ENIn this study the author deals with a problem which has not been considered satisfactorily even in the century or so following Daukantas’ death: the role of Gediminid marriages into Lithuanian noble families and the formation of a dynastic policy within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the late 14th century. The author concentrates on the role of strictly-controlled kinship between the ruling House and local nobility in the government of Žemaitija in the late 14th century around the time of internal Gediminid dynastic competition between the Kęstutaičiai and Algirdaičiai for grand ducal office.