VILNIUS 700

On the year 1323 January 25th Gediminas, by the grace of God the king of Lithuania and Russia, ruler and duke of Ziemgala, in an open letter, in his words, "to all the worshipers of Christ, men and women, spread throughout the world, especially giving priority to the special cities of Lübeck, Stralsund, Bremen, Magdeburg, Cologne and others to even Rome", mentioned the name of Vilnius for the first time.

Gediminas’ letters to the laity had very specific economic goals: "...we open [our] land, estates and kingdom (terram, dominum et regnum) to every person of good will: soldiers (knights), armorers, merchants, farmers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, cobblers, furriers, millers, innkeepers, any craftsmen. We want to divide the land among all these listed – each according to his rank. Those who would like to come as farmers can work our land for ten years free of charge. Merchants enter and exit without tax or duty and freely, after all barriers are gone. I will provide the soldiers and the men-at-arms, if they wish to stay, with things and property as is proper.

Wanting the message to be as widely spread as possible to the inhabitants of other cities, Gediminas asked "all the city councilors that this letter be rewritten, and that it is written down and pinned to the door of the church, and the letter itself, out of love for us, be forwarded to the neighboring city without any delay, so that God’s glory would introduce it to everyone." It is obvious that the king of Lithuania was well aware that the door of the church was an effective place for advertising and information transmission (the most famous example is the publication of Martin Luther's theses). Gediminas used the services of monks of orders preaching in the cities. THANK YOU to King Gediminas for Vilnius!