Gediminids
The House of Gediminid or simply the Gediminids were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. A cadet branch of this family, known as the Jagiellonian dynasty, reigned also in the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Bohemia. Several other branches ranked among the leading aristocratic dynasties of Russia and Poland into recent times.
Gediminids
(Гедзімінавічы, Гедымінавічы, Gediminaičiai, Gedėmėnātē, Giedyminowicze, Гедиміновичі, Гедиминовичи) | |
|---|---|
| Parent house | Palemonid dynasty |
| Country | Grand Duchy of Lithuania |
| Founded | 1315 or 1316 |
| Founder | Gediminas |
| Final ruler | Sigismund II of Poland |
| Titles | King/Grand Duke of Lithuania |
| Cadet branches | Jagiellonian dynasty Kęstutaičiai Trubetskoy family House of Golitsyn |
The Gediminas' Cap was used during the inaugurations of Gediminids as Lithuanian monarchs in the Vilnius Cathedral and symbolized the dynasty's continuity.
Their monarchical title in Lithuanian primarily was, by some folkloristic data, kunigų kunigas ("Duke of Dukes"), and later on, didysis kunigas ("Great/High Duke") or, in a simple manner, karalius or kunigaikštis. In the 18th century, the latter form was changed into tautological didysis kunigaikštis, which nevertheless would be translated as "Grand Duke" (for its etymology, see Grand Prince).