Un estratto dal sito di storia lituana linkato
It is supposed that the Duchy of Lithuania was an early state structure, which formed itself probably about the 11 th century. The formation of the Duchy of Lithuania is connected with the growth of the system of castles and deepening of social stratification. The castles were defensive centres and ducal residences. In the 11-12 th centuries they were appearing mainly in the eastern part of modern Aukštaitija and Dzūkija, where the initial land of Lithuania was. As T. Baranauskas guesses, the creation of the Duchy of Lithuania was stimulated by the needs of defence against the Kievan Ruthenia, as well as by cultural influence, spreading from there. Duchy was a natural stage in the political development of Lithuania. In the beginning of the 2 nd millennium Lithuania became the leader of the Baltic lands in terms of level of political organisation. She was the only, who managed to grow into the grand duchy and defend her independence. The author dates the establishment of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) to 1183. It is asserted that the main indication of its establishment was sudden growth of the Lithuanian military power and almost unchangeable intensity of the military raids in the period before Mindaugas and in the times of Mindaugas, when the GDL was already undoubtedly functioning. The author grounds this also with the written sources, for example, the information of the Livonian chronicle that the father of Mindaugas was a King, who had no equals.
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Nella mia assoluta ignoranza sulla storia lituana devo dire che queste fonti, per quanto scarne, mi sembrano quantomeno credibili:
In questo specifico passaggio viene riassunto lo studio del celeberrimo T. Baranauskas, studioso lituano che ha dedicato la sua vita a dimostrare che la Lituania è quasi perfetta per essere inserita in Bellum Crucis: il Granducato nasce nel 1183, ma l'autore lascia intuire che già in precedenza la Lituania era all'avanguardia tra i paesi baltici in termini di organizzazione politica.
Il particolare che più mi ha colpito è che la cronaca Livoniana affermerebbe che il padre di Mindaugas era un re, che non aveva eguali. Con una certa forzatura storica, se venisse a galla il nome del padre di questo Mindaugas potremmo già aver trovato il capofazione e l'erede.
O forse è tutta una cosa campata in aria
Boh, ma io che ne so. Io la Lituania la vedo bene per ragioni di gameplay :D