Mykolas Kesgaila
Encyclopedia
Lithuanian mythology
Lithuanian mythology is an example of Baltic mythology, developed by Lithuanians throughout the centuries.-History of scholarship:Surviving information about Baltic paganism in general is very sketchy and incomplete. As with most ancient Indo-European cultures Lithuanian mythology is an example of...
, and Valimantaitis is patronymic
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
used as last name. His sons used Kęsgaila as their last name. (died ca. 1450) was a Lithuanian nobleman from Deltuva
Deltuva
Deltuva is a small town in Ukmergė district, Vilnius County, Lithuania. It is located 6 km north-west of Ukmergė, near the road to Kėdainiai...
. He established the Kęsgailos
Kesgailos
Kęsgailos was a Lithuanian noble family, one of the biggest landowners in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The family traces its roots to the 14th century AD . Their seat was in the Samogitia and Trakai regions...
family in Samogitia
Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...
, where their power rivaled that of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Mykolas Kęsgaila was the deputy of Ukmergė
Ukmerge
-Early history:Ukmergė was first mentioned as a settlement in 1333. It was essentially a wooden fortress that stood on a hill, near the confluence of the Vilkmergė River and the Šventoji River. Ukmergė was attacked by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order in 1333, 1365, 1378, 1386, and even...
(1409–1412), Elder of Samogitia
Eldership of Samogitia
The Duchy of Samogitia had been the administrative unit of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1422 . Between 1422 to 1441 it was known as the Eldership of Samogitia...
(1412–1432, 1440–1441, and 1443–1450), and castellan
Castellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
of Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
(1443–1448). He was a father of Jonas Kęsgaila
Jonas Kesgaila
Jonas Kęsgaila was a Lithuanian nobleman, son of Mykolas Kęsgaila of the Kęsgaila family. He fathered two sons and two daughters....
and Mykolas Kęsgaila the Younger
Mykolas Kesgaila (died 1476)
Mykolas Kęsgaila was an influential Lithuanian nobleman from the Kęsgailos family. Together with his brother Jonas Kęsgaila, Mykolas dominated the politics of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for three decades. Mykolas Kęsgaila was Chancellor of Lithuania , regent of Smolensk and Voivode of Vilnius...
.
Mykolas was first mentioned in the Union of Vilnius and Radom of 1401. He was a strong supporter of Grand Duke Vytautas, who awarded the loyal ally with the seat of Elder of Samogitia as Mykolas' mother was of Samogitian stock. Mykolas presided over Christianization of Samogitia
Christianization of Lithuania
The Christianization of Lithuania – Christianization of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that took place in 1387, initiated by the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila and his cousin Vytautas, that signified the official adoption of Christianity by Lithuanians, one of the last pagan...
in 1413, subdued a peasant rebellion in 1418, and foiled a plot by nobles against Vytautas in 1419. In 1430, after death of Vytautas, Mykolas Kęsgaila and his brothers Rumbaudas and Jaunius Valimantaitis supported the accession of Švitrigaila
Švitrigaila
Švitrigaila Švitrigaila Švitrigaila (ca 1370 – 10 February 1452; was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432. He spent most of his life in largely unsuccessful dynastic struggles against his cousins Vytautas and Sigismund Kęstutaitis.-Struggle against Vytautas:...
to the Lithuanian throne. He signed the Treaty of Skirsnemunė of 1431 – alliance of Švitrigaila with 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...
in the Lithuanian Civil War (1431–1435). After Sigismund Kęstutaitis
Sigismund Kestutaitis
Sigismund Kęstutaitis was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1432 to 1440. Sigismund was his baptismal name; Sigismund's pagan Lithuanian birth name is unknown. He was son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kęstutis and his wife Birutė....
seized power, Mykolas and his brothers were imprisoned. Rumbaudas and Jaunius were executed, while Mykolas managed to restore his power and domains. Possibly such an outcome was influenced by Mykolas' daughter, the wife of Sigismund's influential ally Jonas Goštautas
Jonas Goštautas
Jonas Gostautas or Goštautas was a Lithuanian nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the Goštautai noble family, a politician and skillful land owner...
. Mykolas witnessed the Union of Grodno of 1432 between Sigismund and Jogaila
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
, King of Poland. According to the Bychowiec Chronicle
Bychowiec Chronicle
The Bychowiec Chronicle named the Letopis of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania is an anonymous 16th century chronicle of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although one of the least reliable sources of the epoch, it is considered the most complete redaction of the Lithuanian Chronicles...
, after the murder of Sigismund in 1440, Mykolas was among supporters of Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV KG of the House of Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and King of Poland from 1447, until his death.Casimir was the second son of King Władysław II Jagiełło , and the younger brother of Władysław III of Varna....
for the throne of Grand Duke. For such support, he was reinstated as Elder of Samogitia, but the Samogitians did not want to recognize Casimir's authority. As a compromise, Casimir granted a privilege affirming semi-autonomic status of the region and granting new freedoms to the nobles. Mykolas was able to return to the office.