Christianity was introduced in Vilnius in 1387. Catholic churches were built here, and monks and other clergy were invited from foreign countries. As the new faith flourished, the old faith of the pagans was forcibly suppressed, and the wealth was given out to the Christian clergy. After the baptism, following the example of other countries, serfdom was gradually brought in. The peasants had to work for nothing and pay levies to the nobles.
In the same year, Vilnius was granted the rights of Magdeburg and self-government was established. The city had its own court, tax system and free trade. When Vytautas the Great started his battles with Jogaila, Vytautas's ally, the Teutonic Order, attacked Vilnius, shelled it with cannons, but retreated as was not able to capture it. After the battles, the city was burned, and the Upper Castle was badly damaged. The lower castle was burned, and the inhabitants were massacred. The city hadn't recovered from the wars when in1399 the inferno swept through the city. The palace of the Dukes burned down with all the wealth and jewels, and the Cathedral was also damaged. Vilnius was quickly rebuilt. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas ruled Vilnius until he died in 1430. Vytautas the Great had planned to crown himself and become the king of Lithuania. The Poles prevented the coronation, so the 80-year-old Vytautas, being already weak and sick, did not bear the grief anymore and on October 27 of the same year passed away. Vytautas was buried in the cellars of the Vilnius Cathedral next to the most famous nobles of Lithuania and Poland, but it is not known whether Vytautas' remains are still there now, because their fate has been unknown since the 17th century.
From the 16th century, the epidemics of cholera and plague raged in Vilnius and its surroundings. The lives of many residents were taken, and the great famine occurred there. For the prayers for the starving the painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy was brought from Rome and hung in St. Peter's Church. In the 18th century, Vilnius was twice occupied by the Swedes, during the second occupation they behaved particularly cruelly. They burdened the inhabitants of the city with the highest taxes, robbed churches, looted people's property, killed old people and babies. Later, Vilnius was occupied by the Russians. Then the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were divided by bigger neighbour empires. Six years later, there was an uprising against Russian rule. The rebels drove the Russians out of Vilnius, and the rest of the army was held captive and imprisoned in St. Casimir's Church. After the weapons were brought, the rebels lost the war, and Vilnius fell into the hands of the Russians again. Moreover, in 1812 the city also suffered from the French army. Napoleon's army ravaged it especially badly on their way back, when they were tired, suffering from hunger and cold, and started robbing the inhabitants of Vilnius of everything they could get. They even embezzled the ceremonial holy vestments and installed their warehouses and barracks in the churches. Soon, the famine raged in the city again.
Finally, in 1915 Vilnius was occupied by the Germans. in 1917 The first Lithuanian conference gathered in Vilnius and elected the Council of Lithuania, and on 16 February 1918, the Act of Independence of Lithuania was declared. At the end of the same year, the first Lithuanian government was formed in Vilnius. at the beginning of 1919, the city was occupied by the Bolshevik army, which was driven out of Vilnius by the Poles, occupied the city and stayed there. In 1939, during the Second World War, Vilnius was occupied and plundered by the Soviet Union. On 10 October, the city was given to Lithuania by the Lithuanian-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance.
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