Gediminas

Gediminas became Grand Duke of Lithuania around 1315 or 1316, inheriting a realm he would expand dramatically over the next quarter-century. Under his rule, Lithuanian territory reached from the Baltic Sea south to the Black Sea, a sweep of land that made the Grand Duchy a major eastern European power. He is traditionally credited as the founder of Vilnius, the city that became Lithuania's capital, a claim wrapped in the Iron Wolf legend. The Gediminids dynasty he established carried his name forward long after his death in December 1341, eventually ruling not only Lithuania but Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia.