The ruling dynasty and the nobility: On the bases for the formation of the Lithuanian State

Abstract

This article examines two important aspects of state formation, viz. the rise of a ruling dynasty and the formation of a hereditary nobility. One of the most important conditions for the functioning of early monarchies was the existence of the concept of a ruling dynasty (stirps regia) which clearly defined the circle of people enjoying the right to supreme power or a share in such power. As the great state formed dynastic rule was not the only thing to prosper. Noblemen who acknowledged the monarch's supreme authority were able to preserve their influence and develop it further within the ruler's environment. The nobility developed from being a local elite to become the ruler's lords as at the same time the internal structure of such families changed. The rise of the ruling dynasty and the formation of noble power enabled Lithuanian ethno-genesis (the formation of a political nation) and determined the development of an integrated Lithuanian state in the 13th and 14th centuries. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]