head_of_state
