New Data on Duke Vaidotas Kęstutaitis in 1363

Abstract

The paper analyses a problem related to Vaidotas Kęstutaitis (Kęstutid), who was a grandson of the Lithuanian ruler Gediminas. We know only two certain facts about Vaidotas Kęstutaitis: first, in 1362 he led the defence of Kaunas castle and was captured by the Teutonic Knights and, second, he had lands in Novogrudok. All other information about Vaidotas Kęstutaitis is hypothetical: he is not mentioned by name directly, so the question is if he ever returned to Lithuania from the captivity of the Teutonic Knights.
The addition of a source unknown in Lithuanian historiography to the scholarly circulation in Lithuania was very helpful in solving this question. The chronicle Eulogium historiarum sive temporis describes the visit of King Peter I of Cyprus (Pierre I de Lusignan) to the court of the King Edward III of England. It also mentions the King of Lithuania, who was in Peter I’s entourage. Nicolas Jorga identified this Lithuanian king as Vaidotas Kęstutaitis. After checking the sources, there is no other individual with whom this duke in Peter I’s entourage could be identified as no other relative or offspring of Gediminas was captured at the time.
In this context, the unusual Lithuanian form of the name ‘Lecto’, which recurs in the chronicle, attracted attention, as the chronicle also contains a description of Lithuania using the form ‘Lectonia’. Both the description of Lithuania and the form of the Lithuanian name are genetically related to the work of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, who uses the same form of the name of Lithuanian, and the description of Lithuania is almost identical to its description in the mid-thirteenth century.
The question arises as to where Vaidotas Kęstutaitis could have joined the campaign of Peter I of Cyprus for the proclamation of the crusade. The crusade itself was proclaimed at the papal curia in Avignon. There is a very good chance that this was where Vaidotas Kęstutaitis joined Peter I of Cyprus. The Teutonic Order may have sent the prisoner from Prussia further into Europe, and he may have ended up in the papal curia as a war trophy. It was in the Pope’s best interest to give the planned crusade the most important status possible, and he could have arranged for Vaidotas Kęstutaitis to find himself in the presence of the king of Cyprus. Unfortunately, no further information about Vaidotas Kęstutaitis has been found so far.
Related to this question is another question: did Vaidotas Kęstutaitis return to Lithuania? This question is complicated because we have a problem with the dating of the death of Gediminas’s son Karijotas and the division of his inheritance. After Gediminas’s death, Karijotas received the principality of Novogrudok, which he ruled himself, and later also his descendants, who were primarily associated with Novogrudok. However, Karijotas’s sons are mentioned in Volhynia from as early
as 1352, so they started to move out of the principality of Novogrudok that was becoming too small for them (which is not surprising, as Karijotas had at least seven sons). However, the dynasty’s elite stepped in to take over Karijotas’s legacy. The Duke of Trakai, Kęstutis, bequeathed Novogrudok to his sons Vaidotas and Tautvilas. The problem is that these acts are not dated, so we cannot contextualise them chronologically.
It is unlikely that Vaidotas Kęstutaitis could have received the lands before the death of Karijotas. However, the fact of Karijotas’s death itself is not dated. The last mention of him may refer to the conclusion of a treaty between Mazovian princes and Kęstutis and his brothers in 1358. In 1366 he is no longer mentioned, so it is assumed that he was already dead by then. Thus, the death of Karijotas should be dated between 1358 and 1366. The exact time is not clear, but it is likely that it was at this time that Vaidotas Kęstutaitis may have obtained lands in Novogrudok. This period also includes the years up to 1362, so the probability that Vaidotas Kęstutaitis received his lands before he was captured by the Teutonic Knights is quite high.
One more aspect must be emphasised. The dynastic tradition was formed in such a way that the lands of the members of the ruling dynasty did not necessarily have to be an uninterrupted territory. There are many examples of dukes ruling territories both in Lithuania and Ruthenia. Therefore, the presence of Vaidotas Kęstutaitis in Kaunas and the simultaneous possession of lands in the principality of Novogrudok do not fall out of this context. In this way, the assumption that Vaidotas Kęstutaitis returned to Lithuania from the captivity of the Teutonic Knights is not necessary at all.