If it were necessary to give a succinct description of Svidrigailo, one of the sons of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd, in one word, then the best word it would be - indomitable. His date of birth is unknown - historians are at a loss, attributing it to approximately 1355, then 1370. All of his political career full of conspiracies, intrigues, minor skirmishes and real wars. For almost half a century, Svidrigailo was one of the most prominent figures in the turbulent history of the Lithuanian-Russian state. Fate then elevated him high, allowing him to reign in different years life in large cities at that time - Vitebsk, Bryansk, Novgorod-Seversky; then suddenly she snatched from him everything she had acquired through long labor.

Svidrigailo had to leave his native Lithuania for a long time. For some time he served the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I and received from him Vladimir, Yuryev and other cities as an inheritance (i.e., ownership). But Svidrigailo’s restless nature forced him to flee from this honorable service back to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Svidrigailo's main political opponent, the powerful Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, captured him and imprisoned him, from which Svidrigailo emerged only nine years later. In the most desperate, hopeless situations, Svidrigailo found the strength to continue the fight against his enemies and not lose hope of victory.

In 1430, a strange story happened in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Vytautas, no longer young, decided to accept the royal crown from the German emperor. Guests from Muscovite Rus', the Tatars, the Livonian Order, etc. were invited to the coronation celebrations. But the Poles, who did not want the rise of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its transformation into a kingdom, prevented the coronation by intercepting the crown and cutting it into pieces. Vitovt died soon after.

Grand Duke Lithuanian Svidrigailo.

Rise of Svidrigailo

It was necessary to elect his successor. Prince Svidrigailo, a well-known political figure by that time, was known as a cruel and hot-tempered man, but at the same time he had a generosity and breadth of character. He was considered the patron of the Orthodox (mostly Russian) population of the Grand Duchy and an irreconcilable opponent of the Polish-Lithuanian union concluded under Vytautas (according to the terms of the union, the Orthodox nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had much fewer political rights compared to the Catholic nobility). Lithuanians and Russians, equally irritated by the autocracy of the Poles, unanimously elected Svidrigailo as Grand Duke.

Svidrigailo

Svidrigailo

Svidrigailo, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Prince of Novgorod-Seversk, Bryansk, Podolsk, Grand Duke of Russia, Grand Duke of Volyn

Švitrigaila (lit.) Svidrigailo Olgerdovich Orthodox name: Lion Catholic name: Boleslav Years of life: around 1355 - 1452 Years of reign: Novgorod-Seversky: 1398 - 1430 Bryansk: 1401 - 1430 Lithuania: 1430 - 1432 Podolia: 1430-1434 Grand Duchy of Russia: 1432 - 1434 Volyn: 1442 - 1452 Father: Mother: Ulyana Alexandrovna Tverskaya Wives: Anna Ivanovna Tverskaya Olga Borisovna Tverskaya Sofya Yurievna Smolenskaya

Svidrigailo was the youngest of the sons. He was baptized according to the Orthodox rite under the name Leo. In 1386, together with other brothers, Svidrigailo converted to Catholicism, but until the end of his life he remained devoted to the Russian part of Lithuania and its interests. Possessing a tough and cruel disposition, Svidrigailo often acted straightforwardly and did not know how to use circumstances to achieve his goals.

Due to his age, Svidrigailo, it seems, did not receive any inheritance under his father’s will. In 1393, he settled down in Vitebsk, but drove him out of there. Svidrigailo fled to the Teutons and fought with the Teutons for several years, even resorting to the help of the pope. After reconciliation with Svidrigailo, he changed his inheritances one after another: now we see him in Novgorod-Seversky, now in Podolia, now in Bryansk. When the war with Russia began in 1408, Svidrigailo went over to the latter’s side and surrendered all the Seversk cities to him. The Moscow prince rewarded Svidrigailo with unprecedented generosity: he received Vladimir-on-Klyazma, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yuryev-Polskoy, Volok Lamsky, Rzhev and half of Kolomna. But he was in no hurry to fight for Svidrigailo’s interests. When Edigei ravaged Svidrigailov’s new possessions, he fled back to Lithuania, plundering Serpukhov along the way. In Lithuania, Svidrigailo began secret relations with the Order, and with his consent, he imprisoned his restless brother in chains in the Kremenets Castle. Nine years later, Daniil Ostrozhsky freed Svidrigailo. He fled to Hungary and, through the mediation of the emperor, received Novgorod-Seversky and Bryansk from him, where he lived quietly until 1430.

In 1430 the Grand Duke died. The Polish party in the Lithuanian Sejm would like to see the Grand Duke, but the Russian party, which supported Svidrigailo, won. He declared the independence of Lithuania from Poland. The Poles arrested the Lithuanian governor of Podolia, Dovgird, on the basis that Podolia was given “to the belly,” that is, given to him personally for life, but was not included in the Grand Duchy. In response, Svidrigailo arrested the man who did not have time to leave Lithuania with his retinue, forced him to recognize the legitimacy of his election and achieved the convening of the Polish-Lithuanian Sejm to decide the fate of Podolia. However, the Polish elders in Podolia refused to comply with this decision. A strife began, in which Svidrigailo, instead of relying on the Russian-Lithuanian forces, turned to the emperor and the German knights for help. The Teutons began to ravage the northern borders of Poland, and Polish troops invaded Lithuania, but Svidrigailo avoided a decisive battle.

In 1432, the parties signed a truce, but then the Prince of Novgorod-Seversk rebelled against Svidrigailo. He led his army to Vilna, defeated Svidrigailo and forced him to flee to Polotsk. occupied all Lithuanian lands and was proclaimed Grand Duke of Lithuania, while Svidrigailo retained the Russian principalities: Polotsk, Vitebsk, Podolia, Volyn, Smolensk, Kiev and Seversk lands. The local nobility proclaimed him the Grand Duke of Russia. However, Svidrigailo, remaining a Catholic, continued to look for friends in the West, which alienated many Russian supporters. As a result, in 1435 (after his death) he was defeated near Wilkomir and fled to Krakow, where he began negotiations on the transfer of his lands to the rule of the Polish crown. This proposal was rejected.

Svidrigailo wandered for several years in Wallachia and Hungary (there were stories that he became so poor that he was forced to take a job as a shepherd for a rich Wallach). When he was killed by conspirators in 1440, Svidrigailo was again called to the Lithuanian table, but he was already so old that he was unable to do anything to seize power. In 1442, the Poles gave the old man Podolia and Volyn. Svidrigailo began to write himself as the Prince of Volyn and recognized himself as a vassal of the Polish crown. In 1452, Svidrigailo died in Lutsk, transferring his possessions to the Lithuanians, which further intensified the discord between them and the Poles.

Svidrigail’s Russian connections are indeed quite significant. After all, even before - in the fight against Vytautas and Jagiel - he relied on Ukrainian and Belarusian forces. In Podolia and Volyn, in Severshchina, from where he went to Moscow with a circle of local princes and boyars of the Seversk land, he always had supporters. And the leader of Polish politics, Zbigniew Olesnitsky, argued that Svidrigailo achieved a great reign, mainly by winning over to his side all the schismatics, princes and boyars, promising them to rule “behind their rule” and “to bring their faith” - which, however, would be incorrect to understand as a point religious policy: we're talking about about the rise of Orthodox elements, their influence and significance.

Boleslav-Svidrigailo, a Lithuanian and Catholic, acts as the leader of the Russian and Orthodox social forces of the Lithuanian-Russian state. Which ones?

“If you look closely at the lists of people who surrounded this prince and died in battles in his troops, then among them we find the flower of the then princedom and boyars,” notes Dovnar-Zapolsky, adding that “Svidrigaila supports the numerous Russian boyars - not as a well-known nationality, but as a class of the population" (96).

And Grushevsky formulates his conclusion as follows:

“Vin was a riverman not so much for the Russian people as for the Russian aristocracy, princes and possible gentlemen. That is why the struggle of the Russian elementals with the help of Svidrigail was fought by the Ukrainian and Belarusian princes and gentlemen. people's war... she didn’t bula nicoli” (97).

Moreover, it did not affect broad sections of the Ukrainian and Belarusian public, not to mention the masses. Hence the “weak, anemic” nature of this entire struggle.

The aristocratic character of Svidrigail's party is further emphasized by the presence of Lithuanian princes and lords in its ranks: the Ligvenievich brothers, Koribut, the Golshansky princes, Monivid and Ivan Monividovich, Gedigold, etc.; all of these are Catholic Litvinians, supporters of Svidrigail. Even among the Polish magnates one can note sympathy for Svidrigail as opposed to Sigismund Keistutovich.

Nevertheless, one cannot completely deny the kind of national character of the movement. The fact is that Gorodelsky privileged the question of the position of the lordship in the state with the religion, and thereby with the nationality of the representatives of the gentry-boyar class. Only for “fideis catholicae cultores” were the positions of governor and castellan available, and only for them was access to the Gospodar Rada open.

The main contingent of the Rada consisted of governors - the main governors. Thus, a situation was created that the Lithuanian lords were supposed to be representatives of the grand ducal power in the annexed lands.

This was supposed to give the grand ducal power and its representatives the character of a foreign, third-party power in the annex lands, and the desire of these lands to have their own prince, based on local forces and surrounded by them, naturally affected both the previous fate of Svidrigail and his position after the death of Vytautas, especially after the break with Sigismund.

On the other hand, the memory of Sigismund Keistutovich is surrounded in the Western Russian chronicle tradition, reflected in the 16th century compilation, the so-called Bykhovets list, with extreme hatred, again from aristocratic circles, and above all Russians. He's

“he inflicted strong abuses on his subjects, and when he was giving birth to the nobility, he punished them innocently and inflicted punishments on them, such as could be imagined, over all the princes and hired and gave birth to the nobility of all lands - Lithuanian, Russian and Zhomoit.”

Attributing to Sigismund Keistutovich a policy almost in the spirit of Ivan the Terrible, the chronicler compares him with Antiochus, Herod and his ancestor Troyden, calling him a “curser.” His plans seemed to go so far that he thought “to destroy the entire noble family and spill their blood, and offer the cotton family, their blood.” Disgrace befell Yuri Ligvenovich and Olelko Vladimirovich and their sons (Semyon and Mikhail).

Finally, the chronicler attributes to Sigismund such a hellish intent: to convene a general diet of princes and gentlemen and all the gentry in order to slaughter them all. Conscription lists had already been sent out, but the governors of Vilna and Troki, Dovgird and Lelyusha, having learned what the matter was, called Prince Czartoryski to their side and the three of them decided to “put Prince Sigismund to death”, and hand over Vilna and Troki to Svidrigail

(98) . The perpetrators of the conspiracy are Prince Alexander Czartoryski, an appanage prince from Volyn from the land of Lutsk, “ritus et generis ruthenici”, according to Dlugosh, and Skobeiko, a Kiyan. Sigismund was killed on Palm Week 1440. This was clearly the work of Svidrigail’s party among the Lithuanian lords and the Russian prince. Czartoryski's brothers are leaving for him (Prince Alexander himself went to Moscow and was governor in Pskov).

All these data depict the position of Svidrigail as the leader of the Russian princes and gentlemen, and he also had supporters among the Lithuanian gentlemen, apparently those who, like Dovgird, the former governor of Podolia, formed a party opposed to the incorporation of the Lithuanian-Russian lands into the Polish kingdom.

Svidrigailo or Swadrigello Olgerdovich - Grand Duke of Lithuania, youngest son of Olgerd Gediminovich and Juliania Alexandrovna, Princess of Tver. Born in 1355 and baptized according to the Orthodox rite, with the name Leo. In 1386, together with his brother Jagiel, he converted to Catholicism in Krakow, receiving the name Boleslav, but until the end of his life he remained devoted to the Russian people and its interests; Moreover, he was married to the daughter of the Tver prince Boris. As a result of this, S. is portrayed by old Polish writers in the darkest colors. There is no doubt that he was distinguished by a tough and cruel disposition and did not know how to take advantage of circumstances. Initially, S.'s destiny was Polotsk. In 1392, he captured Vitebsk, but was soon forced out of there by Vytautas, who had ascended to the Grand Ducal Lithuanian throne, fled to Prussia, fought with Vytautas for several years, using the help of the order's troops and even resorting to the mediation of the pope, until finally he received Podolia as an inheritance , and then Seversk land. In 1408, when the war began between the leaders. book Moscow Vasily Dimitrievich and Vitovt, S. took the side of the first, surrendered the Seversky cities to him and he himself, with several appanage princes and many boyars, went to Moscow. The Grand Duke provided him with several cities and entrusted him with command over the army sent against the Lithuanians. S. did not win a single big victory, and when Edigei appeared, he fled to Lithuania, devastating the dear Serpukhov. In Lithuania, he was captured and imprisoned in Kremenets prison, where he was kept for 9 years. Released from here by Daniil Fedorovich Ostrozhsky, S. fled to Hungary to Emperor Sigismund and, thanks to his mediation before Jagiel, received Novgorod-Seversky and Bryansk as an inheritance, where he remained quietly until 1430. This year Vitovt died; The Polish party nominated Sigismund Keistutovich as its candidate for the grand ducal throne, but the Russian party prevailed, and S. sat down as a grand duke, declaring himself completely independent of the Polish crown. The Poles captured several Podolsk cities, and despite S.'s resistance, they retained some of them, for example. Kamenets. The following year, war broke out between Lithuania and Poland. Instead of rallying Russian and Lithuanian forces around him, S. began to seek help from the emperors. Sigismund, among the knights of the Teutonic and Livonian orders, but could not prevent the Poles from rampaging in the Lithuanian-Russian possessions. When meeting with the king near Lutsk, S. refused to fight, while the governor Yursha, whom he left in Lutsk, fought off all the attacks of the Poles. Despite the successful invasions of the knights of the Teutonic Order into the northern possessions of Poland, S. concluded a truce, according to which all his former possessions remained with him and independence from the Polish king was declared. In 1432, the appanage prince of Starodubo-Seversky Sigismund Keistutovich raised an uprising against S., forced him to flee to Vitebsk and occupied the entire Lithuanian part of the grand duchy. Russian cities in Belarus and Severshchina remained on S.’s side, ready to fight; but in his pursuit of foreign help, S. lost many outstanding Russian allies and on the banks of the river. The saint, near Vilkomir, was completely defeated (1435). Although part of Podolia and Volhynia, as well as Kyiv, remained behind him, he fled (1437) to Krakow and from there proposed to become, with all his lands, a fief of the Polish crown. This proposal was rejected; S. left Rus', wandering for several years in Wallachia and Hungary (exaggerated stories about his then foodiness gave rise to a false rumor, picked up by some historians, that he had been a shepherd for several years for a rich Wallach). When in 1440 Sigismund Keistutovich fell at the hands of the conspirators, S. was again called to the Grand Duke's table, but, not being able, due to old age, to do anything energetic, he remained until his death in the Podolsk and Volyn lands, which were behind him in 1442 was approved by the Poles. He died in 1452, in Lutsk, having managed to transfer his possessions to the Lithuanians, which intensified the discord between them and the Poles.

Wed. Aug. Kotzebue, “S., Grand Duke of Lithuania” (translated from German, St. Petersburg, 1835); Bryantsev, “History of the Lithuanian State” (Vilno, 1889).

Svidrigailo or Shvidrigailo was born around 1370. Being baptized Orthodox Church Under the name Leo, he, most likely, at the request of his brother Jagiello, in 1386 went with him to Krakow, where he was baptized into the Catholic faith under the name Boleslav, but, despite this, he remained faithful to Orthodoxy all his life.

In the struggle for the Grand Duke's throne, between Jagiello and Vytautas, Svidrigailo was on the side of his brother Jagiello, in which they lost, and after the victory, Vitovt in 1393 took away the city of Vitebsk from him, which was given to him by Jagiello to reign.

Svidrigailo did not accept this state of affairs and tried, with the help of the Livonian Order, to recapture Vitebsk for himself in 1396. Vitebsk was taken, but not for long, Vitovt recaptured the city, and Svidrigailo himself was captured and sent to his brother, the Polish king Jogaila. By 1399, Svidrigailo had made peace with Vytautas and participated with him in the campaign against Vorskla.

After the Battle of Vorskla in 1400, Svidrigailo takes a vassal oath to Vytautas and receives Podolia and Zhidachiv land into his possessions, which could not keep him from another attempt to conquer the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1402, he goes to the Teutonic Order and returns, along with the Crusader troops, commanded by Conrad von Jungingen. They besieged Vilna, but were unable to take the city, and having robbed the nearby lands, the Teutons went home. For this campaign, Svidrigailo received Bislak Castle from Konrad von Jungingen. One castle did not mean anything to the ambitious Svidrigailo, who constantly wanted to take the place of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and in 1402 he returned to his homeland and again made peace with his brother Vitovt, this time he received the Chernigov-Seversk land into his possession.

Svidrigailo owned the Chernigov-Seversk land until 1408, until he decided to go to the Moscow principality, and with the help of Moscow Prince Vasily Dmitrievich, he again tried to win power in Lithuania. The Moscow prince listened to Svidrigailo and marched with his troops to the border with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but when he reached the Ugra River, he stopped, since Vitovt stood with his army on the other bank. Both sides did not dare to start a battle, and as a result, on September 14, 1408, Vitovt and Vasily Dmitrievich concluded an eternal peace. Svidrigailo, seeing that again nothing worked out for him, and that he did not need the lands offered to him by the Prince of Moscow for possession, returned again to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to once again measure himself against Vytautas. However, Vitovt did not forgive Svidrigailo and ordered his arrest and imprisonment in the Kamenets Fortress, where he would remain until his escape in March 1418. After escaping, Svidrigailo fled to Hungary, where he would not stay long, and would return to his homeland in 1419, after another reconciliation with Vytautas. Having again received lands with the cities of Bryansk, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Svidrigailo decided to pacify himself and did not organize any more conspiracies against Vytautas and took part in his military campaigns.

On October 27, 1430, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas dies, and Svidrigailo has a chance to become a Grand Duke, which he took. After so many years and so many attempts, he, enjoying the support of the majority of Orthodox princes, despite the fact that according to the Gorodel Union, Jogaila was to become the Grand Duke of Lithuania, he was chosen Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Svidrigailo’s actions, naturally, caused great discontent among the Catholic part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Jagiello. The Polish crown began to demand the Podolian lands and Volyn, and also to recognize the supreme power of King Jagiello. The war was not long in coming, and the pretext was the slap in the face that Svidrigailo dealt to the Polish ambassador when he once again came with demands. So, at the end of June 1431, the Lutsk War began, after the name of the castle in Podolia.

The Polish army quickly approached Lutsk and defeated the Lithuanian troops, but the Poles failed to take the city. Lutsk was defended by the Volyn boyar Yursha, and the Poles had no choice but to take the city into a long siege. The war continued until September 1431, when both sides, realizing that this war was dangerous for them, concluded the Czartory Truce, according to which Svidrigailo actually admitted defeat.

Unable to find an opportunity to win over Svidrigailo, Jagiello and the Polish magnates decided to get rid of the unwanted prince, who sought to completely escape the influence of Poland and catholic church, using a revolution.

For this purpose, they sent the Castellan Lavrentiy Zaremba to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who established contacts with the conspirators and the Polish crown. Poland chose Vitovt's brother Sigismund Keistutovich as its protege. The coup was organized in Oshmyany on Svidrigailo’s way to a meeting with King Jagiello in Brest. On the night of August 31 to September 1, 1432, Svidregailo was attacked, but he managed to escape to Polotsk. Immediately after this attack, the conspirators declared Sigismund Kestuvich Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Having fled to Polotsk, Svidrigailo retained the support of the Orthodox population of Lithuania, and a fire broke out in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. civil war. Military actions did not bring him success; in 1435 the Battle of Vilkomir took place, in which Svidrigailo lost, and he was also defeated in clashes in 1437 and 1440.

After the murder of Sigismund Keistutovich, the Grand Duke's throne was occupied by Jagiello's youngest son Casimir. He had no choice but to resign himself and take Volyn into his possession.

Despite all his attempts to come to power with the help of weapons and enemies of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, despite his cruel and hot-tempered character, the rebellious and ambitious Prince Svidrigailo dies in Lutsk in 1452.