Lituanistica

Titulinis

2025-04-07T14:04:50+00:00

Turinys

2025-04-07T14:06:20+00:00

Traidenis: Some Peripheral Remarks on the Beginning of His Reign

2025-04-07T15:01:47+00:00

ruler of Lithuania. Some of them were touched upon in the studies of Artūras Dubonis; the scheme presented in this article complements the hypotheses he formulated, some of which are supported and some expanded. The scheme proposed by Artūras Dubonis is as follows: Shvarn received Navahrudak from Vaišelga (as Roman Danylovich had received it from Mindaugas earlier), but Navahrudak was on the periphery of Shvarn’s domain. Dynastic ties are important here, since Shvarn was the husband of Vaišelga’s sister. Around 1266, he was already established there. In 1266/1267, Vaišelga abdicated the throne and retreated to Volhynia, but he remained involved in politics and did not confine himself to the walls of monasteries. Vaišelga Mindaugaitis continued to be a participant in the political process. After the death of Shvarn, a war broke out between Traidenis and Vasilko Romanovich.
In order to clarify this scheme and to highlight the reasoning behind it, some fragments of the Halych-Volhynian Chronicle were analysed. First of all, the last knowledge of Shvarn Danylovich in this chronicle was explored. It was found that the last two messages about him consist of a coherent text. The story of Vaišelga was artificially inserted in order to justify Shvarn’s claims to Lithuania. This confirms Dubonis’s statement that Shvarn was already dead at the time of Vaišelga’s murder.
The war between Vasilko Romanovich and Traidenis is linked not to the death of Shvarn, although we can see the consistency of the narrative of the chronicle, but to the death of Vaišelga. The composition of the chronicle text, when the story of Vaišelga was inserted into the story of the last years of Shvarn’s reign and his death, broke the logic of the story. Therefore, a connection can be seen not between the death of Vaišelga but between the death of Shvarn and the beginning of the fighting between Vasilko Romanovich and Traidenis.
One last important point is that although the author of the Halych-Volhynia Chronicle speaks negatively about Traidenis, using the darkest analogies, he nowhere mentions that Traidenis might be a usurper. This shows that Traidenis
gained power legitimately. Only Vaišelga could have legitimately handed power over to Traidenis: it is probable that he managed the problem of Lithuania in the same way he had managed the issue of Navahrudak. The fact that Vaišelga transferred power to Traidenis when he took control of Lithuania shows that they may have been closely related. This would also be evidenced by the fact that an avenger of Vaišelga, i.e., a person who was much closer to Vaišelga than Traidenis himself, appeared in Lithuania after Traidenis’s death.

The Battle of Rudau: Was it Lithuania’s Victory or Defeat?

2025-04-07T15:01:32+00:00

On 17 February 1370, a battle took place between the armies of Lithuania and the Teutonic Order near Rudau (Rūdava), close to Königsberg, in Prussia. The outcome of this battle has long been a subject of dispute.
Already in the sixteenth century there arose a debate among Prussian chroniclers about who won this battle, and this debate is still continuing in modern historiography. Different opinions exist among the historians of the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries concerning the Battle of Rudau: a victory of the Lithuanians, an inconclusive outcome (‘a draw’), or a victory of the Teutonic Order. The most popular view, however, tends to lean towards a victory of the Teutonic Order, although the Crusaders suffered significant losses and did not gain much advantage from it.
However we interpret the Battle of Rudau, it is clear that it did not have far-reaching consequences. It is true the Order lost several prominent commanders, in particular Marshal Hening von Schindekopf, yet the assaults of the Teutonic Order into Lithuania actually intensified in the following decade. Lithuania’s military strength did not weaken either: in the same year of 1370, Lithuanian forces launched successful campaigns into Poland and Moscow, and defended themselves effectively against the Order’s attacks.
One can conclude that the Lithuanians did not exactly lose this battle: they dealt a strong blow to the Teutonic Knights, experienced losses inevitable in such combat, of course, but managed to withdraw successfully preserving their main forces. For the Order, this battle was hardly a decisive victory – it was closer to a defeat, although one that did not shake the foundations of their state. Thus, the overall outcome of the battle was more like a draw.

A City by Two Rivers. Vilnius through the Eyes of Foreigners Between the Fifteenth and Eighteenth Centuries

2025-04-07T15:01:18+00:00

The article examines the image of Vilnius as recorded in the texts of foreigners and foreign intellectuals who visited the city between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries and who presented the known data about the city of Vilnius. This was a contemporary view of the city ‘from the outside’. Such data allow for a more critical assessment of the historical sources about the city created by local people.
The foreign visitors were more attentive to the city’s spaces, the behaviour of its inhabitants, and their daily routine. Naturally, the locals, who themselves were part of this everyday life and lived in it, were oblivious of it. Numerous stories were left behind by foreign diplomats who were visiting Vilnius on purpose or in transit. Much information was recorded by the clergy who were attracted to Vilnius by the Jesuit-founded Vilnius University. Some information about Vilnius was recorded by foreign artisans who visited the city and by various travellers who kept travel diaries. Foreign officers who had served at the court of the ruler came to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Some of them wrote memoirs in which Vilnius was also mentioned. Surprisingly, no accounts written by foreign merchants were found during the research. More information about Vilnius is available in the works of foreign intellectuals.
In the foreigners’ accounts of Vilnius, considerable attention is paid to describing the city’s geographical location. Often, the city was said to be located ‘by two rivers’. The descriptions of Vilnius emphasise the beauty of the surrounding area and the hills amidst which the city was situated. Narrators often described the city’s built-up area and architectural features, stating that the city was mainly wooden and mentioning the few stone buildings, churches, and monasteries. The defensive brick wall of Vilnius is highlighted. The inhabitants of the city are less frequently described. Here, emphasis is placed on the multiethnic and multi-confessional nature of the city. Strangers felt comfortable and safe in Vilnius. Some newcomers found the city cheap to live in, others found it expensive and modest. Many a visitor went shopping in the city. There was interest in local craftsmanship, artisans’ products, and trade. It was noted that goods were brought to the town from distant countries.
The overall image of Vilnius in the eyes of foreigners was more positive than negative. The survey data and the results allow us to raise other questions and try to understand the similarities of Vilnius with other cities in the region.

Formational Features of Agronyms Based on Personal Names in the Darbėnai, Kartena, Kretinga, and Salantai Districts of Kretinga County

2025-04-07T15:01:02+00:00

The article is focused on the analysis of 216 agronyms (195 lexical units) from the districts of Darbėnai, Kartena, Kretinga, and Salantai of Kretinga County, derived from personal names and analysed from the morphological perspective of formation. The research material was collected from the interwar period Lithuanian ‘Land Names’ Questionnaires (1935–1939), one of the most important sources of toponyms based on spoken language. These questionnaires are of great scientific value as they reflect the authentic geographical and linguistic conditions of the regions, which remained unaffected by various phenomena (such as collectivisation, land development, Slavicisation, etc.).
The derivational analysis shows that secondary agronyms dominate in the studied region (~98%), and most of them exhibit derivational features. Suffixal derivatives (~73% of the studied agronyms) are the most productive. Among nine Lithuanian (Baltic) suffixes (-alė, -ienos, -inas, -inė, -inės, -iškė, -iškės, -iškis, -ynas), -iškė and -inė, which indicate possessions, are the most derivational. Compound agronyms rank second in terms of productivity (~13%). Most of them are primarily formed from the genitive of a personal name and appellative. Prefixal derivatives (~5%), ending derivatives (~3%), compound agronyms (~3%), and primary agronyms (~1.5%) are less frequent in the studied area. There are also some hybrid-formation agronyms (formed with a suffix and a prefix).
The agronyms studied are most often related to surnames and less frequently to first names and nicknames. Surnames are generally common in the same region. Some base personal names have been reconstructed. In terms of origin, most base personal names are derived from nicknames (~40%) or are of Christian origin (~30%).

Nineteen Years Later. A Glance at the Change of Ethnic and Civic Identity of Lithuanian Youth in Poland

2025-04-07T15:00:48+00:00

The article is based on the data of the questionnaire and fieldwork conducted in the vicinity of Punsk in 2005 and 2024. By comparing the data obtained from the graduates of Punsk Lyceum using the same methodology, the aim was to compare the change in the interaction of ethnic and civic identities of young Polish Lithuanians, answering the question of whether this process was influenced by the rapidly changing possibilities of digital communication tools. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: (1) to reveal the change in the interaction between the ethnic origin of the young people and the language used, (2) to analyse the change in respondents’ attitude towards the calendar holidays celebrated, (3) to reveal the change in the interactions between sports and civic identity, (4) to review the change in respondents’ physical connection with Lithuania (time spent in this country), and (5) to reveal the change in respondents’ expected connections with Lithuania. For the purposes of the research, a special questionnaire was used, which was filled out mostly by the graduates of Punsk Lyceum (43 respondents in 2005 and 28 respondents in 2024). Since the survey sample is not representative (it included only part of young people), the aim of both instances of fieldwork was to combine qualitative and quantitative methods – questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and observation, using both online and written sources, as well as research by other authors.
The presented comparative analysis shows that despite the nineteen years of cultural and political changes and the radical impact of rapidly changing digital communication tools, the ethnic identity of young Lithuanians in Poland changed little. The study suggests that the weakening position of the Lithuanian language is compensated by the intensity of Lithuanian cultural activities, sports, festivals and holidays, and physical connections with Lithuania, which have no analogues in Lithuania. These processes form a specific local identity based on extremely strong Lithuanian self-consciousness; on the other hand, emphasising the Lithuanian ethnic identity, young people remain loyal citizens of the Republic of Poland.

Critique of the Works in Lithuanian Studies from an Ideological-Political Aspect in Antanas Mažiulis’s Reviews

2025-04-07T15:02:11+00:00

The study examines the history of the evaluation of scholarly works through Antanas Mažiulis’s (1914–2007) extensive reviews of works in Lithuanian studies. His reviews were characterised not only by shared insights, but also by the ideological-political aspect of the criticism of the reviewed works, which was especially evident in the 1950s–1960s. It is the latter aspect of Mažiulis’s evaluation of the reviewed works that we aim to reveal in this article. For this purpose, 27 reviews by Antanas Mažiulis are analysed in the article using a qualitative content analysis method.
Reviewing the first works of the Lithuanian humanities during the Soviet period, Antanas Mažiulis described the position and conditions of ethnologists in their research: only few people were working in the field, the archives in foreign countries were inaccessible to them, a difficult situation of museums, dire opportunities for field research; limited availability of scientific literature, especially published in Western countries; the methodology of dialectical materialism, which was obligatory for researchers, narrowed the fields of research (mainly material culture) in Soviet Lithuania, ‘new traditions’ were ‘invented’, and the collection of ‘new’ folklore, local history material about communists, war veterans, etc. In his reviews, he discussed the quality of copyediting, the spelling of names, the citation of literature, and the translation of summaries into Russian. All of this showed the disparaging attitude of the Soviet authorities towards the works in the humanities and their authors.
Antanas Mažiulis considered the theoretical interpretations in the works, which highlighted East Slavic (Russian) prehistory and culture, to be biased and unfounded. He accepted neither the theories of common Baltic and East Slavic origins nor cultural influences of the East Slavs, which were artificially deduced in the works of Soviet scholars. On the contrary, he often identified Baltic influences on the East Slavs.
Mažiulis also spotted the impact of Soviet propaganda and the spread of biased attitudes in the works of foreign and Lithuanian émigré authors. In his reviews, he corrected the falsehoods he observed, added his own testimonies, and defended the efforts of the Christians in the struggle for Lithuania’s freedom.
His reviews of the Lithuanian encyclopaedias (Lietuvių enciklopedija [The Lithuanian Encyclopaedia] and Encyclopedia Lituanica) were exceptional not only because he had worked in the editorial office of Lietuvių enciklopedija and was familiar with the subtleties of the work, but also because he provided interesting details from the history of the publication of these encyclopaedias. According to Mažiulis’s reviews, perhaps the main motive for publishing Lietuvių enciklopedija was the importance of Lithuanian culture (especially by consolidating Lithuanian place names, telling the stories of places), maintaining Lithuanianness, and telling the truth as a counterbalance to the communist lies, despite the fact that Lietuvių enciklopedija and Encyclopedia Lituanica were not easily accessible in Soviet Lithuania.
Antanas Mažiulis’s reviews reveal both the ideological-political circumstances of the Lithuanian studies at that time and his desire to maintain the Lithuanian studies as part of Western European scholarship.