Didysis Voluinės kunigaikštis Liubartas-Demetrijus Gediminaitis : (apie 1312/1315–1383 m.) : monografija

Abstract

The beginning of the relationship between Lithuania and Ruthenia can be firmly dated back to the eleventh century, although with some reservations we could even speak about the end of the tenth century. Naturally, the processes that took place during that period were not smooth, and we are facing the challenge of assessing them from today’s perspectives. New data, including archaeological, can sometimes make it possible to considerably change the perspectives of the processes themselves, and it is therefore necessary to take as wide a field of sources as possible into account when trying to gain a better knowledge and understanding of the period. This effort can be productive, since, if we abandon our preconceptions, we can see a rather interesting and intense field of relations between Lithuania and Ruthenia from the eleventh century. We are used to operating with three facts from the annals of Rus’ about these relations in the first half of the eleventh and twelfth centuries: Lithuanians were tributaries of Rus’, Yaroslav the Wise marched to Lithuania in 1040 or 1044 (or maybe twice), and Mstislav, the son of Vladimir the Monomakh, marched to Lithuania in 1131/1132. However, these data are expanded first of all by the sources and contexts of St Bruno’s martyrdom, which show a certain expression of Ruthenian pressure on Lithuania. It is equally important to understand that Lithuania’s inclusion in the annals is primarily related to the dissemination of the interests of the Prince of Kiev, because completely different processes were taking place on the frontier. We can try to gain a sense of these from the data in The Tale of the Campaign of Igor, where Vseslav Briacheslavovich is being heroised. Yet against whom is he to demonstrate his heroism? One possible answer is against Lithuania. We can refer to the famous birchbark letter where we read that Lithuanians were drawn against Karelia, which also reveals the events of the second half of the eleventh century. Finally, it is important to note ‘The Tale of the Destruction of the Rus’ Land’, which demonstrates the taming of Lithuania in the time of Vladimir Monomakh, but which may indicate some kind of Lithuanian expansion after him. One thing is certain: the early relations between Lithuania and Ruthenia were pulsating.[...]