Butigeidis was the Grand Duke

Grand Duke

The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...

 of Lithuania

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...

 from 1285 to 1291. He is the first known and undisputed member of the Gediminids

Gediminids

The Gediminids were a dynasty of monarchs of Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. One branch of this dynasty, known as the Jagiellons, reigned also in Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Bohemia...

.

He started his rule when the Livonian Order

Livonian Order

The Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights...

 and the Teutonic Knights

Teutonic Knights

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

 were finalizing their conquest of the Baltic tribes

Balts

The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...

. In 1289, leading about 8,000 troops, Butigeidis attacked Sambia

Sambia

Sambia or Samland is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Lagoon and the Vistula Lagoon demarcate the peninsula. Prior to 1945 it formed an important part of East Prussia.-Names:Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct...

. In 1289 the Teutonic Knights built a castle in Tilsit

Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast

Sovetsk , known by its historical German name of Tilsit in East Prussia before 1946, is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River. Population: -History of Tilsit:...

 and their raids intensified. Lithuanians were forced to abandon Koklainiai Castle located on the other bank of the river. Butigeidis was the first to build strong castles along the Neman River

Neman River

Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...

. The castle system was further developed after his death and helped to resist the raids until the second half of the 14th century.

Butigeidis transferred Vaŭkavysk

Vaukavysk

Vawkavysk or Vaŭkavysk or Volkovysk is a town in the Hrodna Province of Belarus. It is the center of Vaŭkavysk district and has a population of around 48,000....

 to Galicia-Volhynia in exchange for peace. He died in 1290 or 1292, and his brother Butvydas

Butvydas

Butvydas was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1292 to 1295. His influence was strong during his brother Butigeidis' reign. This led some historians to believe, that they were co-rulers, much like the grandsons Algirdas and Kęstutis...

(also known as Pukuveras) inherited the crown.