Study materials
Two hundred and thirty years — from 1340, when the Lithuanian prince Liubartas Gediminovich sat in Lutsk, until the Union of Lublin of 1569, when the Rus' palatinates passed to the Crown of Poland — the Ukrainian lands lived within the bounds of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Between the fall of the Galicia-Volhynia state in the west and the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the east lay an age in which the Old Rus' ("Ruthenian") tongue was the chancery language, princes of the Rurikid line ruled in Kyiv, and the law of the Lithuanian Statutes was written in Cyrillic. It is an age without which neither Cossackdom, nor the Khmelnytsky uprising, nor modern Ukraine itself can be understood.
What the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a great state of Eastern Europe in the 13th—16th centuries, which for a long time included most of the Ukrainian lands. After the decline of Kyivan Rus' and the Galicia-Volhynia state, it was the Lithuanian princes who gathered the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands under their power. That is why this age is called the Lithuanian-Rus' period.
How the Lithuanians gathered the Ukrainian lands
In the 14th century the Lithuanian princes of the Gediminid dynasty annexed Volhynia, the Kyiv region, Podillia and the Chernihiv region to their state. The local population often gladly accepted the new rule, because the Lithuanians defended it from the Mongols. The Ukrainian lands made up the larger part of the state — both in territory and in population.
"Do not disturb the old, do not introduce the new"
The Lithuanian rulers acted wisely: they did not impose new orders on the Ukrainians but preserved local customs, faith and language. This rule was expressed in the words "do not disturb the old, do not introduce the new". Therefore the Ukrainian lands felt quite free within the state, and Rus' culture even influenced the Lithuanians themselves.
The Ruthenian language and the Orthodox faith
Remarkably, the official, chancery language of the state was not Lithuanian but the Old Rus' (Ukrainian-Belarusian) tongue. Laws and documents were written in it, and in Cyrillic. Many Lithuanian princes accepted Orthodoxy. So the Ruthenians preserved their faith, language and culture, despite the fact that a Lithuanian dynasty ruled.
The Battle of Blue Waters (1362)
In 1362 the Lithuanian prince Algirdas defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Blue Waters. This victory freed the Kyiv region and Podillia from the power of the Horde and annexed them to the Lithuanian state. The Battle of Blue Waters was no less important than the later Battle of Kulikovo, but it is seldom remembered.
Vytautas the Great
The state reached its greatest might under Prince Vytautas the Great (1392—1430). Under him the Grand Duchy stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Vytautas was one of the most influential rulers of the Europe of his day and even dreamed of a royal crown.
The Battle of Grunwald (1410)
In 1410 the combined army of Lithuania and Poland routed the Teutonic Order at the famous Battle of Grunwald. Ukrainian regiments fought in it too. This victory halted the centuries-long advance of the German crusaders to the east and became one of the greatest battles of medieval Europe.
The union with Poland
In 1385 the Lithuanian prince Jogaila concluded the Union of Krewo with Poland: he married the Polish queen and became king of Poland, baptizing Lithuania into Catholicism. Thus began the gradual rapprochement of Lithuania and Poland, which lasted almost two centuries and changed the fate of the Ukrainian lands.
The Union of Lublin (1569)
In 1569 Lithuania and Poland concluded the Union of Lublin and formed a common state — the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. By this union most of the Ukrainian lands passed from Lithuania directly to the Polish Crown. This was a turning point: for Ukrainians a new, much more difficult age under Polish rule began.
The legacy
The Lithuanian-Rus' age preserved and developed Ukrainian culture, law (the Lithuanian Statutes) and language. It was a bridge between Kyivan Rus' and Cossack Ukraine. Without understanding this epoch it is impossible to understand either the emergence of Cossackdom, or the later Khmelnytsky uprising, or modern Ukraine itself.