page_title: History of Lithuania (1219–95)
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: History of Lithuania (1219–95) / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Lithuanian state in the 13-15th centuries
context_page_description: The history of Lithuania between 1219 and 1295 concerns the establishment and early history of the first Lithuanian state, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The beginning of the 13th century marks the end of the prehistory of Lithuania. From this point on the history of Lithuania is recorded in chronicles, treaties, and other written documents. In 1219, 21 Lithuanian dukes signed a peace treaty with Galicia–Volhynia. This event is widely accepted as the first proof that the Baltic tribes were uniting and consolidating. Despite continuous warfare with two Christian orders, the Livonian Order and the Teutonic Knights, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was established and gained some control over the lands of Black Ruthenia, Polatsk, Minsk, and other territories east of modern-day Lithuania that had become weak and vulnerable after the collapse of Kievan Rus'.
  The first ruler to hold the title of Grand Duke was Mindaugas. Traditionally he is considered the founder of the state, the one who united the Baltic tribes and established the Duchy. Some scholars, however, challenge this perception, arguing that an organized state existed before Mindaugas, possibly as early as 1183.
context_section_description: The state united and ruled by Mindaugas constituted the first Lithuanian state. The state effectively protected Lithuanians and Samogitians from assimilation induced by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order, the destiny of Prussians, Skalvians, Curonians, Selonians and other Baltic tribes. Mindaugas ruled about 100,000 km² (39,000 sq mi) of Lithuanian ethnic territory, an area with an estimated population of 300,000. The Slavic lands under his control and influence occupied another 100,000 km² (39,000 sq mi). By about 1430, at its peak during the reign of Vytautas the Great, the Grand Duchy controlled some 930,000 km² (360,000 sq mi) and almost 2.5 million people.
  The period from 1219 to 1295 also shaped future conflicts: the pagan Lithuanians were surrounded by the aggressive Roman Catholic Orders to its north and southwest, and by adherents of the Orthodox Church in the east. The Catholic Orders' raids intensified after they overcame the "buffer zone" created by Prussians, Nadruvians, Skalvians, Yotvingians, and Semigalians by 1283. The Lithuanian relationships with the Orthodox Church were more peaceful. The people were allowed to practise their religion; Lithuanian dukes did not hesitate to marry daughters of Orthodox dukes; at least some of the dukes' scribes must have been Orthodox as well. Struggles with the Teutonic Knights and expansion to the east were characteristic of the years from 1295 to 1377. It was inevitable that Lithuania could not endure religious, political, and cultural isolation forever and would have to choose either Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. In 1386, Grand Duke Jogaila elected baptism in the Catholic rite to marry Jadwiga of Poland and become King of Poland; the last pagan state in Europe was converted to Christianity.
caption: Map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 13–15th centuries
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