Christianization of Lithuania

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The fresco in the Vilnius Cathedral, dating to the Christianization of Lithuania

The

pagan country in Europe.[1]
This event ended one of the most complicated and lengthiest processes of Christianization in European history.

History

Romuva sanctuary in Prussia

Early contacts with Christianity

Lithuanians' contacts with the Christian religion predated the establishment of the

Eastern Orthodox Christianity following the Christianization of Kievan Rus'
in the 10th century.

As the dukes of Lithuania extended their dominion eastwards, the influence of the Slavic states on their culture increased. Their subordinates and the people followed their example, borrowing, for instance, many of the East Slavic versions of Christian names in the 11th–12th centuries. This borrowing became increasingly widespread among the pagan population in Aukštaitija, though much less so in Samogitia. The influence of Orthodox Christianity on pagan Lithuanian culture is evidenced in about one-third of present-day Lithuanian surnames which are constructed from baptismal names are Old Church Slavonic in origin.[2] In addition, the Lithuanian words for "church", "baptism", "Christmas" and "fast" are classed as loanwords from Ruthenian rather than Polish.[3]

Baptism of Mindaugas

The emergence of a monastic state of the

prayers from German were made during his reign and have been known since.[4]

Bishop of Rome
, Mindaugas' baptism and coronation

In 1249, Tautvilas' ally

Daniel of Halych attacked Navahradak, and in 1250, another ally of Tautvilas, the Livonian Order, organized a major raid against Nalšia land and Mindaugas' domains in Lithuania proper. Attacked from the south and north and facing the possibility of unrest elsewhere, Mindaugas was placed in an extremely difficult position, but managed to use the conflicts between the Livonian Order and the Archbishop of Riga
in his own interests. In 1250 or 1251, Mindaugas agreed to receive baptism and relinquish control over some lands in western Lithuania, for which he was to receive a crown in return.

Mindaugas and his family were baptised in the Catholic rite in 1250 or 1251. On July 17, 1251

Morta were crowned at some time during the summer of 1253, and the Kingdom of Lithuania, formally a Christian state, was established. Even after nominally becoming a Catholic, King Mindaugas did not cease sacrificing to his own gods.[5] Despite the ruling family's baptism, Lithuania had not become a truly Christian state, since there were no fruitful efforts to convert its population; Lithuanians and Samogitians stood firmly for their ancestral religion. Some of this might be attributed to the Golden Horde tumanbashi Burundaj's campaign in 1259 and 1260, which caused destruction in Lithuania proper and Nalšia
.

Medieval fresco from the Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Church in Strasbourg, portraying 15 European nations' path towards Christianity. Lithuania presented as the last figure.

Vacillation between East and West

Mindaugas' successors did not express enough interest in following in his footsteps. There were decades of vacillation between the Latin and the Orthodox options.[6] "For Gediminas and Algirdas, retention of paganism provided a useful diplomatic tool and weapon... that allowed them to use promises of conversion as a means of preserving their power and independence".[7] Grand Duke Algirdas had pursued an option of "dynamic balance". Throughout his reign, he teased both Avignon and Constantinople with the prospects of a conversion;[8] several unsuccessful attempts were made to negotiate the conversion of Lithuania.[9]

To avoid further clashes with the

Brest in October 1349 that ruined Kęstutis' plan. During the Polish-Lithuanian war for Volhynia, King Louis I of Hungary offered a peace agreement to Kęstutis on 15 August 1351, according to which Kęstutis obliged himself to accept Christianity and provide the Kingdom of Hungary with military aid, in exchange of the royal crown. Kęstutis confirmed the agreement by performing a pagan ritual[10] to convince the other side. In fact, Kęstutis had no intentions to abide the agreement and ran away on his way to Buda.[11]

By the 14th century, the

Novgorodok and later established a convent there.[14]

Christianization by Jogaila and Vytautas

The final attempt to Christianize Lithuania was made by Jogaila. Jogaila's Russian mother urged him to marry Sofia, daughter of

Krėva, Jogaila agreed to adopt Christianity, signing the Act of Krėva
.

episcopal see at Vilnius and the appointment of Andrzej Jastrzębiec
to fill it.

"The Baptism of Lithuania" by Jan Matejko

Jogaila returned to Lithuania in February 1387. The baptism of nobles and their peasants was at first carried out in the capital

Vilkmergė, Maišiagala, Lida, Nemenčinė, Medininkai, Kreva, Haina and Abolcy, all belonging to the Jogaila's patrimony. Jogaila destroyed the old places of worship: altars, sacred groves, killed grass snakes and other snakes that were regarded as divine guardians of households at the time.[17] The papal bull issued by Pope Urban VI on 12 March 1388 has information about destruction of pagan cult objects in Vilnius and provided legal grounds for establishment of the Vilnius Cathedral.[1] On 19 April 1389, Pope Urban VI recognized the status of Lithuania as a Roman Catholic state.[18] Lithuania was the last state in Europe to be Christianized.[1]

Neman River and Dubysa, reached the environs of Betygala, where he baptised the first groups of Samogitians.[20] In 1416, the construction of eight first parochial churches was started. The Diocese of Samogitia was established on 23 October 1417 and Matthias of Trakai became the first Bishop of Samogitia.[21] The cathedral was built in Medininkai around 1464.[19]

Aftermath

Ethnic Lithuanian nobles were the main converts to Catholicism, but paganism remained strong among the peasantry. Pagan customs prevailed for a long time among the common people of Lithuania and were covertly practiced. There had been no prosecution of priests and adherents of the old faith. However, by the 17th century, following the Counter-Reformation (1545-1648), the Roman Catholic faith had essentially taken precedence over earlier pagan beliefs.

The conversion and its political implications had lasting repercussions for the history of Lithuania. As the majority of the population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania outside

Troubetzkoy. The Orthodox population of present-day Ukraine and eastern Belarus often sympathized with the rulers of Muscovy, who portrayed themselves as the champions of Orthodoxy. These feelings contributed to such reverses as the Battle of Vedrosha, which crippled the Grand Duchy and undermined its position as a dominant power in Eastern Europe
.

On the other hand, the conversion to Roman Catholicism facilitated Lithuania's integration into the cultural sphere of Western Europe and paved the way to the political alliance of Lithuania and Poland, finalized as the Union of Lublin in 1569.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9786094251528
    . Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  2. ^ (in Lithuanian) Z. Zinkevičius. Krikščionybės ištakos Lietuvoje[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ S.C. Rowell. Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-central Europe, 1295-1345. Cambridge University Press, 1994. Page 149.
  4. ^ For instance, the initial verse of the Trinitarian formula in Lithuanian, as well as in Latvian and Prussian, is presented as vardan Dievo Tėvo, i.e. "in the name of God the Father", in contrast to the common version "in the name of Father". It shows the influence of German Arianism, which used the denomination Got Vater, on the earliest Lithuanian liturgy. [1]
  5. ^ S. C. Rowell Page 120
  6. ^ Davies, Norman. Europe:A history. Oxford University Press. Page 430.
  7. ^ Muldoon, James. Varieties of Religious Conversion in the Middle Ages. University Press of Florida, 1997. Page 140.
  8. ^ Davies, Page 430
  9. ^ Muldon, Page 137
  10. ^ killing a bull by throwing a knife at it
  11. ^ (in Lithuanian) Kęstutis: was he a proponent or opponent of the Christianization, accessed on 01-07-2007
  12. ISBN 0-295-98093-1. Page 3;
    Paul Robert Magocsi
    . A History of Ukraine. University of Toronto Press, 1996. Page 67.
  13. ^ Following the Tracks of a Myth Archived 2019-09-11 at the Wayback Machine, Edvardas Gudavičius
  14. ^ S.C. Rowell. Page 149.
  15. ^ A. Thomas Lane. Lithuania: Stepping Westward. Routledge, 2001. Page XXI.
  16. ^ Kłoczowski, 54-57.
  17. ^ Vaitkevičius, Vykintas (2011). "Lietuvos krikštas: istorija ir tautosaka". Liaudies kultūra (in Lithuanian). 2 (137): 12. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  18. ISBN 978-609-437-163-9. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  19. ^ a b Bucevičė, Janina. "Žemaičių Krikšto 600 m. jubiliejaus istorija ir šaltiniai". Roman Catholic Diocese of Telšiai (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  20. ^ (in Lithuanian)Dualistinis lietuvių tautybės susidarymas ir trialistinis Lietuvos krikšto pobūdis Archived 2003-05-02 at the Wayback Machine Dr. Aleksandras Vitkus
  21. ^ "Motiejus Trakiškis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 4 March 2023.

External links

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