Butautas

Butautas (baptized Henryk; died on May 7, 1380 in Prague) was a son of Kęstutis, Grand Duke of Lithuania. He attempted to depose his uncle Algirdas and usurp power in Lithuania, but failed and was forced into exile. He joined the court of the Holy Roman Emperor and even inspired a poem about conversion to Christianity. Butautas is sometimes confused with his brother Vaidotas.

The first written record about Butautas comes from Jan Długosz. The historian describes Lithuanian raids into Masuria in 1336 and mentions Butautas, son of Gediminas. Because of confused fathers, this information is not considered reliable.

The first reliable data comes from summer of 1365. While Algirdas and Kęstutis were in Volhynia helping their brother Liubartas in the Galicia–Volhynia Wars, Butautas together with other nobles attempted a coup d'état. However, the plans were discovered by Dirsūnas, deputy of Vilnius. Butautas was arrested, but his accomplice or brother Survila rescued him and killed Dirsūnas. The coup failed and Butautas, Survila, and fifteen followers had to flee to the Teutonic Knights. Historian S. C. Rowell questioned whether the coup really happened as it is mentioned only in a late German source.

In Köningsberg, Butautas was baptized as Henryk in honor of the Commander of Insterburg on July 25, 1365. Two Bishops, John of Warmia and Bartholomew of Sambia were summoned for the ceremony, also attended by English crusaders, including Earl of Warwick and Thomas Ufford. In August, he led a Teutonic raid deep into Lithuania reaching as far as Vilnius and Vilkmergė. During the 12-day raid Kernavė and Maišiagala were devastated.

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