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'King of Lithuania', the title of rulers of Lithuanian state recognized by the Pope. First of them was King Mindaugas who founded the Christian Kingdom of Lithuania; his successors, however, were known as Grand Dukes, as Christian Lithuania reverted to pagan until the end of XIV century. Despite this, the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania referred to themselves as kings in Latin as "''rex''" (king). It was widely accepted, and Gediminas of Lithuania used this title in his letters while trying to ease pressure of the Teutonic Knights and trying to negotiate direct Christianisation of Lithuania by the Pope, and not by neighbouring countries.
In 1430, the title of King of Lithuania was granted to Grand Duke Vytautas, but his attempts to be crowned did not succeeded as the Polish noblemen seized his Royal crown as it was being brought to him. They claimed "it was lost". At this time, Lithuania had already adopted Christianity.
The third and the last king of Lithuania was proclaimed in 1918, when Lithuania was occupied by Germany and tried to achieve independence. Lithuanians decided to elect German nobleman Wilhelm of Urach as king Mindaugas II and hoped this would encourage Germany more quickly let have real independence for Lithuania. However, Germany lost the war, and Lithuania became independent as a republic.

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See also

See also

★ List of Lithuanian rulers