House of Mindaugas
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The House of Mindaugas is the first royal family of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It is centered around Mindaugas, the first known and undoubted sovereign of Lithuania. He was crowned as King of Lithuania in 1253 and was assassinated ten years later. His known family relations end with children; there is no data on his grandchildren or any relations with the Gediminids, a dynasty of sovereigns of Lithuanian and later Poland that started with Butigeidis ca. 1285 and ended with Zygmunt II August in 1572.
Historians have to make considerable assumptions in trying to reconstruct the full family tree because of extremely scarce written sources about early history of Lithuania. The matter is further complicated by the 16th-17th century genealogies, most famously the Bychowiec Chronicle, that mixed legends and facts into one. The legends about Palemonids, a noble family from the Roman Empire who settled in Lithuania and gave rise to the Duchy, are quite popular and wide-spread. The real historical data comes from the Russian and Livonian chronicles, most important of these being the Hypatian Codex.
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[edit] Family tree
Mindaugas and his brother Dausprungas are first mentioned in 1219 treaty with Halych-Volhynia among 5 elder dukes. Since at that time both brothers had to be in their youth, it implies that they have inherited their high status. However, no written sources talk about their father. Just Livonian Rhymed Chronicle mentions in the passing that he was a powerful duke. The much later chronicles gave him the name of Ryngold (Lithuanian: Rimgaudas) and connected him with the Palemonids.
Dausprungas is not mentioned anywhere else. However, it is known that Mindaugas had two nephews, Tautvilas and Edivydas, who waged a war agaisnt their uncle. Since historians do not have any data of other brothers of Mindaugas, it is generally assumed that the two were sons of Dausprungas. During the civil in the early 1250's Tautvilas and Edivydas asked Daniel of Halych, their brother-in-law, for help. This bit of information indicates that they also had a sister. The sister was the second wife of Daniel and they did not have children. Dausprugas wife must have been Duke of Samogitia Vykintas's sister since Vykintas was uncle of Tautvilas and Edivydas. It is believed that Edivydas died ca. 1253 in a campaign against Bohemia. Tautvilas was killed by cousin Treniota in 1263; it is known he had son Constantine who ruled Vitebsk.
It is assumed that Mindaugas had three wives even though nothing is known about the first one. The assumption is made because Mindaugas had two older children, Vaišvilkas and unknown name daughter, who already led independent lives while children with Morta were young and still dependent on their father. Vaišvilkas became such a devoted Orthodox that he voluntarily gave up the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania in favor of his brother-in-law Shvarn and died heirless. The only daughter of Mindaugas, by marriage with Shvarn in 1255, became the Queen of Galicia (1255 – 1264) and Princess of Chełm (1264); she died in 1264 heirless.
In the commentary of the 1219 treaty with Halych-Volhynia it is noted that Mindaugas took wife of Vismantas from Bulionis family for himself. It is assumed that Vismantas' wife and Morta is the same woman. It is known that Vismatas died in 1252 in a battle against Mindaugas; however the date of the wedding is unknown. There is no consensus on how many children Morta had. The chronicles mention two sons, Replys and Gerstukas, in 1261. In 1263 two sons, Ruklys and Rupeikis, were assassinated together with Mindaugas. This is the only information available and historians disagree on whether these are the same two sons, whose name got distorted, or they are four sons, two of whom destiny is unknown. Because there is no data on any rivals to the crown after the assassination except for Vaišvilkas and Tautvilas, it would indicate that, what ever the case with Morta's sons, they have perished.
After Morta's death in 1262, Mindaugas took her sister (name unknown) as his wife despite her being married to Daumantas. This cruel act motivated Daumantas to become an ally of Treniota and assassinate Mindaugas with two of his sons. Treniota was Mindaugas nephew. It is believed that he was son of Duke of Samogitia, either Vykintas or Erdvilas. If it really was Vykintas, then there is a double marriage: Vykintas' sister married Dausprungas and Dausprungas' (and Mindaugas') sister married Vykintas. Erdvilas is mentioned only once in the 1219 treaty. Other nephew, Lengvenis, did not play a great role in the state. Chronicles mention him in 1242-1260.
[edit] Graphic representation
- Please note the assumptions outlined above
| Ancestor | Children | Children-in-law | Grandchildren | ||||||
| Daughter | |||||||||
| Married: Daniel, King of Halych-Volhynia | |||||||||
| Dausprungas | Name unknow | Tautvilas | |||||||
| Only mention: 1219 | Vykintas' sister | Died: 1263 | |||||||
| Edivydas | |||||||||
| Died: after 1253 | |||||||||
| Vaišvilkas | |||||||||
| Name unknown (1st wife) | Grand Duke of Lithuania: 1264–1267 | ||||||||
| Daughter | |||||||||
| Married: Shvarn, King of Galicia | |||||||||
| Replys | |||||||||
| Only mention: 1261 | |||||||||
| Gerstukas | |||||||||
| Mindaugas' father | Mindaugas | Morta (2nd wife) | Only mention: 1261 | ||||||
| Legendary Ryngold | Grand Duke/King of Lithuania: 1236–1263 | Vismantas' wife; Died: ca. 1262 | |||||||
| Ruklys | |||||||||
| Died: 1263 | |||||||||
| Rupeikis | |||||||||
| Died: 1263 | |||||||||
| Name unknown (3rd wife) | |||||||||
| Daumantas' wife, Morta's sister | |||||||||
| Daughter | Name unknown | Lengvenis | |||||||
| Duke of Nalšia | Died: after 1260 | ||||||||
| Daughter | Vykintas or Erdvilas | Treniota | |||||||
| Duke of Samogitia | Grand Duke of Lithuania: 1263–1264 |
[edit] References
- Kiaupa, Zigmantas, Jūratė Kiaupienė, Albinas Kunevičius [1995] (2000). The History of Lithuania Before 1795, English ed., Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of History, 43-72. ISBN 9986-810-13-2.
- (Lithuanian) Ivinskis, Zenonas. (1937). "Daugsprungas". Lietuviškoji enciklopedija VI: 186-188. Ed. Vaclovas Biržiška. Kaunas: Spaudos Fondas.
- (Lithuanian) (2004) Lietuvos valdovai (XIII-XVIII a.): enciklopedinis žinynas, Vytautas Spečiūnas (compiler), Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 15-28. ISBN 5-240-01535-8.
- "Treniota". Encyclopedia Lituanica V: 497-498. (1970-1978). Ed. Simas Sužiedėlis. Boston, Massachusetts: Juozas Kapočius. LCC 74-114275.
[edit] See also
- Palemonids – legendary dynasty before Mindaugas
- Gediminids – dynasty that started ca. 1285
