- Skirgaila
Skirgaila, also known as Ivan; ca. 1353 or 1354 –
11 January 1397 inKiev ; baptized 1383/1384 as "Casimir") was a regent of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania for his brotherJogaila from 1386 to 1392. He was son ofAlgirdas , Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his second wifeUliana of Tver .After Algirdas' death in 1377, Jogaila became the Grand Duke. It is believed that dynastic disputes that soon erupted between him and his uncle
Kęstutis and his cousinVytautas the Great were largely inspired by Skirgaila. It is known about his travels to theTeutonic Knights in 1379 just a year prior to the controversialTreaty of Dovydiškės . Skirgaila was the chief supporter of his brother Jogaila and helped him to imprison both Kęstutis and Vytautas inKreva castle during theLithuanian Civil War (1381–1384) . Some historians speculate that Kęstutis' death after a week in prison was in fact assassination carried out by Skirgaila. As a reward for a job well done, Skirgaila received theDuchy of Trakai .When Jogaila was preparing for the
Union of Kreva , Skirgaila was actively involved in the negotiations and even headed a diplomatic mission to Poland. The negotiations succeeded and Jogaila marriedJadwiga of Poland and was crowned asKing of Poland in 1386. He left Skirgaila as his regent in Lithuania. However, Skirgaila was not popular with the nobles and Vytautas saw this as an opportunity to gain power. In 1389 he started a new civil war, but after an unsuccessful attack onVilnius he had to seek help from theTeutonic Knights . In 1392 Jogaila and Vytautas signedOstrów Agreement , and Vytautas became his regent of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. TheDuchy of Trakai was returned to Vytautas as his patrimony.As a compensation Skirgaila received a portion of
Volhynia andKiev since 1395. The circumstances surrounding his death are not entirely clear. It is rumored he was poisoned by the order ofOrthodox Church officials. He was interred inKiev Pechersk Lavra .References
* cite encyclopedia | editor=Vytautas Spečiūnas | encyclopedia=Lietuvos valdovai (XIII-XVIII a.): enciklopedinis žinynas | title=Skirgaila | year=2004 | publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas | location=Vilnius | id=ISBN 5-420-01535-8 | pages=54
See also
*
Gediminids
*List of Belarusian rulers
*List of Lithuanian rulers
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