List of Lithuanian monarchs

The first Lithuanian rulers did not leave behind any written documents, so we do not know their native titles, but only those given to them by their neighbors. In Kievan Rus', they were called knyaz (kniaz’) or grand knyas (velikii kniaz’), while in the German sphere they were referred to as elder (senior), leader (), and sometimes prince (). After the coronation Mindaugas adopted royal title: "By the Grace of God, King of the Lithuania" (). The first mention of a Lithuanian king predates the establishment of the Christian kingdom itself: according to the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, Mindaugas' father was a great king who "had no equal in his time." As the territory of Lithuania expanded eastwards, other king-titled grand dukes who ruled the country adopted similar titles for introducing themselves abroad. For instance, Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytenis was sometimes regarded as ('King of Lithuanians') while his successor Gediminas was known by the title, in ('King of Lithuanians and many Ruthenians'). Some German sources also titled Gediminas as ('King of Aukštaitija'). Gediminas' right to use the Latin rex, which the papacy had been claiming the right to grant from the 13th century onwards, was not universally recognized in Catholic sources. Thus, he was called rex sive dux ("King or Duke") in one source; Pope John XXII, in a letter to the King of France, referred to Gediminas as "the one who calls himself rex". However, the Pope did call Gediminas rex when addressing him (regem sive ducem, "king or duke"). with his title (in Latin) as 'King in Lithuania', used in 1377–1386, before becoming the King of Poland in 1386 Teutonic knights referred to Algirdas and his wife Uliana (Julijona) as "Grand King of Lithuania" and "Grand Queen of Lithuania". In early 2000s a plaque with a mysterious script, dating to the 13th–14th centuries, which was nailed to a wooden base, was found during an archeological research in the Courtyard of the Old Arsenal of the Vilnius Castle Complex, part of which is translatable from the Ancient Greek as Algirdos Basileus (a Greek term Basileus means a 'king' or an 'emperor'). In 1370, Algirdas wrote a letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople where he titled himself as Basileus, showcasing his status as an equal sovereign ruler to the Byzantine Emperor. Even though it is traditionally accepted that Mindaugas was the only true king, all historical records, with the exception of Slavic annals, mention Lithuanian rulers as kings until 1386. Grand Duke Officially, the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania (Magnus Dux Lithuaniae) was introduced after the Pact of Horodło in 1413. Vytautas the Great gained the factual rule of Lithuania, which was recognized by the treaties. Jogaila's son Władysław III also titled himself as the Supreme Duke of Lithuania. ==Inaugurations of Lithuanian monarchs ==

) of Alexander Hilarius Polubinski, Grand Marshall of the Grand Duchy Lithuania, 1675 , built in 1407, served as a venue for the ceremonies of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania ' majestic seal of 1407, where he is seen wearing Gediminas' Cap The inaugurations of the Lithuanian monarchs were held in Vilnius Cathedral and consisted of the placement of Gediminas' Cap on the Lithuanian monarch's head and the presentation of a sword. Then Bishop of Vilnius Wojciech Tabor blessed him and held a pastoral exhortation over him. Then the Grand Marshal of Lithuania Petras Jonaitis Mantigirdaitis handed Alexander a bare sword and a sceptre. Subsequently, the Poles considered electing Alexander Jagiellon as the King of Poland, however instead of him John I Albert was elected as the King of Poland in August 1492 and this led to another termination of the Polish–Lithuanian union. Stryjkowski also relayed the election and inauguration of Sigismund I as Grand Duke of Lithuania on 20 October 1509. The ceremony was again attended by Bishop Wojciech Tabor, who this time not only blessed but also placed a cap on the ruler's head. In turn, Grand Marshal Michael Glinski presented him with a sword. Sigismund received the oath of the Lithuanian lords while sitting on the throne. According to Stryjkowski, the cap was: "of red velvet with gold spheres set with precious stones". , where the ceremony of Sigismund II Augustus was held The last ceremony to elevate a grand duke took place on 18 October 1529, when Sigismund Augustus was elevated to this dignity during his father's lifetime. The ceremony occurred in the great hall of the newly built lower castle, as the cathedral burned down that same year. The young Sigismund Augustus sat on the throne between his parents, surrounded by members of the council of lords. The cap was placed on the ruler's head by the Bishop of Vilnius, while the Grand Marshal presented him with a sword. Following the Union of Lublin, which formed the federative Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, and the death of the last Gediminid ruler Sigismund II Augustus in 1572, separate inaugurations in Vilnius Cathedral were abolished, therefore Gediminas' Cap lost its ceremonial significance. The insignias of the Lithuanian rulers were not preserved and following the Union of Lublin only the seal (kept by the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania) and the flag (carried near the ruler by the Grand Flag Bearer of Lithuania) remained. Nevertheless, per the Union of Lublin, the rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were elected in joint Polish–Lithuanian election sejms until the Third Partition in 1795 and received separate titles of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. During the coronations of joint Polish–Lithuanian monarchs, the Polish crown was also announced as a property of both the Polish and Lithuanian nobles. == List ==

=== House of Mindaugas (1236–1267) === === House of Monomakh (1267–1269) === === House of Mindaugas (1269–1285) === === House of Gediminas (1285–1440) === === House of Jagiellon (1440–1569) === Grand Dukes of Lithuania within the Commonwealth (1569–1795) === General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland (1812) === === House of Urach (1918) === == Timeline ==

In 1564, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus renounced his rights to the hereditary Lithuanian throne—the separate inauguration ceremony and insignia for Grand Duke of Lithuania were abolished. On 1 July 1569, Sigismund II Augustus united both of the countries into a single bi-federation, known as the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which existed for the next 226 years. The Union included constitutional changes such as creating a formal elective monarchy, to simultaneously reign over both parties. Following the death of Sigismund II in 1572, a joint Polish–Lithuanian monarch was to be elected as in the Union of Lublin it was agreed that the title "Grand Duke of Lithuania" was to be held by a jointly elected monarch in the Election sejm on his accession to the throne, thus losing its former institutional significance. However the Union of Lublin guaranteed that the institution and the title "Grand Duke of Lithuania" would be preserved. The demand for a separate inauguration ceremony of the Grand Duke of Lithuania was raised by the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (e.g. Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł, Eustachy Wołłowicz, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Konstanty Ostrogski) during negotiations. It was not officially included in it, however. Nevertheless, before the 1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election a congress of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's nobles was held on 20 April 1576 in Grodno which adopted a Universal, signed by the participating Lithuanian nobles, which announced that if the delegates of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were pressured by the Poles in the Election sejm, the Lithuanians would not be obliged by any oath to the Union of Lublin and would have the right to select a separate monarch. On 29 May 1580, a ceremony was held in the Vilnius Cathedral during which bishop Merkelis Giedraitis presented Stephen Báthory (King of Poland since 1 May 1576) a luxuriously decorated sword and a hat adorned with pearls (both were sanctified by Pope Gregory XIII himself). While this ceremony manifested the sovereignty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and had the meaning of elevation of the new Grand Duke of Lithuania, this ignored the stipulations of the Union of Lublin. It was short-lived because Sweden lost the war. The Commonwealth permanently ceased to exist in 1795, following its third partition by the neighbouring powers, Prussia, Russia and Austria. Following the partitions, the lands of ethnic Lithuania were divided—Lithuania proper became a part of the Russian Empire while Sudovia became a part of the Kingdom of Prussia. == History ==

Kingdom of Lithuania under Mindaugas I As the conquests of Prussia by the Teutonic Order and of Livonia by the Livonian Brothers were coming to an end, both Catholic religious orders began posing an existential threat to then-pagan Lithuania. In response, Duke Mindaugas, who by then had managed to strengthen his grip in various Baltic and Slavic lands, sought to consolidate power and unite Lithuania into one political entity, convert to Christianity, and become king. In 1250 or 1251, he was baptised as a Roman Catholic. On 17 July 1251 Pope oficially recognized Mindaugas as the King, thus establishing Christian Kingdom of Lithuania, and in 1253 probably in Vilnius or Novogrudok, Vytautas himself sought to officially establish his reign by coronation at least three times. Kingdom of Lithuania (1918) de jure under Mindaugas II During the First World War, the German Empire wanted Lithuania proper to be annexed and become a part of either Prussia or Saxony, which for 123 years remained a part of the Russian Empire following the Third Partition of the Polish−Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. In an attempt to avoid becoming a province but remain on good terms with Germany, the Council of Lithuania decided to establish a separate constitutional monarchy with Wilhelm von Urach as king, with his residence in Verkiai Palace. According to the twelve-point document resembling the rudiments of a Constitution, the Kingdom of Lithuania was supposed to have a bicameral legislature with a representative role for the monarch. Wilhelm von Urach was also presented with conditions such as: adopting the title of Mindaugas II; letting his children attend a Lithuanian school; only appointing courtiers, ministers and other high-ranking public officials who were Lithuanian citizens and speakers of Lithuanian, the country's official language; and who would not leave the state for more than two months per year without the permission of the government. As the war ended, it became clear that Germany was losing. On 5 October 1918, in the Reichstag, the new Chancellor of Germany Maximilian of Baden announced that his state acknowledged the right of nations to self-determination and supported their efforts to become independent countries. Soon afterwards, Germany expressed its official support for the independence of Lithuania. On 2 November 1918, as it became apparent that King-elect Mindaugas himself was hesitant to arrive in Lithuania for his coronation due to political unrest, the Council decided to abandon the idea of being a satellite monarchy and establish a fully independent republic instead. Modernity Although there are no monarchist parties in modern Lithuania, there is a monarchist movement, which is in favor of re-establishing the short-lived monarchy of 1918. The movement alongside the Lithuanian Royal Union of Nobility believe that the current Lithuanian state did not undergo all of the complicated and necessary procedures to truly abolish the Lithuanian monarchy. According to the senate marshal of the organization "Palace of the Kingdom of Lithuania", Stanislovas Švedarauskas: and Gediminas' Tower in Vilnius Prince Inigo von Urach, the grandson of Wilhelm von Urach (Mindaugas II), claims that according to Almanach de Gotha he remains to be the rightful claimant to the Lithuanian throne and is willing to become King of Lithuania, if the nation wants him to. To quote him from an interview for Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), "It's not my thing to decide it [the idea of officially being crowned King], that's the thing of the population here, of the citizens of Lithuania. It's not my thing [to decide]. But I promise—if they want me, I would be ready for this job." He also mentioned that Wilhelm von Urach expressed his will in his Testament of "keeping the claim of the throne" of Lithuania as well as Monaco. == See also ==