Another Look at the Activities of the Chapel of the Order of Barefoot Trinitarians of Antakalnis in Vilnius

Abstract

The article presents new information on several aspects of the activities of the chapel of the Roman Catholic monastery of Barefoot Trinitarian at the Church of the Savior in Antakalnis (Vilnius), which was discovered in manuscript and published sources in Vilnius and Cracow. The studies by the musicologists Vytautas Povilas Jurkštas and Laima Budzinauskienė are extended by clarifying, supplementing, and expanding the known facts.
The newly discovered facts confirm that this chapel started functioning before 1760 and stopped its musical activity after the monastery was closed in 1864. This significantly expands the data available so far. The donor of the chapel, Maksimilian Rozenfeldt (Maksimilijonas Rosenfeldtas), was possibly also the founder of the chapel of the Vilnius Roman Catholic monastery of Barefoot Trinitarians at the Church of the Savior in Antakalnis. His financial contribution to the chapel was significant, and his role as a special patron was obvious until the closure of the monastery.
Between 1786 and 1851, the number of members of the chapel fluctuated between five and sixteen people. A third of the names of the members of the group between 1776 and 1862 (throughout its existence, the chapel had 100 members in total) are published for the first time. The lists of instruments compiled during the visitations of 1830 and 1851 would suggest that the instruments owned by the chapel were suitable for performing Baroque and Classical music.