mail: Bill Thayer	Help	Up	Home
previous: Chapter 7 This webpage reproduces a chapter of The Story of Lithuania By Thomas G. Chase printed by Stratford House, Inc. New York, 1946 The text is in the public domain. This page has been carefully proofread and I believe it to be free of errors. If you find a mistake though, please let me know! next: Chapter 9

You can follow much of the geography by opening Ian Macky's large map of modern Lithuania
in a separate window.

 p62  Chapter VIII
Grand Duke Casimir

(The numbers link directly to the sections.)

1. Casimir's Election

Proceeding on the assumption that the Grand Duchy had become a mere province of Poland after Zigmantas' death, the Polish oligarchs appointed Jogaila's⁠1 youngest son, Casimir, as the new governor of Lithuania and even deputed a number of Polish nobles to act as the youthful prince's advisers. The Lithuanian gentry, however, simply refused to permit this undue infiltration of a foreign element into their government circles and showed themselves unwilling to be bound by Zigmantas' repeated promises to the Poles. Some favored the accession of Michael, Zigmantas' son, while others advocated the candidacy of Svitrigaila; ultimately, almost all accepted the choice made by the more influential magnates. The latter assembled at Alseniai, elected the thirteen-year‑old Casimir (1440) as the sovereign Grand Duke of the Lithuanian state, constituted a regency to be directed by John Gostautas, and then held the traditional installation ceremonies at the Cathedral of Vilnius. In this manner the Lithuanian leaders bruskly rejected the violent objections of the Polish ambassadors and compelled them to depart from Lithuania, their mission unfulfilled and the Lithuanian-Polish alliance temporarily suspended. Nevertheless, some time elapsed before Casimir's government could be firmly  p63 established, for it was necessary to win the friendship of Svitrigaila, subdue Michael and pacify the Samogitians.

Svitrigaila emerged from his enforced retirement some three months after Zigmantas' assassination. He came to terms with the Polish nobles in a small town on the Polish-Moldavian frontier on June 6, 1440, thereby ending ten years of bitter enmity. On this occasion, he pledged to become Ladislas' obedient subject; as a reward for submission, he was granted certain Polish territories in the vicinity of Lwow. In the meanwhile, his supporters in Lithuania had even attempted to hold the fortress of Trakai in his behalf. Since he made no serious efforts to restore himself to the Lithuanian throne, his followers were easily enough induced to forsake their allegiance to him. But early in 1442, at the request of the Ruthenian upper classes, Svitrigaila occupied Luck and assumed the rule of Volhynia. Declining to recognize Casimir, and regarding himself as the only legitimate successor of Vytautas, he continued to use his customary title, "By the grace of God, the Grand Duke of Lithuania." Finally, on June 1, 1445, the aged Svitrigaila as the master of the Volhynian province abjured his antagonistic policies toward Casimir and officially acknowledged the latter's supremacy and authority in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

While these events were taking place, Prince Michael's conspiracy to overthrow Casimir failed. He soon lost his earlier supporters, such of his father's favorites as Bishop Matthew of Vilnius, Monvydas, Astikas, and Peter Mongirdaitis, and then fled to Moscow where he died in 1452.

The Samogitians, taking advantage of the disturbances which had accompanied Casimir's accession to the throne, succeeded at this time in obtaining official recognition of their semi-autonomous status within the Grand Duchy. Although they were true Lithuanians living on the Lithuanian Lowland, they had insisted upon retaining their own distinct administrative organs and upholding a quasi-separatist policy from the very first days of the unification of the Lithuanian state. They denounced the validity of Casimir's election and proclaimed Michael as their lawful ruler. This rebellion of the Samogitians was futile and short-lived, since they were quickly overcome by the numerically superior forces of the Lithuanian  p64 Highlanders. But Casimir was compelled to grant the Samogitians a charter which guaranteed them all the privileges they had enjoyed under Vytautas; permitted them to choose their own governor (known also as captain and elder) — this choice, of course, was subject to approval by the Grand Duke; assured them that no other Grand Ducal estates would be established in Samogitia; and recognized Samogitia's right to the title of duchy.

While methodically coping with these problems, the Lithuanians also recovered (1443) the territories of Drochin and Mielnik which Jogaila had allowed to pass to the Masovians in 1391.

2. Casimir and the Polish Throne

In 1444, Ladislas, Casimir's brother and the King of Poland perished in battle against the Turks at Varna near the Black Sea. The Poles then offered the Polish Crown to the Lithuanian Grand Duke. The Lithuanian gentry refused to allow Casimir to accept the invitation. They officially stated their attitude at the conventions of Vilnius in 1445 and 1446. Through the services of Svitrigaila, they even attempted to create an alliance with the Teutonic Knights. The Polish magnates, however, remained most persistent in their efforts to bring Casimir to Poland. Their ambassadors threatened him with death, if he dared to reject the Polish throne.⁠2 Finally, their apparent intention to elect Boleslas of Masovia, a close associate of the ousted Prince Michael, caused the Lithuanians to agree to the coronation of Casimir as the King of Poland and to a personal union between the two countries; but at the Diet of Lublin (1447), they induced the Polish delegates to abandon their claims to Podolia and Volhynia.

Being anxious to preserve the political sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Grand Duchy and also being keenly interested in increasing their own personal influence and authority in national affairs, the Lithuanian magnates and boyars exacted a  p65 series of solemn promises and obtained a number of privileges from Casimir prior to his departure for Cracow. These were embodied in the Act of Vilnius which was issued on May 2, 1447.

Casimir obligated himself by this Act to preserve intact such Lithuanian boundaries as did exist during the reign of Vytautas (implying the necessity of recovering Podolia) and to bestow no official posts or benefits in Lithuania upon Poles or other foreigners. Furthermore, he assured the clergy and the nobility that no punishments would be meted out without previous court trial; freed the peasants attached to the estates of the aristocracy from all duties towards the state and from all manner of taxation; relinquished his own right to try these peasants; deprived them of the right to leave the employ of their lords and to seek work under less onerous conditions on Grand Ducal lands. In fine, the Act of 1447 was of tremendous significance in the social life of Lithuania; it considerably lessened the powers of the Grand Duke, and although it gave the gentry no direct voice in matters of government, yet it concentrated in the hands of these nobles most of the nation's wealth and resources and made them absolute masters of the lower classes, who had been reduced to a state of complete serfdom.

3. The Volhynian-Podolian Issue

After Casimir's coronation at Cracow in June, 1447, the Lithuanians hopefully awaited the final settlement of their dispute with the Poles over the western sections of Podolia and Volhynia. No solution was reached for another six years. In the meanwhile, the Lithuanians did not hesitate to demand repeatedly that Casimir and the Poles abide by their previously given promises; they threatened to ally themselves with Muscovy and the Tatars and to install another Grand Duke at Vilnius. The Poles, in turn, suggesting the possibility of deposition, insisted that Casimir confirm their former privileges, and adjudge the contested lands to Poland. Many conferences were summoned in a vain effort to bring the issue to a close. Such bitterness had developed between the two parties that in 1451 the Lithuanian delegation refused to attend the Diet of  p66 Parczew until Casimir and his retinue met them at the border to guarantee protection for their persons in Poland. It is at this assembly that a number of enraged Lithuanian nobles returned the coat of arms they had received from Polish dignitaries in 1413.

A climax was finally reached in 1452. Svitrigaila, who had been governing Volhynia rather independently for ten years, decreed, with some twenty-three members of his Council, upon the outright surrender of that province to Lithuania. And before Svitrigaila's death, a Lithuanian force led by George Alseniskis, Radvila and Jursa, arrived at Luck to retake possession of Volhynia in the name of the Grand Duchy.

This act of Lithuania's former Grand Duke greatly disturbed the Polish nobles. They gathered at Cracow, Sandomierz, Lwow and Lublin to prepare for war. The following year they cleverly organized a hapless uprising at Luck. Only the diplomatic endeavors of Casimir averted armed hostilities between Lithuania and Poland. At the Polish Diet of Piotrkow (1453) Casimir yielded to the requirements of Poland's upper classes, confirmed the ancient privileges of the nobles, agreed not to declare war without their permission and definitely made the principle of an elective monarchy part of the Polish Constitution. He, furthermore, recognized the existing status quo, which was not at all acceptable to the Lithuanians — the major part of Volhynia being retained by Lithuania and the major part of Podolia remaining with the Poles.

4. The Thirteen Years' War

The Lithuanian-Polish victory over the Teutonic Knights at Tannenberg, in 1410, had resulted in little immediate material gain for the conquerors. Nevertheless, it paved the way for the subsequent complete downfall of the Crusaders. In 1422 and 1434, the latter had signed compromising treaties with the Lithuanians and the Poles. Internal disorders had increased in intensity and frequency; the brethren had often wilfully disregarded the commands of their superiors, while the Grand Master found himself at variance with the Emperor, who had been his chief supporter.  p67 The Order had sought to monopolize all trade and had shown itself unwilling to grant any reasonable degree of freedom to the resident gentry and the townsfolk. In an attempt to protect themselves, the latter formed the Prussian League in 1440. The League shortly afterwards revealed its desire to ape the liberties enjoyed by the upper classes in Poland. Consequently, open revolt broke out in the lands dominated by the Teutonic Knights in 1454. Within four weeks some fifty-six fortresses and cities fell to the rebels. Realizing that alone they could not effectively withstand the Order's troops, the members of the Prussian League then offered Casimir suzerainty over Prussia. Since this situation seemed to present an excellent opportunity for Poland to regain the mouth of the Nemunas, Casimir accepted the proposal. The Knights, of course, resisted and a thirteen years' war ensued.

Dissatisfied with the settlement of the Volhynian-Podolian question, the Lithuanians, with exception of the Lowlanders who attacked Memel (Klaipeda) and hindered contacts between Prussia and Livonia, did not take part in the struggle. The Polish gentry, relying on their many and extensive privileges, gave Casimir only an inefficient military and an inadequate financial support. Their actions drove the youthful ruler to such distraction that he publicly expressed his intention of entirely forsaking Poland for Lithuania on more than one occasion. However, mercenaries, obtained through the funds readily provided by the Prussian League, made possible the victory at Puck in 1462. At last, the treaty of Thorn was concluded in 1466. Poland won back the areas of Chelmno and Danzig Pomerania and annexed portions of the Old Prussian lands of the Aistians in the districts of Pomerania, Galindia, Pogesania and Varmia. The remainder of the Knights' possessions, corresponding roughly to modern East Prussia with the new capital at Koenigsberg, became a vassal state of Poland; the Grand Master was to pay homage to the Polish King within nine months after his election. In the meanwhile, Lithuania had not only failed to reestablish herself in Podolia, but by not participating in this war, lost a splendid chance to incorporate with the Grand Duchy at least some of the Old Prussian territories,  p68 which the Teutonic Knights had occupied during the thirteenth century.

5. Casimir's Lat Twenty-Six Years

Ambitious ventures of a dynastic nature greatly influenced the last twenty-six years of Casimir's reign. They were of no practical value to the Grand Duchy and only served to make Casimir an unpopular figure in Lithuania.

When Ladislas, the posthumous offspring of Albert of Austria, died in 1437, Casimir expressed pretensions to the vacant thrones of Bohemia and Hungary in behalf of his sons. He based his claims on the grounds that these two countries had automatically become the heritage of the late Ladislas' sister, Elizabeth, the former Archduchess of Austria, whom he had taken to wife in 1454. Being engaged in the Thirteen Years' War, Casimir could not contest the elections which enthroned George of Podiebrad in Bohemia and Matthias Corvinus in Hungary. Nevertheless, his intimate associations with George, in spite of the latter's Hussite views and in spite of the strenuous objections made by Pope Paul II, ultimately brought his oldest son, Ladislas, to Prague in 1471. Since Matthias Corvinus opposed Ladislas' accession, Casimir sent another son of his, the future St. Casimir, into Hungary in a futile effort to dethrone Matthias. The struggle ended in 1478; Ladislas remained King of Bohemia, but his opponent occupied Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia. Finally, in 1490, Matthias died and Ladislas succeeded him in Hungary.

While definitely increasing the prestige of Jogaila's descendants through his interested attitude in Central European politics, Casimir failed to cope satisfactorily with the dangerous threat that had been created by the disturbances caused by the steady advance and growth of the Turkish and Muscovite elements.

Although the Hungarians had been compelled to resist the Turks on numerous occasions, Casimir had always managed to keep himself aloof from the struggle itself. To preserve peace on Lithuania's southeastern frontiers, he maintained friendly relations with the Tatars of Mengli Girai on the Crimea. But the Turks seized the  p69 Crimean city of Kaffa, which had previously become a protectorate of Casimir's, in 1475; they also reduced Girai's territorial holdings to the status of a tributary province and his authority to that of a vassal. Nine years later the Sultan's warriors captured the Moldavian ports of Akkerman and Kilia, situated at the mouths of the Dniester and the Danube, respectively. These events exposed Lithuania's southern possessions between the Dniester and Dnieper Rivers to the depredatory raids of the Mongols, who often reached even Kiev; they also menaced Polish trade and threatened to end forever all Polish influence in Moldavia. Consequently, the Lithuanians entered into an alliance with the Tatars of the Volga (the former Golden Horde); Casimir joined the general league against the Porte. The problem, however, was not solved; its final settlement was only postponed for a later date, when Casimir, having driven the Turks out of Moldavia (1485), consented to a truce with Bayezid II.

In the meanwhile, Muscovy had developed into a power which began to question Lithuania's jurisdiction over the Eastern Slav lands. Basil II (1425‑62) had given refuge to Zigmantas' son, Michael, when the latter had placed himself in opposition to Casimir. Furthermore, in 1449 Basil obtained Casimir's formal recognition of Moscow's sovereignty and engineered the signing of a treaty which determined their respective spheres of influence. It was agreed at this time that Lithuania was not to meddle in any way with the affairs of Novgorod and Pskov, while Muscovy would not interfere with the moulding of Tver's policies. Formerly, all three principalities, although independent, had unmistakably gravitated towards the authority of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy. Ivan III (1462‑1505), who in 1472 married Sophia, the niece of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Paleologus, and had decreed to make Moscow a third Rome, solidified the gains made under his predecessor. In 1479, he conquered and incorporated with Muscovy the Republic of Novgorod, which had appealed in vain to Casimir for assistance. He completely crushed the remnants of the Golden Horde in 1480 and rid himself of their yoke, while intimately associating himself with the Khan Mengli Girai.  p70 Five years later, he annexed Tver, in behalf of whose banished duke, Casimir attempted to intercede. As a result, no vassals or principalities intervened between Muscovy's borders and the Lithuanian Grand Duchy's eastern frontiers. And Ivan III clearly enunciated a program that aimed to unite with Moscow the Orthodox populations and regions, which had been under Lithuanian control for almost two centuries.

Besides the fact that Casimir had not adopted any effective measures to deal with the Tatars, the Turks and the Muscovites, his role as Polish King helped to increase his unpopularity in the Grand Duchy. The Lithuanians repeatedly clamored that another Grand Duke be appointed over their state as long as Casimir governed Poland. Fearing that such a move would quickly and entirely withdraw Lithuania from his jurisdiction, he naturally refused to accede to these requests. In 1461, for example, the Lithuanian magnates presented him with a stern demand; namely, either to establish himself permanently at Vilnius or to delegate Simon of Kiev as his successor in office. Twenty years later that same Simon's brother, Michael, together with the Bielskis and Alseniskis families, formed a plot for his overthrow. Having failed, the conspirators were punished with death.

In 1468 Casimir codified the penal laws of Lithuania. And at the end of his fifty-two‑year reign he had success­fully consolidated the undertaking inaugurated by Vytautas, that is, centralizing⁠3 all authority over the Lithuanian state in the person of the Grand Duke — in the sense that all of the Grand Duchy's eastern provinces were administered by Grand Ducal deputies and not by semi-independent princes.

---

The Author's Notes:

1 Jogaila had died on June 1, 1434. His son Ladislas had succeeded him to the throne in Poland.

2 John Dlugosz in his History of Poland (XIII.29) wrote: "exploratum autem et pro certo habitum erat, quod si Dux Magnus Casimirus gubernacula Regni Poloniae suscipere detrectavisset, actum erat de suo capite et vita."

3 It may be noted that Smolensk, like Samogitia had obtained a semi-autonomous government from Casimir, after the rebel George Lengvenis had been banished from that province.

◂ previous						next ▸
Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)
UP TO:		T. G. Chase: The Story of Lithuania	History of Lithuania	European History	Home
A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information.

Accessibility