# Death of Vytautas the Great (27 October 1430)

URL: https://allhistories.com/belarus/timeline/1430-death-of-vytautas-the-great
Location: Trakai
Themes: Rulers & Successions

In his final years Vytautas sought to raise the Grand Duchy to the status of a kingdom. At the Congress of Lutsk in 1429, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund offered him a royal crown, an idea strongly opposed by the Polish nobility, who saw it as a threat to the union. A coronation was planned for 1430 and a crown was sent from the Emperor, but Polish lords intercepted the envoys carrying it, and the ceremony was repeatedly postponed. In the midst of this crisis Vytautas fell from his horse, became ill and died at Trakai on 27 October 1430, at about eighty years of age. He had ruled for nearly four decades, extending the Grand Duchy from the Baltic almost to the Black Sea and strengthening central control over the Ruthenian lands. Without a direct heir, Vytautas left a contested succession. The Lithuanian and Ruthenian nobles elected Jogaila's brother Švitrigaila grand duke without the consent of Poland, provoking conflict with the Crown and, from 1432, a civil war that split the Grand Duchy. Vytautas is remembered as one of the greatest rulers of the Grand Duchy, and is honoured in Lithuanian and Belarusian historical tradition.

## Why it matters
Vytautas's death ended the Grand Duchy's period of greatest power and triggered a succession crisis.

Ruler at the Time: [Švitrigaila](https://allhistories.com/belarus/rulers/svitrigaila)

Grand Duke of Lithuania: Vytautas

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Vytautas the Great](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vytautas_the_Great)
- [Wikipedia — Grand Duchy Of Lithuania (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Lithuania)