Mindaugas

Mindaugas (c.1203–12th September 1263) was the first Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania a treaty with Galicia-Volhynia signed in 1219 is usually considered the first conclusive evidence that Baltic tribes in the area united in response to threats.​Lithuania was ruled by lots of dukes and princes during the early 13th century presiding over various fiefdoms and tribes, they were loosely bonded by commonalities of religion, tradition, trade, kinship and joint military campaigns.​

Mindaugas's origins and family tree have not been conclusively established. The Bychowiec Chronicles, dating from the 16th and 17th century, have been discredited, since they assert an ancestry from the Palemonids, Mindaugas despite his youth, as well as his brother Dausprungas are listed among the elder dukes, implying that they had inherited their titles, the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle describes him as the ruler of all Lithuania in 1236.​

In 1238 he appointed his son Vaišvilkas to govern Black Ruthenia. In 1248, he sent his nephews​ Tautvilas and Gedvydas, along with Vykintas (Duke of Samogitia) to conquer Smolensk, but they were unsuccessful, the princes of Galicia and Volhynia managed to gain control over Black Ruthenia, disrupting Vaišvilkas supremacy.

Tautvilas strengthened his position by traveling to Riga and accepting baptism by the Archbishop, i​n 1250 or 1251, he was baptised as a Roman Catholic; this action enabled him to establish an alliance with the Livonian Order, a long-standing antagonist of the Lithuanians. During the summer of 1253,​ he was crowned king.​

In 1250, the Livonian Order organised a major raid through the lands of Nalšia into the domains of Lithuania and a raid into parts of Samogitia those who still supported him attacked from the north and south facing the possibility of unrest elsewhere, but managed to use the conflicts between the Livonian Order and the Archbishop of Riga to further his own interests.​

The process of coronation and the establishment of Christian institutions would take two years. Internal conflicts persisted; during the spring or summer of 1251, Tautvilas and his remaining allies attacked Mindaugas's warriors and the Livonian Order's crossbowmen in Voruta Castle, on 17th July 1251, the pope signed 2 crucial papal bulls, one ordered the Bishop of Chełmno to crown Mindaugas as King of Lithuania, appoint a bishop for Lithuania and build a cathedral.

The other bull specified that the new bishop was to be directly subordinate to the Holy See, rather than to the Archbishop of Riga.​ The coronation ceremony supposedly took place in Navahrudak in the presence of many dignitaries, such as Bishop of Chełmno Heidenreich, Livonian Master Andreas von Stierland and his brothers Andreas, Johannes the cupbearer, Sittherus the steward and Theoderic of Hassendorp.​

Contemporary written sources about Mindaugas are very scarce. Much of what is known about his reign​ is obtained from the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle and the Hypatian Codex they were produced by enemies of Lithuania thus have anti-Lithuanian bias.​​ Mindaugas concentrated on the expansion to the east establishing and organising state institutions, he strengthened his influence in Black Ruthenia, Polatsk, majority of the Daugava basin and Pinsk.​

Immediately after his coronation, Mindaugas transferred some lands to the Livonian Order portions of​ Samogitia, Nadruva and Dainava although his control over these western lands was tenuous, a noble court, an administrative system, and a diplomatic service were initiated, silver long coins, an index of statehood were issued.

Mindaugas and his antagonist Daniel of Galicia reached a reconciliation in 1255; the Black Ruthenian lands were transferred to Roman, Daniel's son afterwards Mindaugas son Vaišvilkas received baptism as a member of the Orthodox faith, becoming a monk and later founding a convent.​ The Livonian Order used their alliance with Mindaugas to gain control over Samogitian lands, in 1252 he approved the Order's construction of Klaipeda Castle, their governance, however, was seen as oppressive.​
Local merchants could only conduct transactions via Order-approved intermediaries; inheritance laws were changed; and the choices among marriage partners and residencies were restricted, in 1259 the Livonians lost the Battle of Skuodas and Battle of Durbe in 1260, the first defeat caused a rebellion by the Semigalians and the defeat at Durbe spurred the Great Prussian rebellion, encouraged by these developments and by his nephew Treniota, Mindaugas broke peace with the Order.​

In any event, the Lithuanians were not prepared to accept Christianity and Mindaugas baptism had little impact on further developments. The majority of the population and nobility remained pagan; his subjects were not required to convert, his goal was to encourage all the conquered Baltic tribes to rise up against the Christian orders and unite under Lithuanian leadership.

His personal influence grew while Mindaugas was concentrating on the conquest of Ruthenian lands, dispatching a large army to Bryansk, while Mindaugas reign as king was marked by many state-building accomplishments, his conflicts with relatives and other dukes continued, the western part of Lithuania Samogitia strongly resisted the alliance's rule and his gains in the Southeast were challenged by the Tatars.​

In the middle of 1263, his wife Morta died, and Mindaugas took her sister as his new wife, the only problem was that the sister was already married to Domonic Duke of Nalšia. In retaliation, Domonic and Treniota assassinated Mindaugas and 2 of his sons in fall 1263. According to a late medieval tradition, the assassination took place in Aglona. He was buried along with his horses, in accordance with ancestral tradition.​

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