alternatehistory.com

After the successful Battle of Vorskla as well as the annexation of the Principality of Muscovy, the era of military expansion under Jogaila's rule had come to an end. It was time to try to hold onto the things already subjugated instead of trying to expand further, like, say, into Livonia, which was still held by the hostile Livonian Order. The 15th century had begun, an era of a slowly, but surely rising Renaissance. In Lithuania, though, this century meant the end of the "hundred years' war" against the Christian orders - after the crushing Battle of Ilava, the Teutonic Order was no longer a threat. The lands of Lithuania could rest, and redirect all of the energy it used to spend on a life-or-death battle to defend it's state into more constructive work. Like art. And literature. And sciences. But a Lithuanian Renaissance was still decades away from Jogaila's rule...

Upon returning to Vilnius, one of the very first things the Grand Duke did was settle 500 families of captured Crimean Karaites near his capital, in Trakai, captured during the march to the Black Sea. The Karaites, or Karaims, were an isolated and hardy ethnic group, living in Crimea, and they followed their own branch of Judaism - Karaism, or Karaite Judaism, which rejected the Talmud. Karaites were known as capable warriors and great statesmen, both in the Golden Horde and the preceding Khazar Khanate, and their skills were deemed useful to Jogaila. After settling this branch in Trakai, he granted the Karaites quite a few privileges, including the right to own land outside of cities and work in the administration and city councils of the cities they inhabit. The legend of how the Grand Duke of Lithuania saved the Karaites from the Tatar yoke still travels across this niche community to this day, which still clings on in a few villages and locations in Trakai region.

Religion in general was a big issue in Lithuania in the first decade of the 15th century. After Ilava, Lithuania annexed the port of Memel, renamed Klaipėda after the original Curonian name, as well as some territory in Scalovia, whose inhabitants, despite being Baltic, were for the most part Catholics. And after Vorskla, Lithuania gained territories across the northern coast of the Black Sea, which were inhabited by Tatars, followers of Islam. Jews were widespread across the nation, too, and some Orthodox priests called for harsh measures against these "crucifiers of Christ", much like what was happening in Western nations. Jogaila picked the path of tolerance. In 1409, the Grand Duke released an official document, approving the right of the Roman Catholics to follow their rites and respond to the Pope in Rome as their supreme religious figure, as long as they agree to pay taxes to the Duchy and the Patriarchate. In 1410, Jogaila approved the Privileges of Brest - a set of rights to be held by the Jewish minority in the cities of the nation. Jews were exempt from taxes and service in the army, as well as the right to worshipping "God in their own ways", and, of course, the right to practice artisanship and trade.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, itself having once been a pagan state surrounded by various other religions, developed a level of religious and cultural tolerance phenomenal compared to the rest of Europe way before Jogaila, though. In the Letters of Gediminas in 1323, for example, the pagan Gediminas invited artisans and merchants all across Europe, regardless of their religion, to work in his new capital Vilnius and freely express their beliefs in churches he himself built in the nation. Lithuania has been one of the prime targets for Jews fleeing persecution across Europe for centuries, too. In a way, the Privileges of Brest and similar documents were just a reaffirmation of the rights that religious minorities had for centuries.

However, speaking of religion, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania gained a massive achievement, too. Ever since the annexation of Muscovy, the office of the Metropolitan of All Rus' has been in de facto limbo. Jogaila wanted to move the location of this important religious office closer to his court as well as replace him with a more loyal priest, while a response from the Patriarch was delayed as always. Constantinople was repulsing a major Ottoman attack at the time, thus the situation pretty much forced Lithuania to hurry. Finally, in 1411, when the Turks retreated, unable to yet punch through the city's walls, a message arrived from the ERE, confirming that Sergius is removed from the office of Metropolitan and the location of the new one shall be in Vilnius. Jogaila was quick to place Mihail, a diocese bishop from Chernigov, as his Metropolitan. The control over the Russian Orthodox Church fell into the hands of the Grand Duke of Lithuania - a major achievement in the Baltic nation's quest to unite all of Rus' under one banner.

Family matters were not to be forgotten, though. 1409 marked the birth of Jogaila's first son, baptized as Teodoras (Fiodor, Theodore). Celebrations were held across the nation for the birth of the future Grand Duke - who, luckily, survived. The heir to the throne was secure! Unfortunately, Teodoras was the only male child of the Grand Duke - behind that, he and Sophia of Moscow could only produce daughters.

Central Europe exploded into action in the second decade of the 15th century! A peculiar adherent of Wycliffism and Humanist figure from the Kingdom of Bohemia, Jan Hus, was captured and burned at the stake while travelling to the ongoing Council of Constance for heresy, which prompted an immediate revolt by his followers, the Hussites. Frustrated at German dominance in Czech lands and what they perceived as corruption in the Catholic Church, these militant heretics repulsed one Crusade after another with innovative tactics and a great commander - Jan Žižka. Lithuania under Jogaila watched the events unfold with little interest to actually participate as the Hussite Wars began to engulf Central Europe by storm...

Something else, while not important to the political history of Europe, but considered to be a great moment in Lithuanian literary and cultural tradition, happened in Lithuania closing in on the end of Jogaila's long and bountiful reign - the creation of the Chronicle of Lithuania (Lietuvos kronika), first released in 1425, in Smolensk, in the Ruthenian language. This was the first set of historical literary works composed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, most importantly as an alternative to the local Russian chronicles, many of which portrayed Lithuanians negatively. The Chronicle extended from the creation of the Lithuanian state to present day, and was extremely pro-Lithuanian in it's contents. A lot of focus was on Jogaila's reign and the crushing victories in Ilava and Vorskla, while the defeats in, say, Rudau were for the most part shoved under the rug, or at least presented as not that bad of a defeat after all. However, that was not the most important thing. In 1432, according to the orders of Jogaila, the Chronicle of Lithuania was translated into the Lithuanian language, adapted to the Cyrilic script.

This year is celebrated as the beginning of Lithuanian literature as we know it.

Military matters were not forgotten, too, and even though the last thirty years of Jogaila's reign were known as exceptionally peaceful, he did not forget the long withstanding Lithuanian ambition to see all of the Kievan Rus' under one banner - their banner. In 1408, the Lithuanian hegemon annexed and incorporated Ryazan, and after numerous attack and treaties on the remaining Russian principalities, they entered a weird limbo situation of "independent dominance". Nominally, principalities like the slowly expanding Tver, Yaroslavl and Novgorod were independent, but they paid various levels of tribute to the Grand Duke and, even if they were not obliged to do so, provided soldiers and material for military campaigns, mostly out of fear and hoping to receive Lithuanian support in any of their own matters. This weird false vassalage system could only really work if Lithuania was led by a strong and capable ruler, though, one who is active enough to keep the Rus'ians in check.

And just when this was said, in 1434, Nikolai I Jogaila 'the Great', Grand Duke of Lithuania, Samogitia and Muscovy died, calmly in his bed. Already over 80 years old, this noble and ambitious ruler laid the grounds for what can truly be called a "Lithuanian Golden Age". Under him, the dream of his father to unite all of Rus', whether as a hegemon or a single state, was pretty much accomplished. Trade and culture flourished. Lithuania established itself as one of the major powers of Europe. While still pretty much a decentralized feudal state on a lower civilization level than, say, England-France or Italy, it was very well willing to learn from the West. Truly, a man worthy of his epithet.

The throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was inherited by his son, now crowned as Teodoras I. 25 years old at the time of his coronation, he was a ruler instantly bombarded with great expectations - strengthen the nation, keep his father's accomplishments secure, or even surpass them...

Not easy to achieve. Not when soon after his father's death, one of his relatives suddenly raised the banner of civil war, yet again...

And what about the West? In 1432, merely two years before Jogaila's death, the Council of Florence began. While it's biggest topic was the ongoing Hussite Wars and the split of the Catholic Church, an important part of this convention was the East-West Schism, in light of the ongoing death of the Byzantine Empire. Representatives from the Eastern Church, mostly from the ERE, but also some from other Orthodox nations and even one - Viktoras of Gardinas - from Lithuania began open discussion with the Catholics on a possible mending of the great Schism. Surely, Lithuania should have a say in this, right? And what will this mean for the great Eastern nation?

It is clear - the story of Lithuania has only begun.

---

So yeah, sorry for not posting for a while.