History / Istorija

Knyga apie Lietuvos miestų ir miestelių atkūrimą po Pirmojo pasaulinio karo

Mindaugas Balkus — 2025-10-23

Polish-Lithuanian Unions at the Turn of the 15th and 16th Centuries

Lidia Korczak — 2025-10-23

The Last Will of Kazimierz Żodkiewicz, Parson of the Holy Cross Church near Kaunas

Regina Jakubėnas — 2025-10-23

On 22 June 1699, Kazimierz Żodkiewicz, the parson of the Holy Cross Church in Kaunas, drew up his last will. The aim of this work is to publish this will in its original Polish, providing deeper insight into the priest’s character and his activities. In historiography, Żodkiewicz is known as the builder of the new Holy Cross Church. The will reveals him as a diligent steward of the parish farm, a caring pastor who fostered devotion to the Passion of Christ, introduced the regular chanting of the Little Hours in honour of the Passion of Christ, and envisioned the possibility of founding a beguine house in Kaunas, among other initiatives.

The case of Agafa-Konchaka in the Tver’- Moscow conflict of 1317–1318

Marcin Grala — 2025-10-23

The political situation in North-east Rus’ at the beginning of the 14th century was dominated by the Moscow-Tver’ rivalry. In the course of these struggles, Agafa – the sister of Khan Uzbek and at the same time the wife of Prince Yurii of Moscow – was taken captive by Tver’. The issue of her captivity, and then also her death, was of great importance for the further fate of the rivalry between the rulers of Moscow and Tver’. The article shows how the case of Agafa was used as an instrument to achieve intended political goals at all costs.

Unknown Frontispiece of the Visitation Document of the Lithuanian Province of the Dominicans from 1756

Anna Sylwia Czyż — 2025-10-23

The aim of the paper is to present and analyse the unknown frontispiece of the visitation of the monasteries of the Lithuanian Dominican province of the Guardian Angel from 1756. This is a drawing attached to the visitation document prepared during the times of prior Reginald Lenartowicz, which is kept in the Archivum Generale Ordinis Praedicatorum in Rome. The frontispiece is important for the history of the Lithuanian Dominicans because it shows views of their most important churches and monasteries. In the case of scattered and mostly unpreserved archives and destroyed architecture, this is a primary source. The drawing frontispiece is analysed in a historical context through the prism of the graphics activity of various orders from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, utilising iconographic-comparative methods.

Donations to Monasteries of the Latin and Greek Rites in the Last Wills of the Southern part of Ashmyany District between 1649 and 1719

Wioletta Zielecka-Mikołajczyk — 2025-10-23

The article presents the issue of testamentary donations made by Christians of the Greek and Latin rites to monasteries in the territory of the Ashmyany district, located in the Vilnius voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania between 1649 and 1719. The Ashmyany district was inhabited primarily by lesser nobility, who allocated their legacies to monasteries not only of their own rite, but also of other rites. Testamentary records show the monastic centres that occupied the most important religious sites in the region and the most important, in the opinion of the testators, centres to commemorate them.

The Lithuanian Province of the Dominicans and the Religious Policy of the Russian Empire in the 19th Century

Marek Miławicki — 2025-10-23

The aim of this article is to look at the situation of priories and friars of the Lithuanian Province of the Dominican Order under Russian rule. In particular, it shows the path to the complete destruction of Dominican life in the Russian Empire in the 19th century. On the one hand, it was revenge by the state authorities for the participation of friars in national and patriotic movements opposing the occupying power, and on the other, it was the planned liquidation of all religious life in Tsarist Russia. The article shows how a large and very dynamic Dominican province was brought to complete annihilation through the dissolution of convents (beginning in 1832), the ban on accepting candidates into the order, and the condemnation of priories to gradual extinction, as well as through the repression by the Russian authorities of friars, especially those who were in any way involved in the national uprisings of 1830–1831 and 1863. They were sent to Siberia or forced into exile, and two friars even were killed. The example of the Dominicans of the Lithuanian province shows what the tsarist policy towards the Catholic Church looked like.