Europe · High and late Middle Ages
Principality of Smolensk
drawn on the map 1056–1240, 1294–1406
independent from 1125 (some sources 1054 as a sub-principality); annexed by Lithuania in 1404; the title lingered until the region's full disestablishment in 1508. Ruled by the Rostislavichi dynasty (from Rostislav Mstislavich) 1126–1404.
- Shown on the map
- 1056–1240, 1294–1406 (2 periods)
- Peak area
- 150k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
independent from 1125 (some sources 1054 as a sub-principality); annexed by Lithuania in 1404; the title lingered until the region's full disestablishment in 1508. Ruled by the Rostislavichi dynasty (from Rostislav Mstislavich) 1126–1404. Smolensk commanded the upper Dnieper and the portages linking the Baltic and Black Sea trade systems, making it a major commercial center. Its most celebrated document is the Smolensk trade treaty of 1229 with Riga and Gotland, concluded by Grand Prince Mstislav Davidovich (d. 1230) with the Riga Town Council (which had itself received Visby/Gotland city rights in 1225). A landmark of medieval commercial law, its preamble declared that "a law was written, which must apply to the Russians in Riga and on the Gotlandic coast and equally to the Germans in Smolensk" — a pioneering reciprocity clause. Trade links reached Lübeck, Bremen, Münster, Dortmund, and Braunschweig. After repeated sieges Smolensk fell to Vytautas of Lithuania in 1404, ending the Rostislavichi dynasty; Smolensk contingents nonetheless fought on the Polish-Lithuanian side at Grunwald in 1410.
Common questions
- What was the Principality of Smolensk?
- independent from 1125 (some sources 1054 as a sub-principality); annexed by Lithuania in 1404; the title lingered until the region's full disestablishment in 1508. Ruled by the Rostislavichi dynasty (from Rostislav Mstislavich) 1126–1404.
- When is the Principality of Smolensk shown on the map?
- The border data draws the Principality of Smolensk 1056–1240, 1294–1406, in 2 separate periods. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
- How large was the Principality of Smolensk?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Principality of Smolensk covered about 150,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, academic works (John Fine on the Balkans, Halperin and Martin on Muscovy, Rady and Veszprémy on Hungary) and, for a few entries, the medieval Livonian Chronicle of Henry itself. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Principality of Smolensk en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Smolensk
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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