Algirdas Gediminid

• Preferred Name: Algirdas Gediminid^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Gediminids Grand Duke of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Olgierd Olgerd Alexander Lithuania von Litauen Grand Duke
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Grand Prince Of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Duke of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Grand Duke Of Lithuania Rn Rn
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Alexander Grand Duke Of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Grand Duke Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas King of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Grand Duke of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Grand Duke Of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Olgierd of Lithuania Grand Duke
  
• Alternate Name: Algirda Olglerd Grand Duke of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Olgierd Algirdas Grand Duke of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Lithuania Grand Duke
  
• Alternate Name: Olgierd Prince Of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Olgierd GD Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Olgierd Giedyminowicz Gedeminovich
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas Of Lithuania
  
• Alternate Name: Algirdas of Lithuania
  
• Gender: M
  
• Burial: in Vilnius, Vilniaus, Lithuania at LATI: N4.685 LONG: E5.281 with note: Cathedral Of The Theotokos, Vilnius, Vilnius, Lithuania
  
• Death: 24 MAY 1377 in Vilnius, Vilniaus, Lithuania at LATI: N4.685 LONG: E5.281 with note: Vilnius, Vilniaus Apskritis, Lithuania
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Wielki Książę Litewski
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Grand Duke of Lithuania
  
• FSID: LZKZ-4N9
  
• Clan Name: with note: Description: Gediminid Dynasty
  
• Birth: MAY 1296 in Vilnius, Vilniaus, Lithuania at LATI: N4.685 LONG: E5.281 with note: Vilnius, Vilniaus Apskritis, Lithuania
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Algirdas (Belarusian: Альгерд, Russian: Ольгерд; c. 1296 – May 1377) was a monarch of medieval Lithuania. He ruled the Lithuanians and Ruthenians from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the present Baltic states to the Black Sea and to within fifty miles of Moscow.
  
  Algirdas was one of the seven sons of Grand Prince Gediminas. Before his death in 1341, Gediminas divided his domain, leaving his youngest son Jaunutis in possession of the capital, Vilnius. With the aid of his brother, Kęstutis, Algirdas drove out the incompetent Jaunutis and declared himself Grand Prince in 1345. He devoted the next thirty-two years to the development and expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
  
  Two factors are thought to have contributed to this result: the political sagacity of Algirdas and the devotion of Kęstutis. The division of their dominions is illustrated by the fact that Algirdas appears almost exclusively in East Slavic sources, while Western chronicles primarily describe Kęstutis. Lithuania was surrounded by enemies. The Teutonic Order in the northwest and the Golden Horde in the southwest sought Lithuanian territory, while Poland to the west and Muscovy to the east were generally hostile competitors.
  
  Algirdas held his own, also acquiring influence and territory at the expense of Muscovy and the Golden Horde and extending the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the Black Sea. His principal efforts were directed toward securing the Slavic lands which were part of the former Kievan Rus'. Although Algirdas engineered the election of his son Andrew as Prince of Pskov and a powerful minority of Novgorod Republic citizens supported him against Muscovy, his rule in both commercial centres was (at best) precarious.
  
  Algirdas occupied the important principalities of Smolensk and Bryansk in western Russia. Although his relationship with the grand dukes of Muscovy was generally friendly (demonstrated by his marriages to two Orthodox Russian princesses), he besieged Moscow in 1368 and 1370 during the Lithuanian–Muscovite War (1368–72). An important feat by Algirdas was his victory over the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters at the Southern Bug in 1362, which resulted in the breakup of the Kipchaks and compelled the khan to establish his headquarters in the Crimea.
  
  According to modern historians, "For Gediminas and Algirdas, retention of paganism provided a useful diplomatic tool and weapon ... that allowed them to use promises of conversion as a means of preserving their power and independence".[1] Hermann von Wartberge and Jan Długosz described Algirdas as a pagan until his death in 1377. Contemporary Byzantine accounts support the Western sources; Patriarch Neilos described Algirdas as "fire-worshipping prince"[2] and another patriarch, Philotheos, excommunicated all Ruthenian noblemen who helped the "impious" Algirdas.[3] His pagan beliefs were also mentioned in 14th-century Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras' accounts.[4]
  
  After his death, Algirdas was burned on a ceremonial pyre with 18 horses and many of his possessions in a forest near Maišiagala,[5] probably in the Kukaveitis forest shrine located at 54°55′42″N 25°01′04″E.[6] His alleged burial site has undergone archaeological research since 2009.[7] Algirdas' descendants include the Trubetzkoy, Czartoryski and Sanguszko families.[citation needed]
  
  Although Algirdas was said to have ordered the death of Anthony, John, and Eustathius of Vilnius,[citation needed] who were later glorified as martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church, the 16th-century Bychowiec Chronicle and 17th-century Hustynska Chronicle maintain that he converted to Orthodox Christianity some time before his marriage to Maria of Vitebsk in 1318. Several Orthodox churches were built in Vilnius during his reign, but later assertions about his baptism are uncorroborated by contemporary sources. Despite contemporary accounts and modern studies,[8][9] however, some Russian historians (such as Batiushikov) claim that Algirdas was an Orthodox ruler. The Kiev Monastery of the Caves' commemorative book, underwritten by Algirdas' descendants, recorded his baptismal name as Demetrius during the 1460s. Following Wojciech Wijuk Kojałowicz and Macarius I, Volodymyr Antonovych writes that Algirdas took monastic vows several days before his death and was interred at the Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius under the monastic name Alexius.
  
  Algirdas balanced himself between Muscovy and Poland, spoke Lithuanian and Ruthenian (among other languages) and followed the majority of his pagan and Orthodox subjects rather than to alienate them by promoting Roman Catholicism. His son Jogaila ascended the Polish throne, converted to Roman Catholicism and founded the dynasty which ruled Lithuania and Poland for nearly 200 years.
  
  Algirdas (Belarusian: Альгерд, Alhierd) is also widely honoured in Belarus as a unifier of all Belarusian lands within one state, a successful military commander and ruler of medieval Belarus[10][11] A monument to him has been erected in Vitsebsk in 2014, as part of the celebration of the city's 1040th anniversary. Algirdas was Duke of Vitsebsk for over 20 years before becoming Grand Duke of Lithuania.[12]
  
  References
  
  1. Muldoon, James. Varieties of Religious Conversion in the Middle Ages. University Press of Florida, 1997. Page 140.
  2. F. Miklosich, J. Mūller. Acta Patriarchatus Constantinopolitan. Vienna, 1862, Vol. 2, p.12
  3. F. Miklosich, J. Mūller. Acta Patriarchatus Constantinopolitan. Vienna, 1862, Vol. 1, pp. 523–524
  4. I. Bekker. Nicephori Gregorae Historiae Byzantinae. Bonn, 1829, Vol. 3 pp. 517–520
  5. "He was cremated with the best horses, clothes, resplendent in gold and girdled with a gilded silver belt and was covered with a gown woven of beads and gems", Marija Gimbutas has observed Archived 9 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine..
  6. (Lithuanian)Vykintas Vaitkevičius, Kukaveičio šventvietės mįslės in Šiaurės Atėnai 2 May 2008
  7. Lokalizavo kunigaikščio Algirdo palaikų kremavimo vietą. retrieved on 22 May 2009
  8. Contributed by Antoni Prochaska, Jan Ochmanski, Gotthold Rhode, Marija Gimbutas, Edvardas Gudavičius etc.
  9. Mažeika, Rasa (1987). "Was Grand Prince Algirdas a Greek Orthodox Christian?". Lituanus. 33 (4). Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  10. Князь Альгерд нарэшце вярнуўся ў Віцебск [Duke Alhierd Finally Returns to Viciebsk]
  11. У Менску адкрылася выстава “Князь Альгерд у выяўленчым мастацтве” [Exhibition "Duke Alhierd in Visual Arts" Opened in Minsk]
  12. У Віцебску ўсталявалі помнік князю Альгерду. Фотарэпартаж [Monument to Duke Alhierd installed in Viciebsk. Photos]
  
  === From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 J ===
  From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
  
  === ПРИМЕЧАНИЯ ===
  NAME: LZKZ-4N9
  LC85-DG4
  
  === FamilySearch showed this additional info ===
  FamilySearch showed this additional information:
  Birth - Date: 1 May 1296 Place: Vilnius, Vilnius, Lithuania
  
  FamilySearch showed this additional information:
  Death - Date: 5 May 1377 Place: Vilnius, Vilnius, Lithuania
  
  === I'm alive and this bloodline is still going. ===
  Just thought this might help if someone is trying to find someone in this bloodline in the current time.
  
  === ?? Line 141884: (New PAF RIN=9413) 1 NAM ===
  ?? Line 141884: (New PAF RIN=9413) 1 NAME Algirdas, Grand Duke Of/LITHUANIA/
  
  === ?? Line 302: (New PAF RIN=48420) 1 NAME ===
  ?? Line 302: (New PAF RIN=48420) 1 NAME Algirdas, Grand Duke Of /LITHUANIA/
  
  === After the death of his father, Algirdas ===
  After the death of his father, Algirdas ruled the eastern portion of Lithuania from 1345-1377. The western portion was ruled by his brother Kestutis. Algirdas expanded in the east and the south, annexing much of what is now the Ukraine.

• m. 1318 in Вильна, Княжество Литовское
• m. ABT 1318
• m. 1318
• m. 1318 in Vitebsk,Vitebsk,Byelorussia,U.S.S.R.

• m. DEC 1349 in Vilnius, Vilniaus apskritis, Lithuania

1. Aleksandra Giedyminowicz, b. około 1369 r.     d. 19 czerwca 1434 r.

1. Title: Legacy NFS Source: Grand Duke Algirdas -
   Author: Ancestral File (R), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998, Family History Library, 35 N West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 USA
   Page: Migrated from user-supplied source citation: urn:familysearch:source:2709100790
   
2. Title: Интернет-ресурс: Wikipedia.org
   Author: Интернет-ресурс: Wikipedia.org.
   Note: [PFT:AQ] [S:Titl] Интернет-ресурс: Wikipedia.org [/PFT]
   
3. Title: Algirdas - Grand Duke of Lithuania, "Find A Grave Index"
   Author: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLW-S4D5 : 12 June 2020), Algirdas - Grand Duke of Lithuania, ; Burial, , ; citing record ID , Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
   Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLW-S4D5;
   
4. Title: Legacy NFS Source: Grand Duke Algirdas -
   Author: Ancestral File (TM), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, June 1998 (c), data as of 5 JAN 1998
   Page: Migrated from user-supplied source citation: urn:familysearch:source:2737222797