One of the symbols of the power of Grand Duke Vytautas in Eastern Europe is his ceremonial silver princely belt. The ornament was discovered in the early 1990s near the village of Lytva, located in the Maladzyechna district of the Minsk region (Belarus). Researchers dated the find to the 14th-15th centuries. According to one version, the belt might have been gifted to Vytautas by the Crimean Khan Hacı I Giray.
The belt consists of eleven belt plates, a buckle, a tip, and two square overlays. It was crafted in the city of Caffa (now the city of Feodosia, Crimea, Ukraine). However, the buckles have Italian origins with Latin stylistics and Eastern ornamentation. All the belt’s components are made of silver, with many adorned with gilding and niello. Such a belt was a symbol of power and knightly honor. It is the only known find of this kind in Eastern Europe.
From the 9th to the 16th centuries, such gilded patterned belts symbolized high social status among noble, princely, and khan families. The gift of such a valuable belt could signify the transfer of power, which is why possessing this precious symbol could even lead to deadly struggles between rulers of the time. A year before the assembly of monarchs in 1429 in Lutsk, Khan Hacı I Giray, with the help of Vytautas’ troops, brought Crimea under control. Therefore, the valuable gift, presented on the eve of the monarchs’ assembly, might have been a token of gratitude from the Crimean subordinates to Vytautas. It is possible that Vytautas wore the ornament during the Lutsk assembly.
For a long time, the find was kept in private collections, and since 2006 it has been held in the collections of the National Historical Museum of Belarus. In Volhynia, a replica of Vytautas’ belt was created in 2021 at the ethnopark “Ladomyria,” located in the town of Radiviliv, Rivne region, during a project dedicated to recreating clothing from Vytautas’ era.
