The Silver Knight, a Lithuania Timeline

[Augenis]

Part 16: Silva Rerum (1500-1525)
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The last years of the Glinskis regency were centered around the continuous centralization of the Lithuanian nation and the incorporation of the newly acquired terrtories. The title of the Prince of Tver was abolished and instead the territory of the annexed Principality was reorganized into the Voivodeships of Tver, Vladimir and Nizhny-Novgorod. Boundaries were drawn and Lithuanian garrisons in the cities were sent. The family of Ivan Mikhailovich was captured and imprisoned to make sure that none of the the Prince of Tver's successors try to raise a revolt in the near future. The children of Ivan died in the next few years in captivity in Chernigov. The Regency put a lot of effort to enforce the Brest Concordate on the newly conquered lands - Catholic churches were built in Tver, Vladimir and Suzdal, and the Orthodox priesthood was forced to accept the theological changed mandated by the Concordate. Mykolas Glinskis worked hard to root out corruption and any of his political opponents from the court and any higher positions of the Kingdom, and in exchange made the necessary changes and donations to support his own bloodline. The Glinski Regency saw the beginning of about a century of Glinski family dominance in Lithuanian politics and diplomacy, and Mykolas was the man to achieve that.

At the same time, though, the Regent promoted further introduction of Renaissance culture and literature to Lithuania proper. Listening to poems of Virgil, Homer and Horace, among others was starting to become a favorite pastime of well-read, educated Lithuanian nobles, especially in winters, when the weather was too cold and harsh for outdoor activities. It was around this time that the first examples of Lithuanian renaissance architecture came about in the nation - for example, the renovated Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius. The Regent also provided funding for a project that was considered by the citizens of Vilnius for a while - surrounding the city with a wall to protect it from possible invaders or raiders. It was also at this time that numerous cities in Lithuania received city status via Magdeburg Rights - most notably Gardinas (Grodno), which was starting to become an important population center, with the inhabitants being a mix of Lithuanians and Ruthenians.

In 1504, Valdislovas reached maturity, and the Regency was no longer required. Mykolas Glinskis honored the will of his former sovereign and relished his title of Regent to grant full control of the Kingdom to the legitimate Monarch. The old noble, over 60 years old at the time, resigned from his position as Grand Hetman too mere three years later, retiring to his now massive estates scattered across the entire Kingdom, pretty suspiciously almost tripled in size during the Regency... Despite the self-service and brutality, Mykolas Glinskis is not an all-negative figure. A harsh and brutal man, he haunts the darkest nightmares of the Russian people, but it was a time when Lithuania needed a man as harsh as him the most. He still stands as an important figure in Westernizing the nation under Algirdas II and under his own devices - he brought the Lithuanian Army to better fighting capacity and modernized it to the newest weapons of the time. He may not be the gentlest ruler in Lithuanian history, but he surely was among the more capable ones.

King Valdislavas I of Lithuania. Painted in Vilnius in about 1510
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King Valdislavas entered his period of rule as a complete novice. Merely 18 years old, he only received childhood tutorage by his court in the absolute basics of the state. As such, in the first years of his rule, a lot of the new King's policies were influenced by the nobility, whom he relied upon. A sizable portion of the Lithuanian magnates, led by the Kęsgaila family, put their hopes on manipulating the young and inexperienced King into returning the noble rights of old. In fact, at the beginning of his reign they managed to push through a few pro-nobility privileges and laws, but something unexpected came to be. Valdislavas was a quick learner, and the more he discovered about the art of rulership, the more arrogant he grew to be. Even though he was still incredibly young, he saw himself as one of the greatest rulers of Lithuania to have risen to the throne, and soon he dismissed the closest of his advisors, even imprisoning some of them for betrayal. Now reigning alone, with only a small ring of loyalists around him to handle day-to-day matters, Valdislavas set out to shape Lithuania into a nation of his liking.

One big problem that the powerhungry King had from the start came from the south. The Ottoman Turks were stopped by united Bohemo-Polish-Hungarian forces in the Battle of the Sava River in 1506, in a crushing defeat that left the Sultan and many of his officers dead, and the new Kaiser-i-Rum, Mehmet III decided to turn the expansion of the Turkish empire into a different direction. It was around this time that the Ottoman Empire extinguished the Mamluk Sultanate and subjugated the vast lands of Egypt and the Levant, and at the same time, they decided to employ the Crimeans for a push north. The Crimean Khanate was one of the many successor states of the Golden Horde, and was the first to fall under Ottoman dominance as a vassal and tributary. The territory of the peninsula was cramped, too small to feed all of it's inhabitants, and the rich lands north, held by Lithuania, were so enticing to any Tatar raider... The Ottomans encouraged Crimean tatars to attack this Orthodox state through military pushes and "bounties", and the raid on the Khadjibey port by the Black Sea in 1511 marked the beginning of a long series of raids and wars between the Crimeans and the Lithuanians across the lands of the former Kievan Rus. Tatar raiding parties reached as far north as Minsk and Smolensk, every time chipping away a part of Lithuania's wealth with them. An enraged Valdislavas sent numerous counterattacks to the peninsula, but it didn't do much to stop the attacking forces.

In regards to domestic matters, though, some other developments were put in place. While not particularly well educated, Valdislavas was learning by the minute, and one of the smarter moves of his reign was reorganizing the law code and archive of the Kingdom. That is, the Metrica. The Lithuanian Metrica was the nation's archive of law documents, decrees, yarlyks and other government information that was being kept and overseen by the Treasurer since the 14th century. It contained pretty much all written laws and documents in the nation, and under the rule of Valdislavas, it was reorganized and divided into organized directories, ordered by date and by content. It was also moved out of the Trakai Castle, the previous capital of Lithuania, and into Vilnius, where it was put under the oversight of the Grand Chancellor.

A Ruthenian language copy of the Metrica from the 16th century
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While that was an important development in Lithuanian law, it was way, way overshadowed by what came after it - the Statute of Lithuania. Ever since the establishment of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the concept of written laws was common among the nation, mostly inherited from annexed Ruthenian principalities, and some carried from the West, like the Magdeburg Laws. However, it should be noted that for most of it's history, Lithuania did not have a universal codified legal code - the codes were different in each duchy, the cities had their own rights, and the laws released by the King and the Council of Lords (Ponų taryba, Lithuania's own "representative" organ) were sporadic and often had loopholes. Valdislavas I ordered the Grand Chancellor of his court, a Jewish statesman from Vilnius, Elijah ben Moses Margalit, to create what is nowadays known as the Statute. Margalit wasn't particularly liked around the court due to him being a Jew, but he was nevertheless capable to push his proposal for a code of law to the King, who approved after a few edits and officially signed it in 1518. The Statute of Lithuania was one of the first pieces of codified law in Europe, and was very progressive in many ways. It had a tendency towards severe penalties for many crimes, especially capital punishment, and while the punishments were slightly higher for the lower classes, they were nevertheless close enough to fulfill the common Renaissance idea that "all humans lives are of equal worth". The powers of the King were greatly expanded, in expense for the Council of Lords, which was lowered to a more advisory role.

It was once again reiterated that all religions in the Kingdom of Lithuania can be expressed freely, as long as it's followers do not take action against the King and his government - an another example of great Lithuanian religious tolerance that was by then already a tradition. Lithuania was a haven for exiled Jews, fleeing Muslims and protesting Christians alike, it was where religious thought of the entirety of Europe could arrive and live in peace. For now, at least. While religions were all equal in the eyes of the King, the borders between the nations turned more clear. The Statute of Lithuania had some small, barely visible, but nowadays obvious instances of incoming pro-Lithuanian law codification. It was hard to notice for people of the time, but some of the laws in the section of land ownership and serfdom included bits and pieces that benefited the Lithuanian nobility in expense of the Ruthenian ones. Institutional anti-Slavic laws had a long way to go, but it was a menacing start in hindsight...

Front page of a 17th century edit of the Statute of Lithuania
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The rule of Valdislavas I saw progress in the northwest. The Teutonic and Livonian Orders lost Papal support after the Brest Concordate, and their lives were coming to an end. The Teutons, locked to Prussia and surrounded by two hostile Eastern European superpowers, were experiencing problems of their own in the name of Hanseatic cities within their territory, which demanded more autonomy and even wanted an end to the rule of the monastic order. Valdislavas stood in favor of the cities, and in the three-year long Teutonic-Lithuanian War between 1518 and 1521, more commonly known romantically as the The Teutonic Order's Last Raid, the Lithuanian armies clashed with the Teutons across East Prussia. The "last raid" in the name was actually the unsuccessful Teutonic attack on Klaipėda in 1520, the last Teutonic attack on Lithuanian land. A successful Prussian uprising in Sambia, led by Sarbis Mančius, helped in the conflict, and in the end, Valdislavas I banished the Teutonic Order from East Prussia, demanding that they never return, and incorporated the territory into Lithuania - of course, the cities of Elbing, Konigsberg and others, which were the ones who started the war, received significant autonomy from the Lithuanian King, so much that they were regarded as "a state within a state" by contemporary and modern researchers alike. The Triple Crown was busy with a border struggle with the Ottomans and so couldn't intervene, but their King Charles II still sent a complaint.

All in all, the beginning of Valdislavas I's rule was calm, indeed. The King was willing to centralize as much power around him as he could, and while this sparked numerous clashes with protesting magnates, the transition from an ancient feudal to an Early Modern monarchy went quite smooth for Lithuania. The Statute of Lithuania gave the people of the nation a sense of safety, knowing that the laws will punish all of them equally. But the King was treading a path that none had ever even imagined. Although... not for good reason.

There was a particular genre of literature growing popular across Lithuania. Home chronicles. Chronicles detailing the lives of multiple generations of noble members, recording pretty much everything that the authors wanted to record for future generations, from jokes and anecdotes to financial documents and moral advice. Silva rerum is what they were called.

Silva rerum. Silva rerum. Latin for "forest of things". In a way, that name was an accurate description of Lithuania at the time, too. The people of Western Europe saw those "barbaric lands to the north" as one massive, impenetrable forest, still supposedly inhabited by wild and uncivilized pagans. But Lithuania wasn't just a forest, no more - it was a forest of things. It had characters, it had drama, it had culture, it had power. Power. Power strong enough to stop Tatars and destroy Teutons. Power elaborate enough to create one of the first systems of codified law since the Antiquity. Power cultured enough to take up on the beliefs and philosophy of the Renaissance...

In the year 1525, when Lithuania was still in the middle of Valdoslavas I's rule, something far, far, far more influential happened in the West, though, no matter how many silvas we were to write. The Roman Catholic Church, the most powerful of all the Christian churches in Europe, had been in rapid decadent conflict for over a few centuries. No matter how many inquisitions and anti-heretic crusades they were to launch, the "heresies" - from Cathars to Hussites - just kept popping up, "like from the devil's ass itself". But this time, Europe was lit on fire, by a German. Philip Melanchthon, a German theologian from Baden, launched what at first seemed only a local debate on theology and the state of the Catholic Church - from the point of view of many reformist preachers, a hive of scum, villainy, indulgence and greed - in Heidelberg University eventually turned into a wide upheaval of theology students sending a petition to the Bishop of Worms, now famously known as the "118 Theses on the State of Corruption, Simony and Indulgences in the Church of Christ". Melanchthon began preaching his idea of "renovating" the Catholic Church according to the Bible, not to the Papacy.

Of course, the Catholics were quick to learn of this new development that was taking southern Germany by storm, and a long, but in hindsight expected, struggle in the name of religion began.

 

[Augenis]

Part 17: Bon Voyage! (1525-1535)
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While Europe was bursting into religious flames, the Iberian Peninsula had none of it. After Alvarez Cabral's discovery of the new Vespucian continent, at the time still believed to be Asia, the Spanish sent a few expeditions of their own to the West, where the leader of their flotilla, Francisco Fiermont, mapped an array of discovered islands and returned them to Cadiz. The descriptions of the explored territories matched none or very little of the known information about India and China, and it didn't take long before some began proposing the idea of a "New World", the antipode of the known Earth that the Greeks speculated about. In 1501, a Portuguese expedition managed to sail around Africa, passing the Cape of Destiny, and reached the port of Madras. The Indians knew nothing about Cabral's expedition, which only helped the new continent theory. Finally, in 1503, a second expedition by Francisco Fiermont pushed deeper towards the New World, reaching a large island that Fiermont named Ultima Occasus ("Farthest West"), and for the first time in European history seeing the natives of these strange lands - almost completely naked, living in tiny forest villages, apparently having no concept of civilization and not resembling the people of India in any way.

Clearly, this was not India. This was something completely different.

A Portuguese map from 1519, and the first one to show North and South Vespucia in European history.
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The first permanent European settlement on Vespucia was established in what was later named the Caribbean, after the local Carib people, on the northern shore of the island of Insula Mariana ("Island of Mariana", Mariana being the name of the Princess of Spain at the time), later shortened to just Mariana, by the Spanish in 1505. This was followed by settlements on neighbouring islands, and finally, in 1511, the King of Castille and Aragon, Ferdinand I, declared that the Spanish Empire holds absolute control over "the islands of Mariana, Occasus, Puerto Norte, the rest of the Western islands, and all Westerners on the continent in front of them". These Spanish settlements were sparse and many of them died out within a few decades, but the few of them that managed to cling on, due to having a good settlement position, good nearby lands or some luck clinged on and became the source of power of these Europeans in the Western Hemisphere. The Portuguese were not far behind - an expedition led by Vasco Disirosti revisited the lands that Cabral found all those years ago, explored them even more and landed on their soil. The landscape, flora and discovered Westerners were similar to the ones found in the Caribbean, but not quite the same... It was clear that this wasn't the same Vespucia that was found up North... Disirosti named it Terra Manuela (later shortened to just Manuela), after King Manuel I, the man who sponsored this and many other expeditions to the West. Portuguese colonization of Manuela and the Caribbean was much slower, mainly because they tried to establish themselves on existing trade routes and paths.

To avoid any possible clashes and disagreements on the division of the new continent, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Almeria, sanctioned by the Pope, who wanted to use this as an opportunity to spread Christianity to the "redskins". Thee, these two colonial powers agreed to divide the newly found territories by a line drawn "500 miles north of the Equator", with Portugal being granted all land south and Spain being granted all land north of that line. This gave Portugal pretty much all land of South Vespucia, while Spain got free hands in North Vespucia.

That's not to say that these two Iberian powers were the only ones sending expeditions, though. Henry Bosman, an English explorer under the flag of the Kingdom of Scotland, was the first to reach the actual continent of North Vespucia in 1508. He reached the same territories that the Vikings visited and tried to settle almost exactly 500 years ago, and returned to report the discoveries. On the maps of his ship, Bosman marked an island he called Saint Brendan's Land, after the famous Irish monk who sailed West to find the mythical island. This name stuck, though the vegetation and fauna of the island were... not up to par in comparison to the tale. Bosman's North Vespucia was much poorer than was recorded by the Iberians in the south, but according to the navigator, "it reminded me of my homeland".

The Spanish had some problems, though. It was rumored by many, both the New World colonists and the Spanish nobility at home, that there is a wealthy land full of gold and loot to the west of the colonies in the islands. A few exploration trips indeed revealed the existence of a continent there, and questioned locals pointed to the west when asked about gold. The Kings of Spain were cautious, though - they wanted to make sure that anything that lays to the West falls under their hands.This cautiousness led the the downfall of their strategy - in 1526, Fernando Altamirano, a Spanish war veteran, participant in the conquest of Granada, mutinied with 800 men, his conquistadors, and sailed West... to the unknown. The Kingdom was unable to contact them for a long time, while in the native lands of Mexico, the aspiring conqueror discovered the Aztecs and the Mesovespucian civilization, and, using a clever strategy of playing off the subjugated and discontent nations under the Aztec Empire, as well as using the superiority and terror of the weapons, armor and horses that they brought, he managed to subdue this powerful and wealthy nation. Altamirano became the new Emperor of Mejico, the ruler of a nation... whose power kept on dwindling.

The wannabe conqueror did not calculate that his men brough diseases completely unknown to the Vespucians to the continent, and before they knew it, epidemics of smallpox and other diseases ravaged the nation he had just carved out. The locals weren't particularly fond of this conqueror from beneath the seas, either, but Altamirano's Mejico managed to cling on.

Back in good old Eastern Europe, though, nobody even knew that a thing called "Vespucia" even existed. The Kingdom of Lithuania was still under the stern rule of Valdislavas I, and this King of Lithuania cared little that Europe was in the middle of a heated debate between Catholics and people trying to reform the Church, or that some Western sailors discovered a new continent - he was a man focused on his own nation. The year of 1526 saw the foundation of the Karaite Guard - an elite, highly trained unit, composed completely of Lithuanian Karaims, with the single goal of protecting the King at all times. The Karaims were brought to Lithuania and settled in Trakai by Jogaila the Great, and were extremely grateful for it. These people, followers of a distinct branch of Judaism, were known as fine warriors, masters of steppe warfare and tactics, as well as good and learned administrators, but their loyalty to the King was their greatest trait. Valdislavas I created the Karaite Guard as a thanks to all that loyalty. The Guard was a very small unit, only about 500 men in size, but extremely well trained and equipped with the best weapons that technology and money could offer. Their mission was to be the King's guard in and out of battle, and they were ready to serve that job well.

It wouldn't take long for them to see their first test at fulfilling that mission, but that is a story for another time.

Modern imagining of the palace of the Burmistras (Burgomaster) of Vilnius in the 16th century

16th century drawing of a Lithuanian cavalryman​

Central Europe was beginning to burn in flames, though. Pope Clement VIII tried to invite Philip Melanchthon to Rome to discuss religious matters and come to an agreement on changes needed in the Catholic Church, but the German theologian was well aware of the same trick that killed his predecessor Jan Hus. Instead, Melanchthon found support by the Duke of Cologne, who was quite intrigued by the ideals spread by the reformer, and allowed him and his circle to have refuge in his lands. There, the supporters of the reform, now calling themselves the Melanchtonites, or just Reformists, solidified their doctrine, the theses, and translated the Bible into German. One of their biggest demands is allowing Mass and liturgy to be held in national languages, which the Church vehemently refused. Southern Germany became the heart of what was now called "The Reformation", and through traveling priests and Reformist supporters, it started to spread beyond it.

England-France won the long and bloody Burgundian Wars, defeating Austria and it's allies and annexing the Duchy of Burgundy, and, grateful for the Lowlander support against the Holy Roman Empire, allowed them to create their own, independent Dutch and Flemish state, the Netherland Free State (Nederland-Vrijstaat) - under their supervision, of course - but one travesty was immediately jumped on by another, as numerous preachers across France began calling for reform in the Church, mirroring Melanchthon. The head of these preachers was Jean de Flammant, an educated, well-read French (with Italian roots) monk and theologian from the vassal Duchy of Provence. de Flammant had actually met Melanchthon, in a meeting of European Reformist leaders in Cologne, and his writings are the best known source on Melanchthon's life. The French Reformation was notoriously targeted against English rule and much more radical than the Melanchtonite one. Flammantians declared that man is born evil by nature, and in order to reach Heaven, he must dedicate his life completely to God and nothing else. Many leisurly activities, such as theatre and sports, were seen as heretical and distracting from man's only goal to become one with God.

Flammantians were not limited to France, though - they had many sympathizers in England itself, where they were called by the derogatory name "bores", and their ideals spread to Switzerland and some regions in northern Spain and Italy.

In the Triple Crown, some other development was in process. The Triple Crown of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland was in deep decline after the Polish Succession War, despite it's success and victories against the Ottomans in the Battle of the Sava River. The nation was massive and hard to administrate from Pest, the capital of this enormous personal union, and the nation seemed like on the edge of collapse with every kingdom wishing for a separate ruler. The new king after the death of Charles II, Ladislaus V, declared the need for royal reform, and thus it was called. In the year 1535, in the castle of Visegrad - a symbolic place for such an act, seeing as this was the exact same city where the kings of all three nations in question met and discussed the possibility of peace and an alliance against Austria in 1335 - representatives of all three Kingdoms under the Crown gathered to discuss the future of the Triple Crown. Some wanted the dissolution of the union into three kingdoms, each one under the house of Luxemburg, some wanted the two other kingdoms to be incorporated into Hungary, the dominant country in the union, completely. Ladislaus V had his own interests, though, and managed to sway a majority of the over 350 representatives towards his solution - the Union of Visegrad. Under this proposal, the crowns of Poland, Hungary and Bohemia were to be tied in an "eternal union". All three countries would retain some parts of autonomy, but would be overall ruled over by the King, ruler of all three of the Kingdoms. His power was to be limited by a council of nobility and representatives, though - a proposal by the Polish, who were used to the szlachta having a say in how their country is ruled.

The personal union of the three Kingdoms was united into a single nation - with the official title "The United Kingdom of the Three Crowns of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland", but most commonly just referred to as the Kingdom of Visegrad, or Union of Visegrad, or just Visegrad. Referring to the city where the Union was signed in 1535, of course.

Obviously, just because some legal matters were settled didn't mean that the Triple Crown was salvaged. With internar turmoil due to disappointed and angry pro-separation supporters, a resurgent Lithuania and a seeping Reformation, not to mention the Ottomans, who knows how long Visegrad will last?

---

So, now that we entered the Age of Discovery, it's about time for the butterflies to get at work and change all the names of all American islands, countries and regions because it's cool.

Just so we are all on the same page here, here is a list:

Vespucia - America, obviously
Ultima Occasus (Occasus) - Puerto Rico
Insula Mariana (Mariana) - Hispaniola
Puerto Norte - Cuba
Terra Manuela (Manuela) - Brazil
Saint Brendan's Land - Newfoundland
Mejico - Mexico

 

[Augenis]

Part 18: Reform Comes to the East (1535-1546)
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The reign of King Valdislavas I appeared to be oddly calm and uneventful to the Kingdom of Lithuania, but the powerhungry King Valdislavas I eyed across Eastern Europe almost like a sort of war hawk. And soon, he found an opportunity - far in the East. In the steppes, actually, in the fields of Sarai. The Golden Horde, now only a shell of it's former glorious self, was now merely a remnant of what it used to be - constantly fighting with Kazan, Astrakhan and Nogai for supremacy, having to kneel in front of the Lithuanian lord in the west, it now received an another blow to it's stability. Having learned that Crimean and Kazan raiders could base themselves in the Horde and use it for operations against Lithuania without the Khan being able to stop them, King Valdislavas I send a punishing raid all the way to Sarai. Numerous cities were burned down and a lot of tribute was taken, along with some "annexed" steppe territory in the western edges of the Golden Horde, which didn't last long because of this blow. In 1539, this successor state of the mighty Mongol Empire was destroyed by Astrakhan.

All in all, the later parts of Valdislavas's reign were marked by continuous raiding warfare with the Tatars. The Crimeans launched a total of 16 known raids within the span of two decades, and each one of them resulted in burning fields, farms and towns. Kiev suffered greatly from a large raid in 1541, when over 8000 Tatars successfully captured and sacked the city. The Khanate of Kazan, while not at all related to the Ottomans, joined in on this lucrative endeavor, with their target being the Rus' lands. The Lithuanian forces did a lot of effort in trying to stop these advances, but most of them were ineffective. Counter-raids did not accomplish much and were often even defeated by these capable warriors of the steppes, and things like fortifications, building forts across the steppe and increased garrisons varied from mildly effective to outright useless.

Despite the wrath of the Tatars, the Dykra - the southern and southeastern lands of the Lithuanian nation, mainly the Pontic Steppe - still enticed many colonists with their riches and freedom. The soil of this land could grow the most plentiful harvests, and the chance to escape from one's oppressive magnate encouraged peasants to flee to this land. Nobody will catch you here, after all - not that they would dare with those Tatars running around. The King's government encouraged some organized settling south next to the Dnieper, where help could be more easily obtained. Within the 16th century, Lithuania founded a number of fortified towns within the Dykra - for example, the city of Padniepris, or similar towns like Padonis, Vilnija, Miesčius. However, the main force behind the settling of the Dykra were escaped peasants, free Tatars and other men and women of various origins, which formed hosts across the steppe and traversed it - known by the people as Laisvavyriai (free men) in Lithuanian or Kazoki, Cossacks in Slavic languages. The Cossacks were highly autonomous and declared that they answered to no one, although Lithuania made many efforts to bring their hosts back under their fold. They also conflicted a lot with the Tatars, the former inhabitants of these steppes, and began pushing them out of the steppe between the Caspian and Black Seas.

Meanwhile, in Lithuania, a whole other development was happening, nearing the end of Valdislavas I's reign. Throughout the Age of Discovery and the Early Modern Era, the population and needs of Western Europe continued to rise, and as more and more people were switching from field work to the cities and the labor there, the demand for grain and foodstuffs was high, which resulted in grain production becoming a very lucrative endeavor for the magnates and nobles of Lithuania. However, large grain exports necessitated reforms in the countryside to increase the revenues and efficiency of agricultural production, and this is exactly what Valdislavas I took on as his task in 1543, beginning the Volok Reform (Valakų reforma). The reform was named after the Volok, a new unit of land created during the reform that equated to about 25 hectares. The size of the lands of the King, and later the rest of the nobility, were divided into Voloks, and each Volok was to be worked by one or few peasant families. The fields were to be divided into three rėžiai (stripes) each, and crop rotation between them every year was enforced. The peasantry, meanwhile, did not do well - the King declared that all of the peasantry - the veldamai - were his personal property and would have to work for him, an initiative later repeated by most of the nobility to acquire a cheap and permanent workforce.

Of course, not all peasants suffered the same fate. Two "classes" of farm workers emerged during the 16th century - laisvininkai (free peasants) and baudžiauninkai (punished peasants). While both of them were basically a form of serfs, there was one main difference between them - their rights. A laisvininkas was considered to be protected by the law, and it most commonly had to repay his landowner in monetary tribute, feudal land rent named činšas. Meanwhile, the situation of a baudžiauninkas was much worse - he had no rights under the law, and was pretty much locked to his land. The "punished peasants" most often served their masters 2 days a week in the folwark and additional 1-2 days in other works - this was a form of corveé, named lažas. The portion of laisvininkai and baudžiauninkai peasants varied across Lithuania. In Lithuania propria, it has been determined that over 70% of serfs were laisvininkai, while in White Ruthenia that balance was about 50-50. In the lands of the Rus', though, almost all peasants were baudžiauninkai, and they had additional duties and obligations to serve through as well. This division meant that the peasantry in the West was quite a lot freer and by extension wealthier than in the East, which had many long-term consequences...

In addition to institutional serfdom, three-field rotation and the Voloks, many nobility-owned villages in the countryside were reorganized and repositioned to more easily divide the land to Voloks. Many villages were moved to be closer to roads or rivers for easier access.

A 17th century depiction of a White Ruthenian serf​

The Volok Reform took many decades to fully implement, but it was an overall success. By 1560, the income of the treasury of the King of Lithuania increased from 60 000 Lithuanian auksinas to 145 000 Lithuanian auksinas. The countryside was subjugated and turned into serfs, though many of them didn't even notice the change. After all, it was already far in development since the very creation of the Lithuanian state...

The rest of the world was still spinning as it always does. While Vespucia, the New World, was slowly beginning to entice explorers and colonizers as a land of opportunity, the Portuguese solidified their monopoly on the path to India around Africa. After intense negotiation with the local Indian princes, even with some ship cannon shelling required, the Portuguese managed to establish a presence in the trading port in Cochin, bringing Western goods in exchange for the ever so vital spice flow. The merchants also brought the first clear depictions of India since the 13th century, and informed Europe that the valleys of Ganges and the Indus were once again united by a single force. As was tradition. The Spanish, their "peaceful opponents", mounted a much more ambitious expedition - their explorer Javier Verdanna set out on a quest to circumnavigate the Earth, reach India through the Western Path and prove the ancient Greeks to be right. Unlike, say, Alvarez Cabral's expedition, this trip was driven entirely by the thirst for exploration and revelation, and Verdanna embodied the perfect Renaissance man, willing and capable to go where no else could.

He set out in 1544, and still hadn't returned...

Europe was still being slowly torn apart by religious polemics and Reformation, meanwhile. England-France, under the rule of the fanatical Catholic Henry VIII, was the first country to mount on what could be called the Counter-Reformation - under the King's orders, numerous Reformist and especially Flammantian preachers across this massive nation were imprisoned, book burnings across cities were commenced and persecution of the "bores" began. The King also sent an invasion to Scotland, which was one of the primary sources of Reformist thought in the British Isles, with limited success. In the Holy Roman Empire, numerous German princes and dukes openly denied the old ways of the Church and declared their allegiance to the Phillipites (Melanchtonites), which caught the attention of the Emperor himself. In an unrelated event, the Kalmar Union between Denmark, Sweden and Norway collapsed in civil turmoil, and while Norway remained as a "province" of Denmark, Sweden obtained full independence under the Bielke dynasty. And immediately found itself squished between Lithuania, the Danes and the Empire...

For the most part, Lithuania watched the fires burning across Europe as an uninterested and unaffected spectator. Indeed, many of the Reformists actually praised the Orthodox Church as an example of a decentralized church, though most of the praise was going to the old school Orthodox, not the Concordate ones...

But that doesn't mean that the winds of reformation never reached Lithuania. They did. And for that, we need to meet a person named Andrius Volanas (Andrzej Wolan, Andreas Volanus), a theologian born in the year 1495 in Vilnius. His parents were Polish refugees who fled their nation during the Polish Succession War, arriving to Lithuania and, unlike many of their peers, accepted and submit to the Orthodox faith. Andrius studied theology in the University of Vilnius and was later emplyed as a secretary of Viktoras Goštautas, a Lithuanian magnate. Goštautas was a man with many connections to the West, and thus Volanas travelled numerous times to Germany, Italy and the Low Countries on business trips. Here, he learned of the ongoing Reformation and was the first Lithuanian to bring Reformist texts, like Melanchthon's 118 Theses and the translated German Bible, sharing it with his university peers and spreading this knowledge across the former students of the institution.

Volanas arrived to the conclusion that many of the ideas that the Reformists proposed can also be applied to the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox should not allow Catholics to spread their ideals and accept the Pope as their spiritual leader! The Orthodox should allow Mass and liturgy in national languages, be it Lithuanian, Ruthenian or Russian! The Orthodox should return to the old ways, to the ones that Christ taught them of, and the ideas accepted in the Brest Concordate are heresy! And the King should not have a say in how people express their faith, the people are all equal in front of God! These ideas and many, many more were put into Volanas's famous treatise "The Concordate, the Godliness of the Kingdom and a New Path for the Church of Christ", he found numerous supporters among Lithuanian academic circles, like Jonas Bretkūnas and Mikhail Vyshansky, sparking what is now known as the Volanite Movement. The Volanites were the Reformists of the Eastern Orthodox - they were against the edicts of the Brest Concordate and wanted to return the faith to what it once was and what it stood for. While it achieved moderate support in Lithuania proper, it began spreading like wildfire in Russia, which was still bitter about having the Concordate enforced on itself.

Who's going to laugh at the West for their religious split now?

On an unrelated note, King Valdislavas I died after choking on a chicken bone at a dinner table in 1546, right in the midst of the greatest spread of the Volanites. He was succeeded by his son, also named Valdislavas - a confused man, one educated in the University of Vilnius and overall an erudite, but still unsure on what his path will be... Is this the best chance for the Volanites to convert the King himself to their beliefs?

---

Hope you like me using the Lithuanian terms for absolutely everything. I think it would create an aura of Eastern-Europeanness (?) for foreigners like you...

 

[Augenis]

Before we busy ourselves with the second part of the 16th century...

Special Chapter

Renaissance Literature in Lithuania
​

The death of Valdislavas I of Lithuania marked an end to the spread of the Renaissance in the lands of the Kingdom of Lithuania. While there were a few churches built with Gothic style architecture, Renaissance is the first major art and literature movement that the Lithuanians took part in and actually contributed to, however meagerly. In this eastern land, the Renaissance came late compared to Western Europe, only in the last moments of the 15th century, and was quick to vanish as well. This period in Lithuanian history is most importantly marked by widescale copying of Western artstyles and concepts with little creative thought put into adapting it for local usage. As such, most of Renaissance Lithuanian literature was written in Latin, most paintings and sculptures depicted ancient Greek and Roman deities or events - even though such concepts were alien to Eastern Europe - and on and on.

That doesn't mean that there weren't great works written by Lithuanians, even if many of them were just copying Western styles.

The greatest literary work of the Lithuanian Renaissance is, undoubtedly, Mikalojus Kerzinis's "Glinskiada" ("Glinskiad"), an over 3000 line long, written in dactylic hexameter, epic poem published in the year 1525 in Vilnius. Not much is known about the life of Kerzinis, as there are very few living records about his life, but he was likely an ethnic Lithuanian from the Upytė region. It is known from the Metrica that he was employed in the court of Valdislavas I as a court poet, and this is where he likely learned the arts of Renaissance literature and writing. In 1519, the famed former regent, Grand Chancellor and Grand Hetman Mykolas Glinskis died, and much like Alexander the Great envied Achilles on the grave of Homer that his deeds were written by such a great poet and will never be forgotten, the followers of Glinskis too feared that their protector and leader will be forgotten to time, and thus his heir, Augustas Glinskis, hired Kerzinis to create a poem about him in memory. Kerzinis broke all expectations.

The poem stars Glinskis as the main character, following his life as the Regent of Lithuania in his war against the evil and tyrannical Ivan Mikhailovich of Tver, and while it has many qualities of a panegyric, it also deals with the themes of war brutality and honor. In the poem, Glinskis is raised and taught to be a modest and pious man, always reminded that all that is material and physical will not last forever, so man should not bother with gathering riches or wealth and instead seek divine qualities. As such, modern literary historians consider "Glinskiada" to be one step in the Baroque era and one step still in the late Renaissance. Nowadays, this epic poem is considered to be one of the first great works of Lithuanian literature, with many more to come.

A shot of Mykolas Glinskis in the 2007 movie "Glinskiada"​

One of the first examples of Lithuanian literature to travel to foreign countries was Mikola Vichenski's 1544 poem "The Aurochs of Lithuania" ("Lietuvos taurai"). Extinct in the rest of Europe, yet still alive in the great forests of Central Europe, as well as in Lithuania, the aurochs were the ancestors of modern cattle, and one of the most famed beasts that roamed the land. Extremely powerful, massive and hard to find, they were the greatest prize any proud hunter could hope to reach. Mikola Vichenski, a Lithuanian Ruthenian poet from Navagrudok, on the occasion a visit to Rome in 1543, presented this small, about 800 line long Latin poem on this great beast to the Italians. This work of literature was chock full of metaphors, hyperboles and panegyrics both to the wilderness of Lithuania and this great beast - he told that "just the hot breath of this animal could kill a man" and "Only the bravest hunters dare to make a stand, / But alone. It is a great honor to fight the auroch". Not only that, but the end of the poem also contains parts about Jogaila the Great and his great successes.

Jogaila the Great was already romanticised in these times as the greatest ruler of Lithuania, and this is best seen in the 1531 panegyric "Song of Jogaila the Great" by Janas Limbojus. It had already been almost 100 years since the death of this grand duke of Lithuania, and in the times of being the second fiddle to the Visegrad, the times of Lithuania being one of the strongest countries in all of Europe was viewed in a very nostalgic light. In this panegyric, also written in Latin, Limbojus writes about the great campaigns of Ilava and Vorskla that Jogaila the Great headed, and it is the oldest known description of his rule. Jogaila is described as a tall man with a strong stature, without a beard, but still a great terror to his enemies, just both to his friends and enemies and extremely pious - pretty much all positive words you could find in the Latin language were put into this poem. The King of the time, Valdislavas I, is also exalted, as a wise and powerful ruler.

That's not to say that the only written works in Lithuania were about the past or about the great kings that once ruled the land. In 1556, Mykolas Lietuvis ("the Lithuanian") published "On the Customs of Bohemians, Hungarians and Lithuanians". This treatise is interesting, in a way that it critiques the country rather than exalts it. While the bitterness over the defeat of the Polish Succession War was gone by now, the Visegrad Union was seen as a worthy rival and opponent by the Lithuanians, and Lietuvis declares that Lithuania will never be able to take revenge on the Westerners. He hails the reforms taken by Valdislavas I, but is disgusted by the "decadence" of the Lithuanian nobility - they no longer want to wage war, they have become too wealthy, and drown themselves in alcohol. Lietuvis states that "you can't find any sober man in the streets of Vilnius, even children crave for wine or vodka", while "in Prague, if even a single drop of beer is found, then that house is torn down and the owner is punished greatly". Oddly enough, many public figures in Visegrad were complaining just as much that alcoholism and decadence is rampant in our nation, so the writer's text is obviously hyperbolized. However, that is not the point of the treatise. Mykolas states that "Charles of Luxemburg accomplished just as much as Jogaila the Great, but the difference is that his people still follow him".

He states that the Lithuanians have forgotten the rule of Jogaila the Great and have become decadent as a result. His critique of the Lithuanian nation is similar, though viewed from a civilian rather than religious manner, to Andrius Volanas's famous "The Concordate, the Godliness of the Kingdom and a New Path for the Church of Christ", which critiques the Concordate of Brest and declares the need for reform in the Lithuanian Orthodox Church.

The era of the Renaissance came and went, and so has the Lithuanian participation in it. In many ways, Lithuania was only a follower of what the Western cultures created, but it's great writers and artists have nevertheless managed to make some incredible works of art. Both artistic and non-fiction, indeed.

---

We will now return to your scheduled programming.

 

[Augenis]

Part 19: Suppression, Depression (1546-1560)
​

Valdislavas II, the new King of Lithuania, represented a much different generation and a much different train of thought than his father. Valdislavas I was born in the upheaval of the Renaissance, and his beliefs largely followed the ones of that period: as in, he and his peers saw man as the greatest value of the Universe, a being capable to unveil the greatest mysteries of the world and reign over it. The humanist school of thought upheld early virtues like intellect, power and knowledge, and actively doubted the religious and ascetist ideals of the Medieval era. Valdislavas I was confident, a patron of the arts and an intellectual. However, by the time of his death, the era of the Renaissance had started to fade. As the Age of Discovery concluded, it had become clear that the world - no, the Universe itself - are vast and impossible to explore with the limitations of the human life. The active doubt of the system that Renaissance was famous for brought the Reformation and the subsequent wars, conflicts and horror. Valdislavas II was an erudite, highly intelligent, he knew numerous languages, from ancient ones like Latin and Ancient Greek to Russian and Spanish, but he was not the same "I am above all and you shall listen to me" type that his father was.

The very first thing the freshly baked King had to deal with was the rising Volanite movement. This movement, fighting for the destruction of the Brest Concordate and the reformation of the Orthodox Church in the spirit of Melanchthon's Reformists, was spreading across the Kingdom of Lithuania like wildfire. The biggest concentrations of the so-called "Volanites" were in the East, in Russia - in Tver, Novgorod and Yaroslavl, for example. It also had some followers in Ruthenia proper, especially around Chernigov and Polotsk, as well as in Lietuva Land. Upon the ascension of Valdislavas II, he was approached by Martynas Mažvydas, a Volanite preacher from Samogitia, on embracing this movement and helping change the Lithuanian Orthodox Church from within. The king considered it for a while, but that's when the court and the Council of Lords - both composed of much more reactionary members that wanted to retain the Concordate - stepped in and convinced him to kick the preacher out. The message was set - the King will not be in favor of the Volanites.

"What if Valdislavas II converted to Volanism?" That's an interesting question for alternate history. One thing can be said - the 16th century might have developed quite differently for the Lithuanians...

Despite the official anti-Volanite stance, Valdislavas II was a tolerant man. In 1547, he extended the section on religious freedom and autonomy to the Volanites, declaring that the supporters of this pseudo-Reformist movement cannot be prosecuted for their religion alone. The King also encouraged healthy religious debate in Vilnius University and other institutions. While in the rest of Europe, say, in the Holy Roman Empire, Reformation was associated with conflict, wars, revolts, book burnings and heresy, Lithuania looked like the exemption, a country where reformists and the orthodox could coexist.

In 1548, King Valdislavas II married Astrid, the Princess of Sweden, who arrived to Vilnius with a large dowry and 500 followers. This was a part of the diplomatic effort of King Jan Bielke, the first post-Kalmar King of Sweden, to find possible allies against Denmark as well as to secure his nation's eastern frontier. Sweden and Lithuania share a long, albeit largely unknown history of both trade and conflict. The battles between the Balts and the Vikings have been recorded in many Scandinavian sagas, and not as one-sided as one may believe - the mentions of such Norse kings like Sigurdr Ring having to defend their homeland from invading Curonians, as well as Baltic names and forgotten settlement ruins in Gotland tell a different story. And now, these two nations were connected by marriage ties.

This marriage produced a single child, a princess named Sofija, two years later. However, Valdislavas II did not love his North-born wife, and was overall disappointed, even depressed with the burdens of rule and the problems of his private life...

The colonization of the Vespucias continued throughout the 16th century, albeit extremely sporadically and only in limited settlements around the coast. Around the year 1550, the Portuguese made first contact with a native Vespucian empire on the west coast of South Vespucia, in what is now called the Antikuna mountain ridge (after the local name for a mountain and mountain pass in the area) - named the Inca. Lacking any capability of power projection in the region, the Portuguese explorers and colonists - now stretched out in a thin coastal line of settlements across Manuela - decided to avoid any sort of conflict with this peculiar civilization. In the north, the Spanish were struggling with the resurgent Mejico, and slowly making a push towards the control of local trade routes and the Caribbean. However, they weren't the only country interested in North Vespucia... Flying the Anglo-French banner, Dutch explorers under the lead of William van den Soepenberg visited Saint Brendan's Land in 1549 and pushed south and west. van den Soepenberg was the first to discover land beyond the island as well as a gulf beneath them, fertile and full of fish. The explorer named the newly discovered territory "Flevoland", after the Roman name for the Zuiderzee (Lake Flevo), of which the gulf and it's shores reminded the sailors of. Later exploration missions pushed forward across the eastern coast of North Vespucia, still far away from the Spanish-dominated "Mariana Gulf", but close enough that the lands were worthwhile.

The sailors and merchants of the Dutch Free State managed to convince their superiors, the King of England-France, that exploration and possibly colonization of North Vespucia was a lucrative endeavor that could benefit the massive nation. Many other interest groups saw Vespucia as a land of opportunity, too - for example, refugees fleeing religious oppression and wars, or opportunists seeking a better life elsewhere, or peasants wishing to escape from their landlords, or escaped convicts with nothing else to do, or crazed religious sects wishing to spread their heretical beliefs elsewhere - and people like these would later form the basis of the colonists that would arrive to Vespucia decades later.

Not that they would be alone out there, of course - native Vespucians did not take this development from the East lightly.

Late 16th century drawing of Dutch merchant ships​

Some news arrived from Europe about the dealings in the Muslim world. Facing stiff and bloody competition in their push into Europe in the form of Visegrad, the Ottomans regrouped to put pressure in the Middle East. The Mamluk sultanate was eradicated decades ago, and the Turks were engaged in wide combat in Arabia and Persia. It was pretty clear by now that the Sultan of the Turks was the one true Caliph - who else was there to challenge him? Well, now there was - news arrived from India that a successor of Tamerlane had began the process of uniting the subcontinent under one banner, beating one local ruler after another...

India had seen numerous empires before, like Maurya and Gupta, but will this new development be any different from what happened before?

Well, it's not like the Lithuanians even knew what was going on over there. They had other matters at hand.

In 1554, the King's wife, Astrid of Sweden, suddenly passed away from malaria after the royal family's visit to Italy, and the nation, the court and her husband was left to mourn. But not for long, as soon plans for a new marriage for Valdislavas II were drafted by the Council of Lords, and especially it's head and the Grand Chancellor, Jonas Antanas Sapiega. Possible choices were Hedwig, the Princess of the Visegrad Union, or the dead Queen's sister Matilda, but Valdislavas was having none of that. It seemed like a sudden mood change for the usually content and malleable King. It was around this time that the monarch had met and got acquainted with one of his courtiers and the daughter of a Lithuanian magnate, Viktorija Kęsgailaitė.

In one of his many failed attempts at writing a some sort of poem to cheer himself up, Valdislavas added a little scribble on the back:

"The boyars, they're judging, they want me to be a good king. Who could have thought that to be one, you have to be a horrible pragmatic monster, though"

It wasn't his fault that he saw everything in such a negative light. Valdislavas II did not see the world in such a materialist, pragmatic light that his father did - he wasn't even the type of person to be a monarch...

The meeting with Viktorija soon developed into a fiery love for each other, one that was becoming more and more visible to the rest of the court. At the same time, Valdislavas was trying to drag out and delay his official marriage, one that Jonas Antanas Sapiega had already decided to be with Hedwig Luxemburg: the King first started chaotically changing possible places of wedding, then demanded for a change to the ornaments and the guest list, then suddenly just didn't respons to the courtiers' questions at all, until finally, in 1557, he declared his betrothal to the Visegradian princess to be null and void and that he shall marry Viktorija Kęsgailaitė.

This caused a massive uproar among the Lithuanian nobility? The King, marrying a mere noble? And declining a betrothal to the Princess of Visegrad? And denying the best wishes and hopes of the Council of Lords? What, are we entering despotism now? What is the King trying to do, rule all by himself? And Viktorija... are you sure she's not some sort of witch who seduced the young and confused monarch with her magic? She should be burned at the stake for that! But, no matter what, despite the outrage, the marriage went as planned, and contemporary writers noted that it was one of the very few times that Valdislavas II actually made and wore a real, not faked, not forced smile.

The marriage between Viktorija and Valdislavas did not last long, though... Mere months later, the Queen died, cause still unknown. It could be poisoning or an another type of attempt on her life by the opponents of this marriage, or it could just be an unknown disease.

Despite hating on her for this "witchcraft", Viktorija is still described as a beautiful woman, and one that knew how to make the young King lean to her side. The story of Valdislavas II and Viktorija Kęsgailaitė was sung about by numerous poets, writers and bards across the years, it is a very popular setting in Lithuanian literature and art today, but still, none know what exactly went on that day...

"The Death of Victoria" by Nicolo Malbertano, 1885​

While the King of Lithuania was mourning the loss of his loved one, something much, much more ominous happened in Western Europe. Ominous, but predictable. The differences and hostilities between the French and the English were set by the Eighty Years' War, and the latter, having enforced a personal union on the former, were not particularly nice overlords. It was also worsened by the fact that the center of the government was located in the British Isles, in Westminster, and thus could not effectively respond to problems in the mainland. However, despite the animosity and differences between the two nations that were there from pretty much very beginning, England-France clinged on and was still a superpower compared to it's neighbours - the reason being that the "French nation" had little in common between each other. They were composed of different regions, each one with different traditions, and while they were for the most part against English rule, they lacked a unifying force to truly set the ball rolling.

Which is exactly what happened when the Reformation, and thus the preachings of Jean de Flammant. The Flammantian ideology carried a tint of national thought with it - it held the idea that man needed to learn in his mother tongue and be surrounded by the people of his nation, and ruled by people of his nation, so he could more easily hear the voice of Christ... Of course, it also embellished ascetism and piety, but that wasn't a bad thing to have along the way. The Flammantian Reformation spread across the cities and countryside of France likewildfire and the suppression carried out by the fanatical Henry VIII did little to stop the expansion. The French reformists were mostly concentrated in the south of the nation, and soon, a man by the name of Pierre de Foix rose up to unite the French for one more stand...

The beginning of what will be known as the Flammantian Wars began in late 1558 in Clermont, where de Foix - a somewhat powerful French war hero and veteran of the Burgundian Wars, as well as a devout Reformist - rallied the representatives from all of France into the Estates General of Clermont, named after the "parliament" of the annexed French kingdom. There, the French representatives from all three estates of the nation declared "the beginning of the struggle of the French nation to rid the country of the Englishmen and to reorganize France according to the teachings of Jean de Flammant".

In the 20th century, historian Jogaila Bucevičius would write: "The followers of de Foix were the first nationalists in Europe..."

Soon, town militas and raised revolter units formed across the nation, and the first military engagements took place. Henry VIII was already dead, replaced by Henry IX, who promptly rallied his troops to sail and march to the Continent and put down this rebellion. Meanwhile, Pierre de Foix was getting ready to reorganize the disorganized French militias according to the newest tactics of war.

This "French Rebellion" soon caught the attention of nearby powers, like Spain and Austria, which faced a dilemma. Supporting the French would mean knocking down England-France a notch and disintegrating it, but then the flag would be set for even more Reformist rebellions across Europe...

---

There we go. A longer part than usual. I think. I didn't count.

Don't count words, don't count paragraphs! Count only the number of readers you've caught interest of! - Writer Stalin

 

[Augenis]

Part 20: All is Fair in Business and War (1560-1568)
​

1561 began with a surprising discovery. The Portuguese vessel São Manuel, one of the Iberian nation's most reliable ships for trade in the Far East, was blown off course while sailing for a regular trip to Guangzhou, and after a few weeks of travel in unmapped waters, it landed near a strange, mountainous island inhabited by a civilization that, while it resembled the Chinese in some ways, was also quite different. It turned out that the crew of the ship were the first Europeans to step foot on Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, a territory mentioned by Marco Polo as Cipangu. While the local warlords and civilians of the Japanese isles viewed these Westerners with suspicion, the Portuguese were highly intrigued by the silver mines and production in this land. This archipelago was in fact China's main source of silver and gold, precious metals that Europe was lacking more and more now that it's local mines were being depleted. The Portuguese were also highly surprised by the warrior culture and extreme population density of the nation - this group of islands, most of which is mountainous, can hold more people than France!

Throughout the 16th century, Portugal was the dominating European force in East and South Asia. It pretty much monopolized the trade route to India around Africa, and even had a few treaty ports on the tip of the subcontinent, such as Cochin. The Portuguese also pushed forward, using the yearly monsoons to navigate the Sea of Arabia and the Gulf of Bengal, and often visited China, from which they would bring tea, porcelain and the ever so precious silk. And now Japan, with it's silver and copper, was added to their potential "customers". While the trips from East Asia to the bases in India and then all the way to Europe were dangerous and expensive, the demand for Eastern goods was so great that it more than paid off. Would this lucrative endeavor last forever, though, especially when other naval powers like the Netherlands and Spain explored similar routes?..

There was one more particular good that the Portuguese domineered in - slaves. Slaves from the Black Continent in particular. The Europeans held a few strongholds on the coast of West Africa, but they didn't capture locals by themselves - they had other people. Either local African kings, who would gladly sell war captives or even sometimes their own people to the Whiteskins in exchange for alcohol, Bibles and weapons, or Arabian merchants who would do the capturing for them. It's a dark portion of history of trade and history of Europe, but one that needs to be known. While the Portuguese sent many of the captured slaves to their own colonies in Manuela, where the colonists adopted a neu-latifundium stance towards these massive lands, creating fazenda - large plantations and estates using slave labor - but the biggest customer for the Atlantic slave trade was the Spanish empire.

The Spanish struggled to push inland due to fierce resistance from the locals and competition with the Empire of Mejico, but the Caribbean was firmly in their control. While the first half of the 16th century saw the colonization of the Vespucias to be an expensive endeavor and largely a money sinkhole, the other half saw everything change with the introduction of sugar cane plantations. Before the discovery of the New World, sugarcanes were already common among the Islamic world and Southern Europe, brought there from India, and the warm and humid climate of the Caribbean was perfect for growing this produce that was growing more and more valuable every year. 1563 was a turning point, at least in some places - in the island of Santa Ana, the profits of the colony, most of them from sugar trade, that were sent to the homeland for the first time in the colony's history were higher than the value of material and other support that Spain sent to it. A development that the Governor of Santa Ana, Manuel Xavier Encarnación, famously commented on saying:

"We are exporting white gold."

But, obviously, someone has to grow and extract this "white gold", and that is where the African slaves come in. After all, someone had to work in sugarcane plantations and harvest sugar for Europe to enjoy and buy. The work and living conditions in Caribbean sugar plantations were absolutely awful, the life expectancy of an average slave from their arrival to their death was six years. Only men were brought in, at many times mixed in the same ship with people from different tribes to avoid communication and thus rebellions, their former lives were completely crushed and they were treated as literal living tools by the Spanish owners. And despite the horrible conditions and the situation, the Spanish had little empathy for the African slaves - "what, are we supposed to care about these negroes? They were made by God to slave for someone, if not us, then each other!", they seem to say.

African slaves working in a sugar plantation in Puerto Norte​

While the Iberians were conducting business across the world, Europe was bleeding. The Flammantian Wars across France quickly kicked into gear. Most of the French units were organized from lightly armed civilian volunteers gathered in cities and towns, the city levée ("uprising" or "levy"), but Jean de Foix knew that this was not going to cut it - his forces were untrained and equipped with much lower quality weapons than the English, and if some major reorganization and armament is not made, and fast, then the Uprising will fail. It was truly a lot of pressure - in many ways, the Flammantians had to improvise equipment and formations completely. However, the first few years of the war gave the French some luck. First, the French soldiers in the Anglo-French armies and garrisons began deserting and joining the Revolt en masse, provinding de Foix with fresh trained warriors. And second - the foreign situation was on his side.

The Holy Roman Empire, led by Austria, was still bitterover the defeat in Burgundy a few decades earlier, and the Emperor began preparing a campaign into Lorraine to reconquer Imperial territory, and even provided the Flammantians with some financial support to weaken his rival. Spain, meanwhile, led by the religious Philip III, stood firmly against these Reformist rebels, preparing it's own campaign through the Pyrhennes... Austrian help, hired mercenaries using the wealth from raided and looted pro-English estates and French deserters allowed Jean de Foix to form the Liberté Legion. Despite Henry IX landing in Normandy and pacifying Paris - and pacifying through massacring the organizers of the Paris Levee and enacting harsh punishment of the rest - the war was generally calm and focused on low-level combat for the first few years. Neither force really lacked the capability to even "find" the other one, instead resorting on low-scale raids, scouting the land and capturing unprotected cities.

Of course, this idyllic war didn't last forever, as in 1566, the armies of England-France led by Henry IX engaged the Libertè Legion near Limoges, not far from the Flammantian base of operations in Clermont. The Battle of Limoges carried a tint of irony with it - the English, confident in the superiority of their forces and believing that the Legion was just "a group of peasants with muskets", decided to just send a cavalry charge to crush and break the French - the exact same mistake that the French themselves did numerous times during the Eighty Years' War. Meanwhile, the Libertè Legion employed the new and only recently developed pike-and-shot tactic - that is, and army composed of musketeers in the center and pikemen in the corners and sides to protect them from cavalry charges. It worked out just as well as one would expect - with a victory for the French. Not an absolutely crushing one, but a powerful one that echoed and resonated across Europe. God supports the Reformists! The French might actually win! Southern Germany and Bohemia, both Reformist dominated regions, began swirling and shaking a little - maybe they could be just as successful? Jean de Foix was well aware that the war was not yet won, though. However, he still rallied the Second Estates General of Clermont, where the Flammantians decided their strategy, both during an after the war - the kings of the past turned France into an English province, thus, much like the citizens of Rome after overthrowing their tyrant king, the French will organize themselves without a monarch...

The Anglo-French forces pillaged and burned Centrè and the regions around the Loire river as punishment. Henry IX famously stated:

"If God wants to support the Bores, then we will change his mind by killing all of them."

The Parliament of England wasn't particularly keen on mass murdering it's subjects, but what could it do? The Kings of England were covertly, secretly, working on curbing the powers of the Parliament, piece by piece, and the Flammantian Wars were their greatest opportunity to enact "emergency acts" to "save the Kingdoms", and consolidate their power that way.

There is one war participant that hasn't been mentioned yet, though. The Netherlands Free State, a client state of England-France, was officially in war against the Flammantians and de Foix's revolters, as well as Austria, but was relatively neutral. Despite having been freed by Anglo-French forces, the Dutch did not see them as liberators - the pillaged landscapes of the Low Countries after the Burgundian Wars speak for themselves. The burghers and merchants of the Free State were still considering their choices - remain loyal to the English or align with the French? Either way, they were making profit from the mess through English concessions for loyalty and secretly trading with both sides, as well as acquiring a cheap source of colonists through French war refugees. It was the Flammantians Wars period when the Dutch began their own colonization of the Vespucias, starting with Nieuw-Amsterdam in 1567, a stronghold and minor settlement on a long island along the North Vespucian coast. North Vespucia did not blast such advanced native civilizations like the South, but it was nevertheless inhabited, and arriving Dutch merchants immediately saw the potential of the local furs and fish sources.

It would take a while before all this would really kick into gear, though...

The victories of the French Flammantians and Reformist insurrections in the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the spread of the Reformation in general, motivated Pope Nicholas VI to organize a council of the Catholic Church in Salerno, starting from 1567. There, the Papacy would declare the beginning of the Anti-Reformation, a Catholic movement to fight the spread of the Reformists and provide a reasonable alternative to this rebellious faith. Some changes in doctrine were also initiated - for example, indulgences and simony were both banned completely, and Mass was now allowed to be held in local languages along with Latin. However, the Church did not change their stance on things like celibacy and worship of saints, and declared the Reformists, Flammantians and Volanites to be heretical movements. The Inquisition was resurrected from dormancy as the Church's tool in the Anti-Reformation, too...

And speaking of Volanites - Lithuania. In 1567, the only child of Valdislavas II, Sofija Valdislavaitė, was sent away from Lithuania to marry the Prince of the Electorate of Brandenburg, Friedrich von Hohenzollern, in a strategic marriage to get Lithuania and this possible ally against Visegrad closer together - and an alliance against Visegrsd was required, especially after the insulting breaking of betrothal that Valdislavas II enacted dramatically soured relations between the two Eastern empires. However, this did not bode well with the depressed King. Sofija, his daughter, while born from his marriage to Astrida, was indeed deeply loved by the monarch, she reminded him of Viktorija... and now she was gone, in a foreign court, probably never to meet him again.

Five months after the marriage between Sofija and Friedrich, in January of 1568, Valdislavas II suddenly died. From what? None are sure. Sources on this death differ, but considering that the King was only about 50 years old by that time and had no history of former sickness, it couldn't have been a simple natural cause. Some say that he perished from an infected wound that he hid from his court and the doctors. Some say that he accidentally, or maybe even purposefully, ended his life by leaping off the tower of the Trakai Castle, where he lived at the time, some say he was poisoned an unknown spy, or a courtier. Or by himself...

And thus died the last male descendent of Valdislavas I, and the succession was now in turmoil. Logically, it should be Sofija who inherits the throne, but can a woman really rule? Lithuania has never experienced a female ruler, at least... The ideas of a "noble republic" proposed during the Glinskis Regency received a revival, and the Chancellor, Jonas Astikas, who was a supporter of this cause, ordered the troops of his estate to seize Vilnius and declared himself recent until a King is found. Numerous pretenders, descendants of Gediminids or Jagiellons, sprang up to raise their banners for the claim on the throne. And finally, in April, a detachment of 500 Brandenburgian knights with Sofija and Friedrich in the lead landed in Klaipėda...

Who will turn out victorious in this "succession crisis"? Or is this question even meaningful?

---

Here are a few other Vespucian locations, some from the last part that I forgot to inform of:

Santa Ana - Jamaica
Mariana Gulf - Gulf of Mexico
Flevoland - Nova Scotia/Gulf of St Lawrence
Nieuw-Amsterdam - Long Island

 

[Augenis]

Part 21: Lady of Steel (1568-1570)​

Upon landing in the port of Klaipėda in April of 1568, Sofija, daughter of Valdislavas II, released an official proclamation to the nearby regions of Samogitia, East Prussia and Courland, rallying any and all soldiers loyal to her, the legitimate claimant. The Princess marched through Kretinga, then Telšiai, and Varniai, Raseiniai, finally Kaunas, getting closer and closer to the capital, Vilnius. She faced a lot of opposition - who would think of putting a woman on the throne? - but her army grew larger and larger every day. Jonas Astikas, who was still in Vilnius with his estate troops, hoped to get the Lithuanian Regiment on his side, but negotiations with the officers of this elite guard kept failing.

Sofija Valdislavaitė, the Princess of the Kingdom of Lithuania, wife of Friedrich von Hohenzollern, Prince of Brandenburg, did not resemble a normal woman or housewife in any way. Despite being only about 18 years old at this point, she was oddly much more capable and ambitious than the old grown up dukes and boyars she'd have to fight. Though, whether this was a part of her own personality or just amplified by the presence of her husband is still disputed... Despite being technically ineligible to inherit the throne, she still acted like she was the heir apparent, even arrogantly so. The Lithuanian Chronicle writes about a particular incident that proved so - when Sofija reached Punia, a wooden castle next to the Nemunas river, she leaped off her horse, without wearing armor or anything, then simply walked forward with her hands spread, asking them to surrender. Punia was loyal to Mikalojus Radvila, a pretender to the throne, though, and opened fire. The princess had to flee and order an attack of her own, and despite the castle falling mere three days later, the blow on her pride was still present.

A blow large enough that she ordered the castle to be burned to cinders.

Princess Sofija of the Kingdom of Lithuania​

Despite some minor setbacks, the army of Sofija and Friedrich closed in on Vilnius, which was only protected by a light guard force rallied from Astikas's demesne. The possibility of a "noble republic", as the magnate called it, was dropping and dropping every day. One after another, the Vaivada of numerous regions declared their allegiance to the Princess, the Lithuanian Regiment was still based in Lida and negotiations on their support failed... Meanwhile, Sofija conducted secret talks with none other than the Karaite Guard, the only remaining "neutral" force in Vilnius.

However, what really "killed" Astikas's reign were two events that suddenly unfolded one after another, though not related to each other, in 1569.

First of all, the Union of Visegrad, seeing the weakness of the massive Eastern kingdom, began undeclared incursions into Lithuanian Podolia and Volhynia. Numerous border forts and towns were besieged and captured, and Visegradian forces began encroaching on Lutsk, one of Lithuania's most important cities in Galicia. The three-country union itself wasn't particularly stable at this point, either, especially since the Ottoman Empire was knocking on their door as well, but the king, Matthias I, hoped that a few quick military victories against Lithuania would bolster morale as well as push back the Eastern border a bit further to give some breathing space. Visegrad has always appeared fragile, yet managed to pull itself together ever since it's inception. Compared to the increasingly despotic Lithuania, the Ottoman autocracy and the ever so slightly more absolutist England-France, the Union of Three Countries was a breath of fresh air, a nation where the King genuinely had to share his power with the nobility.

The second, though, was much more sinister. At least to the Lithuanians.

The differences between Russians and the rest of the population of the Kingdom of Lithuania have been etched in since the nation's early days. Unlike, say, the Belarusians or Ukrainians, who joined the former Grand Duchy under the rule of Gediminas, Algirdas and Kęstutis somewhat peacefully, the conquest of Russia was marked by war, bloodshed and oppression. The Lithuanian-Muscovite War was only the beginning. The Russians have not forgotten Jogaila's sudden and unlawful annexation of Moscow, or the devastating Tverian-Lithuanian War, or the enforcement of the Concordate of Brest onto the Russian Orthodox Church... Generations have passed, never witnessing the birth of "Russia", as they would call the nation to unite all East Slavs, but carrying a sliver of hope that someday, somehow, it will be created. And the more time passed, the more it felt to the Russians that they were disenfranchised and slowly turned into second-grade citizens of the Kingdom. Russian nobility had few rights compared even to Ruthenian nobility, which was much more loyal to the King. Russians had lower admission rates to the University of Vilnius, and any and all promises of a university in Tver kept getting forgotten. And the establishment of a university in Kiev in 1550 only increased tensions.

What really kickstarted the development, though, was the beginning of the Flammantian Wars in France. The rebels and revolutionaries of Jean de Foix declared the idea of liberation, liberation against an oppressive foreign conqueror, and a nation without kings, like ancient Rome... There were Russians who fought in the Flammantian Wars, mostly from students in French universities, while many others learned about this "liberation war" and immediately imagined of what could be done here, in their nation...

It didn't take long before the perfect situation arose, in the name of the succession crisis after Valdislavas II. Trying to gain the edge it needed against Sofija and Friedrich, the Astikas government increased taxes and pressured more recruits, and even though these efforts were unsuccessful, they angered the Russian people more and more. The poor harvests of the last few years didn't help at all, and finally, in 1569, the tipping point was reached. City militias, much like in France, began to organize in cities like Tver, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny-Novgorod. In many estates, the serfs began overthrowing their magnates and revolting. The end was near, the Great Russian Revolt has begun.

The strongest levee was from the city of Tver, led by a man named Ivan Kratkov. A noble orinially hailing from Moscow, even with some ancestry from Vasily Vorskloy, the last Grand Prince of Moscow, Kratkov was formerly a member of the Lithuanian Regiment as well as a military officer, much like his contemporary Jean de Foix, as well as a somewhat influential figure among the Russian nobility even before The Revolt. Lithuanian chronicles and history books would later depict him as terrible as they possibly can, putting pretty much all bad words in the Lithuanian vocaulary to describe him - "the son of the worst off peasant in the land, who killed his own father when he was a child", "he had never taken a bath before", "his troops slaughtered childred, abused women and looted churches daily", "he had hundreds of women comforting him and actively practiced heretical beliefs", "he secretly made deals with Satan to help him in battle". In reality, though, he was a determined, somewhat wroth, but dedicated man with the goal of repeating the success that Jean de Foix seemed to have in France and liberate Russia from the over a hundred years of Lithuanian yoke.

"Ivan Kratkov Rallies the Tverians", 1886 painting
​

This massive development was the final nail in the coffin of the noble republic experiment that Jonas Astikas tried to push through. The last ounces of support for him were eroded, and Sofija's negotiations with the Karaite Guard succeeded. The 1000 men strong elite force, the guards of the former King of Lithuania, arose from their barracks and challenged the 3500 men large garrison in Vilnius. Despite the numerical superiority of Astikas's forces, the Karaites were much, much better armed and trained, not to mention had the element of surprise, and three days later, when the army of the Princess arrived to the capital of the Kingdom, the banner of Vytis proudly flew on the City Hall, the conspirators were arrested, and the Guard had only lost 15 men.

Sofija Valdislavaitė, already worth of the nickname "The Steel Lady" ("Plieninė moteris") that was floating around her, was now the undisputed Queen of Lithuania, the first one, in fact, but the beginning of her rule was far from calm. The developing Great Russian Revolt and Lithuania's falling reign over the lands of the Rus', as well as the Visegradian invasion of Podolia, the siege of Lutsk, where a small group of Lithuanian defenders were miraculously able to hold out against a ten times bigger believing force, and worse... When an elephant crumbles, hyenas are soon to surround him, each wishing an easy meal to rip off...

But Queen Sofija was far from willing to just put her weapons down and yield. "I am the descendent of Jogaila the Great," she might say, "but if I don't save his legacy, I will have no right to call myself like that..."

 

[Augenis]

Merry Kalėdos!

Oh, you thought I'll say Christmas? Well, this thread is Lithuania's special corner, so we are celebrating Lithuanian holidays here.

Kalėdos are an ancient Lithuanian holiday that celebrates the winter solstice, and are marked by usage of spells and future telling on what we would call Christmas Eve, as well as a visit from the name-mark Kalėda, a representative of the spirits of ancestors and pagan priests who would make grain and other sacrifices to the gods for a good harvest next year. The meat of pigs and boars are the most common food eaten on the Kalėdos table, and the celebrations themselves extend to January 6th, the day we would call "Day of the Three Kings", during which nobody works and every one spends their free time at their leisure.

With the introduction of Christianity, this holiday was shaped into what we would call Christmas, though retaining their original name. The priest spirit Kalėda became Kalėdų Senelis (Christmas Grandfather), or just Santa Claus. However, some pagan traditions, like telling the future on Christmas Eve, withstood the test of baptism and are still practiced today in Lithuania.

Merry Kalėdos, Merry Christmas.

We will eventually return to your scheduled programming.

What can you expect in Chapter 22? Well, for one, we'll see the introduction of something that Lithuanians used a lot in OTL and can even call their own, but will become the bane of their war effort in this timeline...

 

[Augenis]

Part 22: Retribution for Cruelty (1570-1572)
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As was already stated before, Queen Sofija seized the throne in a difficult time, but despite her young age - around 20 years old at the time - and inexperience in rule, she was quick to react to the ever changing situation in her Kingdom. Many still say that it was her husband Friedrich, almost twice as old as her and already a professional warrior from his previous service in his homeland Brandenburg, who made many of her decisions during this period, but this statement is disputed.

The very first thing that the freshly ascendant Queen did was try to secure the loyalty of the Lithuanian Regiment in Lida, the core of the Kingdom's armed forces. Lucky for her, the negotiations went much more smoothly than for Jonas Astikas and his magnate coup. The officers and common soldiers understood the legitimacy of the heiress of Valdislavas II, and soon the regiment joined on the Queen's side. Heavily depleted - many of the Russian soldiers deserted soon after the beginning of the Revolt - but nevertheless very important to the cause. Queen Sofija was aware that Lithuania Propria was going to be her backbone in this war - the magnates and nobles of this land did not want a free Russia nor a defeat at the hands of the Visegrad, and thus aligned with her. Sofija ordered her troops to open all of the coffers of the Treasury and began shipping her country's wealth to the West to hire mercenaries and rally any possible support.

It should be noted, though, that the Great Russian Revolt was mostly Volanite in it's nature and composition. Volanite preachers and intellectuals rallied against the Concordate of Brest and in favor of liturgy being held in national languages, and a large portion of them supported the blooming and developing idea of "nationality". Not only were Kratkov's Russians fighting against Lithuanian dominance, but also in favor of their religion. A religion that, oddly enough, separated them from the Ruthenians, who were for the most part in favor of the Concordate and Orthodox. This "Volanite revolt" was not supported by Lithuanian Volanites, by the way, but Sofija nevertheless declared the criminalization of "the heresies spread by Russian and Westerner heretics" in 1571 - for a country well known as being extremely tolerant to different faiths, this change in policy was shocking.

In the southwest, the Lithuanian-Visegradian border war was still ongoing, but slowly grinding to a halt. Matthias I feared a possible Ottoman or Austrian incursion into his lands, not to mention possible Reformist revolts that could be inspired by the French and Russians, and as such did not commit as many forces as he possibly could to Podolia. Not that his opponents could do much better, anyway, - in fact, in the chaos that engulfed the Lithuanian countryside led to the Queen only having direct control over the heartland, in Lithuania Propria and the Baltic Sea coast. The voivodes of the peripheries had the most control over the lands in question, and their goals would not necessarily align with that of the central government. In 1571, the armies of Visegrad finally broke through the defenses of Lutsk, taking control of the area and province. Fearing that his city might be next, the Voivode of Kiev, Jonušas Rudeikis, rallied his forces to engage the invaders by himself.

The army of the Voivodeship of Kiev and the reorganizing Visegradian forces met face to face in the fields near the town of Radyvyliv (Radvilivas) in Volhynia - and the fight carried a big surprise. The Lithuanian forces were mostly composed of infantry, armed with spears, swords and some with muskets, while the Triple Crown brought a mix of foot troops and cavalry, and even an artillery unit. It didn't look good for the troops of Rudeikis from the start, but he nevertheless ordered his troops to advance forward through the flat, grassy field. Visegradian troops, led by a Polish officer, Kazimierz Serebawski, let go a few cannon and musket volleys to pick off some of the advancing infantry, then moved the front lines to the side to release... something terrifying.

The Lithuanian Chronicle describes it from the perspective of a soldier who participated in the fight and described his experience to the writers, saying:

"The Hungarians and Poles suddenly moved to the side, and, and we were attacked by... it, it was an army of wings! An army of angels, moving faster than a bullet! They tore through our ranks like shreds!"

The type of soldiers known as hussars are reported to originate from bands of Serbian and Hungarian light cavalrymen serving as mercenaries or raiders in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were introduced as full-blown units in the army of the Triple Crown not long after the Polish Succession War by the famous Matthias Corvinus. While originally starting out as a light skirmish force organized in small bands for harassing the enemy, experiences in combat against the Ottomans and Lithuanians evolved these troops in a much different direction. In Poland, which was incorporated in the 16th century, hussars turned into a powerful armored cavalry force, with massive, extremely long lances and the role of tearing through enemy infantry ranks with their speed and force alone, and they proved to be effective enough to be incorporated into the standing forces of the Union of Visegrad.

The soldiers on the fields of Radyvyliv were the first to taste the power of what we now call Winged Hussars, named for the famous pairs of wings these brave and powerful soldiers would wear on their armor while charging into battle.

A painting of a Winged Hussar unit from 1601
​

The crushing defeat in the Battle of Radyvyliv forced Queen Sofija to reluctantly come to the peace table - after all, there was no way she could fight two powerful opponents at once. In the Peace of Lutsk, Lithuania agreed to cede most of Volhynia and Podolia to the Union of Three Countries and agreed on a five year truce among the two nations, among other concessions - a yet another blow in the pride of the Lithuanian nation, but the Queen only saw this as a temporary armistice. From her point of view, as soon as she is done with the Russians, she'll turn around and regain the ceded land. However, this had some unexpected consequences, in that other countries around Lithuania saw the weakness of the empire and began chipping away parts for themselves. The Ottomans annexed Khadjibey, Lithuania's primary Black Sea port, while Sweden increased influence in Livonia.

No matter what, though, the peace on the Western Front was not going to be a good thing for Russians in the long-term.

But anyway, in Russia, the revolters led by Ivan Kratkov raised their flags - a light blue banner, some with the symbols of their city or principality, some without, some not even blue - above many of the cities in the Russian heartland, and their primary resolve was to give the unfortunate Lithuanian soldiers, voivodes or bureaucrats in the region a taste of their own medicine. The idea of "erasing X from the map" that Mykolas Glinskis proposed was etched deep into the minds of the Russians, and to them, it was only fair if they could avenge their lost ancestors with the same violence that they suffered through. In front of the burghmeister's office in Tver, over 300 wooden poles were lined up, each with a mutilated and impaled Lithuanian body, with a writing at the front: "The murderous Litvin army looks good today, doesn't it?"

Ivan Kratkov's first target was something much different, though - Novgorod. Running an appeasement diplomacy by aligning with whoever is victorious, Novgorod ended up more and more hated by Lithuanians and Slavs alike - the former for their unreliability, and the latter for constant betrayal. The merchant republic used to be the most powerful in all of Rus', but by the 1570s, it's time had long since passed. Heavy Lithuanian taxes and soldier levies drained the wealth of the nation, it failed to successfully compete in the Baltic Sea, and numerous revolts by the Komi, Nenets and Karelian peoples weakened their fur monopoly. Alternative sources from North Vespucia were looming on the horizon... It was at this point in time, in 1572, that Kratkov's 13 000 men strong leveé from Tver, Moscow, Vladimir and Yaroslavl marched towards Novgorod, seeking either blood or allies.

The boyars of Novgorod tried to negotiate, offering goods and tribute in exchange for being left alone, but Kratkov had none of that. The ambitious and dedicated Russian "revolutionary" was not a fan of leaving some of his fellow countrymen out of this war, famously saying:

"Russia is one and indivisible. We will either all march together or die together."

The Russian army stormed the lightly defended city of Novgorod, finding allies in the form of sympathetic Volanite Russian citizens, dissolved the Novgorod veche and brought the Great Russian Revolt to the city and it's surroundings, which marked the end of the Novgorod Republic after a long, painful and agonizing decay from greatness. Ivan Kratkov ordered his soldiers to melt down and destroy the famous veche bell, hoping to sell it's materials through Sweden for acquiring modern weapons and supplies. The Lithuanians didn't really see this as a surprise - and they didn't rush to try to restore the merchant republic, anyway. They had more important matters.

The Lithuanian Regiment, bolstered by voivodeship armies from Lithuania Propria and Black Rus' as well as recruited Swedish mercenaries, and organizing in Polotsk, began a campaign towards the Russian heartland. The greatest battles of the war were soon to fire up, and at this point, who knows which side God will support?

 

[Augenis]

Part 23: The Silver Knight Rides To Hell (1572-1574)
​

Despite her increasingly active role in the affairs of the state, Queen Sofija did not break one taboo - the exclusive right (or burden, depending on your views) held by men to command troops. The fact that a woman was allowed to order everyone in her Kingdom already raised some eyebrows, and having Sofija lead them into battle would've gone too far. As such, the "Steel Lady" and her husband stayed at Vilnius, reestablishing control over the decayed and disintegrating nation's core, while the royal army that marched to the East was commanded by Kęstutis Mykolas Radvila, a loyal follower of Sofija and a capable military commander who arrived to Klaipėda with her right after the death of Valdislavas II.

In May of 1572, the armies of Lithuania reached Vitebsk, which surrendered without a fight. It wasn't a part of the original cities of the rebellion and was instead taken over by the Russians the previous year, and didn't have many sympathizers for the cause of the Blue Banner. As such, the city and the region around it were spared. However, as the Lithuanians marched deeper and deeper into Russian occupied territory, the more resistance they faced. Ambushes in forests, burned bridges over major rivers and scorched earth were a common sight. Ivan Kratkov's forces were still busy in Novgorod and as such could not participate in defending against the raid of 1572, even though the Lithuanian army was moving very slowly.

In August, Radvila's forces defeated the Leveé of Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan near Smolensk, inflicting heavy casualties upon the lightly armed and untrained Russians. The path to Tver was clear, but the Lithuanians decided to stop. Autumn was approaching, and the weather this year was incredibly cold compared to the last few winters. Radvila set up camp in Smolensk, after capturing it in the span of one and a half months, and ordered his troops to form raiding parties and ransack the Russian held territory to the north and east. It was an effective way of gathering supplies for the next year's campaign, as well as maintaining the mercenaries in the army without having to pay them. And weaken the rebellion's food supplies, too!

Of course, such actions also lead to massive loss of life in the region, but who cares? Those are just serfs, they don't have feelings, right?

So 1572 was an uneventful year. Both Loyalists and Revolters made some strategic pushes in the region, and the Battle of Smolensk saw a large defeat to the Russians, but overall the situation in the region was in equilibrium. But the slow push and stop of the Lithuanians gave Ivan Kratkov enough time to return to Tver, where his right hand man Boris of Vyazma was still holding the line, and begin organizing defenses in the city. New citizen militias were raised in nearby towns and villages to bolster the ranks of the Russian army, and food supplies were being gathered for a campaign.

This stalemate continued into 1573, but the more time went, the more the scales began tipping towards the Royalists. As soon as the layers of snow melted down, Radvila ordered his troops to raid the countryside to seize the wheat harvest before the enemies could do so first, often resulting in outright attacks on villages that did not want to give away all of their year's worth of produces to the Army. This hawkish attitude towards grain seizure was successful, though, as the Lithuanian army received fresh food supplies that could last many months while the more dove Russians saw their grain stocks run on fumes. On the diplomatic front, Queen Sofija was much more successful than Kratkov, too.

In September of 1573, the representatives of Russian towns and cities gathered in Yaroslavl in the fashion of the French Estates-General, to the All-Russian Council of 1573 (Vserossiiskiy Soviet). Kratkov purposefully avoided naming the Council after any previous institutions from the former Russian principalities - in his point of view, the new Russia will not be a successor of any of the "failed duchies and kingdoms that surrendered to the Litvins", but become it's own modern structure. Here, the leaders of the Great Russian Revolt decided on the future of the Revolution and the shape of the Russian nation that will soon rise. Much like their French contemporaries, the Russians decided in favor of a "nation with no kings". From their point of view, it was the ineffectiveness and internal squabbles of the Russian principalities that led to the beginning of Lithuanian hegemony. Ivan Kratkov heavily pushed in favor of rallying the Ruthenians into the cause as well, despite a lot of opposition from the more conservative and aristocratic parts of the Council, led by Mikhail Romanov and Anastasy Brekhovich, both powerful nobles and magnates.

The October 4th note "To the inhabitants of Kiev, Minsk, Grodno, Polotsk, Chernigov and all of the Rus'" was one of the many defining moments of the Great Russian Revolt. In this letter, Ivan Kratkov spoke to the inhabitants of Ukraine, White Rus' and Black Rus' in an attempt to rally the Ruthenians to revolt against their Lithuanian masters and join the Revolution. If the rest of the Rus' joined the Russians, victory would be certain! But, alas, the response was much different from what the Muscovite noble expected. The response sent by the burghers and nobles of Kiev was the most striking:

"You, Ivan, descendant of the Muscovite kings, may rally your Russians and send them wherever you'd like, but all the injustices you state are far from true. While your people may think the rule of the King is an oppressive one and that you are not fit to live in the Lithuanian nation, we hold ourselves in a far different regard. We rule alongside the Litvins, we hold Lithuania to be as dear as a nation as they do. We have nothing to do with revolting against the Crown - why should we do that when we and the Crown are one and the same?"

Ruthenia did not join the Great Russian Revolt. They saw themselves as followers of a different identity than the Russians. To them, the old Rus' was not worthwhile to fight for, Lithuania is as good of a successor as anything the All-Russian Council could create.

Boris of Vyazma (left) and Ivan Kratkov (right). Because of his dedication and anti-aristocratic attitude, Kratkov is usually depicted wearing simple, almost peasant-like clothes, despite being a noble of royal blood.
​

Meanwhile, Queen Sofija ran negotiations with the Kingdom of Sweden, Russia's primary land route to the west for buying weapons and other military equipment. In exchange for allowing the Swedes to annex Reval and the rest of Northern Estonia (which they did so in 1576), Sweden agreed to bolster it's defenses and begin stopping Russian caravans going through Abo (Turku) and seizing any and all wealth that they were carrying. This was followed by Lithuania organizing an offensive towards Pskov and Novgorod, with a detachment organized out of mercenaries and freshly recruited units, 11 000 soldiers strong. Both of these cities were captured in 1573, despite heavy fighting from the Russian city militias in both of them. The Revolt's touch with the rest of the world was cut off and in a very desperate time, too. The army of the Kingdom of Lithuania was increasing every day, Sofija could afford practically running her country into total war if it meant a higher chance of victory, while in Russia, arming the city militias with modern weapons had become practically impossible. The countryside was nearing a famine, too, there were reports of epidemic outbreaks in some areas, collecting taxation or even feeding the men was getting tough.

However, even with those problems, the Russians managed to survive the summer of 1573 more or less intact. Then winter came. And probably in the worst time for both countries, the Lithuanian Regiment began an offensive towards Tver.

Kęstutis Mykolas Radvila knew that the Russians were running low on food and supplies - how could he not? Was it not his army's actions that drained the opponent's supply and prevented them from getting new stocks? Even though it meant risking a famine in the region?

Meanwhile, Kratkov could not afford being a sitting duck. If he and his Russian Leveé ended up besieged in Tver, only the people would suffer. Even for the citizens themselves, there were far from enough food stocks in the city to survive with a full stomach - and what happens when you add 20 000 hungry men to the mix? This was a question of logistics, not a battlefield choice. The only chance that the Russians had was beating the Lithuanians on the battlefield and storming into Ruthenia proper, hopefully inspiring them to join the Revolt. And then breaking through Novgorod to regain a window to the West, or if that didn't work, then reaching the Kiev region, where the Russians could safely reach the Turkish empire and buy supplies there, if possible. The possibility of a resumption of hostilities between Lithuania and Visegrad also floated around.

With these hopes that even they knew would be nigh impossible to reach, the 20 000 men strong Russian army, led by Ivan Kratkov and Boris of Vyazma, flying the light blue banners of the Revolt, marched out of Tver, marching though frozen rivers, dead and looted farms, fruitless forests... before finally, on January 15th, 1574, they met the 26 000 men strong army led by Kęstutis Radvila on the outskirts of the tiny estate village of Sychyovka...

 

[Augenis]

Part 24: Blood of Sychyovka (1574)
​

The most accurate guesses for the numbers participating in what was about to unfold as the most important battle in 16th century Eastern Europe were given by the late 20th century Russian historian Simeon Basatin. He analyzed numerous letters, information about raised Russian citizen militias, Lithuanian military information as well as sources from that time, and finally the population of both combatant regions. In his opinion, Ivan Kratkov's Russian Army had about 27 500 soldiers, while the Lithuanian forces led by Kęstutis Mykolas Radvila numbered around 22 000 troops. Lithuanian historians usually switch the numbers around, though, saying that the attrition, hunger and diseases that the Russians suffered through weakened their ranks. Despite this difference in manpower, the much more decisive factor was the condition, experience and equipment of the armies. Most of Russian soldiers were citizen militias, mobilized from cities and villages in a similar fashion as the French, had little training and were lacking in modern equipment.

Basatin does add that the morale of the Russian soldiers was higher. Despite the defeats and hunger, the Russian soldiers were united by their cause. Meanwhile, a large portion of the Lithuanian army were mercenaries. This opinion was challenged by other historians, though, who pointed out that the Russians were far from a single united force. There were disagreements among their upper ranks on the future of the rebellion and how the Lithuanians should be approached and fought.

Anyway, Basatin, despite putting a lot of effort into deducting the army sizes present in the Battle of Sychyovka, does not write anything about the composition of both forces - this field was covered by different historians, though. It is a good guess that the Russians, mostly composed of city militia, had little, if any, cavalry and artillery. The weather of the battle put a thorn in using both, too. A large portion of the Russians were organized into so-called kosiniery (scythe-bearer) regiments - that is, improvised pike regiments armed with straightened scythes and similar weaponized farming tools. The war scythe has been a symbol of peasant insurrection since ancient times, but it's effectiveness in comparison to pikes and spears should not be downplayed. There were also mixed regiments of pikes and muskets. The Russian forces were not organized in any standard fashion, but rather divided into city leveè ("opolcheniye"). The Tver, Novgorod and Yaroslavl Opolcheniye were on the right flank, Vladimir, Ryazan and Rostov Opolcheniye were on the left.

The Lithuanians, meanwhile, were all equipped with muskets, arquebuses or pikes, and brought a sizable amount of artillery to the field. While they also had a large cavalry force, the weather and location of the battle did not favour them, so most of the cavaliers fought dismounted. The Lithuanian Regiment was in the center of the royalist ranks, bolstered in the flanks by Swedish, Livonian, Bohemian and German mercenary units. Radvila's camp was behind the troops. Unlike the Russians, whose troops were spread out with wide flanks, the Lithuanians were standing much more tightly, creating the illusion of a smaller force than they actually are.

Muscovite militia in the Tver Opolcheniya

Kęstutis Mykolas Radvila, Grand Hetman of Lithuania
​

The fields of Sychyovka looked exactly as you would expect a Russian field to look like in January - covered with pure, white snow, in many places up to half a meter deep. Even for a winter day, it was quite cold, and the soldiers felt it. God did not favor mobile armies, it seemed. While it wasn't snowing, the clouds shrouded the sky all day, and anyone with a clear mind would be able to tell that it will snow soon. The terrain had little differences in elevation - i.e. it was a flatland - but both the left and right flanks were covered by sparse forests. There was an opening in the middle, and that is where the battle was about to rage.

From the very start, the future did not look bright for the Russians, but Kratkov was as determined as always. If not now, then never. If not now, then never.

If not now, then never...

The battle began at noon of January 15th, 1574, with a Lithuanian assault in the center. Because of the large snow cover, the Lithuanians marched slowly, unwilling to charge forward and attack the Russians in melee. Instead, they positioned themselves in the opening and opened musket fire on the Russians. Cannons roared one after another! The Russian forces responded with their own volley, but their was less effective - besides a few muskets, arquebuses and bowmen units, they had little ranged capacity... While the center skirmish was taking place, the Russians advanced in the flanks. Here, the first close quarters clashes begun - a Swedish halberdier regiment of about 800 men against the Yaroslavl Opolcheniya, 3000 men. Trees and snow lowered the intensity of the fight, and the Lithuanian left flank (right for the Russians) roared into action as more and more units entered the fray.

Kęstutis was unable to support the flank with the troops at the center, and thus, to take the focus off his left, he ordered the right flank to charge forward. 4000 Lithuanian, German and Bohemian soldiers attacked the Ryazan and Rostov Opolcheniye. Boris of Vyazma, leading the Russian left flank, ordered his troops to organize into squares to stave off an assault through the snow, which stopped the pike attack, but left the soldiers vulnerable to cannon and musket fire.

In the center, the Lithuanians were slowly advancing forward towards the Russians, and while they were dealing heavy damage on the enemy ranks, this was quite a risky move, since this meant that they could not support the battle in the flanks. If the Russians were to break through the Lithuanian flanks, they would be able to attack the artillery that was left behind, take it down and finally surround and destroy the center. It's still not sure whether Kratkov was aware of this opportunity or whether this was just a lucky coincidence.

However, the flanks held. Despite numerous attempts to take down the Lithuanian left, the mercenaries held. Straightened scythes were more numerous, but their short range was ineffective against Lithuanian pikes and halberds. The inexperience of the Russian militias also showed - Lithuanian units employed more advanced tactics like pike and shot, and pike squares, while the rebels had little to counter them with. In the center, the Russians began to run out of ammunition, both bullets and arrows, and slowly started to retreat to avoid opponent shots and cannon strikes.

There wasn't much left. Lithuanians marched through hundreds of Russian corpses in the snow, keeping two lines of musketeers in the front line to continue harassing the Russians. Ivan Kratkov still tried to rally his troops for a charge - after all, from his point of view the musketeers would be weak against a close quarters attack - but as soon as a few units tried to move forward, the linemen behind the two lines moved to the front for protection.

Much like most of Europe, Lithuanians learned from the experiences in the Flammantian Wars, even if they had little to do with that conflict. Any Russian attacks were pushed back with great losses on the rebels. In the flanks, the defeat in the center made a final blow in the Russian morale. A mass retreat begun. Ivan Kratkov still tried to get his troops to turn around, but no more rallying could help.

Now the only thing on their mind was Tver. This horrid cold and darkness of Suchyovka... no more... no more of that...

Kęstutis Radvila ordered his troops to stop and let the Russians flee. A blizzard was approaching. It was already evening. Chasing the Russians would only result in weariness and deaths.

And for the Russians themselves, well... fleeing across lands raided for years, with nothing left to eat, in one of the harshest winters of the century... many wounded, starving, with punctured and blood soaked clothes in extreme cold... having lost a lot of supplies due to abandoning the camp to flee...

Well, not a good sight, but there's a lot more to say about it.

 

[Augenis]

Part 25: Марш смерти (1574)

Abridged passage from Mikhail Malinkhovsky's novel "Rossiya", published in Vostovsk, year 1987
​

[...] and as the last pieces of bread and water left in the stock were divided between the men, we, the last of the Russians, continued pushing forward across these deserts of snow and frost. Any roads or paths that once trailed across here were covered and invisible. But even if we could see the mightiest passage in front of us that miraculously led to Tver, how much use would it be when we can't see past our shoulders.

It's as if God himself is punishing us. Showering us with storms, blizzards and eternal cold. But no matter what, the remnants of the Army - about five thousand starving men, each one with a crushed spirit and a former life they had, never to return to - pushed on.

Slowly, slowly... The soldiers around me could barely register as human beings at all. All of them more resembled a bunch of broken carcasses, covered in furs and flesh, holding one hand in front of their "face" to protect it from the whetting hail. I still held onto my spear as a some sort of walking stick. It's not like I'll ever get to use it again. What's the chance that we'll be able to defeat the Litvins next time? Radziwill's grunts are probably trailing after us as I speak.

As I slowly marched forward, I slowly walked over the corpses littered around our trail. They couldn't take it. Many of us are wounded, bleeding, and we haven't brought a single doctor with us... The rest march with gurgling stomachs, freezing bodies and broken hearts. Throughout the last three days, I've already witnessed men going insane from lack of food and attacking their comrades, they had to be put down, others trying to eat dead grass, wood, snow, soil and horse manure or even each other. We almost never stop to sleep, to rest or to eat. Not that we have the time, or the food, to do any of that. All villages in sight were looted and abandoned, there was zero grain or meat left there in this dark winter.

Our last hope is returning to Tver. Wherever it may be. Are we even going to the right direction? How many days, or, more accurately, how many dead bodies will it take before we get there?

Throughout this long march, Kratkov was running around the entire army, desperately trying to keep hopes up. "There is still a chance we can pull back," he says. "Perhaps Sweden will change their mind," he continues. "Perhaps the Westerners will attack Lithuania again," he repeats. His lackey Boris was much less energetic. Walking at the side of the army with a few followers, the noble from Vyazma simply watched as his leader tried to beat the war drum again.

None of us wanted to fight anymore. We had families that we had to save from a Litvin onslaught.

One of the soldiers walking next to me suddenly fell on his knees, coughing heavily. His clothes were punctured and soaked with water and blood - how could he walk for three whole days with them? Kratkov quickly hurried to the weakened, coughing man, and immediately took off his fur coat and gave it to the soldier.

Our leader said that he had to kill bear with his own hands for that fur, and yet he gave it away immediately to someone in need. Of course, risking his own life in this freezing weather. The march continued.

Hours passed, one after another, and as the sun got closer to the horizon, the blizzard began to calm down. Perhaps God still has hope for us after all. For the first time in this march, we agreed to stop and set up camp, near a frozen riverside, not far away from an another abandoned village. There was no point in trying to settle there - there's probably nothing left after Litvin looting, anyway. No food, no people. A few warriors who were still able to stand were sent as scouts to find a road to Tver, a few others walked to a nearby forest to hunt for meat, while others rested in the camp. Among our ranks, we found a man who used to work as an assistant of a doctor before being drafted into the Yaroslavl Opolcheniya. Lines to his services immediately began to form, but the poor student soon realized that he knew much less than what he thought...

I was one of the few people who wasn't on the verge of death or bleeding out, and was thus sent to the nearby forest with a few other soldiers. Two, to be more exact. One of them was Yuri, from Novgorod. He was one of the many locals who cheered for the arriving Russian Army, he even said he helped to break down and destroy the veche bell. According to him, he wanted to feel the thrill of combat and fighting for his people, and thus immediately signed up for the Opolcheniya. And now, he's a broken shell of a man like all of us, with a bullet wound in his left arm that forever immobilized it.

The other was Boris - he was a peasant from the region around Vladimir, just like me. He rose up in the first days of the Rebellion, and along with six of his friends, he rallied his village to burn the local estate and join the Opolcheniya. Boris kept reminding me that the last of those "friends" died a few hours ago - he caught pneumonia, there was no way of helping him, especially not in this type of weather, so he had to be left behind. Even when I'd ask him to shut up, he still continued. Unlike Yuri, he wasn't injured, even though he was one of the men who charged right into Lithuanian musketeers in Sychyovka, such a flash of luck that even the peasant himself was surprised how he's still alive.

The three of us slowly pushed across the dead, leafless forest, periodically stabbing the ground, hoping to hit any sort of animal. No, nothing to be found for miles. The forest is sleeping. The animals are sleeping. Only we, men, are stupid enough to wander around in winter. So we turned around, marching back towards the camp.

On the way, we met an another group of hunters. They didn't have anything either, and they apparently actually lost one of their ranks - apparently, one of their men was only acting to be healthy, and as soon as the camp was no longer visible, he ran screaming to the forest, never to return. He didn't want to die among his peers and sadden them even more.

A few minutes later, we finally reached the frozen river. Some of the ice was already broken, and only a few floating strains of cloth gave us a hunt of what happened there. Trying to avoid the same fate, we moved across slowly, one by one.

God must have favored us, because we didn't lose anyone there. There, the camp is already in sight!.. But where is everyone? The field around the scattered tents were almost empty of people, even though they were crowded when we left... The answer was placed before us soon enough, as a man soon rushed towards us from one of the tents, exclaiming:

"Brothers! Brothers! Kratkov is dying!"

Wait... WHAT? Dropping our weapons and cargo, we immediately rushed to the largest tent in the center, where a few dozen people had already gathered around. Don't tell me that it's true... It can't be!

But, alas, when we reached the building and stormed to the inside, we witnessed our leader, our Vozhd in these long years of war in his deathbed. He could barely even speak, his eyes were squinting, and he generally looked tired and weak. Perhaps giving his clothes to others wasn't the best decision... Kratkov coughed heavily, trying to clear his throat, but it didn't help.

And we had no medicine. We had nobody in this army who knew how to treat our leader. And he knew that. All of us knew that.

Boris of Vyazma was kneeling next to him, holding his hand. Many of his other followers - Mikhail Romanov, his former enemy, and Viktor Ulyanovich - were standing by the side. One of the soldiers brought a priest, one of the many recruited, but one of the few who survived, and the holy man began preparations for the Mystery sacrament. Of course, we didn't have any oil, nor wheat or candles, only water...

But despite all efforts, Ivan knew that this is the end.

"Boris," he said, speaking to his loyal follower. The noble from Vyazma raised his head. "It is your mission to lead the Russian people now. At this time, they need your guidance more than ever. Lead them to victory or to virgin lands, I'm sure you will pick the right choice..."

Boris of Vyazma merely nodded in response. Mikhail Romanov already took off his hat... But the Vozhd still had some things to say.

"Brothers and sisters..." he said, speaking to everyone else in the room. "I will no longer be able to help Mother Russia in her eternal struggle. But no matter how many centuries we will have to endure... someday God will bring mercy to our people, I'm sure."

No...

No...

Look at his eyes, the closing eyes... And the limp body...

He is dead! Ivan Kratkov is dead! Russia is dead!

 

[Augenis]

Part 26: No Country For Old Russians (1574-1575)

---
​

Famously dubbed as the "Russian Death March", the retreat from Sychyovka to Tver took 15 days, most of it through heavy hail, blizzards and followed by a lack of basic needs and food, and resulted in a near annihilation of the defeated Russians, as well as the death of their leader and exalted figure, Ivan Kratkov. Despite his best efforts, he did not witness the birth of a united and free Russian state, but even though Sychyovka has been lost and the Opolcheniye have been almost eradicated, the revolutionaries still had some hope. Boris of Vyazma led the remaining soldiers into Tver on the beginning of February, and began preparing for a final stand. Here and now.

If Tver is lost, then Russia will be lost as well.

The Lithuanians, meanwhile, spent the winter preparing for an invasion. The weather was too harsh and cold for any offensive maneuvers - which was the reason why Radvila's armies did not pursue the fleeing Russian forces. There was some actions in other "fronts" during that time, though - additional reserves were sent from Lithuania Propria in February, which captured Novgorod in March. The Russian defenders attempted to burn the center of the city during the assault, but their plans failed. The leader of the Lithuanian troops, Jonas Chomičius, ordered for the 500 most rebellious captives to be executed in the city square. But besides that, the war was static. And as the bitter cold of the winter came to a close and spring began to bloom, it was about to heat back to full capacity...

The very first thing that the survivors of the winter of 1574 witnessed was a familiar sight - famine. Much like in the Polish Succession War a century earlier, the attrition warfare, constant raids and grain seizing amounted to the masses of the Russian heartland not having enough grain or a good enough harvest to survive - and began dying in droves. Even during the winter, there were reports of hunger from the most war torn region, Smolensk, but now it began to spread to Novgorod, Tver and Vladimir. And in this climate and situation, the Lithuanian Army of Kęstutis Radvila suddenly left their camp and began advancing towards Tver. Under the command of Boris of Vyazma, the city had been preparing for an assault ever since the return of their army, but food reserves were already running low. The defenders were demoralized, many of them already wished to go home. Many others were diseased or struck by hunger. And the civilians still remembered the wrath that Mykolas Glinskis served the city during the Tverian-Lithuanian War, and had reason to be afraid that history will repeat itself.

On June of 1574, the Lithuanians descended on Tver once more...

Despite the preparations, the city had little actual defensive fortifications. Valdislavas I ordered the Tver Kremlin to be demolished and replaced with a monument to commemorate the Lithuanian conquest of the city - a monument that was taken down by the Russian rebellion in it's first stages. Kęstutis Radvila stationed his army in the south, behind the Volga, and began bombarding the city with cannons. In response, the Tverians burned all the bridges leading across the river. This proved to be somewhat effective, as the artillery barrage proved to only be moderately successful at subduing the fortified Russians, and, running low on ammunition for the cannons, the Lithuanians retreated, instead moving around the Volga and connected with the reserves that captured Novgorod in July.

This was the beginning of the last major offensive in the entire war. In late July, the Lithuanians reached Tver a second time, which this time did not have the protection of the Volga River. After a siege of 19 days and an assault against the weakened defenders, the city, the heart of the Russian lands, capitulated. Over 11 000 inhabitants from the town and the surrounding countryside fled to the east. Lithuanian troops captured Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Yaroslavl and finally Ryazan in the coming months, with the last one surrendering in January of 1575 - all major population centers in the Russian lands were now held by the Lithuanians. Resistance against their rule persisted, though, as many of the most dedicated rebels moved to the countryside and to the forests to work underground. Quite a few years passed before the rule of Queen Sofija under all of her lands could be finalized.

Many Russians fled to the east, to the steppes, fearing both Lithuanian wrath and the famines and poverty that struck their homeland. Boris of Vyazma himself managed to save a small portion of what use to be the mighty army of the rebellion and followed this "exodus". Life was not easy in the steppe. Many of the Russians were captured by the Tatar raiders still dwelling there and sold to slavery, quite a few turned to the roaming Cossack hosts, but many others settled down, usually along the Volga, where defending against Tatar raids was easier, forming tiny specks of the Russian nation far from their homeland.

Never to return. Not in a "dying" way, though...

And with that, the Great Russian Rebellion was defeated and crushed, Lithuania could relax and look back at this crisis of the 16th century. A lot was lost - it's position in foreign affairs was weakened, the armies of Visegrad ripped away a piece of it's heartland, same with the Ottoman Empire, and in exchange it secured an almost depopulated region with sentiment definitely not in favor of the Queen. The world had changed in those years, too. There was a lot to catch up on.

---

The world in 1575 (full size here)
Slate grey territory represents minor states: in Germany, Ireland, Yucatan, Central and West Africa, SE Asia and Manchu.
Light grey represents uninhabited or sparsely inhabited lands and territory with no defined "states", i.e. tribal or pre-agricultural.​

 

[Augenis]

Part 27: Reconstruction (1575-1585)
​

The Great Russian Revolt was unsuccessful, but it marks a significant event in the development of the national identities of all three major nations that composed the Lithuanian kingdom of the time. For the Russians, it is the turning point when the regional identities of the nation's people began to break down in favor of a single, Russian identity. The All-Russian Council was the beginning of republicanism in the region - the first such development in Eastern Europe, actually. Despite his defeat, Ivan Kratkov is regarded as a Russian national hero. The Ruthenian peoples placed the first barrier between themselves and Russians, the old Kievan Rus' idea of a united East Slavic culture began to break down. While to the Lithuanians, the victory in Sychyovka resonated across their identity and culture for years to pass, almost as much as the Battle of Ilawa. As modern historians put it, "the peoples of Lithuania arrived to Sychyovka as inhabitants of dozens of former principalities and tribes and returned as three nations".

Of course, history is never so simple. It would take centuries before the concept of national identity would even arise as a serious idea, but this was a start.

After the restoration of order in Russia, there was a lot of free, unused land left, as it's original owners had fled the nation to settlements in the eastern steppes. Queen Sofija ordered the seizure of a large portion of this land, mostly the lands formerly held by nobles and dukes, to be converted into royal estates. The demand for grain, agricultural produces and timber in the West was steadily increasing, and the nations of Eastern Europe, being the closest suppliers, benefited from this - thus such an increase in royal estates was beneficial to the Queen, seeing as all the income from them would go directly to the Treasury. The rest of the land was divided between remaining serfs, loyal nobles, or in some cases just left abandoned. The situation in Russia was too critical for a few forgotten Voloks to be cared about - there was risk of famine, lots of work needed for restoration of order, as well as lone Russian rebel units who continued fighting even after the final defeat of the Rebellion and the dismissal of the All-Russian Council.

The Chronicles of Lithuania write of a few such engagements: a detachment of 600 Russian peasants near Belo Ozero, defeated in April of 1577; Russian forest fighters around the Ryazan area, fully eradicated by 1579; a holdout of 500 veterans in Kostroma, which pushed back superior Lithuanian units until finally destroyed in 1580. The Russian countryside eventually recovered from the devastation inflicted by looting and raiding during the Revolt, too, though sporadic outbreaks of hunger and disease continued well into the 1580s. It is not known how heavily Russia was affected by the Rebellion in terms of population loss, but many surviving written sources of the time mention that large portions were depopulated or at least heavily affected, suffering large population drops in just a few years.

This loss was so big, in fact, that Queen Sofija even ordered an official kingdom census in 1582 to help the Court determine just how many people were left and his many could he taxed. However, this wasn't an actual, head-counting census as the name would let one to believe. Borrowing the idea from the Union of Visegrad, the Lithuanians collected taxes based on dūmas. "Dūmas" is an ancient term for any house with a fireplace - since it was so central for any peasant home in Lithuania, it was the fireplaces that were counted and taxed, rather than people. Since each dūmas roughly corresponds to a home, which corresponds to a family living there (both peasantry and nobility were counted), dūmas censuses can be used to make a rough estimate for the population of the country.

The 1582 dūmai census was completed by local Voivodes and must be taken with a grain of salt when regarding accuracy, but it's results were these:

Lithuania Propria (Didžioji Lietuva - Eldership of Samogitia, Voivodeships of Vilnius and Trakai) - 168 391 dūmai

Lithuania Minor (Mažoji Lietuva - Voivodeship of Karaliaučius, East Prussian free cities) - 83 714 dūmai

Courland (Kuršas - autonomous Duchy of Courland) - 31 410 dūmai

Black Ruthenia and Podlachia (Juodoji Rusia, Palenkė - Voivodeships of Brest, Navahrudak and Podlasie) - 121 956 dūmai

White Ruthenia (Baltoji Rusia - Voivodeships of Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Minsk and Mstislav) - 211 156 dūmai

Ruthenia Propria (Didžioji Rusia - Voivodeships of Kiev, Zhitomir, Lutsk and Chernigov) - 431 857 dūmai

Northern Ruthenia (Russia) (Voivodeships of Pskov, Novgorod, Tver, Yaroslavl, Ryazan, Kostroma, Vladimir and Nizhny-Novgorod) - 831 078 dūmai

Total: 1 879 562 dūmai, or ~13.1 million inhabitants (assuming an equivalent of 7 people per dūmas)

In addition to the nationwide dūmai census, there were inventories made for smaller regions of Lithuania, usually paviets, writing down the inhabitants of all villages and estates in the area. However, these were only made sporadically and often on the whim of the nobility, and their reliability was also questionable.

In the wider world, meanwhile, the Lithuanians caught up to a massive development that they missed while still busy with the Russian Revolt - the victory of Jean de Foix and the Flammantians in the Flammantian Wars, and the restoration of the nation of France after over 100 years of English rule. The point of the war which proved decisive to both sides was, interestingly enough, the declaration of the independence of the Netherlands Free State from the English yoke and their entry on the side of the French. English dominance over this burgher and merchant state had already proven to be a hindrance for them and their far-reaching ambitions, and the surprising defeat and almost complete destruction of the English fleet in the Battle of the Mont Saint-Michel Bay - catching the Englishmen off-guard while they were escorting a few transport ships with reinforcements. The following blockade of the Channel led to the defeat of the English army in the mainland in the Battle of the Loire in 1573, the capture of Henry IX of England-France, who obviously didn't kill enough Frenchmen to make God change his mind, it seems. In exchange for being released back to England, he agreed to relinquish his claims on all of France, ending the Flammantian Wars.

France was now free, and organized under the Estates-General as the governing body, the "Senate" of it's time. From the very start, the new France had to endure many problems both from inside and within - an attempt at a coup by a few military men, border clashes with Austria, crisises in the Estates-General and reconstruction after the disastrous war of independence, but France endured. Through this time, it looked at the Dutch as an example - since the creation of the Free State decades ago, it has been governed similarly, without a King and instead an assembly of representatives, a "parliament" if you will.

France became the vanguard state of a new, "king-less" type of government, while England went to a whole different direction - united by the bitter defeat, the peoples of the island nation saw the Parliament as more and more of a liability, especially when the King can do all the things it does more effectively, right?

Much like the French, the Lithuanians recovered from a long, cruel attrition war, but the situation was different - they were the "loyalists". Unlike England, they saved their empire and crushed the opposition. And yet the situation was so similar... A bitter, conquered nation with a larger population than the ruling class, led by an ambitious military man, with help from a foreign power that used to be the loyalist crown's rival...

Perhaps it's because the Russians were alone. They didn't have a "Netherlands" equivalent. But all of this is alternate history talk.

What we know is that Russia lost and France won. And Lithuania, meanwhile, was rebuilding with a goal in mind...

 

[Augenis]

Part 28: No War, No Peace (1585-1600)
​

One of the most notable achievements obtained during the Steel Lady's, Queen Sofija's reign was in the legal matters of the Lithuanian kingdom. The Statute of Lithuania was over half a century old by now, and that half a century was marked by major social and political developments that changed the face of the nation as we know it. The Volok Reform finalized the slow, century-old dip into serfdom, while the Great Russian Revolt set numerous social and sometimes even physical barriers between the reigning Lithuanians and subservient Russians. Both of these developments had to be codified and placed into law, though, and in 1586, Queen Sofija ordered the creation of the Second Statute of Lithuania, finished two years later and signed by the monarch and the Council of Lords. Opinions on this large document vary. On one hand, it proved to be very progressive in some accounts, even holding an example of the first case of women's rights in Lithuanian history (noble widows were allowed to take their dowry upon their husbands' deaths and return back to the home of their parents, instead of losing it to the heir of her husband), and the fact that Lithuania had a codified set of laws when countries like Visegrad and Sweden only relied on basic royal documents was quite impressive. However, much like the rest of Europe at the time, it suffered from reactionary views that originate from fear of a French-type revolution. Serfdom was fully institutionalized, legal discrimination against the Slavs continued (Lithuanian nobles without ancestry in Lithuania Propria were not allowed to acquire or purchase land in it), and Lithuania continued the slow descent towards absolutism.

1588 was an important year for the royal family, too, as after a few daughters, Queen Sofija and her husband Friedrich were finally able to make a male heir. Honoring both the Hohenzollern and Gediminaitis ancestry of the newborn boy, he was named Albertas Jogaila (Albrecht Jagiello), after both his paternal grandfather and his famous ancestor from his mother's side. While double names were still an uncommon trend among Lithuanian nobility, they were not unknown - notable people like Kęstutis Mykolas Radvila, the commander of the Lithuanian forces in the Great Russian Revolt, had double names as well, and the heir apparent now joined their ranks. Prince Albertas Jogaila of the House of Gediminaitis-Hohenzollern will have his time to shine later, though...

After the deadly Great Russian Revolt, the Lithuanian nation was slowly able to recover. The debt acquired during the Revolt was getting paid off, even the devastated provinces in Russia itself started growing. Historians note that this period in time was the greatest age for the Lithuanian economy. The Little Ice Age had still not kicked in fully, and the lands were giving record grain harvests. The demand for grain was great in the West, which was starting to enter a much different phase of human development. A capitalist era. Manufactories, capable of producing much more than normal guilds and responding to the forces of supply and demand, and intercontinental trade to fulfill the need for lucrative markets were becoming more and more common, especially in the Italian principalities, the Netherlands Free State and France. And Eastern Europe with it's rich grain fields and forests was just a part of this grand scheme of things, and despite being just a producer of raw materials, Lithuania was able to profit from it.

That's not to say that it didn't have cities of it's own. Vilnius, Kaunas, Karaliaučius, Gardinas, Kiev, Polotsk and Tver were among the largest - however, compared to Western Europe or even the Visegrad, they were tiny. Even Vilnius, calling itself "the Third Rome" and "the Diamond of the East", paled in comparison to Paris, Florence, Venice, Prague or even London. Serfdom was a big limit to population nobility, and this led to much lower city growth. Not that the Royal Family minded - cities and their way of life are a haven for all those dangerous thoughts, aren't they? Just watch how Tver or Polotsk will think up of an another revolution...

Vilnius, the capital of the Kingdom of Lithuania, at the end of the 16th century.
Aukštutinė (Upper) and Žemutinė (Lower) Castles can be seen at the left, with the elongated Town Square extending towards the Rotušė (Rattusz, Town Hall)
The old town is surrounded by a stone wall, built in 1561-63.
Modern estimates for the size of the city at the time put the population at roughly 25 000 people.​

But, even though the Lithuanians were suspicious, the tensions in their massive kingdom were nothing compared to what was unraveling in Central Europe at the time.

The end of the 16th century saw religious tensions increase sharply, old rivalries reborn, and the balance of power in Europe tipped by the foundation of Republican France. The death of Jean de Foix in 1587 and the transition to a moderately healthy republic, with the Estates-General as the primary legislature, marked the end of the post-independence "time of troubles" in France, and the nation quickly regained strength after the devastation of the Flammantian Wars. France was the first powerful Reformist nation (Netherlands and a bunch of German principalities also followed the faith before them), and this victory strengthened and radicalized this breakaway faith even further. In Southern and Central Germany, numerous peasant revolts plagued the region, and more and more margraves and dukes switched to the Reformist faith, or in some cases even got overthrown by France-inspired revolutions. Northern Germany, however, remained an entrenched Catholic holdout, partially thanks to active Anti-Reformist missionary work to root out heresy and also because of England's and Scandinavia's Catholic fanaticism. Both of these countries were important markets to the North German merchants, so staying loyal to Catholicism was more lucrative. This stance came in conflict with the Netherlands Free State, a Reformist republic, which arose after the Flammantian Wars as an ambitious rising power, even with some colonial ambitions in North Vespucia.

France, meanwhile, was ready to spread the Flammantian Reformist faith beyond it's borders. Outside of some large holdouts in Switzerland, this branch of Reformism was pretty much limited to this newly reborn nation. In addition, they sought the French lands of Lorraine, held by Austria, and overall wanted to curb the power of the Holy Roman Empire. What was Austria, the leading nation in this fractured giant, doing through all of this? Well, they had domestic matters of their own. After most of South Germany - Baden, Wurttemburg, Bavaria, the Palatinate and others - entrenched themselves as the heart of Melanchthonian Reformism, the population of Austria began to followed suit. Dozens of preachers across this eastern archduchy spread Reformist beliefs despite the toughest possible resistance from the Anti-Reformation faction. It got so problematic, in fact, that even some of the members of the ruling Habsburg family converted, and while they were quickly shunned and disgraced by the Catholic Emperor, Maximilian IV, the point still stood. Reformist troubles worked as a sort of "paralysis" to the work of the Holy Roman Emperor against Reformism, and whether Austria will endure as a bastion of Catholicism or become the second powerful convert to the Reformist faith was still a big question.

While France was the undisputed leader of the European Reformists, the Catholic reaction had it's leaders as well. Among the Anti-Reformist forces, Spain and the Union of Visegrad stood as the more important "members". Spain had a strong Catholic tradition and was more or less left unaffected by the Reformation, and with the religious strife and chaos unfolding in Central Europe, it began to take more and more of an active role in fighting the Reformation in the place of the "paralyzed" Austria. In the early 16th century, it annexed Naples, and kept up very cordial relations with the Papacy all the way through. Spanish priests composed a big portion of the Anti-Reformation Movement, and the famous "Spanish Inquisition" reigned supreme in their Iberian homeland. Throughout the late 16th century, Spain continued exerting influence in the rest of Italy, bringing many city states into it's fold as vassals and protectorates, and these moves clashed with both the French and Austrian spheres of influence. The War of the Po River (1589-91) between Milan and a coalition of Italian city states led by Florence and Savoy almost escalated to a full blown war between the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, but diplomatic efforts by Maximilian IV and the Pope eased the tensions. Still, the influence of the HRE over Italy faded even more, while France took it's turn and annexed a few chips of territory from Savoy. With it's aggressive foreign policy, an economy boosted by sugar trade and an ambition to take down both France and Austria, Spain stood in the vanguard of the Catholics in this world of tensions.

Visegrad, however, was a much more pragmatic and opportunistic card. This union of three nations was led by Charles IV von Luxembourg (Karel IV Lucemburkové, IV. Károly Luxemburgi-ház, Karol IV Luksemburski), and has been the defender of Western Europe from the Ottomans and Lithuanians for centuries. This "sentinel" attitude strengthened Visegradian loyalty to the Papacy, enough to make them eventually resist the wave of Reformism and remain as the Catholic Defender of the East. At the same time, they werew naturally wary of the rising Reformist powers in the west. HRE and Visegrad have been neighbours ever since their inception, and while relations between the two countries are littered with friction, border conflicts and sometimes outright wars, they also helped each other out during Ottoman invasions or other conflicts, and it was in Charles IV's interests that the Empire stays intact. While Spain came to Germany to protect the Catholic faith from heresy and kick it's rivals down a notch, Visegrad came to Germany to protect it's western front from potentially hostile Reformists.

The lines have been drawn. In the HRE itself, the Reformist and Catholic duchies began banding into separate coalitions, "leagues", hoping to protect each other from the other side. Outside of France, Spain and Visegrad, the three great powers surrounding the Empire, many other factions were overlooking the situation with ambitions of their own. Denmark, despite being a Catholic nation, was nevertheless leaning towards aligning with Reformists because of it's opposition to Sweden, which stood as the Catholic vanguard in the north. England was slowly transforming into a fanatical Catholic monarchy, and a Catholic religious movement named the "Puritans", seeking to rid the British isles of the "devillish Reformist ideas", was gaining traction - the bitter revanchism towards France could play a role as well. The German states were divided on the issue as well - Bavaria, for example, even erupted into a civil war between the two faiths, the states of Northern Germany like Brandenburg, Pomerania and the Hansa had their own agendas. And what of the two outsiders, looming at the horizon, uninterested in the religious polemics between Reformism and Catholicism, but more than willing to use the potential chaos in Europe for their own gain - that being Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire?

Europe will never be the same again.

And Queen Sofija knew that. Lithuanian revanchism towards Visegrad, which had almost dissipated by the time of Valdislavas II, was now at an all time high - those dastardly Czechs and Hungarians attacked up while we were down and even carved out some gains in the peace! How dare they! Under the guidance of the Steel Lady, the royal estates of the kingdom were slowly being calibrated for a potential war. The Lithuanian Regiment was expanded, and the Queen began negotiations with the nobility to receive assurances that they would support her in a potential conflict. And, most interestingly, her son, now 12 years of age, was showing incredible talent in using the sword and the commander's baton...

The 16th century draws to a close. It can safely be said that the old Medieval period has been replaced by the thriving speed of the Modern Era. Lithuania in the year 1500, a fresh kingdom with it's big ambitions, was hardly recognizable from what it has become now, in the year 1600. And this speed of advancement will only get faster and faster...

And what does the future hold? Only God knows for certain.

 

[Augenis]

Part 29: Friction (1600-1611)
​

And thus, the 17th century began. Over 100 years have passed since the foundation of the Kingdom of Lithuania, and despite the wars, crisises and internal rebellions, the land of the East endured. For how long will they continue on, though? That's a question none can answer.

One painful thorn in Lithuania's side that arose after the Great Russian Rebellion was Livonia. Lithuania's northern neighbour, former rival, enemy, now turned into a nigh protectorate, was, albeit secretly, turning away from it's grasp. Despite it's small size, Livonia was critically important to the economy and prosperity of Lithuania, the reason for that being the port of Riga. Lithuania's own ports - Klaipėda, Karaliaučius, Liepaja - were too small to man the massive exports that both the Lithuanian crown and the numerous magnates were directing to the West, and as such they had to rely on the largest port in the entirety of the Eastern Baltic coast. Keeping Livonia under Lithuania's sphere of influence became vital for the eastern empire, but they were not the only nation fighting. Livonia was the easternmost Catholic nation in Europe, and being surrounded from all sides by an Orthodox, albeit one with ties to the Church, state was the source of great worry.

The Livonians were well aware of what happened in the Teutonic Order, which was also a strategically important state because of it's rich cities and location between Visegrad and Lithuania. As soon as the Lithuanians found the opportunity, they annexed the Order, receiving only minor protests from their neighbours - and Livonia doesn't even border any other nation but the Lithuanians, who could protect them? Ah, but you see, Lithuania wasn't the only player in the Baltic Sea area, The Livonians soon turned to Sweden, a fellow Catholic nation, not as interested in outright annexing them (or at least that's how it seemed), and the Order hoped that by playing off both powers towards each other, they could maintain their independence for the future.

Lithuania knew which way the wind was blowing. Ever since the end of the the Great Russian Rebellion, the Crown put a lot of effort into developing it's own ports - Liepaja (Libau), Klaipėda (Memel), Karaliaučius (Konigsberg) - port maintenance and tariffs were growing to be a lucrative endeavor for the city merchants, who supported this task. Not only that, but the rule of Queen Sofija marked the official beginning of the military navy of the Kingdom of Lithuania, especially with the foundation of the Royal Sea Commission (Karališkoji jūrų komisija) in 1603, an official organization to oversee the matters of "military shipbuilding, ship maintenance and the protection of Lithuanian waters and coasts". Antanas Mužikas, a Lithuanian shipwright and the commander of a merchant flotilla, one of Queen Sofija's favorites, was appointed as the first Royal Sea Commissioner, and instantly was faced with the problems of low funding and low interest by the monarchy.

But still, it was a start.

Interesting news arrived from the steppe at the time, too. The Russian refugees, settlers around the Volga, have finally managed to push back the Tatars around them, centered around the recently founded city of Vostovsk, next to the Volga River. In a shocking turn of events, in the Battle of the Volga in 1604, the musket and pike armed, mostly foot infantry of the Russians managed to push back and defeat an invading army of the Kazan Khanate, with some ingenuity at play - detonating a part of their gunpowder supply to spook and disorganize the horses for the musket skirmishers to fairly easily take down. Even the Russians themselves called the victory to be a stroke of luck - and if they had lost, that would have been the end of the Russian rump state at the Volga. The state of Trans-Russia, though usually called "Volgan Russia" or just the "Volga", lived on to fight another day, even managing to find some allies in the form of local Cossack hosts, some of which even joined the nation, as well as having a steady supply of Russian serfs fleeing from their lords and Russian intellectuals kicked out from their land by the Lithuanian crown.

Lithuania didn't care about that much, though - what mattered more to them was situation in the West. The situation in the Holy Roman Empire was getting closer and closer to a breaking point, tensions between Reformists and Catholics rose, and foreign powers surrounding the Empire were getting ready for a massacre. Austria finally calmed down after over a decade of religious turmoil - the Austrian Reformists were pushed out of Vienna, and Maximilian IV could finally take a look at the outside world with a clear mind. While his health was slowly deteriorating, the succession seemed secure, to his son Augustin, but he was only 14 years of age in 1610. He had a rival in the succession, too - Prince Charles, the nephew of Maximilian IV, a figurehead of the Reformist forces and seemingly a more capable candidate at the moment. But, his armies were defeated near Linz three years earlier, he was incapable of laying a claim without a force backing him, and the Emperor's throne seemed secure at the moment.

Ever since the Reformation, numerous conflicts plagued the land, and the Emperor attempted to mediate the religious strife numerous times by declaring the Salzburg Decree, first released in 1571. According to it, the princes, dukes, margraves and other monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire, were allowed to choose either Reformism or Catholicism, but they were not allowed to either "change the old order of the land" (basically, no France-type revolutions or government changes) or force their religion to their inhabitants. However, this decree only worked on paper, and during times of turmoil in Austria, and often even during times of stability there, the dukes and people would break the Decree as they saw fit. Maximilian IV was ready to go on a quest and re-enforce the ways of old, and this might just be the final spark that ignites the barrel of gunpowder that was Central Europe...

Emperor Maximilian IV of the Holy Roman Empire

Prince Charles of Austria​

And Lithuania was too deeply tied to the rest of Eastern Europe to not get involved at some point. And Lithuania - Lithuania had to prepare. It's armed forces were far from being as effective and modern as those of Eastern Europe. Algirdas II renovated and introduced Western technologies to the Lithuanian army in the late 15th-early 16th centuries, but they were not followed up by later rulers. Among the parts of the court pushing for reform in the armed forces of the Kingdom was Queen Sofija's son Prince Albertas Jogaila, barely 20 years old at the time, but already very proficient in modern tactics and strategies. Outside of part-time studies in the Vilnius University, he was personally tutored by Žygimantas Astikas, one of the lieutenants of Kęstutis Mykolas Radvila in the Great Russian Rebellion and now among the best army generals in Lithuania, and even though the Prince was infamous for his arrogance and self-centered attitude, Albertas Jogaila showed promise.

The military organization of the wartime forces of the Lithuanian army received a major change in it's structure. The structure of the Voivodeships originates from the times of Jogaila the Great, over two centuries ago by now, and was built with the idea of a feudal army of knights in mind. Each of the Voivodes would have to rally a force of conscripted boyars, each one would have to buy their equipment and horses by themselves, as well as bring a group of armed peasants from their estate to serve as infantry. However, in these times of mercenary armies and professional soldiers, an army mostly composed of feudal knights, no matter how well armed, would not work.

The reforms initiated in 1610 were set to replace the Voivodeship conscription with a semi-standing force for each region. Each Voivodeship would be required to organize and maintain a small (a few thousand soldiers) force of professional soldiers, recruited from the estates of both the crown and the nobility (nobles that were unwilling to send a portion of their peasants to serve in the Army would have to pay an additional tax). More advanced types of equipment, like artillery and naval forces, were to be organized by the Crown directly. Volunteer nobility forces were also allowed, and the Lithuanian Regiment stayed as the core of the Army, albeit somewhat downsized and spread out across Voivodeship units. A similar organization was already employed by Sweden, and quite successfully, in fact, so Lithuania already had someone to look at and "learn from" in this endeavor. It would take a while before this new military force could be fully employed in warfare, however.

However, Queen Sofija of the Kingdom of Lithuania, the Steel Lady, did not get to see the fruits of the reform. On March 21st, 1611, the 68 year old Queen left our world to greet her father and family. Her reign marked a massive change in the state of affairs in the fledgling empire. When the Queen rose to the throne to reclaim her birthright, Lithuania was a chaotic mess in danger of being ripped apart by Russian revolutionaries and Visegradian armies, and while some pieces of Lithuanian land were lost, the country endured - and that's what she is remembered for among Lithuanians today. Perhaps not as much as, say, Jogaila the Great, but the reforms and advancements of her reign are seen as a positive addition to the Lithuanian nation.

A month after Sofija's untimely death, her only son Prince Albertas was coronated as Albertas Jogaila I, King of Lithuania. In this unstable time, when all of Europe could be thrown into a bloody conflict, what will be the ascension of this new monarch mean for the nation?

All of Lithuania was about to find out, and soon learn to call him Albertas 'The Bear'. And not for no reason, either.

 

[Augenis]

So, my timeline has been receiving a bit more attention lately, and I of all people know most that reading through the whole 29 chapters currently out is a bit of a chore, especially when there's so many words and Lithuanian phrases stuck among all those paragraphs, so I bet there are people who have missed parts and important events of the timeline.

So, to help remedy the damage, I decided to make an abridged timeline of the events that happened so far, for reference to both old timers and newcomers alike.

FROM ALGIRDAS TO ALBERTAS: The timeline of events in The Silver Knight from 1367 to 1611

1367 - Point of Divergence: Moscow, under Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, cancels the construction of the stone Kremlin because of an unexpected tribute demand from the Golden Horde.
1368: After a series of diplomatic mishaps, Tver and Moscow go to war, and the former calls it's ally Lithuania into the war. The Lithuanian-Muscovite War begins. Because of the weak defenses of the Moscow Kremlin, the city is captured after a short siege. Dmitry Pavlovich is defeated.
1369: The Treaty of Kirzhach is signed, Moscow is forced to make a number of diplomatic and physical concessions. The Lithuanian-Muscovite War ends in a Lithuanian victory.
1370: Lithuanian raiders in East Prussia are beaten in the Battle of Rudau.
1371: Lithuania annexes Smolensk, Algirdas's son Skirgaila is placed as the Duke of Smolensk. Ryazan falls under Lithuanian influence and dominance.
1374: Treaty of Velikye Luki between Lithuania and Novgorod. The (mostly ceremonial) title of Prince of Novgorod is now tied to the position of Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Novgorod is drawn closer to the Lithuanian state.
1377: Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, dies. He is succeeded by his son, Jogaila.

1377-1434: Reign of Jogaila the Great

1377: Andrei of Polotsk, Jogaila's brother, declares his claim to the position of Grand Duke of Lithuania, supported by Demetrius of Bryansk and numerous Russian princes, including Muscovy and Novgorod. The Lithuanian Civil War (1377-1382) begins.
1378: Poland-Hungary uses the chaos in Lithuania to annex most of Podolia. The Battle of Dorogobuzh is fought between Skirgaila and Bryansk-Muscovite forces - Skirgaila is defeated and Smolensk falls under enemy occupation. Jogaila, meanwhile, captures Polotsk after a surprise attack on the unexpecting city. Mamai of the Blue Horde attacks Tver, Ryazan and Moscow, heavily looting the Rus' lands.
1379: Seeing which way the wind is blowing, Dmitry Pavlovich offers Jogaila his daughter Sophia and an alliance against the Tatars and Andrei of Polotsk, in exchange for his conversion to Orthodoxy. Jogaila accepts and is baptized with the Christian name Nikolai. Bryansk is recaptured that year.
1380: Kęstutis, Jogaila's uncle, raises his banners in revolt against the new Orthodox Grand Duke. Jogaila, through his ally and brother Kaributas, offers negotiations to Kęstutis, and as soon as he meets him and his son Vytautas, he orders their arrest. Jogailai triumphantly returns to Vilnius and tears down the old temple of Perkūnas.
1382: Kęstutis and Vytautas mysteriously die in captivity. Louis I of Poland-Hungary dies without a male heir, throwing the kingdoms to a succession crisis.
1383: Siemowit IV of Mazovia asks for Jogaila's help in the Polish Civil War, in exchange for returning Louis I's annexed Lithuanian lands and an alliance against the Teutons. Jogaila agrees. The Battle of Adamki leads to a Masovian-Lithuanian victory, but only chaos in Hungary makes Elizabeth of Hungary concede. Siemowit IV marries Hedwig d'Anjou and is crowned as King of Poland.
1386: Mamai is defeated by Tokhtamysh at the Kalka River.
1389: The Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War - Poland and Lithuania join forces and defeat the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Ilawa and besiege Marienburg, which surrenders a few months later due to not extensive enough preparations beforehand. The Peace of Thorn is signed.
1391: Tamerlane's generals, Temur Qutlugh and Edigu, defeat Tokhtamysh at the Battle of the Kondurcha River.
1393: Timurid forces defeat Tokhtamysh at the Battle of the Terek River, the Khan flees to Lithuania.
1395: Jogaila meets with Tokhtamysh and agrees to fight for his claim to the Golden Horde along with Prince Vasily of Moscow. The Battle of the Vorskla River is a close victory by the Orthodox forces - however, Vasily I dies in the battle after leading the troops in a successful cavalry charge, forever immortalized as Vasily Vorskloy.
1397: After a succession crisis in the leaderless Moscow, Jogaila arrives to seize the throne in the name of his own claim on the title. Moscow is incorporated into Lithuania.
1408: Ryazan is fully incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
1409: Prince Teodoras is born to Jogaila and Sophia of Moscow.
1411: The seat of the Metropolitan of All Rus' is finally moved to Vilnius after the Byzantine Empire manages to push back a siege by the Ottoman Turks.
1410s: The beginning of the Hussite Wars in Bohemia.
1425: The first edition of the Chronicle of Lithuania, the first work published in the Lithuanian language, is released.
1420s: The Ninety Years' War between France and England ends in an English victory and the creation of the Kingdom of England-France.
1432: Wary of the deteriorating situation of the ERE, the Papacy gathers the Council of Florence, set of mending the East-West Schism of Christianity and discussing a possible intervention against the Turks.
1434: Jogaila the Great dies.

1434-1475: Reign of Teodoras I

1434: Žygimantas Kęstutaitis declares his claim to the position of Grand Duke of Lithuania, supported by Švitrigaila. The Lithuanian Civil War of 1434-35 begins.
1435: Teodoras I wins the Battle of Starodub. Žygimantas and Švitrigaila are captured, the claimant's son Mykolas escapes to the West. The Livonian Order, his ally, is defeated at the Lėvuo River.
1437: Sigismund of Luxembourg dies, his kingdom of Bohemia-Hungary is inherited by his underage son Charles. The Council of Florence ends with nothing achieved.
1438: Teodoras's son Prince Algirdas is born.
1440-42: War against Crimea and the Golden Horde.
1445: Siemowit III ascends as King of Poland, and the Krakow Regency of szlachta is established. The Siemowitian Interregnum in Poland begins.
1450: Murad the Conqueror leads the armies of the Ottoman Empire to successfully capture Constantinople and end the millennial Byzantine Empire.
1451: Teodoras I declines the Union of Florence. Greeks fleeing the fall of Constantinople arrive to Lithuania, and settle down in settlements around Vilnius.
1455: Convention Pact signed by Siemowit III in Poland, ending hereditary rule in the kingdom and replacing it with a popular nobility election.
1461: Lithuania intervenes in a burgher uprising in the Teutonic Order, and Bohemia-Hungary uses the opportunity to increase it's influence in Poland. This results in an unresolved diplomatic crisis that leads to both parties preparing for war.
1463: Siemowit III dies. The beginning of the Polish Succession War (1463-68) between Lithuania and Bohemia-Hungary. Charles I occupies Krakow and is crowned as King of Poland. The Battle of Czestochowa between Lithuanian forces and Matthias Corvinus's Black Army is a crushing victory for the latter. Teodoras I retreats, and the war in Poland turns into a bloody raiding stalemate.
1464: Mykolas Žygimantaitis arrives to the court of Charles I for the King to press his claim on Grand Duke of Lithuania. The Leczyca Campaign begins, the two powers begin vying for control in Greater Poland.
1465: Massive famine across Poland, caused by the raiding warfare, later followed by a smallpox epidemic.
1466: Bohemia-Hungary wins the Leczyca Campaign. Teodoras I decides to march to Poland for a second time.
1467: The Battle of Bydgoszcz - albeit a closer fight than Czestochowa, it is still a victory for the Black Army. Lithuania is almost completely pushed out of Poland. Janusz I, the pretender, is defeated the same year. Matthias Corvinus pushes forward, capturing Brest, but retreats because of Ottoman maneuvers in Hungary.
1468: Peace of Plock - the end of the Polish Succession War, victory goes to Bohemia-Hungary-Poland.
1468-71: Mykolas Žygimantaitis organizes revolts against Teodoras in western Lithuania, but his gambit for the throne is ended by his death.
1475: Teodoras I dies, succeeded by his son Algirdas.

1475-1497: Reign of Algirdas II

1470s: Currency reform in Lithuania. First mentions of the Myth of Palemon in the Chronicle of Lithuania.
1478: Algirdas II marries Angela Palaiologina, solidifying his claim to the successorship of the Third Rome. Mykolas Glinskis is appointed as the Grand Hetman (main military commander) of Lithuania.
1480: The Lithuanian Regiment, the first standing army in Lithuanian history, is founded.
1481: Algirdas II is crowned King of Lithuania, the first one after over 200 years of vacancy.
1485: The Brest Concordate - The Lithuanian Orthodox Church signs an official act of partial reconcillation with the Catholic Church, many theological debates are amended, and Catholicism begins to spread in Lithuania.
1486: Algirdas's son Valdislavas is born.
1493: Foundation of the University of Vilnius.
1494: Beginning of the Burgundian Wars between England-France and Austria.
1495: Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovers the New World, the continent of Vespucia. The exploration of the New World begins.
1496: The first printing house in Lithuania, in Vilnius, is established. The Cyrillic movable type is created.
1497: Algirdas II dies from an unknown disease.

1497-1504: Regency of Mykolas Glinskis

1497: Tver revolts against the regency in Lithuania. Mykolas Glinskis destroys a nobility plot to get rid of Valdislavas and establish a noble republic.
1498: The Tverian-Lithuanian War begins. The Second Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Dobrovo both result in Lithuanian victories, Tver and the rebellious Russian regions are put down and pillaged.
1501: A Portuguese expedition reaches the port of Madras in India.
1504: Valdislavas I reaches maturity.

1504-1546: Reign of Valdislavas I

1506: The armies of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland deal a crushing blow to the Ottomans at the Battle of the Sava River. The Sultan is dead, and his successor Mehmet III decides to focus on the Middle East.
1508: Henry Bosman, under the Scottish flag, discovers North Vespucia.
1511: Crimean Tatar raid on Lithuanian Khadjibey. The beginning of a period of Tatar raids and incursions into the Lithuanian kingdom. Ferdinand I of Castille and Aragon declares Spanish control over the islands of "Mariana, Occasus, Puerto Norte, the rest of the Western islands, and all Westerners on the continent in front of them", in Central Vespucia. Vasco Disirosti revisits Cabral's route and names the lands Terra Manuela.
1515: The Treaty of Almeria divides Vespucia between Spain and Portugal. The Netherlands Free State is founded as a vassal of England-France.
1518: Valdislavas I orders the creation of the Statute of Lithuania, a codified set of laws to work across the whole kingdom. The Statute is finished and signed the same year.
1518-21: The Teutonic Order's Last Raid - The Order is kicked out and East Prussia annexed after Lithuania intervenes on the side of the rebellious Hanseatic cities.
1525: Philip Melanchthon releases the "118 Theses on the State of Corruption, Simony and Indulgences in the Church of Christ" - the Reformation begins. The "Glinskiada" is written and published.
1526: Spanish opportunist and war veteran, Fernando Altamirano, conquers the Aztec Empire and becomes the first Emperor of Mejico. Valdislavas I founds the elite Karaite Guard.
1528: Jean de Flammant, a French preacher, begins spreading Reformism in France.
1535: The Union of Visegrad is signed and founded, uniting Bohemia, Hungary and Poland under a single crown.
1543: The Volok Reform begins in Lithuania. Serfdom is now finalized.
1544: The Anti-Reformation movement begins.
1546: Andrius Volanas begins Reformation in Orthodoxy - the Volanite Movement. Valdislavas I dies.

1546-1568: Reign of Valdislavas II

1547: Valdislavas II declines the chance to convert to Volanism, but nevertheless extends laws of religious tolerance to it.
1548: King Valdislavas marries Astrid, the Princess of Sweden.
1550: The Portuguese make first contact with the Inca. Foundation of the University of Kiev.
1554: Astrid of Sweden passes away from malaria.
1557: Valdislavas's tragic romance with Viktorija Kęsgailaitė.
1558: The Flammantian Wars in England-France begin. The First Estates-General of Clermont is called.
1561: Portuguese ships reach the coasts of Japan.
1566: The first major battle in the Flammantian Wars, the Battle of Limoges, results in a French Flammantian victory.
1567: Nieuw-Amsterdam is founded in North Vespucia.
1568: Death of Valdislavas II.

1568-1611: Reign of Queen Sofija

1568: Sofija, the only child of Valdislavas II, returns from Brandenburg to claim her throne. After a successful march to Vilnius, Jonas Astikas and his noble republic plans are stopped and the legitimate heir has been returned.
1569: The Union of Visegrad invades Podolia. The Great Russian Rebellion begins, led by Ivan Kratkov.
1571: Volanism is criminalized in Lithuania due to it's ties to the Great Russian Rebellion. The Battle of Radyvyliv between Lithuanian and Visegradian forces begins. Visegrad employs the Winged Hussars for the first time in history. The Peace of Lutsk is signed and Visegrad wins the short war. The Netherlands Free State joins the Flammantian Wars on the French side and defeats the English navy in Saint-Michel Bay. The Salzburg Decree, allowing limited religious freedom, is released by the Holy Roman Emperor.
1572: Ivan Kratkov marches on Novgorod and disestablishes the merchant republic. The Lithuanian Army, led by Kęstutis Mykolas Radvila, begins a march to the Russian heartland.
1573: The All-Russian Council is called on the likeness to the Estates-General. The Ruthenians decline the offer to join the Rebellion. The Battle of the Loire is won by the French, ending the Flammantian Wars in a Flammantian victory. Republican France is established.
1574: The Battle of Sychyovka - Ivan Kratkov is defeated and dies during the resulting Russian Death March. Lithuanian troops later capture Tver, and other towns.
1575: Ryazan surrenders, and the Great Russian Rebellion is finally defeated.
1582: The first dūmai census is held in Lithuania.
1586: The Second Statute of Lithuania is finished. Serfdom is made into a law.
1587: Jean de Foix dies. Republican France endures.
1588: Sofija's son, Prince Albertas Jogaila, is born.
1589-91: The War of the Po River almost turns into a continent wide conflict, but is extinguished.
1603: The beginning of the Lithuanian Navy, with the foundation of the Royal Sea Commission.
1604: Volga Russians push back an offensive by the Khanate of Kazan. Volga-Russia endures.
1610: Lithuania begins a major military reform, establishing an official standing force of the Lithuanian army.
1611: Queen Sofija dies.

1611-: Reign of Albertas Jogaila I

 

[Augenis]

Part 30: The Ambition of the Bear (1611-1617)
​

Albertas Jogaila I was, much like his mother, very young when he ascended to the throne, but his young age didn't mean that he was incapable in rulership. Far from it. Mentored by the finest army generals and famous for his exceptional mind - and arrogant attitude - since his youngest days, the King operated with a simple view - the country was merely a tool for the military, a glorified regimental camp, if you might, while the Army is his weapon in his hand for personal gain. Of course, such an autocratic view of the Kingdom meant that things like "nobility assemblies as advisors to the King" or "spending time on making the lives of the enserfed peasantry better" were unnecessary.

The King was definitely not among the gentle kind.

Such a stance found him many enemies, but also many followers. The Army of the Kingdom of Lithuania was on his side, swayed with hopes of an even greater focus on their problems, needs and goals. A sizable portion of the nobility were in favor of him, too, but most of them for different reasons. Some were burning with revanchism against Visegrad and put their hopes of a victorious and glorious campaign to Podolia on his shoulders. Many reactionary magnates would have much rather preferred a nigh-absolutist regime than, say, a French-type revolution or a second Great Russian Rebellion. And what could the majority of population - serfs, peasants or poor city inhabitants - do against Albertas Jogaila I? You had to follow him, or else you won't have a good time.

However, the first years of the new King's rule weren't all that bad, mostly attributed to his inexperience in court matters and young age. However, military preparations for... something were taking place all across the Kingdom. Albertas Jogaila I was a staunch supporter of the military reform initiated during his mother's reign - after all, he was the one to push it through - and it's adaption was only hastened during his reign.

King Albertas Jogaila I around the year 1615
​

While Lithuania was regrouping after the ascension of their new King, Central Europe was falling faster and faster into the abyss of war. One of Maximilian IV's first targets was the chaos that was Bavaria. Much like Austria itself, this Duchy was plagued by religious strife and conflict, and unlike in it's more powerful neighbor, the ruling House of Wittelsbach failed, it's armies defeated by French-supported Reformists near Straubing. Bavaria joined the company of numerous other South German principalities which overthrew their Catholic rulers and brought a Reformist government, be it a duke or count of this religion, or an outright republic - in direct opposition to the Salzburg Decree, no less. This event was important, however, as not only Bavaria was the first German duchy of this size and strength to fall, but it was also right on Austria's border. To Maximilian IV, this was a threat to Austria's sovereignty, and he was ready to take action.

In 1612, the former Duke William VI of Bavaria, now just Wilhelm von Wittelsbach, fled to Austria with his family, and Maximilian IV, as the Holy Roman Empire, sent a demand to the Bavarian revolutionaries to restore the rightful monarch, to which they said no. The Austrian archduke threatened to use military force, but this immediately sparked a response from France, which stood in defense of the Bavarians. The Director of the Estates-General - more or less the highest office in Republican France and the head of the government - Maximilien de Béthune was a Flammantian with a burning heart, ambitious and zealous, and such an attitude clashed with the Holy Roman Emperor's sphere of influence. The numerous Reformist nations and movements across Europe began to band together, too, forming the Munich League, a development supported by France. Austria, meanwhile, weakened by a recently passed civil war, was in no shape to fight the French and the League all by itself - but nor was it wiling to stand back and let Reformists rip the Empire apart.

So, instead of saying "yes" or "no" in the diplomatic crisis with France and Bavaria, Maximilian IV turned to the Papacy. The Reformists may have been victorious, but they were not very numerous, and Maximilian IV hoped that a united front of Catholic nations, headed by the Pope and the Emperor, will crush the upstarts. Pope Paul V, having been appointed by the Spanish by and for the Anti-Reformation movement, was greeted by an envoy and a letter from the Emperor, written as "heartwarming" and "sincerely" as possible, calling for the Pontificate to cleanse the German lands from heresy so their children and grandchildren would find a way to Heaven. This letter was kept safe in the Papacy's archives and only recently released to the public.

Paul V agreed to the "recommendations" - an inch away from being phrased like demands - and declared the beginning of a "holy crusade against the French and German heretics", in the spirit of the numerous anti-heretical crusades that took place during the Medieval Era. An anti-Reformist coalition of crusaders began to form - Austria was the leader, but it didn't have a large amount of influence due to, as was already said, post-civil war weakness and war exhaustion. The Papacy, Spain, numerous Italian and North German states, like Milan, Brandenburg or Pomerania, and finally Visegrad all began to mobilize, and this "batch" of great powers all around France appeared quite terrifying from first sight. However, the Munich League did not back down and continued rejecting Austrian ultimatums to abide to the Salzburg Decree and to restore the Wittelsbachs in the Bavarian throne. Tensions were rising, both the hardened Anti-Reformists in Catholic states and radical preachers in Reformist nations were calling for war, and the kings and generals across Europe were willing to use military force to settle their debts, achieve revenge or spread their religion...

They asked for war, and war is what they got. On June of 1615, war broke out between Maximilian IV's Austria, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, and Reformist Bavaria. The latter called the Munich League to arms, pulling most of South and Central Germany to the conflict. France still demanded for Austria to back down, but this was no use, because the crusaders of Spain and the Italian states began marching north, across the Alps and the Pyrhennes, bringing this Republican giant to war and pretty much forcing it to align with the Munich League. Charles IV of the Union of Visegrad declared his nation's entrance into the anti-Reformist Crusade to secure his nation's western borders and protect them from potentially falling to Reformism. The sudden declaration of war between Reformists and Catholics not only drew numerous nearby states to war, but also gave additional motivation to the "heretics" in Austria itself. The Reformist strongholds in Tyrol and Carinthia, loyal to Prince Charles of Austria, prepared for a new campaign for Vienna.

The alliances and leagues have been drawn. The great war has begun, and not many will live to see it's end.

The first shots of the war were fired near Salzburg. Imperial forces began to advance to the East, opposed by lightly armed Bavarian revolutionary militia. Despite a few unsuccessful pushes towards Munich, the Austrians held the upper hand, now also reinforced by the massive Visegradian armies. French and Spanish border militia were clashing and skirmishing in the Pyrhennes, and both nations were trying to take the border passes in preparation to invade the other.

Despite the slow beginning of what can already be called "The Last Crusade", the future looked grim for the Reformists. A number of small Munich League members had already been overrun, and France was the only strong nation in an alliance opposing three great powers of Europe, with many more potential enemies like Sweden and England, and few allies. If nothing is done, then the Reformation might be doomed to be destroyed.

But wait! One nation to the East has been overlooked!

Kievan retinue cavalry in preparation for a Western campaign
​

The Kingdom of Lithuania, still seen by Westerners as a some sort of backwater, "somewhere in Sarmatia", was not oblivious to the decades of religious tension and strife in Central Europe - in fact, it saw the potential and now real war among the Westerners as a possibility. It was no secret that tensions between Visegrad and Lithuania were high, to the point that the two enormous nations could be considered rivals. Most recently, the Triple Crown outright invaded Lithuania and chopped off a part of it's territory during the internal crisis in the 1570s, a treacherous move that the Lithuanians were still heavily bitter about. Albertas Jogaila I rode on these feelings as his fuel and support base, and now that the Czechs, Poles and Hungarians were embroiled in a war in the West, this was the perfect time to strike! Especially since the Catholics might win at any second and the chance might vanish forever...

Declaring the Peace of Lutsk to be null and void and putting forward his claim on Visegradian Volhynia and Podolia as the cause of war, Albertas Jogaila I, King of Lithuania, sent an envoy to Visegrad Castle, declaring a state of war to be between the two countries. The next week, the first blood was shed as a Lithuanian unit on the border in Podlasie moved over the border and skirmished with the Polish garrison in Plock.

With the ferocity of a mother bear protecting his children, Albertas was ready to descend on his western neighbour...

 

[Augenis]

Part 31: Revenge (1617-1620)
​

The first group that immediately went into opposition against the sudden declaration of war against Visegrad was the Catholic contingent in Lithuania, headed by the Archbishop of Vilnius. Ever since the Concordate of Brest, the Catholic faith had been slowly seeping into the cracks of Lithuania's Orthodox makeup, their strongest holdouts were in East Prussia, Courland and Podlasie, and this minority was staunchly against betraying their brethren and stabbing in the back of the Crusaders against the Reformists. The Archbishop appealed to the court, demanding these traitorous actions to be cancelled, and even the Pope himself, knowing which was the wind is blowing, sent a note to the King. Albertas Jogaila I was not impressed. The Chronicles of Lithuania describe the event - after the priest finished a speech in front of him, the King just raised his hand and told him to go away, and the next day, he was ordered to leave the Kingdom, the same later happened to numerous other Catholic bishops and priests across the nation. The beginning of Lithuanian involvement in the Catholic-Reformist war also marked the official end of the Orthodox and Catholic cooperation detailed in the Concordate of Brest. The soil was being prepared for a complete end of the Concordate as well...

Of course, this shouldn't be interpreted in the light of negativity against one religion or the other. The truth was that Albertas Jogaila I didn't really care about the Catholic or Reformist struggles in the West, he didn't attack to save one group of nations or defeat the other, even if it seemed like that from the outside. What he was looking for was his own selfish desire for power and glory, revenge against Visegrad, and the expansion of the Lithuanian kingdom - the Crusade was merely a great opportunity for him to do so. Nevertheless, Lithuania's entrance into the great war heavily shook the balance of power and tipped the scales in the favor of the Reformists. Visegrad, albeit they weren't at all concerned with the possibility of a defeat in Lithuanian hands, still had to pull out most of the troops from Germany and send them East, led by one of Charles IV's finest generals, Stephen Bathory. France could now take a breath of relief - for now, Spain was the only serious opponent they had to be concerned with.

The main Lithuanian army, led by Albertas Jogaila I himself, gathered near Zhitomir, and this is where both the retinues and the levied noble cavalry cathered for a great campaign to the heart of Visegrad. Voivodeship forces from Ruthenia Propria, Lithuania Propria, Black Rus', Smolensk, Vitebsk and others composed the core of the army, though estimates on the size of the force differ, and could be placed anywhere from 50 to 70 thousand. Albertas Jogaila I's plan was to lunge into Podolia and Galicia, take Krakow, and defeat the Visegradian forces on the battlefield to force them to make concessions that he wanted.

Simple, yet difficult.

How many times has Lithuania defeated Visegrad in battle? Now you know why there was reason to be worried.

Outside of the main Lithuanian force, there were numerous reserve units left behind - Russia, for example, was not even fully mobilized yet - in the case of an emergency. The Lithuanian-dominated East Prussian cities raised their own armies, too, and the skirmishes along the Vistula, around Elbing and Danzig, made up a forgotten front in the war.

On the fall of 1617, the main Lithuanian army crossed the border and marched into Podolia, and the sheer size and power of the forces allowed it to capture enemy castles one by one within days, if not hours. Kamianets-Podilsky, Tarnopol, and finally Lvov fell one after another - all of these were ancient castles, designed for Medieval era sieges, and crumbled easily against the might of modern cannon fire. The Lithuanians brought over 400 cannons - a sizable amount for such an army. However, the incoming winter slowed the already snail-paced Lithuanian crawl, and the first snow in November turned the front lines static for the time being. This was a saving grace for the Union of Visegrad, and a 40 000 men large force organized in Budapest. Stephen Bathory, the Voivode of Transylvania and one of the Triple Crown's most excellent military commanders, was leading the army.

1618 marked a dramatic expansion of the scope of the war, with the entrance of England into the conflict. This nigh-fanatical Catholic nation was swayed into arms by the calls for Crusade, as well as their own revanchism against France. This threw the North Sea basin into chaos - the Netherlands, wary of English expansion, decided to align with France and thus join the Munich League, The confederations of Catholic free cities in North Germany jumped in on this opportunity to kick their new trade rival down a notch, too, declaring war against the Free State. The war took to the wide seas...

Lithuania continued advancing forward, meanwhile. During the spring and summer of 1618, they captured Lublin and Przemysl, and by the end of June were merely 50 miles away from from Krakow, the capital of Poland, the Third Crown. Charles IV von Luxemburg wrote a letter to Bathory, declaring that "saving Krakow is the primary objective of this conflict. If it falls, so will we". He was right, in a way - if Krakow were to be captured, the rest of Poland would be cut off from the rest of the Union and thus an easy target for the Lithuanians to capture. Losing Poland would be a strategic catastrophe, and while the rest of the country would be safe from a direct assault thanks to the Carpathians and the Sudetes, Visegrad wouldn't be able to recapture the north, either. And thus, Bathory's army marched out of Budapest to the north.

On the beginning of July, the Lithuanian army reached the city of Krakow, and after heavily looting and burning the surroundings, it began a siege of the Wavel Castle. Fortunately for the defenders and for the whole Union, Krakow was not as easy of a nut to crack as the rest of Podolia and Galicia. For one, the castle had been heavily renovated during the 16th century, with additional defensive towers and a standing garrison, even with cannons of it's own. A large credit to this expansion that saved Visegrad goes to the Polish military commander Jan Zamojko, who pushed the expansion of the Wavel through the Sejm in the 1570s. Of course, in his grave he would never know that his efforts would end up applied in war...

Days became weeks, weeks became months, and in late August, news arrived to the camp of the ambitious Lithuanian king that the army of Stephen Bathory was approaching - scouts informed the high command that his 40 thousand men large army has crossed the Carpathians and is heading this way to relieve the defenders of Krakow. This put a stick into Albertas Jogaila I's plans, but he nevertheless accepted the challenge with dignity. The outskirts of Krakow were not an advantageous place for a battle, so he ordered his forces to call the siege off and march south. After a few days of reorganization, the march began, and the two armies met the week after at the fields of Nowy Targ.

The Battle of Nowy Targ begun.

Stephen Bathory's armies were outnumbered, but he was nevertheless confident in his troops - not just confident in their capabilities, but in the chance of victory in general. After all, has Visegrad ever lost to those Lithuanians, the hardly civilized Slavs of the East? However, an unbiased spectator would see that the scales were much more balanced than what he thought. Lithuanian equipment or army composition was in no way inferior to that of the Westerners, and both armies were led by capable generals. Of course, there were differences in the types of units present, especially cavalry. The Lithuanian cavalry corps was larger, but lightly armed and not as heavy as Visegrad's famous Winged Hussars, of which there were only two regiments. While Visegrad had lighter cavalry as well, they were planning to rely on these winged shock troops to repeat the victory during the Lithuanian internal crisis in the 1560s.

The battle began with a slow moving infantry skirmish. The sparse sound of muskets echoed across the battlefield for the entire fight. The Lithuanian cannon regiments roared into action, too, and while cannon shots were far from accurate, a direct hit into an enemy line could take out dozens of soldiers at once. Unlike, say, at the Battle of Czestochowa in the Polish Succession War, it was Lithuanians who held the higher ground this time, most of their forces were situated on a long and wide hill, while Bathory's troops were down below.

It didn't take long for both sides to start running low on at-hand ammunition, which was when Bathory began moving his infantry to the sides to release the charge of his country's famed Hussars. The terror of seeing a few thousand heavy armored soldiers on horses, each one with a pair of wings and a massive lance, should never be underestimated. But this was no longer the 1570s! Albertas Jogaila I was aware of this shock cavalry corps, and he had a plan to counter them, and he ordered a command to his infantry - put down the stakes and fall back! Hundreds of sharpened wooden stakes were drilled into the ground and aimed at the Visegradian ranks, and caltrops, made of either steel or wood, were thrown into the field before them. When the Winged Hussars arrived, they soon were forced to slow down and stop, or else they risked injuring the hoofs of their horses or even outright impalement on the stakes, and this loss of momentum was exactly what the young King hoped for - the Lithuanian light cavalry was ordered to counter-charge at the slowed Hussars.

The heavy armored Hussars didn't find enough time to accelerate back to full speed, and while the Lithuanian light cavalry didn't do much damage to their ranks, it warranted enough disarray and chaos that the swarm eventually forced them to retreat. The Winged Hussars were pushed back, and with them, the Visegradian army retreated, even if it was still strong enough to fight.

The Battle of Nowy Targ was inconclusive. Both sides received heavy casualties and couldn't fully destroy the other, and while the Lithuanians staved Bathory's forces away, the army of Visegrad could regroup to fight another day. Not to mention that the siege of Krakow was now broken, and Albertas Jogaila I's hope of a decisive victory to end the war failed.

But Lithuania was still at a higher advantage, for now.

In 1619, two very important news arrived to Albertas Jogaila I's camp.

First of all, the Ottoman Empire finished their long, but successful, campaign in Persia, and yet another great conquest by the Turkish behemoth was finished. The Ottomans could now turn back to Europe, where the greatest chance in a lifetime of pushing into Europe has presented itself right before their eyes. The great war may expand even further...

Not only it may, but it did, just in the opposite direction. Two new countries joined the Reformist-Catholic War in 1619 and 1620 - Sweden and Denmark. The wary situation in Visegrad, as well as France's initial gains in Northern Italy, led to Sweden officially joining the Crusade against the Reformists, declaring war on both the Munich League and on Lithuania in March of 1619. This immediately led to a negative reaction by Denmark, distrusting of Sweden's expansion in the Baltic and still bitter about the destruction of the Kalmar Union, and it used the opportunity to attack Sweden itself in October. Two more nations joined, at the time too, albeit unwillingly:

After years of Swedish manipulation in the Order and pulling the strings behind various city mayors and high officers in the Order, Livonia was pretty much forced to renounce all Lithuanian influence within their nation and declare war on the Kingdom, on Sweden's side, in January of 1620. Meanwhile, England, incapable of break Dutch dominance in the North Sea despite their best efforts, turned on a boogeyman - Scotland, a Reformist nation that harbored circles of English Flammantians and Reformists ever since the beginning of mass repressions against the "heretics" in England. After a series of diplomatic conflicts, the two nations officially entered a state of war in June of 1620.

The war now engulfed almost all of Europe, and it's end may not come any time soon...

---

Do the Nobility conserve their rank privilege and Land and Title?

Yes, provided they were not aligned with the English in the independence wars.

 

[Augenis]

Part 32: Northern Lights (1620-1622)
​

Sweden and Livonia's entrance into the conflict messed up Albertas Jogaila I's war plan. A second front had been opened, and one only a hundred miles away from Vilnius itself. Sure, the army of the Livonian Confederation was weak compared to he monstrous masses that Lithuania could project, but keep in mind - Lithuania had to fight both Sweden and Visegrad at the same time, and Livonia would be a great landing spot for Swedish troops aiming for Lithuania Propria. Both the King in Poland and the governors in Lithuania itself were quick to react. The campaign plans to cross the Carpathians and attack Budapest were abandoned, and the Lithuanian army in Poland went on the defensive and a sieging campaign across the region to not overstretch. The Russian voivodeship forces and nobility volunteers in Lithuania were mobilized, and command over the front was placed in the hands of Sergei Ostrogski (Sergejus Ostrogiškis), a Ruthenian general and one of Albertas Jogaila I's favorites. While not an any sort of genius or tactical mastermind, Ostrogski was nevertheless a capable general with a healthy amount of logical sense. In his opinion, the direct border between Sweden and Lithuania, that went through Karelia, was merely a secondary front - it was a narrow isthmus, full of forests and swamps, and only an insane idiot would think of sending an army through there. Livonia will have to be the primary objective of the northern campaign.

Some news from outside of Lithuania came up, too. The Volga Russians, hardy and determined as they are, successfully beat back an another attack by the Kazan Khanate, and even took the fight to them. The Kazan campaign took place from 1617 to 1622, and led to the final destruction of the Khanate. Most of it's southern and southeastern Tatar-populated territories along the river were annexed by the Volgaks directly, while the far northern lands - populated by local tribes like the Komi, Erzya and Moksha Mordvins, Mari and Chuvash - simply separated from the Khanate and began to live an independent life. Small feudal states began to crop up in the upper Volga and to the north, vying for the unification of their culture and sometimes even expanding beyond, which was worrying to the Voivode of Nizhny Novgorod, the most eastern region in Lithuania that now bordered these statelets directly. On the Catholic-Reformist War, news came from the West - French legions successfully pushed back Spanish forces from Savoy and Milan, occupying the two Italian principalities, albeit at a large human cost. Prince Charles of Austria, the Reformist claimant to the crown of the Archduchy, went back on the offensive, renewing the Austrian Civil War and fully entering the greater conflict on the side of the Munich League.

Lithuania, meanwhile, was now focused on Sweden. The Royal Lithuanian Navy left port for the first time in the war to lay down a sea blockade on Livonia and thus prevent them from receiving any Swedish reinforcements. A good strategy, but it was broken to pieces as soon as the Swedish moved their main fleet - a much bigger and more modern force - to the Baltic. In May of 1621, the Lithuanian and Swedish fleets clashed at the Irbe Strait Skirmish, a short engagement which nevertheless saw a decisive end to the blockade of Livonia. The Lithuanian fleet only had two galleons alongside the numerous small ships - the Princas Albertas and the Jūrų raitelis - both of which were sunk. The Swedes had six, and only one of them received any damage, that being to the mast. With the blockade defeated and the Lithuanian navy forced to stay in port for the rest of the war, the path was open for Swedish reinforcements in Livonia.

And they needed them more than ever.

The Livonian army - still for the most part organized under feudal ideas and not up to par to European standard - captured a few towns in Kurzeme, but was soon forced to retreat with the appearance of Sergei Ostrogski's 25 000 men army coming from the east. Crossing the Daugava at Polotsk, the army moved along the river with their primary target being Riga. Dynaburg, the southern fortress of the Livonian nation, was the first to fall, doing so after a siege during the fall of 1620. The first Swedish soldiers, a regiment of 3000 men, landed in Reval around that time as well - further reinforcements were prevented by a lengthy campaign in Norway and Denmark, however. Compared to most other armies across Europe at the time, the Swedish army was an oddity - due to the country's sparse population, it was unable to either field large armies en masse like Lithuania, nor could it spend lots of money on an efficient mercenary corps like the Netherlands. It's forces, however, relied on strict discipline, standing professional forces and keeping up to date with the most recent technological advancements - a module that was already being adopted by it's neighbours and even farther nations, to the point that one could say that Sweden sparked a "military revolution" of some sorts.

Swedish musket infantry​

While Ostrogski's forces were slowly advancing north during winter, short engagements and skirmishes echoed across Karelia. The Novgorod voivodeship infantry clashed with Swedish levied troops from Finland in the Karelian Isthmus. Neither side was able to gain an advantage due to the small sizes of the forces and ineffective tactics in such an environment, plus, the freezing weather killed far more soldiers on both sides than they could themselves. The Baltic Sea was almost completely frozen in that winter, so the Swedes could not bring any more men to relieve Livonia - they did, however, prepare for a possible invasion of Lithuania through Karelia.

On the Visegrad front, the main Lithuanian army finally captured Krakow, spending over six months on the siege and losing a sizable portion of their army. Albertas Jogaila I was growing impatient. The Bear was being held back by two Westerner countries, and that didn't resonate well with him - additional armies were demanded to be raised over the next year for a "final blow to the West". On the first months of 1621, an army sent by Pomerania crossed the Vistula and defeated the Lithuanian troops in East Prussia, but were unable to advance any more forward due to heavy attrition and stiff opposition. In Livonia, things were heading to a far different direction. Bolstered by additional volunteers from Courland and Polotsk, the northern Lithuanian army began a second offensive. Throughout the spring, Ostrogski's army captured Kreutzburg, Ascheraden and Kircholm and were now on the doorstep of Riga, the largest city in the whole Confederation.

Swedish forces were too late to arrive, and the Livonian feudal army was decisively defeated in the Battle of Segewold (Sigulda) on June of 1621, in a battle that supposedly only took about 40 minutes. The Lithuanian Chronicle describes that the orderly Lithuanian musketeer troops only had to fire a few volleys before the Livonians were weakened enough for the cavalry to pick them apart, though the accuracy of the statement is still up for grabs. With Segewold lost, Riga was surrounded, and the castle was besieged. After two months of siege and bombardment, the city surrendered, and the heart of Livonia fell to the hands of the Lithuanians. Sergei Ostrogski began negotiations with the government of the city on their status after the end of Livonia, offering the city - without informing the King - autonomy status like what was given to cities in East Prussia after the final Teutonic-Lithuanian War.

Of course, the war was still not own. The Lithuanian forces occupied most of Latgale during the summer of 1621, destroying old Livonian government structures in preparation of ushering in a new Lithuanian administration. Albertas Jogaila I approved on the plan of a complete annexation of Livonia - to him, this German-dominated state was like a sharp blade stabbing his country towards the heart. The heart being Vilnius. However, over 10 000 Swedish soldiers were now in Livonia, too, based in Reval and the region of Estland around it. The Battle of Voru in September between a Swedish regiment and a Lithuanian cavalry raider party saw the slowdown of the Lithuanian advance into Livonia, and the Pernau Campaign in the fall and winter of 1621, where Ostrogski's army tried to break into Estland and capture Reval, proved to be a victory for the Catholics. The Lithuanians were pushed back from Reval, and while they held onto Pernau and eventually took Dorpat and Narva, the Livonia campaign was no longer a victorious ride over a weaker country.

The Swedes established a defensive perimeter in the Reval region, holding onto this heart of Estland as hard as possible. Food supplies and the freezing sea wouldn't let them stay here forever, but Albertas Jogaila I was impatient. And he had a reason to be impatient. Because if Livonia holds on despite being overrun and becomes a thorn in his war effort, then how will he be able to achieve his "victorious march to the West" that he always wanted?

Something had to be done about this situation...