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''[[Lithuania Genealogy|Lithuania]]'' | ''[[Lithuania Genealogy|Lithuania]]''{{Template:Lithuania-sidebar}} | ||
Lithuanians have inhabited the eastern littoral of the Baltic Sea for more than 2,000 years. The Baltic peoples that now inhabit the region arrived the sixth and seventh centuries, pushed westward by the Slavs from their original home farther east. In the thirteenth century, the Teutonic Knights conquered the neighboring areas which later became Estonia and Latvia and forced Christianity on the inhabitants. But the Lithuanians formed a unified state to protect themselves against the Knights, successfully resisted annexation, and remained pagan until 1253, when Mindaugas became its first Christian ruler. In 1385, in response to a continued German threat in the west, Lithuania formed a political alliance with Poland. Grand Duke Jagiello became king of Poland in 1386 as Ladislaus II by his marriage with Jadwiga, daughter of Louis I of Poland and Hungary. Jagiello accepted Christianity as a condition of the union and Lithuania officially became a Christian nation in 1387, adopting Roman Catholicism. The state’s fortunes declined in the sixteenth century and, to counter an increasing threat with the rise of Muscovy, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania merged with Poland in 1569, creating a commonwealth. | Lithuanians have inhabited the eastern littoral of the Baltic Sea for more than 2,000 years. The Baltic peoples that now inhabit the region arrived the sixth and seventh centuries, pushed westward by the Slavs from their original home farther east. In the thirteenth century, the Teutonic Knights conquered the neighboring areas which later became Estonia and Latvia and forced Christianity on the inhabitants. But the Lithuanians formed a unified state to protect themselves against the Knights, successfully resisted annexation, and remained pagan until 1253, when Mindaugas became its first Christian ruler. In 1385, in response to a continued German threat in the west, Lithuania formed a political alliance with Poland. Grand Duke Jagiello became king of Poland in 1386 as Ladislaus II by his marriage with Jadwiga, daughter of Louis I of Poland and Hungary. Jagiello accepted Christianity as a condition of the union and Lithuania officially became a Christian nation in 1387, adopting Roman Catholicism. The state’s fortunes declined in the sixteenth century and, to counter an increasing threat with the rise of Muscovy, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania merged with Poland in 1569, creating a commonwealth. | ||