Chronology
High Middle Ages
(1009-1283)
On February 14, 1009 the name of Lithuania was first mentioned in connection with the murder of a missionary, St. Bruno, at the border of Lithuania and Ruthenia.
In 1038 Meclaw, the Duke of Masovia, went into battle with Polish Duke Casimir the Restorer. His allies were the Yatvingians and the Lithuanians. Yaroslav, the Grand duke of Kiev, offered his aid to Casimir the Restorer, and attacked Yatvingia.
In 1040 and 1044 Yaroslav attacked Lithuania in his campaign against Meclaw and his allies. Lithuania became a tributary to Ruthenia and was paying tribute to the dukes of Polotsk.
In 1047 Meclaw of Masovia was completely defeated by Yaroslav.
In 1060 Hakon became King Svein’s of Denmark commander of the coast defence against the Vikings, – the Vindlanders, the Curonians, and others from the East countries, – who infested the Danish dominions.
In 1075 Adam of Bremen described the Curonians (a tribe in the present-day western Lithuania) as „the most cruel tribe“. He also noted that they were becoming widely renowned for their prophets, who were able to foretell the future.
In 1080 Canute IV, the King of Denmark, attacked and defeated the Curonians, the Sembians and the Estonians.
In 1128 Mstislav, the Grand Duke of Kiev, organised the invasion to Polotsk, banished two dukes of Polotsk, Borisoviches, to Byzantium and took Polotsk under his direct rule.
In 1131 Mstislav of Kiev invaded Lithuania, devastated it and took numerous prisoners. When the army was retreating, the Lithuanians beat the Kiev division, which had lagged behind.
In 1140 the banished Dukes of Polotsk Borisoviches returned from their exile.
In 1151-1167 the Borisoviches were fighting with the Gleboviches for power in Polotsk. The Lithuanians also became involved in this fight.
In 1159 Polotsk Duke Rogvolod Borisovich forced Rostislav Glebovich to make peace, but Volodar Glebovich „did not kiss the cross because he marched through forests under Lithuanian leadership“.
On June 15, 1161 the Danes captured Palanga castle in Curonia (the first mentioning of Palanga).
In 1162 Rogvolod Borisivich had surrounded Volodar Glebovich in the castle of Gorodets (at the border of Lithuania; now Gorodok in Molodechno region, Belarus). With Lithuanian assistance Volodar defeated Rogvolod.
In 1170 the Estonians and the Curonians attacked the Oland island (in Sweden).
In 1180 the Lithuanians for the last time participated in the march of the army of the Polotsk dukes.
In the winter of 1183-1184 the Lithuanians organised their first raid on Ruthenian lands (Polotsk and Pskov). The permanent Lithuanian expansion began (it was the first sign of the existence of the Lithuanian state).
In 1185 the Lithuanians devastated Livonia. The frightened Lyvians agreed to allow Meinhard, a German missionary, to build two brick castles in Livonia. At the same time, the Ikskile diocese, later to become the Riga diocese, was established. Thus the German domination over Livonia began.
In the winter of 1190 Rurik Rostislavich marched on Lithuania but came to a stop in Pinsk and went back.
In 1191 the dukes of Polotsk and Novgorod planned attack on Lithuania. However, they did not fulfil their plan.
In 1192 the Polish sovereign Casimir the Just organized a punitive attack against the Yatvingians, as they used to plunder the Polish lands (possibly together with the Lithuanians).
In 1193 Rurik Rostislavich planned the second attack on Lithuania but retreated at the demand of Svyatoslav, the other duke of Kiev.
In 1196 the Yatvingians attacked Volhynia (a duchy in Ruthenia).
In 1198 the aim of the Velikye Luki castle (on the southern border of Novgorod land) was pointed out in the Novgorod chronicle: to „defend Novgorod against Lithuania“. In the autumn of the same year the Lithuanians together with warriors from Polotsk made a raid on Velikiye Luki.
In 1201 the Lithuanians made a peace treaty with the bishop of Riga (the first known international agreement of Lithuania).
In 1202 the bishop of Riga established the Order of the Knights of the Sword.
In 1213 the Lithuanian „ruler and senior“ perished in a battle against the Knights of the Sword near Lielvarde.
At the beginning of 1214 there perished in Livonia the other ruler of Lithuania – Stekšys (Stecse).
In 1219 a peace agreement was reached between Lithuania and Volhynia. There were 5 elder and 16 common dukes, representing the Lithuanian side. The first of the elder dukes was Živinbutas, probably the successor of Stekšys. The other 4 elder dukes (2 pairs of brothers) were probably the sons of the two previous rulers who perished in Livonia. Mindaugas was one of them.
On April 23, 1228 Konrad, Duke of Masovia, granted the land of Kulm to the Teutonic Order (the Knights of the Cross). It became a base to the conquest of Prussia.
On February 19, 1236 Pope Gregor IX announced the first crusade against Lithuania.
On September 22, 1236 the Lithuanians defeated the Knights of the Sword in the battle of Šiauliai. Master Volkwin and 48 knights were killed.
On May 14, 1237 Pope Gregor IX united the Knights of the Cross and Knights of the Sword.
In 1238 Mindaugas was documented as the
ruler of Lithuania.
1239-1248 was the period with the highest frequency of attacks on Ruthenia by Lithuania, which was taking advantage of Ruthenia’s weakened condition after the Tartar invasions. At this time Lithuania took control of Black Ruthenia with the castle of Novogrudok.
In June 1245 the emperor Friedrich II gave permission to the Teutonic Order to conquer and rule Curonia, Lithuania and Semigallia.
In 1248 Mindaugas sent the sons of his brother, Tautvilas and Gedivydas, and the brother of their mother, Vykintas, to fight against Smolensk. They defeated the army of the duke Michael of Moscow, who was killed in the battle near Protva but soon were defeated near Zubtsov by the dukes of Suzdal. Mindaugas decided to expel the defeated dukes from Lithuania.