CHAPTER I THE PAGAN SUPERSTATE THAT EMERGED FROM THE MIST Lithuania’s Ancestors, the Balts The Road to a Lithuanian Nation CLOSE UP: Hillfort Country The World of Gods and Goddesses Life in the Cycle of Seasons and Paradise CLOSE UP: Baltic Gold – Amber 26 28 30 32 34 36
From First Mention of Lithuania to Statehood Changes in the territory of the Lithuanian state, 13th – late 18th century Lithuanian ‘Land Vikings’ CLOSE UP: The Baltic Sea Curonian Vikings Mindaugas, King of Lithuania CLOSE UP: Voruta and the Secret of the Grave of Mindaugas
Under the Gediminids The 13 –14 -Century Rulers of the GDL The Gediminid Dynasty, the Late 13th–15th-century Genealogical Tree CLOSE UP: Šventaragis Valley in Vilnius CLOSE UP: Kernavė – Lithuania’s Troy A Militaristic, Idolatrous, Illiterate Society CLOSE UP: The Dream of an Iron Wolf Expansion of the Pagan Empire to the East CLOSE UP: The Golden Horde: Friend or Enemy? th
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War with Christian Europe CLOSE UP: The Baltic Missionary Martyrs Baptism by the Sword Replaces the Peace Missions The Period of Great Victories The Desperate Fight on the Nemunas CLOSE UP: ‘War Tourists’ from Europe