The status of the land of Kiev in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania : the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries

The present article is an attempt to overview the processes the administration of different lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Kiev Duchy was a subject under consideration falling under the power of the Great Duchy of Lithuania in the third decade of the 14th century. When the Kiev Duchy fell into the view of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a Great Duke vicegerent was appointed. Apart from this institution, however, the Tartar Bascac was also functioning. The influence of Poland in the region had weakened. New changes in the status of the Kiev Duchy became apparent in the early 70s of the 14th century after the Blue Waters Battle, when the Tartar influence in the region had abated. Algirdas, the Grand Duke of the Great Duchy of Lithuania, could then enthrone his son in Kiev. The ties between the Kiev Duchy and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became stronger in the 7th and 8th decades of the 14th century, when the Tartar Khan Mamay gave the donation Yarlyk, thus legally granting Kiev to the Great Duchy of Lithuania. In 1377, after the death of the Grand Duke Algirdas, the dynasty crisis began. Algirdas' sons from his first marriage started conflicting with his youngest sons. Vladimir Algirdaitis, being the Duke of Kiev at the moment, joined them, thus showing that the Kiev Duchy was closely related to the center. The troops of the Duke of Kiev had possibly participated in Kulikov Battle in 1380 on the side of Moscow. The relationship between the Duke of Kiev and Jogaila stabilized in 1388, when he made the socalled sward allegiance in the king's palace; later he fought crusades supporting Vytautas. These changes, however, did not save the Duke of Kiev from centralization of the state which started in 1392.[...]Humanitarinių mokslų fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta