Živinbudas was one of the five senior
Lithuanian dukes mentioned in the
treaty with
Halych-Volhynia in 1219.[1] The treaty lists a total of
21 dukes, five of them being elder or superior. Since Živinbudas is mentioned first in the list, it is presumed that he was the supreme ruler of Lithuania.[2] He is not mentioned in any other sources and the mention in the treaty is the only bit of information available about him. However, some historians argue he was ancestor of
Traidenis,
Grand Duke of Lithuania ca. 1270-1282.[3] That is probably influence of the
Palemonids legends popularized by fake 16th century genealogies that connected a mythical
Palemon, a prince of
Venice who settled in Lithuania in the 10th century, to the
Gediminids, an established dynasty.[4]
The Russian Gustinskaya Chronicle mentions Živibundas under the year 1218.
^Kiaupa, Zigmantas; Jūratė Kiaupienė; Albinas Kuncevičius (2000) [1995]. The History of Lithuania Before 1795 (English ed.). Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of History. pp. 50–51.
ISBN9986-810-13-2.
^Rowell, C. S. (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press. xxxiii.
ISBN978-0-521-45011-9.
^For example, family tree in Urban, William (1994). The Baltic Crusade (2nd ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center. p. 344.
ISBN0-929700-10-4. lists a number of people known only from 16th century sources like the
Bychowiec Chronicle.
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