Truce in the ashes with Jogaila¶

What the chronicles say [Historical record]¶

In spring 1384 Jogaila had offered Volhynia with Lutsk, which Vytautas refused, demanding his Trakai patrimony; in July 1384 the two reconciled and Vytautas abandoned the Order, burning its castles (see the burnings). The terms: Grodno, Brest and Podlasie for Vytautas; Trakai stayed with Skirgaila, who had held it since 1382 (Jogaila had promised it to Vytautas in spring 1384 once Skirgaila was settled in Polotsk). Marquard von Salzbach was captured in July 1384. The meeting itself has no documented place or witnesses. Sources: Posilge, Wigand, the Lithuanian chronicles; Kiaupa and Ivinskis in modern writing.

Truce in the ashes with Jogaila


Tipas	įvykis
Metai	1384
Status	Istoriniai duomenys
Knyga	I · Vilko Tremtis
Skyriai	26
Pastaba	Vytautas and Jogaila swear a fragile truce amidst the scorched ruins in autumn 1384.

Where: Vilnius (on the map)

What really happened [The saga’s invention]¶

A secret parley in a roofless burnt church at the edge of the Šventaragis grove, with a red dot of fire in the valley below. Jogaila arrives with four guards, no banners or trumpets; Vytautas comes alone in the Order’s battered armour with the cross torn off. Between them lies Kęstutis’s blood. Jogaila says that the Order stood at Trakai: it was the cross or the fire. No forgiveness, only a truce of necessity. Henė knocks two stones together in the dark; Vytautas shows the silver wolf amulet and does not kill. It is the first time since Krėva they have looked each other in the eye.

Consequences¶

Caused by the burnings of 1384. It leads to Birutė’s Amber Sacrifice; the autumn settlement confirms Skirgaila’s hold on Trakai.

Dramatisation¶

Book I ch. 26 „Susitikimas Peleninėje“ (Vytautas and Jogaila; a July night in 1384, Vilnius; the text keeps an older ‚late summer 1383‘ cue).

Ryšiai

Caused by: Vytautas burns Order castles; turns on the Order

Causes: Birutė’s Amber Sacrifice

Location: Vilnius

Participants: Jogaila · Vytautas

Sąsajos¶

graph LR
  ev_birute_sacrifice["Birutė's Amber Sacrifice"]
  ev_burnings_1384["Vytautas burns Order castles; turns on the Order"]
  ev_truce_ashes["Truce in the ashes with Jogaila"]
  jogaila["Jogaila"]
  vilnius["Vilnius"]
  vytautas["Vytautas"]
  ev_truce_ashes -->|Causes| ev_birute_sacrifice
  ev_truce_ashes -->|Location| vilnius
  ev_burnings_1384 -->|Causes| ev_truce_ashes
  jogaila -->|Took part in| ev_truce_ashes
  vytautas -->|Took part in| ev_truce_ashes
  style ev_truce_ashes stroke-width:3px