Editing Gomel (section)

===Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth===
In 1335, the Gomel region was annexed to the [[Great Duchy of Lithuania]] by [[Algirdas]]. From 1335 to 1406, it was under the ownership of Prince Patricia Narymuntovich and his sons, from 1406 to 1419 the city was ruled by the grand duke's deputies, from 1419 to 1435 it belonged to Prince [[Svitrigaila]], from 1446 to 1452 to Prince Vasiliy Yaroslavich, from 1452 to 1483 to the [[Mozhaysk]] prince Ivan Andreyevich, and from 1483 to 1505 to his son Semyon, who transferred it to the [[Grand Principality of Moscow]].

During the [[Second Muscovite–Lithuanian War]] of 1500–1503, Lithuania tried to regain Gomel and other lands transferred to Moscow, but had suffered defeat and lost one-third of its territory. In 1535, Lithuanian and Polish forces under [[Jerzy Radziwiłł|Jerzy Radvila]], [[Jan Tarnowski]] and Andrzej Niemirowicz re-captured the city after the surrender of Moscow's deputy, D. Shchepin-Obolensky. In the same year, the Great Duke of Lithuania [[Sigismund Kęstutaitis]] founded Gomel [[Starostwo]]. According to the peace agreement of 1537, Gomel together with its [[volost]] remained a Lithuanian possession. In 1535–1565, Gomel was the centre of the [[starostwo]], and from 1565 onwards it was in [[Rechytsa]] [[Powiat]] of [[Minsk Voivodeship]].

[[File:Coat of Arms of Gomel, 1560.gif|thumb|left|upright=0.5|Coat of Arms of Gomel, 1560]]
In 1560, the city's first [[coat of arms]] was introduced. In 1569, Gomel became part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. From this moment on, the city became the arena of numerous attacks and battles between the [[Cossacks]], Russia, and the [[Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth]]. In 1572, Gomel [[Starostwo]] was given to B. Sapega. At the beginning of the 1570s, Gomel was captured by the forces of [[Ivan the Terrible]], but in 1576 it was re-captured by J. Radvila. In 1581, Gomel was again attacked by Russian troops, and in 1595–1596 it was in the hands of [[Severyn Nalyvaiko]]'s Cossacks.

After the beginning of the struggle against [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] in Lithuania, [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] Nikolayevskiy Cathedral was closed, following the order of [[Greek Catholic]] [[Eparch]] [[Josaphat Kuntsevych]] in 1621. In 1633, the city was besieged by Cossacks Bulgakov and Yermolin, in 1648 captured by Golovatskiy's Cossack detachment, and in 1649 by Martyn Nebaba's detachment. After that, Gomel got through several sieges in 1651 but in 1654 was captured by Ivan Zolotarenko's detachment. He and his sons held the city until 1667 and then began to serve under [[Alexis of Russia]], however, after the [[Truce of Andrusovo]] Gomel at last returned to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where it first belonged to [[Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł|M. K. Radvila]] and then—till the [[annexation]] by the [[Russian Empire]]—to the [[Czartoryski family]]. During the [[Great Northern War]], Russian forces under [[Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov]] stood in Gomel. In 1670, Gomel received [[Magdeburg rights]]. Towards the middle of the 17th century, the city fell into crisis mainly due to the struggles mentioned above. It suffered significant damage, the population decreased severely, and many crafts disappeared.