Editing History of Lithuania (section)

====Under Jagiellonian rulers====
[[File:Lithuanian Statute I.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|[[Statutes of Lithuania|First Lithuanian legal statute]], implemented in 1522–1529]]
[[File:Royal insignias of the rulers of Lithuania in the Vilnius Cathedral, 1931.jpg|thumb|Royal insignias of the [[List of rulers of Lithuania|rulers of Lithuania]] in the [[Vilnius Cathedral]], 1931]]
The Jagiellonian dynasty founded by Jogaila (a member of one of the branches of the Gediminids) ruled Poland and Lithuania continuously between 1386 and 1572.

Following the deaths of Vytautas in 1430, [[Lithuanian Civil War (1432–1438)|another civil war]] ensued, and Lithuania was ruled by rival successors. Afterwards, the Lithuanian nobility on two occasions technically broke the union between Poland and Lithuania by selecting grand dukes unilaterally from the [[Jagiellonian dynasty]]. In 1440, the Lithuanian great lords elevated [[Casimir IV Jagiellon|Casimir]], Jogaila's second son, to the rule of the grand duchy. This issue was resolved by Casimir's election as king by the Poles in 1446. In 1492, Jogaila's grandson [[John I Albert|John Albert]] became the king of Poland, whereas his grandson [[Alexander Jagiellon|Alexander]] became the grand duke of Lithuania. In 1501 Alexander succeeded John as king of Poland, which resolved the difficulty in the same manner as before.<ref name="Lukowski 44-45"/> A lasting connection between the two states was beneficial to Poles, Lithuanians, and Ruthenians, Catholic and Orthodox, as well as the Jagiellonian rulers themselves, whose hereditary succession rights in Lithuania practically guaranteed their election as kings in accordance with the customs surrounding the [[royal elections in Poland]].<ref name="Lukowski 41-42"/>

On the Teutonic front, Poland continued its struggle, which in 1466 led to the [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)|Peace of Thorn]] and the recovery of much of the [[Piast dynasty]] territorial losses. A secular [[Duchy of Prussia]] was established in 1525. Its presence would greatly impact the futures of both Lithuania and Poland.<ref name="Lukowski 45-50">Lukowski & Zawadzki (2001), pp. 45–50</ref>

The [[Tatars|Tatar]] [[Crimean Khanate]] recognized the suzerainty of the [[Ottoman Empire]] from 1475. Seeking slaves and booty, the Tatars raided vast portions of the grand duchy of Lithuania, burning [[Kyiv]] in 1482 and approaching Vilnius in 1505. Their activity resulted in Lithuania's loss of its distant territories on the [[Black Sea]] shores in the 1480s and 1490s. The last two Jagiellon kings were [[Sigismund I the Old|Sigismund I]] and [[Sigismund II Augustus]], during whose reign the intensity of Tatar raids diminished due to the appearance of the military caste of [[Cossacks]] at the southeastern territories and the growing power of the [[Grand Duchy of Moscow]].<ref name="Lukowski 52-55">Lukowski & Zawadzki (2001), pp. 52–55</ref>

[[File:CATECHISMVSA PRAsty Szadei (in Lithuanian language) by Martynas Mažvydas, published in Königsberg, 1547 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[Martynas Mažvydas]]' ''[[Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas|Catechism]]'' was published in Lithuanian in [[Königsberg]] (1547)]]
Lithuania needed a close alliance with Poland when, at the end of the 15th century, the increasingly assertive Grand Duchy of Moscow threatened some of Lithuania's Rus' principalities with the goal of "recovering" the formerly Orthodox-ruled lands. In 1492, [[Ivan III of Russia]] unleashed what turned out to be a series of [[Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars]] and [[Livonian War]]s.<ref name="Lukowski 56-58">Lukowski & Zawadzki (2001), pp. 56–58</ref>

In 1492, the border of Lithuania's loosely controlled eastern Ruthenian territory ran less than one hundred [[miles]] from [[Moscow]]. But as a result of the warfare, a third of the grand duchy's land area was ceded to the Russian state in 1503. Then the loss of [[Smolensk]] in July 1514 was particularly disastrous, even though it was followed by the successful [[Battle of Orsha]] in September, as the Polish interests were reluctantly recognizing the necessity of their own involvement in Lithuania's defense. The peace of 1537 left [[Gomel]] as the grand duchy's eastern edge.<ref name="Lukowski 56-58"/>

In the north, the Livonian War took place over the strategically and economically crucial region of Livonia, the traditional territory of the Livonian Order. The [[Livonian Confederation]] formed an alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian side in 1557 with the [[Treaty of Pozvol]]. Desired by both Lithuania and Poland, Livonia was then incorporated into the Polish Crown by Sigismund II. These developments caused [[Ivan the Terrible]] of Russia to launch attacks in Livonia beginning in 1558, and later on Lithuania. The grand duchy's fortress of [[Polotsk]] fell in 1563. This was followed by a Lithuanian victory at the [[Battle of Ula]] in 1564, but not a recovery of Polotsk. Russian, Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian occupations subdivided Livonia.<ref name="Lukowski 58-60">Lukowski & Zawadzki (2001), pp. 58–60</ref>