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Chapter 13: Long Live the King
Part 13: Long Live the King (1475-1481)
Algirdas II Teodoraitis (Olgierd II Fiodorovich) was already 41 years old by his father's death, and quite experienced with the art of rulership. Not long after coming of age, he was granted the title of the Vaivada of Trakai, where he excelled not as a great military commander like Teodoras, but as a capable negotiator and patron of the arts. During his father's rule, Algirdas made numerous trips to the countries in the West, getting acquainted with the Renaissance and Western technologies. He visited and attended a lecture in the University of Bologna, the oldest of it's kind in Europe, and in a visit to Magdeburg, he was presented with a relatively recent German invention, first created by Peter Schoeffer in Mainz - the printing press. Trakai under his rule developed as a large and wealthy city. His father appointed him among the main diplomats of the Grand Duchy, and Prince Algirdas participated in the negotiations in the Peace of Plock, where he successfully managed to avoid a resumption of war because of Teodoras's demand to extradite Mykolas Žygimantaitis.
It is likely because of this experience, plus the prince's connections among the nobility, that the succession upon the death of Grand Duke Teodoras was surprisingly calm and bloodless. Sure, there was a peasant revolt near Chernigov and some rumblings in Suzdal, but that was to be expected. Algirdas II was coronated in January of 1476, and he immediately began numerous actions to both solidify his rule and for the prosperity of the nation.
The reign of Algirdas II saw the execution of a major currency reform. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was perhaps the most powerful country in Europe which did not have it's own currency - sure, there were the Lithuanian silver long sticks, but they were not easy to use as currency and easy to counterfeit. Former rulers, like Algirdas and Jogaila the Great, tried to create their own currency as well, but it did not stick. The nation was full of foreign coins, from Bohemian thalers to Venetian ducats, and to better control his treasury as well as increase the ruler's prestige, the Grand Duke founded an official national mint in Vilnius, and this new institution created the official Lithuanian Denar - the first long-term and consistent currency of the Lithuanian nation. Minted out of silver and sometimes copper, these coins featured the Vytis - the silver knight, symbol of the Lithuanian state since the 13th century - on one side and a portrait of the current ruler on the other. Only the Vilnius National Mint had the right to mint these coins, and any counterfeiters were planned to receive great punishment, be it via fines or imprisonment.
Such control of the treasury and coinage had important long-term positive effects on the economy of Lithuania, but Algirdas II had other, much more contemporary plans with this power. The Polish Succession War showed the ineffectiveness of the ancient noble voluntary levy against modern standing and mercenary armies, and the Grand Duke hoped to fill this gap by reforming the army of the Lithuanian nation. However, modern firearms and mercenaries were expensive, and Lithuania was far from being wealthy enough to pay for an army that was just as big as before, but modern armed and well prepared. Plus, outright abolishing the ancient army system and denying nobles the exclusive right to serve would not resonate well with the Lithuanian nobility, who saw war as a pleasure and a chance to loot just like their ancestors did. As such, Algirdas had to reach for a compromise. Under his rule, the Lithuanian Regiment was created, first mentioned in written sources in 1480. The Lithuanian Regiment was organized to be the core of the Lithuanian Army - a small standing force of about 6000 men, equipped with the most modern weaponry possible to acquire, like bronze-cast cannons, arquebuses and crossbows, and would be supplemented by raised levies and Voivodeship regiments in wartime.
The Lithuanian Regiment was the beginning of the history of the Lithuanian standing army, with many more events to come.
However, a far more interesting event happened in the very beginning of Algirdas II's reign... The Papacy was watching the events in Lithuania closely, and upon he ascension of the new Grand Duke, Pope Paul II sent a very enticing offer - he offered the hand of Angela Palaiologina, the niece of the last Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, who was taking refuge in Rome after the Fall of Constantinople, for the still unmarried monarch. The Pope planned to use this marriage as a way to strengthen Catholic influence in the massive Orthodox nation and perhaps get Algirdas to reverse his father's stance on the Union of Florence, while Algirdas II saw this as an opportunity to finalize Teodoras's claim on declaring the Grand Duchy as the successor to the Roman Empire. The negotiations for this marriage lasted for two years, until finally, in 1478, Angela and Algirdas became married. Angela's dowry included 8000 Venetian ducats and an entire library of books saved from Constantinople, which were later included in a Royal Library in Vilnius. The marriage was overseen by Papal Legate Anthony, and negotiations for the Union of Florence soon began. Algirdas II was reluctant, though.
Soon after the marriage to a relative of the last Roman Emperor, Algirdas II officially declared his capital, Vilnius, under the concept of "Translatio Imperii", to be the Third Rome, the successor to Constantinople as the seat of the Patriarchate and the Roman Empire, and in 1481, he crowned himself, under the new Patriarch, Anastas, as the Lietuvos Karalius (King of Lithuania). The Chronicles of Lithuania were rewritten to further solidify this claim, including the legend of the mythical Palemon, a Roman refuge who founded Lithuania over a thousand years ago. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was no more, and the Kingdom of Lithuania, extinguished for 200 years by the death of Mindaugas, arose once again.
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Quick update to remind you all that I am not dead.
Part 13: Long Live the King (1475-1481)
It is likely because of this experience, plus the prince's connections among the nobility, that the succession upon the death of Grand Duke Teodoras was surprisingly calm and bloodless. Sure, there was a peasant revolt near Chernigov and some rumblings in Suzdal, but that was to be expected. Algirdas II was coronated in January of 1476, and he immediately began numerous actions to both solidify his rule and for the prosperity of the nation.
The reign of Algirdas II saw the execution of a major currency reform. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was perhaps the most powerful country in Europe which did not have it's own currency - sure, there were the Lithuanian silver long sticks, but they were not easy to use as currency and easy to counterfeit. Former rulers, like Algirdas and Jogaila the Great, tried to create their own currency as well, but it did not stick. The nation was full of foreign coins, from Bohemian thalers to Venetian ducats, and to better control his treasury as well as increase the ruler's prestige, the Grand Duke founded an official national mint in Vilnius, and this new institution created the official Lithuanian Denar - the first long-term and consistent currency of the Lithuanian nation. Minted out of silver and sometimes copper, these coins featured the Vytis - the silver knight, symbol of the Lithuanian state since the 13th century - on one side and a portrait of the current ruler on the other. Only the Vilnius National Mint had the right to mint these coins, and any counterfeiters were planned to receive great punishment, be it via fines or imprisonment.
Such control of the treasury and coinage had important long-term positive effects on the economy of Lithuania, but Algirdas II had other, much more contemporary plans with this power. The Polish Succession War showed the ineffectiveness of the ancient noble voluntary levy against modern standing and mercenary armies, and the Grand Duke hoped to fill this gap by reforming the army of the Lithuanian nation. However, modern firearms and mercenaries were expensive, and Lithuania was far from being wealthy enough to pay for an army that was just as big as before, but modern armed and well prepared. Plus, outright abolishing the ancient army system and denying nobles the exclusive right to serve would not resonate well with the Lithuanian nobility, who saw war as a pleasure and a chance to loot just like their ancestors did. As such, Algirdas had to reach for a compromise. Under his rule, the Lithuanian Regiment was created, first mentioned in written sources in 1480. The Lithuanian Regiment was organized to be the core of the Lithuanian Army - a small standing force of about 6000 men, equipped with the most modern weaponry possible to acquire, like bronze-cast cannons, arquebuses and crossbows, and would be supplemented by raised levies and Voivodeship regiments in wartime.
The Lithuanian Regiment was the beginning of the history of the Lithuanian standing army, with many more events to come.
However, a far more interesting event happened in the very beginning of Algirdas II's reign... The Papacy was watching the events in Lithuania closely, and upon he ascension of the new Grand Duke, Pope Paul II sent a very enticing offer - he offered the hand of Angela Palaiologina, the niece of the last Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, who was taking refuge in Rome after the Fall of Constantinople, for the still unmarried monarch. The Pope planned to use this marriage as a way to strengthen Catholic influence in the massive Orthodox nation and perhaps get Algirdas to reverse his father's stance on the Union of Florence, while Algirdas II saw this as an opportunity to finalize Teodoras's claim on declaring the Grand Duchy as the successor to the Roman Empire. The negotiations for this marriage lasted for two years, until finally, in 1478, Angela and Algirdas became married. Angela's dowry included 8000 Venetian ducats and an entire library of books saved from Constantinople, which were later included in a Royal Library in Vilnius. The marriage was overseen by Papal Legate Anthony, and negotiations for the Union of Florence soon began. Algirdas II was reluctant, though.
Soon after the marriage to a relative of the last Roman Emperor, Algirdas II officially declared his capital, Vilnius, under the concept of "Translatio Imperii", to be the Third Rome, the successor to Constantinople as the seat of the Patriarchate and the Roman Empire, and in 1481, he crowned himself, under the new Patriarch, Anastas, as the Lietuvos Karalius (King of Lithuania). The Chronicles of Lithuania were rewritten to further solidify this claim, including the legend of the mythical Palemon, a Roman refuge who founded Lithuania over a thousand years ago. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was no more, and the Kingdom of Lithuania, extinguished for 200 years by the death of Mindaugas, arose once again.
---
Quick update to remind you all that I am not dead.
- Augenis
- Word Count: 1k