Algirdas & Kęstutis depose Jaunutis¶

What the chronicles say [Historical record]¶

In winter 1344/45 Algirdas and Kęstutis removed their brother Jaunutis. Kęstutis, from Trakai, took Vilnius unexpectedly and called Algirdas, who took the Duchy of Vilnius and the Grand Duke’s title; the exact night remains uncertain. The brothers offered Jaunutis the Duchy of Zasłaŭje, which he refused; he was imprisoned at Vilnius, escaped and fled to Simeon of Moscow, where he was baptised Orthodox as Ioann, and was later reconciled and held Zasłaŭje; he last appears in 1366. The Bychowiec chronicle records that his mother Jaunė supported him. Algirdas ruled east from Vilnius, Kęstutis west from Trakai and Samogitia; the Order’s chroniclers treat Kęstutis as a ruler in his own right. A planned Order reise of 1345 may have prompted the move. Sources: Šapoka (1989), Kiaupa et al. (2000); Wikipedia, Jaunutis.

Algirdas & Kęstutis depose Jaunutis


Type	event
Years	1345
Status	Historical record
Book	VI · The Holy Forest (prequel)
Note	Algirdas and Kęstutis depose Jaunutis in winter 1344/45 and establish the co-ruling diarchy. The saga’s invented November 1345 Pact is a later event.

Where: Vilnius (on the map)

What really happened [The saga’s invention]¶

Kęstutis takes the city by night in winter 1344/45, and the wolves at the doors of the Vilnius hall let him pass (“Ugnis nepasakė”). Jaunutis leaves east unharmed by the Smolensk road, and Kęstutis promises him that no Gediminid will shed his blood: the seed of clause 2 of the Pact. Algirdas rides in from Vitebsk at dawn and the brothers divide the realm. The wooden Crooked Castle on Bald Hill, taken without a blow, is left with thirty of Kęstutis’s men and forgotten.

The November 1345 Pact is a later fictional event, separated from the coup by months. VLE: Jaunutis dates the coup to winter 1344/45 and his Moscow baptism to September 1345.

Consequences¶

Leads to the Silent Pact, sworn months later in November 1345. The diarchy is the political frame of Book VI and of everything the sons will break.

Dramatisation¶

Book VI ch. 2 “Jaunučio Kėdė” (Kęstutis; 1342–44), ch. 3 “Vilniaus Užėmimas” (Kęstutis; winter 1344/45, Vilnius).

Relations

Causes: Silent Pact sworn

Location: Vilnius

Connections¶

graph LR
  ev_diarchy["Algirdas & Kęstutis depose Jaunutis"]
  ev_pact_sworn["Silent Pact sworn"]
  vilnius["Vilnius"]
  ev_diarchy -->|Causes| ev_pact_sworn
  ev_diarchy -->|Location| vilnius
  style ev_diarchy stroke-width:3px