Švitrigaila (before 1370 – 10 February 1452; sometimes spelledSvidrigiello) was theGrand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432.^[2][3] He spent most of his life in largely unsuccessful dynastic struggles against his cousinsVytautas andSigismund Kęstutaitis.^[3]

Švitrigaila
Grand Duke of Lithuania Prince of Volhynia
Švitrigaila byAlexander Guagnini
Grand Duke of Lithuania
Reign	October 1430 – 31 August 1432
Predecessor	Vytautas
Successor	Sigismund Kęstutaitis
Grand Duke of Ruthenia
Reign	1432–1440
Predecessor	Vytautas
Successor	Casimir IV
Prince of Volhynia
Reign	1434–1452
Predecessor	Teodoras
Successor	Simonas
Born	Before 1370
Died	(1452-02-10)10 February 1452
Spouse	Anna of Tver[n 1]
Issue	Son (died young)[1]
Dynasty	Gediminid
Father	Algirdas
Mother	Uliana of Tver
Religion	Roman Catholic prev.Lithuanian paganism

Švitrigaila was born toAlgirdas,Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his second wifeUliana of Tver. His date of birth is unknown, but it is believed that he was the youngest or second youngest son of Algirdas. He first appeared in politics in October 1382 when he witnessed theTreaty of Dubysa between his elder brotherJogaila and theTeutonic Knights. Historians believe that would indicate that at the time Švitrigaila was no younger than 12 which would put his date of birth sometime before 1370. In a complaint submitted to theCouncil of Florence, Švitrigaila claimed that he and Jogaila were favorite sons of Algirdas. Before his death in 1377, Algirdas transferred his throne to Jogaila but made him swear to make Švitrigaila his heir. Jogaila's representatives did not outright deny the arrangement and instead claimed that it had been modified by mutual agreement between the brothers.

In 1386, as part of theChristianization of Lithuania andunion between Poland and Lithuania, Švitrigaila together with his brothers was baptized in theRoman Catholic rite inKraków. Hisbaptismal name was Bolesław.

Despite numerous power struggles in Lithuania, including rebellion byAndrei of Polotsk, conquest of thePrincipality of Smolensk, and theLithuanian Civil War (1389–92), Švitrigaila does not appear in politics until 1392. After the death of his motherUliana of Tver, Jogaila appointed falconerFedor Vesna regent of thePrincipality of Vitebsk. This angered Švitrigaila and he rebelled against his brother.Vytautas, who just concluded theOstrów Agreement to become Grand Duke of Lithuania, andSkirgaila gathered an army and capturedDrutsk,Orsha, and thenVitebsk. Švitrigaila was captured and sent toKraków. He was not held in a prison as demonstrated by the fact that he headed a commission for demarcation of the Lithuanian–Prussian border in 1393, but at the same time he had no territories.

Accounts on Švitrigaila's activities in 1394–1397 are conflicting. Older historians followedJan Długosz and claimed that he escaped to theTeutonic Knights in Prussia right after the capture of Vitebsk, but Polish historianAleksander Narcyz Przezdziecki disproved it.^{[citation needed]} Probably around 1396 or 1397, Švitrigaila andFedor, son ofLiubartas who was ousted fromVolhynia near the conclusion of theGalicia–Volhynia Wars, escaped from Kraków toDuchy of Cieszyn, fief of theKingdom of Bohemia, and from there to the court ofSigismund of Luxemburg. Švitrigaila contacted theTeutonic Knights, a long-standing enemy of Lithuania, and proposed an alliance against Vytautas. It was not an unprecedented move: Vytautas had done the same in 1382 and 1390 when he fought with Jogaila. However, the Knights concluded theTreaty of Salynas with Vytautas in October 1398 and Švitrigaila lost any hopes of an armed rebellion. He reconciled with Vytautas and receivedNavahrudak and a portion ofPodolia not ruled bySpytek of Melsztyn.

In 1399, Švitrigaila survived the disastrousBattle of the Vorskla River against theGolden Horde. Spytek of Melsztyn was killed in the battle and Švitrigaila received his lands in Podolia.

In January 1401, Vytautas andLithuanian nobles concluded thePact of Vilnius which confirmed that after Vytautas' death Lithuania would be ruled by Jogaila and his heirs. That crushed Švitrigaila's ambition to one day become the Grand Duke of Lithuania. ChroniclerJan Długosz hinted that the Pact was in part motivated by the desire to contain growing influence and ambition of Švitrigaila. According toJohann von Posilge, Švitrigaila was forced to sign the Pact. However, just a month later he wrote toSiemowit IV of Masovia trying to form an alliance against Vytautas.

Vytautas-instigated theFirst Samogitian Uprising against the Teutonic Knights started in March 1401. In August,Yury of Smolensk and his father-in-lawOleg II of Ryazan started a rebellion to retake thePrincipality of Smolensk. Švitrigaila decided to take advantage of these conflicts. In January 1402, instead of traveling to the wedding of Jogaila andAnna of Cilli, Švitrigaila, disguised as a merchant, traveled toMarienburg, the capital of the Teutonic Knights. On 2 March 1402, he concluded a treaty with the Knights which in essence confirmed theTreaty of Salynas. In July 1402, the Knights, including Švitrigaila, invaded Lithuania and marched towardsVilnius, the capital of Lithuania, however Vytautas learned of the planned treason and executed six city residents. The Knights did not dare to lay the siege and returned to Prussia. Vytautas wanted to concentrate on the rebellion in Smolensk and peace negotiations started in summer 1403. The truce was signed in December 1403 and thePeace of Raciąż in May 1404. The Knights received territorial concessions inSamogitia while Švitrigaila receivedPodolia (though the territory wasde facto governed byPiotr Szafraniec),Zhydachiv, and an annual sum of 1,400 marks from theWieliczka Salt Mine from Jogaila and thePrincipalities of Briansk,Chernigov, andTrubetsk from Vytautas.

For a few years, Švitrigaila was loyal to Vytautas and helped to subdue Smolensk and negotiate with the Teutonic Knights regarding theDobrzyń Land. Švitrigaila's new territories were by the border with theGrand Duchy of Moscow which began to emerge as the main rival to Lithuania. He decided to rebel against Vytautas once again but this time with the help ofVasily I of Moscow, who was also Vytautas' son-in-law. In May 1409, Švitrigaila with a great number of dukes and boyars defected to Moscow. Vasily I rewarded Švitrigaila withVladimir,Volokolamsk,Pereslavl,Rzhev, half ofKolomna. Vytautas immediately gathered an army, including 5,000 Polish men commanded byZbigniew of Brzezia and one flag of Teutonic Knights, and marched towards Russia. The two armies met on theUgra River but did not engage in battle. The Lithuanian army was exhausted and lacked food while Russians needed to defend from an invasion of theGolden Horde, commanded byEdigu. A peace was concluded which treated Ugra River as the border between Russia and Lithuania.

It is not known what happened to Švitrigaila after the standoff at the Ugra River. According to a contemporary Teutonic report, Vytautas demanded that as a condition for peace Vasily I would surrender Švitrigaila, but Vasily I claimed that he had escaped to the Golden Horde. The report further elaborated that Švitrigaila received marriage proposal to a daughter of a Tatar Emir. However, in June 1409, Švitrigaila was back at the court of Vytautas. Restless, he again attempted to conspire with the Teutonic Knights, but the letters were intercepted. Švitrigaila was arrested and imprisoned in various locations until he was settled in theKremenets Castle, the only brick castle inVolhynia. There he had at least some freedom as he signed land donations.

Švitrigaila remained imprisoned for nine years until his escape was organized by Dashko Feodorovich Ostrogski, Aleksander Nos, and Alexander of Smolensk. During the night of 24 March 1418 the conspirators, with 500 men, invaded the Kremenets Castle (the gate was opened by two of their men who infiltrated castle security), freed Švitrigaila, and marched toLutsk. The city was captured and Švitrigaila received support from local nobility, but instead of waging a war, he retreated toWallachia. For a while, he lived withErnest, Duke of Austria andSigismund, King of Hungary.

At the same time, an anti-Vytautas rebellion broke out inSamogitia. TheTeutonic Knights wanted to use that against Lithuania and invited Švitrigaila to overthrow Vytautas. Instead, Švitrigaila reconciled with Jogaila during a meeting between King Sigismund and Jogaila inKošice in May 1419. Švitrigaila receivedOpoczno and restored annual income from theWieliczka Salt Mine. However, that did not reconcile him with Vytautas. After the failed mediation by King Sigismund between Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights, both Poland and Lithuania began preparing for theGollub War. Polish nobles understood the importance of neutralizing Švitrigaila, who continued to receive Teutonic offers for an alliance, and sent a delegation to persuade Vytautas to forgive his cousin. Eventually, Vytautas relented and the official agreement was concluded in August 1420. Švitrigaila swore loyalty and receivedPrincipalities of Briansk,Chernigov,Trubetsk, andNovgorod-Seversk.

After the reconciliation, Švitrigaila actively participated in state politics. In the spring of 1421, he won a battle against the Tatars; in the summer of 1422, he participated in theGollub War and subsequentTreaty of Melno; in 1424–1426, he was sent to a diplomatic mission toRiga; he also took part in Vytautas' raid againstNovgorod.

Upon Vytautas's death in October 1430,Lithuanian nobles unilaterally elected Švitrigaila as the Grand Duke.^[4] This violated the terms of theUnion of Horodło of 1413, where Lithuanians promised not to elect a new Grand Duke without the approval of theKingdom of Poland.^[4] In order to receiveRuthenian votes Švitrigaila granted equal rights to Catholic and Orthodox nobles – it was one lasting achievement of his brief reign.^[5] ThePolish nobility, led byZbigniew Oleśnicki, were outraged and demanded that Švitrigaila acknowledged hisfealty to his brotherJogaila,King of Poland.^[4] Švitrigaila refused and professed full independence.^[5] The conflict was further complicated by territorial disputes inPodolia andVolhynia, that according to an agreement in 1411 were to be ruled by Lithuania only for the lifetime of Vytautas.^[4]

Švitrigaila fought against the Polish–Lithuanian forces atLutsk in Volhynia, and at the same time started organizing a wider anti-Polish coalition.^[6] In June 1431, an agreement was reached with theTeutonic Knights: the Knights declared war and without much opposition invaded Poland,^[5] whose forces were engaging Švitrigaila in Volhynia.^[7] In September a two-year truce between Poland, Lithuania, and the Teutonic Knights was signed inStaryi Chortoryisk.^[8] It was more favorable to Poland and it is not clear why Švitrigaila agreed to it.^[4] However, the truce did not solve the underlying dispute. The war turned into diplomatic struggle: Poland sought to turn Lithuanian nobles against Švitrigaila.^[8]

Conspirators, led bySigismund Kęstutaitis, attacked Švitrigaila and his escort, who were staying inAshmyany for the night of 31 August 1432.^[8] Švitrigaila managed to escape toPolotsk while his pregnant wife Anna of Tver was detained.^{[1][n 1]} It is unclear what groups supported Sigismund and why. Possibly Lithuanian nobles were dissatisfied with favors Švitrigaila showed to Orthodox dukes, but before the coup no such opposition manifested itself.^[4] Sigismund, who did not play a major role in Lithuanian politics before the coup^[4] and who initially supported Švitrigaila,^[10] became the Grand Duke and resumed policy of union with Poland.^[5]

Lithuania was divided into two camps: supporters of Sigismund (Lithuanian lands,Samogitia,Podlaskie,Hrodna,Minsk) to the west, and supporters of Švitrigaila (Polotsk,Vitebsk,Smolensk, Kiev [Kyiv],Volhynia) to the east.^[4] Three years of devastating hostilities began. Švitrigaila enlisted help fromSayid Ahmad I, Khan of theGolden Horde.^[11] Both sides suffered heavy losses (seeBattle of Ashmyany) and final victory in theBattle of Wiłkomierz went to Sigismund in 1435.^[6] After the defeat, Švitrigaila fled toPolotsk. Losing his influence in the Slavic principalities, he attempted to reconcile with Poland in September 1437: he would rule lands that still supported him (chieflyKiev andVolhynia) and after his death the territories would pass to the King of Poland.^[12] However,Polish Senate did not ratify this treaty under strong protest from Sigismund.^[6] Švitrigaila retreated toWallachia in 1438.^[13]

In 1440,Sigismund Kęstutaitis was assassinated by nobles who supported Švitrigaila, and Švitrigaila returned to rulePodolia andVolhynia. At the age of 70 (or 85, according to some sources), he was too old to resume his struggle for the Lithuanian throne and more importantly had no support from the Council of Lords led byJonas Goštautas, that in June 1440 electedCasimir Jagiellon, brother of Polish KingWładysław III as Grand Duke. Shortly before his death inLutsk in 1452, he bequeathed all his possessions inPodolia andVolynia to the Lithuanian state.^[3]

Švitrigaila died on 10 February 1452 in Lutsk and was buried at theKyiv Pechersk Lavra.^[3][14]