Coin of the National Bank of Belarus, dedicated to David of Hrodna
Coin of the National Bank of Belarus, dedicated to David of Hrodna
David of Hrodna was born in ca. 1286. Historians consider that he was the son of Daumantas of Pskov, a Lithuanian princeling, and Princess Maria, granddaughter of Alexander Nevsky. In 1266, Daumantas of Pskov left Kreva (a town in today’s Grodno Region) and moved to Pskov together with his court and 300 boyars after a bloody struggle with Mindaugas.
After his father's death in 1299, David moved to Grodno, where he entered the service of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytenis as a castellan of Hrodna and afterwards of the next Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas. David married Birutė, a daughter of Gediminas.
In 1305, together with the Gediminas, David destroyed the army of the Knight Commander and commandant of Brandenburg Conrad Lichtenhagen near Grodno. In 1306, he headed the successful defense of the Grodno castle, which was besieged by 6000 light cavalry, and hundreds of heavily armed knights under the command of the provincial commander of Königsberg (today’s Kaliningrad) Eberhard von Virneburg.
In 1314, David defeated the army of Teutonic Knights, who sieged Novogrudok. He destroyed the enemy’s food supplies, captured 1500 horses and military ammunition. This violated the Teutonic Knights tactics who used to organize food storage in the rear before. Many Knights died of starvation and exhaustion on their way back to Prussia. During spring flood of 1319, he led 800 riders and conquered the Prussian region of Vagenshtof that was protected by the provincial commanders Ulrich Drymbe and Frederick Kvits. In 1322, he helped Pskov in the struggle against the Livonian Order, becoming Prince of Pskov for a short period. In 1323, Davis defeated the Danish army, near the walls of Pskov and reached Reval (today’s Tallinn). In the same year, he defeated the German knights who tried to capture Pskov and assaulted the city for 18 days. Since the end of 1324, David was based in Grodno as a castellan of the town. In March 1324, 3 German knights and 600 soldiers burned David’s estate, killed his family and more than 30 other people. In response, in November 1324, David organized a campaign of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania troops against the Duchy of Masovia dukes who were allied with the Teutonic Knights. Later they complained to the pope that David destroyed 1 city, 117 villages, and many churches and monasteries.
In 1326, he headed the Lithuanian armies of 1,200 riders, among whom were Poles, and made a raid against Brandenburg and Frankfurt an der Oder. During this David’s victorious campaign, the Germans bribed Mazovian knight Andrew Gost, who traitorously killed David. According to the legend, David was buried near the walls of the Kalozha Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb in Grodno.
David of Hrodna was one of the most famous army commanders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the rule of Duke Gediminas. He was a middleman between the pagan Gediminas and the Christian princes of the Rurikid family and frequently led in battle the united Lithuanian-Ruthenian armies. He never lost a battle with the Teutonic Knights, captured many lands.
David married Birutė, a daughter of Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania.
He was a Lithuanian princeling best remembered as a military leader of the Principality of Pskov between 1266 and 1299. During his term in office, Pskov became de facto independent from Novgorod.
She was a granddaughter of Alexander Nevsky.
She was a daughter of Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania.
David of Hrodna was a military commander under Gediminas. In return for his service, Gediminas gave David own estate, and Birutė, a daughter of Gediminas, became David’s wife.
