Editing History of Lithuania (section)

====Vytenis, Lithuania's great expansion under Gediminas====
[[File:Peace agreement between Gediminas and Order.jpg|thumb|left|Peace agreement between [[Gediminas]] and the Teutonic Order]]
The [[family of Gediminas]], whose members were about to form Lithuania's [[Gediminids|great native dynasty]],<ref name="Bumblauskas 34">Eidintas et al. (2013), p. 34</ref> took over the rule of the Grand Duchy in 1285 under [[Butigeidis]]. [[Vytenis]] (r. 1295–1315) and [[Gediminas]] (r. 1315–1341), after whom the [[Gediminids|Gediminid dynasty]] is named, had to deal with constant raids and incursions from the Teutonic orders that were costly to repulse. Vytenis fought them effectively around 1298 and at about the same time was able to ally Lithuania with the German burghers of [[Riga]]. For their part, the Prussian Knights instigated a rebellion in Samogitia against the Lithuanian ruler in 1299–1300, followed by twenty incursions there in 1300–15.<ref name="Ochmański 50-53"/> Gediminas also fought the Teutonic Knights, and besides that made shrewd diplomatic moves by cooperating with the government of Riga in 1322–23 and taking advantage of the conflict between the Knights and Archbishop Friedrich von Pernstein of Riga.<ref name="Ochmański 53-55"/>

Gediminas expanded Lithuania's international connections by conducting correspondence with Pope [[John XXII]] as well as with rulers and other centers of power in Western Europe, and he invited German colonists to settle in Lithuania.<ref name="Bumblauskas 34-35">Eidintas et al. (2013), pp. 34–35</ref> Responding to Gediminas' complaints about the aggression from the Teutonic Order, the pope forced the Knights to observe a four-year peace with Lithuania in 1324–1327.<ref name="Ochmański 53-55"/> Opportunities for the Christianization of Lithuania were investigated by the pope's legates, but they met with no success.<ref name="Ochmański 53-55"/> From the time of Mindaugas, the country's rulers attempted to break Lithuania's cultural isolation, join [[Western Christendom]] and thus be protected from the Knights, but the Knights and other interests had been able to block the process.<ref name="Bumblauskas 37-39"/> In the 14th century, Gediminas' attempts to become baptized (1323–1324) and establish Catholic Christianity in his country were thwarted by the Samogitians and Gediminas' Orthodox courtiers.<ref name="Bumblauskas 34-35"/> In 1325, [[Casimir III the Great|Casimir]], the son of the Polish king [[Władysław I the Elbow-high|Władysław I]], married Gediminas' daughter [[Aldona of Lithuania|Aldona]], who became queen of Poland when Casimir ascended the Polish throne in 1333. The marriage confirmed the prestige of the Lithuanian state under Gediminas, and a defensive alliance with Poland was concluded the same year. Yearly incursions of the Knights resumed in 1328–1340, to which the Lithuanians responded with raids into Prussia and Latvia.<ref name="Baczkowski 55-61"/><ref name="Ochmański 53-55">Ochmański (1982), pp. 53–55</ref>

[[File:Lithuanian state in 13-15th centuries.png|thumb|225px|Expansion of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] in the 13–15th centuries]]
The reign of Grand Duke Gediminas constituted the first period in Lithuanian history in which the country was recognized as a great power, mainly due to the extent of its territorial expansion into Ruthenia.<ref name="Baczkowski 55-61"/><ref name="Davies 392">[[Norman Davies]], ''[[Europe: A History]]'', p. 392, 1998 New York, HarperPerennial, {{ISBN|0-06-097468-0}}</ref> Lithuania was unique in Europe as a pagan-ruled "kingdom" and fast-growing military power suspended between the worlds of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and [[Western Roman Empire|Latin]] Christianity. To be able to afford the extremely costly defense against the Teutonic Knights, it had to expand to the east. Gediminas accomplished Lithuania's eastern expansion by challenging the [[Mongols]], who from the 1230s sponsored a [[Mongol invasion of Rus']].<ref name="Lukowski 38-39">''A Concise History of Poland'', by [[Jerzy Lukowski]] and [[Hubert Zawadzki]]. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], 2nd edition 2006, {{ISBN|0-521-61857-6}}, pp. 38–39</ref> The collapse of the political structure of [[Kievan Rus']] created a partial regional power vacuum that Lithuania was able to exploit.<ref name="Bumblauskas 37-39"/> Through alliances and conquest, in competition with the [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Principality of Moscow]],<ref name="Ochmański 53-55"/> the Lithuanians eventually gained control of vast expanses of the western and southern portions of the former Kievan Rus'.<ref name="Baczkowski 55-61"/><ref name="Davies 392"/> Gediminas' conquests included the western [[Smolensk]] region, southern [[Polesia]] and (temporarily) [[Kyiv]], which was ruled around 1330 by Gediminas' brother [[Fiodor of Kiev|Fiodor]].<ref name="Ochmański 53-55"/> The Lithuanian-controlled area of Ruthenia grew to include most of modern [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]] (the [[Dnieper River]] basin) and comprised a massive state that stretched from the [[Baltic Sea]] to the [[Black Sea]] in the 14th and 15th centuries.<ref name="Bumblauskas 37-39">Eidintas et al. (2013), pp. 37–39</ref><ref name="Davies 392"/>

In the 14th century, many Lithuanian princes installed to govern the Ruthenia lands accepted [[Eastern Christianity]] and assumed Ruthenian custom and names in order to appeal to the culture of their subjects. Through this means, integration into the Lithuanian state structure was accomplished without disturbing local ways of life.<ref name="Baczkowski 55-61"/> The Ruthenian territories acquired were vastly larger, more densely populated and more highly developed in terms of church organization and literacy than the territories of core Lithuania. Thus the Lithuanian state was able to function because of the contributions of the [[Culture of ancient Rus|Ruthenian culture]] representatives.<ref name="Bumblauskas 37-39"/> Historical territories of the former Ruthenian dukedoms were preserved under the Lithuanian rule, and the further they were from Vilnius, the more autonomous the localities tended to be.<ref name="Bumblauskas 41">Eidintas et al. (2013), p. 41</ref> Lithuanian soldiers and Ruthenians together defended Ruthenian strongholds, at times paying tribute to the [[Golden Horde]] for some of the outlying localities.<ref name="Ochmański 53-55"/> Ruthenian lands may have been ruled jointly by Lithuania and the Golden Horde as [[Condominium (international law)|condominium]]s until the time of [[Vytautas]], who stopped paying tribute.<ref name="Bumblauskas 40">Eidintas et al. (2013), p. 40</ref> Gediminas' state provided a counterbalance against the influence of Moscow and enjoyed good relations with the Ruthenian principalities of [[Pskov Republic|Pskov]], [[Novgorod Republic|Veliky Novgorod]] and [[Tver]]. Direct military confrontations with the Principality of Moscow under [[Ivan I of Moscow|Ivan I]] occurred around 1335.<ref name="Ochmański 53-55"/>