Lietuvos istorijos metraštis

The practice of members of various sections of society using coats of arms is recorded in most regions of Europe in the late Middle Ages, including in the east, in the territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Written and visual sources, and especially sphragistic works, allow us to trace the gradual rooting of the heraldic tradition in the Lithuanian state, both among the upper echelons of society and among semi-privileged groups, in the second half of the 14th and the 15th century, with a particularly significant growth in the 16th century. Among the inhabitants of the Grand Duchy with semi-privileged status, a special place was occupied by Lithuanian Jews, whose communities existed in various cities in the state. They were especially numerous in the Lithuanian lands (the Vilnius and Trakai voivodeships), and in Volyn and Podlasie. In terms of their legal status, Lithuanian Jews were close to the urban population of communities that applied self-government based on Magdeburg Law. In the event of conversion to Christianity, people from a Jewish background could receive ennoblement, which meant being elevated to the nobility, to which they were accepted by members of the Lithuanian-Ruthenian nobility, and along with that they received the right to use noble coats of arms. This is why the coats of arms of neophyte Jews are mostly unrelated to Jewish heraldry itself. Purely Jewish heraldic practices are instead presented on monuments associated with people who followed the Old Law. First of all, we are talking about the impressions of heraldic seals, with which Lithuanian Jews certified various private acts in the 16th to the mid-17th century. The heraldic nature of the images on contemporary Jewish seals is indicated by the content of the relevant documents, which interpret these iconographic features precisely as coats of arms. Most of them are reproduced in heraldic shields on the corresponding sphragis. Among the various subjects present on sphragistic works, the most numerous are depictions of religious symbols indicating the ethno-confessional affiliation of the respective person. A special place among them is occupied by the figure of a six-point star, one of the most important signs of the Jewish community at that time throughout Europe. A subject which indicated not only the ethno-confessional affiliation but also the origins of the owner of the seal was the depiction of two hands. It reproduced the gesture of blessing by Jewish priests, the cohens, which is called the ‘raising of the hands’. Depictions of various heraldic figures, animals, plants, household items and weapons were common in the heraldry of Lithuanian Jews. They are also abundantly present in the family heraldry of the nobility and burghers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The most obvious evidence of the influence of local heraldic traditions on the heraldry of Lithuanian Jews was their use in their coats of arms of iconic figures, which formed the basis of Lithuanian-Ruthenian heraldry from the second half of the 14th to the 18th century.

This article presents an analysis of the urban development of Samogitia’s border with the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from the end of the 16th to the early 19th centuries by looking at the history of the small town of Vegeriai as one of the more important cases. The research shows that border-town urbanisation was slow and irregular, coming in three waves where the third and last wave in the late 16th to early 17th century was particularly long. Three attempts at founding the small town of Vegeriai are discussed (in 1602, 1652 and 1754), which were initiated by representatives of families belonging to the Samogitian elite. The importance of liturgical life on the small town’s appearance and its vitality are highlighted. Attention is also drawn to the fact that in the second half of the 18th century Vegeriai became an important border communications hub between Samogitia and the Duchy of Courland, where a multinational community was being formed, trade ties were being developed, and the influence of the Jews and the arriving German Lutherans increased.

Joachim Lelewel, a historian educated at the University of Vilnius, was one of the most significant representatives of the critical approach to historical sources in Polish historiography. August Ludwig Schlözer, a linguist, gained renown above all for his critical edition of the ‘Nestor Chronicle’, the final volume of which appeared just as Lelewel was beginning his academic career. This article examines how, and to what extent, Lelewel’s intellectual work in the critical analysis of historical sources was influenced by Schlözer’s methods. Through a close reading of Lelewel’s writings, it will be shown how he adopted categories developed by Schlözer, at times even employing them against Schlözer himself. Lelewel’s engagement with Schlözer not only reflects the wider Enlightenment debates on historical method, but also complicates simplified models of knowledge transfer between scholars from Western and Central-Eastern Europe.

The article analyses the Polish, Russian, and Jewish youth self-education circles active in Vilnius in the 1870s, and their connections with the nihilist and narodnik movements operating in the Russian Empire. The main focus is on the problem of reconciling the ideologies of socialism and nationalism that arose among members of these circles, as well as on their reflections concerning the overcoming of national conflicts and the modernisation of local society. During the period under consideration, several parameters of ideological compatibility can be discerned, depending on: (a) the degree of national homogeneity within a given self-education circle; (b) the greater or lesser, collective or individual, historical memory of the North-Western Region; and (c) the positive or negative experiences of the sociopolitical and cultural environment, and of interethnic relations. In addition, one of the most important elements uniting all youth circles was the generational conflict – that is, the sociocultural rebellion against the patriarchal traditionalism of the elders and the mental constructs that preserved a serfdom-era worldview.

This article examines the transformation of the political life of Lithuanian World War I refugees in Russia between 1915 and 1918. Particular attention is devoted to the profound impact of the Russian Revolution: whereas at the outset of the war many Lithuanian political leaders supported the principles of autonomy and federalism, in its aftermath a growing number began to openly advocate for independence. The article provides a revisionist analysis of the proceedings and resolutions of the Petrograd Seimas, the most significant political event for Lithuanians in Russia, and assesses the consequences of the Bolshevik coup for Lithuanian refugees – ranging from the radicalisation of certain political currents to the dismantling of the refugee relief network and the escalation of terror.