Lithuania, a grand-duchy in Eastern Europe, which fiirmerly constituted a y)art of the kingdom of I'olaud, and whicli at the partition of the kingdom was partly united with Russia (the governments of Vilna, Grodno, ]\Iohilev, Minsk, and A'itebsk ), jiartly with Prus- sia (the administrative district of (jombiimen). Tlie area of Lithuania is about 105,000 square miles. In the earliest historic times the country of the Lithu- anians was subject to tlie neighboring tribes, in partic- ular to the Russians of Polocz. Asum independent state it appears for the first time about 1217 under Ercziwil, who threw off the yoke of Polock, and con- quered Podlesia, Grodno, and Brzesk. Eberwand, about
1220, began to expel the Tartars from Lithuania, and Ringold, about 1235, was the first independent grand- duke. His son Mindore, who had to cede Podlesia, Samogitia, and Courland to the prince of Ilalicz Nov- gorod and to the Teutonic Order, was in 1245 baptized by the archbishop of Riga and crowned as king ; but in 1261 he apostatized from Christianity, and in 1263 he was slaiit by Svintorog, the governor of Samogitia, who in 1268 obtained control of the country. In 1281 Pod- lesia was reunited with Lithuania. In 1282 Witen be- came ruler of Lithuania, after murdering his predeces- sor. His son Gedinim (1315-1328) conquered Samo- gitia and a portion of lUissia, inclusive of Kiev, and founded the towns of Yilna and Troki. The son of Gedinim, Olgerd, wholly expelled the Tartars from Po- dolia, and conquered the pruice Demetrius of Russia at Moscow, in 1333 at Mosaisk. His son Jagello was bap- tized on F'eb. 14, 1386, at Cracow, and on this occasion received the name of Vladislav. The maiTiage of Ja- gello with the princess Hedwig of Poland led to the union of Lithuania with Poland, and made the latter countrj' the greatest power of Eastern Europe. In 1401, and again in 1413, it was stipulated that the jmnces of Poland and Lithuania should only be elected with the consent of both nations. L'nder Witold, who in 1413 conquered Smolensk, Lithuania was a powerful state, which emliraced, besides Lithuania proper, the larger portion of White and Red Russia, Samogitia, and otlier districts. After a brief separation from I'oland in the 15th century, Lithuania and Poland were reunited in 1501, and after this time the union was not again inter- rupted. In 1569 even the administrative union with Poland was carried through, and the history of Lithu- ania fully coincides with that of Poland. For an ac- count of the Reformation, and the subsequent contiicts of the Roman Catholic hierarchy with the Russian gov- ernment, see Poland and Russia. The Lithuanians, who still number about 1,340,000 inhabitants, are di- vided into three branches: 1, the Lithuanians proper, about 717,000, in the Russian government ; 2, tlie Sa- mogitians or Shamaites, of whom about 308,000 live in the district of Samogitia, which in 1795 was incorpo- rated with Russia, and belongs to the government of Vilna, and 184,000 in the former government of Au- gustovo of Poland; 3, the Prussian Lithuanians, about 137,000. Before the partition of Poland, nearly the entire popidation of Lithuania, which embraced Lithu- anians, Poles, and Little Russians or Ruthenians, be- longed to the Catholic Church : the Lithuanians and Poles to the Latin rite, and the Little Russians or Ru- thenians to the Greek rite. The united Greek bishops were in 1839 prevailed upon to sever their connection with the pope and unite with the orthodox Greek Church, whereu]ion the Russian government officially regarded the entire population of their dioceses as being part of the Greek Church. The Catholics now consti- tute a majority only in the government of Vilna : they have within the boundaries of the ancient Lithuania the archdiocese of Mohilev, and the dioceses of Vilna, Samogitia, and iMinsk. The Protestants belong mostly to the Reformed (Tiurch, which is divided into four dis- tricts, each of which has a superintendent and vice-su- perintendent at its head. It has about 30 ministers, and aninially holds a synod which often lasts three or four weeks, and which has to be attended by all tlie lay members, aiul by those ministers in whose district the synod assembles. Every district must be represented either by the president or by the vice-president. The meeting of the synod takes place every year in a dif- ferent district and parish, the clergyman of the latter receiving a compensation for entertaining the members of the synod. The synod rules the Reformed Church under the superintendence of the ministry of St. Peters- burg. It ]iays the salaries of the clergymen, attends to the repairs of the churches, and has also the care of all schools and poor-houses. It has from dotations an an- nual revenue of 22,000 silver rubles. The Lutheran
LITTER
455
LITTLE CHRISTIANS
congregations of Lithuania, which are less numerous, belong to the diocese of Courland. The orthodox Greek Church has within the limits of Lithuania the arch- bishop of White Kussia and Lithuania, the bishop of Mohilev, the bishop of A'ilna, and the bishop of Vi- tebsk. The dioceses of the two former belong to the eparchies of the second, those of the two latter to the eparchies of the third and fourth class. The following table of the live governments formerly belonging to Lithuania exhibits the total population, the Jioman Catholics, Protestants, and Israelites ; the remainder be- long chietly to the orthodox Greek Church :