Narimantas

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Fortress of Ladoga (Ladozhskaya krepost')
Fortress of Ladoga (Ladozhskaya krepost')
For an earlier, historically unattested and possibly just a mythical namesake, see Palemonids

Narimantas or Narymunt (baptized Gleb, ca. 1277 – February 2, 1348) was the second eldest son of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. During various periods of his life, he ruled Pinsk and Polatsk. In 1333 he was invited by Novgorod's nobles to rule and protect territories in the north, Ladoga, Oreshek and Korela.[1] He started the tradition of Lithuanian mercenary service north of Novgorod on the Swedish border that lasted until Novgorod's fall to Moscow in 1477.[2] Narimantas supported his brother Jaunutis when he was deposed by Algirdas and Kęstutis in 1345. Narimantas traveled to Jani Beg, Khan of the Golden Horde, asking for support against Algirdas. Though he failed to solicit support, he is rumored to have married a Tatar princess.[3] After returning, Narimantas reconciled with Algirdas and was killed leading the Battle of Strėva against the Teutonic Knights on February 2, 1348. His descendants include Princes Kurakin, Galitzine, Khovansky, Korecki.[1]

[edit] Sons

It is believed that Narimantas had five sons:[4]

  • Aleksander (died after 1386), Prince of Podolia
  • Yury (died in 1392), Prince of Belz
  • Nikolai, Prince of Pinsk
  • Patrikej (died ca. 1387), Prince of Starodub
  • Simeon (died after 1386)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b (Lithuanian) Kiaupa, Zigmantas (2004). "Narimantas". Lietuvos valdovai (XIII-XVIII a.): enciklopedinis žinynas. Ed. Vytautas Spečiūnas. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. 42. ISBN 5-420-01535-8. 
  2. ^ Rowell, C. S. (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press, 175. ISBN 9780521450119. 
  3. ^ Rowell, C. S. Lithuania Ascending, 114
  4. ^ Rowell, C. S. Lithuania Ascending, xxxii

[edit] See also