Lietuvos istorijos institutas

The article discusses the sources of the chronicles of Motiejus Strijkovskis (Polish: Maciej Stryjkowski, Latin: Matthias Stricovius, Matys Strycovius, Matys Strykowius, etc., 1547–c.1593) and Alessandro Guagnini (full name: Alessandro Guagnini dei Rizzoni; 1534 [1538]–1614), which were cited by Simonas Daukantas.

The article addresses citations from vol. I, III , IV , VI of Johannes Voigt’s (1786–1863) Geschichte Preußens von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Untergange der Herrschaft des Deutschen Ordens (Königsberg, 9 vols., 1827–1839) in BUDĄ Senowęs–Lëtuwiû Kalnienû ir Ƶámajtiû (1845) by Simonas Daukantas. The goal of the article is to use the inventory of the references made by Daukantas to identify the places in the original GP text, revise the references, discuss the nature of the citations, and the impact of the tract as such. The article also touches upon the history of Daukantas citing Voigt’s GP in his prior work, ISTORYJE ƵEMAYTYSZKA (1834). The article analyses 20 references to Voigt’s text. Daukantas identified the page number wrong in seven references out of the twenty; four of the references were one page number off; one did not specify the volume. Nonetheless, all of these references were successfully revised and corrected. Analysis of the nature of reliance on GP has suggested that Daukantas treated this tract as a font of new resources. Daukantas used GP to recite handwritten work by medieval chroniclers or Königsberg scholars, university graduates or residents of the region that he was having difficulty accessing himself. The prevalence of work by Königsberg scholars shows that Daukantas valued this historiographical tradition first and foremost. In his reliance on GP references, Daukantas would obtain and quote some of the sources from the original texts. Comparing the indirect citations by Daukantas and the original text, one could say that it was only once (Bd 214) that he did not add information from elsewhere in the GP text or other sources to the text. Even though Daukantas did not have any open discussions with his predecessor, the ample revisions and the content of the supplementary material point to his critical stance. Relying on the narrative historic tradition (‘noumone patioie tautoie tebesąntĩ patwĩrten’ Bd 214), the Lithuanian language and folklore (‘kou dar pates patarles kałbo tebesąntes twĩrtĩn’ Bd, Pratarme 9) as sources of Lithuanian history with the highest degree of authority, he revised the text written by Voigt from a German position. However, the expression of Germanism in GP helped Daukantas create images of Lithuanianism. The GP text and the ample explanations given in footnotes sparked Daukantas’s creativity. GP was an example of composition of material to Daukantas. Drawing inspiration from GP, Daukantas discussed the history of the formation of the region, the characteristics of the landscape, delineated the borders of Lithuania, talked about the daily living and about the holidays, gave a lot of attention to the dynamics and sanctuaries of the ancient Lithuanian religion, the history of regional institutions, commerce as the key element of the viability of the state. The importance of the substrate of the ancient Prussians and crusaders in building the new German nation that Voigt had highlighted helped Daukantas understand how the development of the Lithuanian identity could not bypass the culture of Prussian Lithuanians, or rather that of the Balts in general. Daukantas assimilated many concepts that, despite being Herder-esque, had been assimilated by Voigt and made relevant in the historic tract, such as: the history of the nation (‘tautos wejkałus’ Bd 127), the culture of the nation (‘akyłómą sawo tautoie’ Bd 236), the manner of the nation (‘pagał budo sawo tautós’ Bd 190), the freedom of the nation (‘tautû lousybę’ Bd, Pratarme 9). GP’s expression helped Daukantas create multiple romantic images that later made their way into the golden fund of Lithuanian literature.

The article investigates Simonas Daukantas’s (1793–1864) BUDĄ Senowęs-Lëtuwiû Kalnienû ĩr Ƶámajtiû (The Character of the Lithuanian Highlanders and Samogitians of the Old Times, 1845; hereafter Bd) with regards to genre, origin of the title, and the dominant German sources of the work. It claims that Daukantas conceived Bd because he understood that the future of Lithuania is closely related to its past. A single, united version of Lithuanian history, accepted by the whole nation, was necessary for the development of Lithuanian national identity and collective feeling. The history, which up until then had not been published in Lithuanian, could have helped to create the contours of a new society by presenting the paradigmatic events of the past. The collective awareness of the difference between the present and the past (and future) should have given the Lithuanian community an incentive to move forward. Daukantas wrote Bd quickly, between 1842 and May 28, 1844, because he drew on his previous work ISTORYJE ƵEMAYTYSZKA (History of the Lithuanian Lowlands, ~1831–1834; IƵ). Based on the findings of previous researchers of Daukantas’s works, after studying the dominant sources of Bd and examining their nature, this article comes to the conclusion that the work has features of both cultural history and regional historiography. The graphically highlighted form of the word “BUDĄ” used in the work’s title should be considered the author’s code. Daukantas, influenced by the newest culturological research and comparative linguistics of the 18th–19th centuries, propagated that Lithuanians originate from India and, like many others, found evidence of this in the Lithuanian language and culture. He considered the Budini (Greek Βουδίνοι), who are associated with the followers of Buddha, to be Lithuanian ancestors. He found proof of this claim in the language and chose the word “būdas” (character), which evokes aforementioned associations, to express the idea of the work. The synthesis of Buddha and Odin (who came to Europe from the East) by Alexander Humboldt and others may have determined the choice of the title’s form as a code for readers: Lithuanians belong among “the list of nations with a rich cultural context.” Bd is closely connected with the personal history of Daukantas, as he, the son of Kotryna Odinaitė, associated himself with the history of the high-status ancestors—Odinai. The legendary history of the ancestral Odinai determined the self-confidence and the perception of Daukantas’s uniqueness, which was necessary for cultural activities. This is confirmed by the text of Bd, where, unlike in previous works, there are many examples of the subjectivity inherent in the aesthetics of Romanticism, reliance on personal experience, and individual style. Bd draws on 85 sources total: 11 are from ancient and late Antiquity (Herodotus, Pytheas of Massalia, Strabon, Diodorus Siculus, Claudius Ptolemy, Titus Pomponius Mela, Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Publius Ovidius Naso, Gaius Plinius Secundus Maior, Marcus Junianus Justinus, Procopius of Caesarea), 21 have local origins (Wincenty Kadłubek, Jan Długosz, Maciej Stryjkowski, Mykolas Daukša, Michalo Lituanus, Jan Łasicki, Albertas Kojalavičius-Vijūkas, Franciszek Ksawery Michał Bohusz, Teodor Narbutt, Tadeusz Czacki), 13 are from other countries (Danish, Dutch, French, Russian, Swedish), and 35 sources (but 40 titles) are from authors of Prussian or German descent, most of whom lived in East Prussia, other parts of the Baltics, or St. Petersburg. The tradition of German historiography is prevalent in Bd and individual authors are cited more than 30 times. Therefore, it can be concluded that the attention of this region’s scholars to the Prussian and Lithuanian language, history, culture, as well as the high appreciation of the conquered pagans adopted from the Medieval chronicles was one of the reasons why German sources were chosen.

This article investigates the influence of Simonas Daukantas’s (1793–1864) book BUDĄ Senowęs- Lëtuwiû Kalnienû ĩr Ƶámajtiû (The Character of the Lithuanian Highlanders and Samogitians of the Old Times) (1845; hereafter Bd) on Jonas Mačiulis-Maironis’s (1869–1930) Apsakymai apie Lietuvos praeigą (Stories about Lithuania’s Past) (1891; hereafter ALP), which was reprinted in 1893 and 1906 as History of Lithuania. The fourth reprint in 1926 was titled Lithuania’s Past. Maironis’s work was popular and used as a textbook, so it had a significant impact on Lithuanian readers. Although the introduction “Užgyvenimo vieta” (“Place of residence”, p. 10) and chapters “Ukiszka vyresnybē” (“Heads of State”, pp. 18–19), “Pilēs ir miestai” (“Castles and Cities”, pp. 19–20), “Karionēs” (“Battles”, pp. 20–23), “Prekyba” (“Trade”, p. 23), “Namu gyvenimas” (“Home Life”, pp. 23–26) are obviously based on Daukantas’s Bd, the author never mentions this fact. Moreover, it seems that Maironis was influenced by Daukantas’s style, which he emulates, at times employing the elements of essay and poetry, or using long rhythmic sentences, which are sometimes reminiscent of hexameter and other times of Lithuanian folk song melodies and rhythms. Along with a significant part of Daukantas’s style and vocabulary, Maironis absorbed his dominant themes, motifs, personalities and places, images of daily life and nature. Maironis not only repeats all this in his ALP but also transfers them to his poem Lietuva (Lithuania).