Chapter 3 A LATECOMER TO LATIN CIVILIZATION: The Lithuanian Way to World History

EDVARDAS GUDAVICIUS

The history of modern European states dates back to what the well known French historian, Jacques Le Goff, described as "medieval Western civilization". Through the centuries these nations developed a lecture in the Latin tradition. Almost all European nations had joined the Latin cultural domain by the 11th century. Lithuania lagged behind the other Central European countries by some 400 years and took up Latin civilization only in the 14th century.

The Germans played an important role in the Europeanization of Poland, Bohemia, Hungary and Scandinavia. Although there were elements of German colonization, these countries managed to retain their national identity. Poland exerted the strongest cultural influence on Lithuania without colonizing the country. Nevertheless, the Lithuanian nobility adopted the Polish language for everyday communication. What were the reasons behind this process?

First and foremost, Lithuania was a latecomer to Latin Christendom. In the 9th and 11th centuries, Central and Northern European nations were assimilating the culture which spread through the monasteries; written language was not a determining factor in the development of this society. Lithuania absorbed the urban and university culture only in the 14th century. Being without a written language it had to establish an effective literary culture before integrating into Europe.

While Bohemia and Poland took Latin civilization gradually and in small portions that became larger with time, Lithuania adopted it within a very short period. One example, it took 200 years to set up a record-keeping system in Poland, whereas Lithuania’s Grand Duke Vytautas the Great (1392-1430) established on the moment an efficient network of official penmanship. This created a completely different situation with respect to the local language. There were more German colonists in Bohemia and Poland compared to the Poles who had moved to Lithuania, but there were few German scribes there. They had to speak the language of the local residents, which became the cornerstone of learning, although Latin was the prevailing written language of the times.

In Lithuania, however, there was yet another reason for ejecting the Lithuanian language from the society. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a state of many nations, of which Byelorussians constituted the larger part of the total population. As the Byelorussians had already mastered written language, when record-keeping facilities were being set up throughout Lithuania, the authorities engaged educated Byelorussians, along with Poles and Germans, to accelerate the process. Therefore, the Byelorussian and Polish languages, not Lithuanian, formed the foundation of written communication. It was not the Polish or Byelorussian teachers who learned Lithuanian, but vice versa. Lithuanian students had to learn the language of their teachers, and it was easier to master Byelorussian or Polish in a short time than to adapt the Lithuanian language for writing purposes.

As in the whole of Central Europe, a class society was emerging in Lithuania. The less developed the urban areas, the more pronounced was the influence of the nobility. In Lithuania, the nobility enjoyed extensive powers. It made sure that only Lithuanians could serve as bishops, but this rule was not applied to the common clergy. Neither did the Lithuanian nobility expand the system of elementary schooling. Lithuanian schools were created spontaneously and the number of Lithuanian priests and teachers grew slowly — this too predetermined the dominant role of the Polish language.

Such were the main features of Lithuania’s Europeanization. Nevertheless, there was a positive side to this process. By the beginning of the 16th century Lithuania managed to assimilate — although on a low level — the basic values of Latin civilization. Written language emerged as an essential social factor. Books were compiled in Lithuania and taken abroad for printing. Incunabula and paleotypes conveying knowledge that corresponded to the educational curriculum of the seven liberal arts, i.e. that of the European schools, became popular among educated people. The first national chronicles appeared at the beginning of the 16th century. The First Lithuanian Statute — a code of laws adopted in 1529 — surpassed the law collections of the neighboring countries. Lithuania attained a cultural level which made her open to the ideas of the Reformation. The University of Vilnius was founded in 1579. In the second half of the 16th century, the Lithuanian society and nation acquired all the features characteristic of a European state and became a leader in the race for European cultural standards.

However, the price for Lithuania’s achievements was high, since historical success is never delivered free of charge. By the end of the 16th century, the Lithuanian nobility had switched over to the Polish language. But this did not change their national consciousness, and they retained a Lithuanian spiritual identity The country and its people, however, became bilingual. Russia forced Lithuania into forming a confederacy with Poland in 1569 — the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 200 years later Russia annexed the commonwealth of the two nations. The loss of statehood and the joint struggle against Russia altered the national orientation of the Polish-speaking gentry which ascribed itself to the Polish nobility. However, at that time Lithuania began to feel the effects of European education and a large group of democratically-minded intellectuals began to promote nationalist ideas among the local population in the 19th century.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Lithuanian people joined the national liberation movements of Central and Eastern Europe. In 1918, Lithuania regained its independence and embarked on a process of Lithuania’s Europeanization which was laborious and complicated. Nevertheless, Lithuania managed to attain high European standards and retain its national identity intact.

Institute of History
Lithuanian Academy of Science

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