Gediminids


The House of Gediminas, or simply the Gediminids, were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. A cadet branch of this family, known as the Jagiellonian dynasty, reigned also in the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Bohemia. Several other branches ranked among the leading aristocratic dynasties of Poland and Russia into recent times.
Gediminas' Cap was used during the inaugurations of Gediminids as Lithuanian monarchs in the Vilnius Cathedral and symbolized the dynasty's continuity.
Their monarchical title in Lithuanian primarily was, by some folkloristic data, kunigų kunigas, and later on, didysis kunigas or, in a simple manner, karalius or kunigaikštis. In the 18th century, the latter form was changed into tautological didysis kunigaikštis, which nevertheless would be translated as "Grand Duke".
While some Gediminid rulers are referred as "kings" by contemporary sources, Lithuania during their era was never recognized as kingdom by Catholic Europe. Therefore its rulers were not treated there as equal to Catholic kings - although they wielded the same amount of power and authority - and in the modern historiography the pre-Gediminid monarch Mindaugas is widely recognized as the only Lithuanian King.

Origin

The origin of Gediminas himself is much debated. Some sources say he was Vytenis' ostler, others that he was of peasant stock. Some historians consider him as the son or grandson of Lithuanian or Yatvingian King/duke Skalmantas. Most scholars agree, however, that Gediminas was Vytenis' brother.

Confirmed Gediminid rulers

Overlapping years mean coregency or anti-rule:
The Eastern Orthodox branches of the family were initially Ruthenized to some extent. The majority of these families soon converted to Roman Catholicism and became Polonized. Others moved to Muscovy, became thoroughly Russified and are among the princely families of Russia.
In Poland, some Gediminid families are extinct, but others survive to the present: Chowański, Czartoryski, Sanguszko, Siesicki, and Koriatowicz-Kurcewicz..
The Russian Gediminid families include Bulgakov, Golitsin, Kurakin, Khovansky, Troubetzkoy, Mstislavsky, Belsky, and Volynsky. Some of these families also survive, as of 2020.

Gediminid descendants

I. The descendants of *Bujwid Vytianis Rex. King Lithuania.
  1. Dukes Prince of Bujwid
I. The descendants of Narimantas:
  1. Dukes of
  2. # Dukes of
  3. ## Dukes of
  4. Dukes of
  5. # Dukes of
  6. # Dukes of
  7. ## Dukes of Golitsyn
  8. ## Dukes of Kurakin
  9. # Dukes of
  10. # Dukes of
  11. Dukes of Korecki
  12. # Dukes of
II. The descendants of Algirdas:
  1. Duke Andrei of Polotsk
  2. # Dukes of
  3. # Dukes of
  4. Dmitrijus Algirdaitis
  5. # Dukes of Trubetskoy
  7. # Dukes of Czartoryski
  8. Vladimiras Algirdaitis
  9. # Olelkaičiai
  10. ## Dukes of
  11. # Dukes of Belsky
  12. The descendants of Kaributas
  13. # Dukes of
  14. ## Dukes of Wiśniowiecki
  15. ## Dukes of
  16. ## Dukes of
  17. ## Dukes of
  18. The descendants of
  19. # Dukes of
  20. # Dukes of Kobryn
  21. # Dukes of Sanguszko
  22. The Jagiellons
  23. The descendants of Lengvenis
  24. # Dukes of Mstislavsky
III. The descendants of Kęstutis
  1. Patrikas Kęstutaitis
  2. Vaidotas Kęstutaitis
  3. Butautas Kęstutaitis
  4. Vytautas the Great
  5. Tautvilas Kęstutaitis
  6. Žygimantas Kęstutaitis
IV. The descendants of Jaunutis:
  1. Dukes of Zaslavsky
  2. # Dukes of Mstislavsky
V. The descendants of Liubartas
VI., descended from Karijotas
  1. Dukes of Podilskyi
  2. Dukes of

    Family tree