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The Lithuanian Civil War of 1431–1435 was a conflict over the succession to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, after Vytautas the Great died in 1430 without leaving an heir.〔〔〔 The war was fought on the one side by Švitrigaila, allied with the Teutonic Knights, and on the other by Sigismund Kęstutaitis, backed by the Kingdom of Poland. The war threatened to sever the Union of Krewo, the personal union between Poland and Lithuania.〔 Švitrigaila's alliance with the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Paul von Rusdorf, launched the Polish–Teutonic War (1431–1435) but failed to secure victory for Švitrigaila.〔 When Sigismund captured power in Lithuania by staging a coup in 1432, Lithuania split into two opposing camps, and there began three years of devastating hostilities. To prevent the Knights from continuing their support of Švitrigaila, Poland backed a Hussite invasion of Prussia in 1433.〔 The war ended in a decisive defeat for Švitrigaila and his ally, the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights, at the Battle of Pabaiskas in September 1435. Švitrigaila eventually surrendered in 1437; Sigismund Kęstutaitis ruled Lithuania for only eight years before he was assassinated in 1440. ==Prelude== The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland had created several tenuous unions in the decades preceding the conflict, including the 1385 Union of Krewo, the 1392 Ostrów Agreement, and the 1413 Union of Horodło. The two states had successfully joined forces against a common enemy, the Teutonic Knights, at the 1410 Battle of Grunwald. The Knights' defeat in the battle weakened but did not completely vanquish their military power and they continued to engage in lesser conflicts.〔 Internal tensions within the tentatively unified state persisted after the battle. While Jogaila (Jagiełło) and Vytautas had converted to Roman Catholicism, the Eastern Orthodox elite, along with some Lithuanian magnates, opposed a closer union with Poland. On 27 October 1430 Vytautas the Great, Grand Duke of Lithuania, suddenly died without leaving an heir or a will. His coronation as King of Lithuania had been scheduled for September 1430, but the Poles had prevented the crown from reaching Lithuania.〔 Vytautas' only daughter, Sophia of Lithuania, had married Vasily I of Moscow and had only one surviving son, Vasily II. He was Orthodox and could not lead the recently Christianized Catholic Grand Duchy.〔 Their adherence to the Orthodox faith also prevented many other Gediminids from becoming pretenders to the throne. There were two most suitable Catholic candidates: Vytautas' brother and legal heir, Sigismund Kęstutaitis, and Vytautas' cousin Švitrigaila.〔 The Lithuanian nobles unilaterally elected Švitrigaila as the new Grand Duke.〔 This violated the terms of the Union of Horodło of 1413, wherein the Lithuanians had pledged not to elect a new Grand Duke without the approval of the Kingdom of Poland.〔 At the time Jogaila (Jagiełło), King of Poland and brother of Švitrigaila, was in Lithuania and participated in the funeral of Vytautas. On 7 November 1430, he announced that he approved the election and that Polish–Lithuanian relationship would be formally determined on 15 August 1431.〔 However, an armed conflict erupted due to territorial disputes in Podolia and Volhynia, which, according to the understanding of the Polish nobility, under the terms of a 1411 agreement, were to have been ruled by Lithuania only during the lifetime of Vytautas.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lithuanian Civil War (1431–35)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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