polska: Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 partitions of Poland–Lithuania. The state was founded by Lithuanians, who were at the time a polytheistic nation of several united Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija. By 1440 the grand duchy had become the largest European state, controlling an area from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. The grand duchy expanded to include large portions of the former Kievan Rus' and other neighbouring states, including what is now Lithuania, Belarus, most of Ukraine…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

The rule of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland between 1385 and 1572 spans the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period in European history. The Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło) founded the dynasty; his marriage to Queen Jadwiga of Poland in 1386 strengthened an ongoing Polish–Lithuanian union. The partnership brought vast territories controlled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for both the Polish and Lithuanian people, who coexisted and cooperated in one of the largest political entities in Europe for the next four centuries. In the Baltic Sea region, Poland engaged in an ongoing conflict with the Teutonic Knig…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded about 10,000 years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD. Lithuanians, one of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighbouring lands and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th century (and also a short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania). The Grand Duchy was a successful and lasting warrior state. It remained fiercely independent and was one of the last areas of Europe to adopt Christianity (beginning in the 14th century). A formidable power, it became the largest state in Europe in the 15th century spread from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, through the conquest of large groups o…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Königsberg (, German: [ˈkøːnɪçsbɛʁk] or [ˈkøːnɪksbɛʁk] ) was a German city established in the 13th century, which after the defeat of Nazi Germany became part of the Soviet Union and was renamed to Kaliningrad in 1946. After the fall of the USSR, Kaliningrad became part of Russia. Founded in 1255 on the site of the Old Prussian settlement Twangste by the Teutonic Knights during the Baltic Crusades, Königsberg (German for "King's Mountain") received its name in honour of King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who led a campaign against the pagan Old Prussians, a Baltic tribe that was native to the area. A Baltic port city, it successively became the capital of the State of the Teutonic Order and the Du…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Jagiellonian dynasty (US: ; US: ; Lithuanian: Jogailaičių dinastija; Polish: dynastia jagiellońska), also known as the House of Jagiellon (Polish: Dom Jagiellonów) or simply the Jagiellons (Lithuanian: Jogailaičiai; Polish: Jagiellonowie; Latin: Iagellonidae), was a Polish cadet branch of the Lithuanian ducal dynasty of Gediminids. The Jagiellons reigned in several European countries between the 14th and 16th centuries. Members of the dynasty were Kings of Poland (1386–1572), Grand Dukes of Lithuania (1377–1392 and 1440–1572), Kings of Hungary (1440–1444 and 1490–1526), and Kings of Bohemia and imperial electors (1471–1526). The dynasty originated with Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuan…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Grand Principality of Moscow, before 1389 the Principality of Moscow, also known by the exonym Muscovy, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as an appanage principality in the 13th century, Moscow became the leading Russian principality and was transformed into a centralized Russian state in the late 15th century, laying the groundwork for Tsarist Russia. Moscow became a separate principality when Daniel (r. 1263–1303), the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, received the city and surrounding area as an appanage. By the end of the 13th century, Moscow had become one of the leading principalities within the Grand Principality of V…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Lithuanian nobility (Lithuanian: bajorija) or szlachta of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės šlėkta, Polish: szlachta Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego) was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (including during period of foreign rule 1795–1918) consisting of Lithuanians from Lithuania Proper; Samogitians from Duchy of Samogitia; following Lithuania's eastward expansion into what is now Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, many ethnically Ruthenian noble families (boyars); and, later on, predominantly Baltic German families from the Duchy of Livonia and Inflanty Voivode…