On September 8, Lithuania celebrates the Day of the Coronation of Vytautas the Great and thanksgiving for the protection of the independence and freedom of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the Commonwealth.
Vytautas the Great ( Great Prince of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1350 — 1430 ), since 1392 the Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Keistut. After the union of Lithuania with Poland in 1385, Vytautas ( Vitovt ), relying on Lithuanian and Russian bars living in the Russian regions of Lithuania, fought for Lithuania's independence from Poland.
On August 4, 1392, in the Island ( on the border of Lithuania and Poland ) Vytautas and the Polish king Yagailo entered into an agreement under which the Trakai principality was transferred to Vytautasu, and he became the de facto ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In a short time, Vytautas strengthened centralized power and eliminated the effects of internal strife.
Adherent the unifying policy of the Moscow princes; concluded agreements with the princes of Tversky hostile to Moscow ( 1427 ), Ryazan ( 1430 ), pronsky ( 1430 ); captured Smolensk ( 1404 ); intervened in the affairs of Novgorod and Pskov and three times ( 1406 — 1408 ) invaded the borders of the Moscow principality.
Lithuanian possessions under Vytautas reached the upper reaches of Oka and Mozhaisk. He took South Podolia from the Tatars and expanded his possessions to the Black Sea; stubbornly fought with German knights. Vytautas and Yagailo were the organizers of the defeat of German knights in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 ( Battle of Grunwald ). In 1422, Vytautas returned to Lithuania Zhemaitiya, captured by the order ( 1398 ).
An important historical event was the coronation of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas, scheduled for September 8, 1430. As a result, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was to become the Kingdom of Lithuania with all the attributes of royal power. Emperor Sigismund I sent to Vitautasu draft coronation act and act of transformation of the principality into the kingdom.
But Polish feudal lords, who always dreamed of adding Lithuanian lands to Poland, intercepted the crown that was carried by the ambassadors of Sigismund. In return, they proposed the crown of Brother Vytautas — Yagaila, who was the king of Poland under the name Vladislav II. The coronation was disrupted. Vytautas soon became ill, retired to his Trakai castle and died the same year.
But the contribution of Vytautas the Great to the history of Lithuania was appreciated by the descendants. Therefore, it was decided to include the day of the failed coronation of Vytautas in the calendar of memorial dates of the Republic of Lithuania. However, special commemorative events and celebrations on this day are not held.