Tri Mucenika Iz Viljnusa, Litvanija

8/11/2019 Tri Mucenika Iz Viljnusa, Litvanija

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ANALECTA

BOLLANDIANA

REVUE CRITIQUE D HAGIOGRAPHIE

A JOURN L OF RITI L H GIOGR PHY

PUBLIEE PAR LA

EDITED BY THE

SOCIETE DES OLL NDISTES

TOME 122

SOCIETE DES BOLLANDlSTES

24,

BOULEVARD SAINT-MICHEL

B 1040 BRUXELLES

2004


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Darius BARONAS

THE THREE MARTYRS OF VILNIUS:

A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY MARTYRDOM

AND ITS DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

Introduction

Lithuania is situated on the periphery of East European plain and

from the dawn of its history the Grand Duchy of Lithuania has been a

neighbour of both Poland and Rus'. The juxtaposition of these two coun-

tries makes it clear that the territory in question was exposed to influences

coming from both Western and Eastern Christianity. The issue of having

a Catholic or Orthodox identity long remained unsettled and that is why

Lithuania survived as the last pagan state in Europe for a considerable

time. Lithuania attracted to wider attention in the middle of the thirteenth

when its first ruler Mindaugas

(c .

1240-1263) was baptized in 1251 and

two years later received the royal crown with the blessing of Pope Inno-

cent IV (1243-1253). The Catholic kingdom of Lithuania for all intents

and purposes was, however, short-lived. The murder of its first and last

crowned king plunged the country into turmoil and it seemed that it might

even become an Orthodox realm instead of Catholic or pagan one when

the grand-ducal throne was occupied by Mindaugas' Orthodox son, prince-

monk Vojelk (1264-1267) and his Rus'ian son-in-law Shvarno

(c. 1 267-

c.

1269). However, the Orthodox grip on Lithuania was too weak to take

root and was removed by the energetic pagan Traidenis

(c. 12 69-c. 12 82).

From this time on Lithuania was ruled by pagan rulers until Grand Duke

Jogaila (1377-1381,1382-1392, titular supreme duke until 1434) accepted

baptism as King Ladislas 11of Poland (1386-1434) and brought most of

his Lithuanian subjects into the Catholic fold in 1387, a process which

was completed in 1413-1417, when the westernmost province of Lithu-

ania, Zemaitija (Samogitia) was converted.

Medieval Lithuania was always a polyethnic, multicultural country.

Although its kernel was Lithuania proper with a largely pagan Lithuanian

Baltic population, it increasingly came to include ever larger numbers of

L ist of abbreviations: cf.

infra,

p . 1 33- 134 . .

W hile preparing a study about these m artyrs I becam e indebted to m any persons and especially

to vytautas A li~uskas, Sergei T em chin and Stephen C . R ow ell w hose assistance w as invaluable .

Analeeta Bollandiana, 122 (2004), p. 83-134.


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84

D . B AR ON AS

S lav O rthodox believers, since from the early fourteen th cen tury the

co un try exp erien ced rap id exp an sio n an d cam e to in clu de m o st o f W e stern

Rus'. L ithuanian expansion m ade big strides under G rand D uke Gedi-

minas c. 1 31 6-1 34 1) an d esp ecia lly u nd er h is so n A lg ird as (1 34 5-1 3 77).

Th is po licy o f annexing R us'ian territo ry w as continued by G rand D uke

V ytau tas (1 392-1 43 0), u nd er w h om th e G ran d D u ch y o f L ith uan ia reach ed

its zen ith of pow er in general and in Rus' in particu lar. By the end of the

fo urtee nth cen tu ry th e e astern b ord er o f L ith ua nia ra n ab ou t 2 00 k ilom etre s

w est of M oscow

I.

Such developm ents brought a d iverse population in to one political

fram ew ork . In teraction b etw een p agans an d O rthod ox w as far fro m bein g

o utrig ht h ostility , a t least a fte r th e rem o val o f lo ca l R us'ian p rin ces m ean t

that there w as no danger to L ithuanian ru le. M ost frequently L ithuanian

dukes w ho cam e to ru le in Rus' adopted the O rthodox faith and in th is

w ay becam e n atura lised in th eir new env iro nm ent. In g enera l, a p icture 'o f

p ragm atic rela tio ns b etw een p ag an L ith uan ian s an d O rth od ox R us'ian s is

accepted

in

h isto riography , although w e shou ld avo id speaking ' about

p eacefu l exp an sio n o r frien dly co existen ce/ b ecau se th e reality m u st h av e

been som ew hat m ore com plicated . In th is article

i m

attem pt w ill be m ade

to d eal w ith one controversia l issue , the m artyrdo m of th e th ree m artyrs of

Vilnius.

The three m artyrs of V iln ius (or the L ithuanian m artyrs) is a com -

poun d design ation fo r the O rth odo x m artyrs, S t. A nthony (t 14 J anuar y),

S t. Jo hn

(t

April 24 ) an d S t. E ustath iu s

(t

13 D ecem ber). They are con-

sidered to have been put to dea th by order of Grand Duke A lgirdas of

L ith u an ia in

c .

13 47. In g eneral te rm s th e arg um ent of the

Passio

presents

the bro thers, A nthony and John , as servants o f the L ithuanian fire-

w o rsh ip pin g d uk e. T hey co nv erted from p ag an ism to O rth od oxy , ad op ted

a new w ay of life and afte r that w ere brough t to trial by being forced to ea t

m eat du ring fast days. T heir refusal to fu lfil th is com m and brough t them '

fin ally to the g allow s, first A nthony and . then John '. T he s~ ory o f an other

J F or the L ithuan ian background see: R OW ELL ,L it hu an ia A sc en din g . w here an am ple b ib-

liography is included. For the L ithuanian expansion in to Rus' see : H . PA SZK lEW lcz,

Poczqtki

Rust,

ed , from rns. by K . ST OP KA , Cracow , 1996 (orig inally pub lished in English as

T he O rig in

o f Ru ss ia , London , 1954), p. 224-255. The C hristianization of L ithuan ia (un til 1387) is d ealt

w ith in La

Cr is tia niz za zi on e d ella L itu an ia

(=

P ontific io c om itato di sc ienze storiehe. A tti e do-

cumenti , 2), V atica n C ity , 1989, and D . BA RO NA S,L ithuania s E ntry into C hristendom (1009-

1387), in

Ch ris ti an ity in L ith uania ,

ed, D . BARONAS- L . JOVAISA - M . P AKNYS - E. RA ILA -

A. STREIKUS,Vilnius,

2002,

p .

11-49. .

2 ROWELL ,

Lit huania Ascend ing ,

p. 93-94.


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TH E TH REE M ARTY RS O F VILN IU S

85

C hristian servan t, nam ed Eustha tiu s, is m uch the sam e, a lthough he is

d ep ic te d a s h av in g su ffe re d h orrib le to rtu res b efo re h e w a s fin ally h an ge d.

The inc iden t o f th is m arty rdom has p roved to be h igh ly controversia l in

m odem histo riog raphy and it seem s like ly tha t w e m ay never know

exactly w hy they w ere k illed . In th is artic le I am go ing to d iscuss the

so urces, m o stly h ag io graph ic in n atu re , to analy se th e variou s in terp re-

ta tions o f the m arty rdom advanced so far, and to suggest som e new

. in sig hts. S ub se qu en tly th e e arlie st e vid en ce o f th eir v en era tio n w ith in th e

O rthodox C hurch w ill be p resen ted . F ina lly I w ill p rov ide an ou tline of

th eir cu lt u p to th e p resen t d ay . T heir ven era tio n is still a liv e an d no t o nly

am o ng th e O rth od ox b eliev ers in L ith uania. Its d iffe ren t tw ists an d tu rn s

ta ke n th ro ug ho ut th e c en tu rie s g ra ph ica lly illu stra te h ow th e v en era tio n o f

these sa in ts , d esp ite its b ein g p olitica lly m isused fo r som e tim e, h as su r-

v iv ed from th e fo urte en th c en tu ry to th e p re se nt.

1. The Early Sources of the Martyrdom

Hagiographic

Sources

T he earliest sou rce re lating to the m arty rdom of the three m arty rs o f

V iln iu s is th e encomium com posed by M ichael B alsam on at the end o f the

fourteen th cen tu ry '. It is know n tha t M ichael B alsam on w as ac tive in

C o nsta ntin op le a t th e turn of the fourteen th and fifteen th cen tu ries. H e

w as p ro to no tariu s from 1 390 to 1 397, tau gh t a t th e p atria rch al sch oo l from

c. 1397 to c. 1400 and w as g rand chartophy lax from 1400 to 1402.

1. M ey en do rff d ated th is

encomium

prio r to 1394 on the g rounds tha t

B alsam on on ly then becam e pro tonotarius. F . J. T ho m so n h as recen tly

no ticed tha t B alsam on w as p ro tono tariu s a lready in 1390, so w e m ay

su gg est th at th is eu lo gy ~ as com po sed

in

a bou t 1 390 -1 397

4

J

This eulogy w as pub lished several tim es in the 20

th

c en tu ry : S P ER ANS K Y ,

Cep6cKoe

scumue; p . 35-47; M . G ED EO N,Nfapt/llo8r XTJ beMT/maumt t i i vOVYY(Xl rp fwv , v ol. I, C on sta n-

tinop le , 1903 , p . 85-102; ID ., A e xe ro v b eM T /m a O TO O 1;

loro la)i

vo l. I, C onstan tinop le , 1911 ,

p .152-174 . D esp ite the fact tha t these ed itions have been produced from the sam e m anuscrip t,

they are ra ther d ifferen t. C o lla ting the la test ed ition of Gedeon and tha t o f Speransky , T .

A lekn ienc prepared a new critical edition in BA RO NA S.Trys Vtlniaus kankiniai; p . 2 00 -2 42 .

The m anuscrip t con ta in ing M . B alsam on 's eu logy is described in S . EU ST RA TIA DES.

Catalogue

o f th e G reek M an usc rip ts

in

the Library of the M onastery of V atopedi on M t. A thos

t =

Harvard

Theol og ic al S tudie s,

1 1), C am brid ge. 1 924, p, 110. no . 541 . See a lso

B HG 2035.

4 F . J. Thom son 's rev iew of B ARO NA S.

Try Vilniaus kankintal,

in

AB,

119 (2001). p .

183-184 , w ith reference to E . TRApp.

P ro sa po gr ap hisc he s L ex ik on d er P ala lo lo ge nz eit,

pt .1I

(=

V er ffe ntlic hu ng en d er Kommissionfr Byzantinistik,

112). Vienna , 1977. no . 2123 , p . 12.


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86

. D .B A R O NA S

The earlies t texts devo ted to the m em ory of the th ree m arty rs o f

V iln ius are found in litu rg ical books and the co llections of the lives o f

sain ts w hich cam e down to us m ain ly from the fifteen th and sixteen th

cen tu ries. T hey all a re in Church S lavon ic . T hese texts are no t iden tica l.

S om e of them are litu rgical o ffices w hich con ta in the descrip tion of the

m arty rdom , som e are

Passiones

in the ir ow n righ t. The

Passiones

of the

earliest know n m anuscrip ts can be broken down in to tw o redactions, as

fo l lows:

The Sou th S lav ic R edaction :

.

-'

.

- T he B elg rade S ynaxarium (15

th

c .): kep t un til 1941 in the N ational L ib rary in

B e lg ra de , n o. 3 56 ,

f.

161-164 (Passio, 16 D ecem ber); now Iosr', . .

- T he V ie nn a S yna xa riu m (1 6_1 7

1 h

c .): B ib lio th e ca P a la tin a V indobonen sis , n o . 53 .

c od . S la v . f. 2 35

Y

-237 (Passio, 16 December) ,

- T he S lu tsk m e nae um (m id -I c .): V iln iu s, the L ib rary o f th e L ith uan ian A ca d-

e m y o f S cie nce s (h ere in after L LA S ), F I9-1 47, f. 224 -228 (o ffic e for th e S un da y

b efo re th e S un da y o f th e H o ly F ore fa th ers; S ec on d S un da y in A d ve nt)'.

- T he U nev m onastery m enaeum (m id-le c .): the Lv iv S tefanyk L ibrary of the

U k rain ian A cad em y o f S cien ce s, D ep artm e nt o f M a nu sc rip ts, N D -69,

f.

45-52

(o ffic e fo r th e S ec on d S un da y in A d ve nt)8 .

- T he P osa da -R y bo ty ck a m e na eum (1 55 5): Wa rsaw , B ib lio te ka N a ro dow a (h ere in -

. a fte r B N ), akc . 2804 ,

f.

101-107

Y

(o ffic e fo r th e S ec on d S un da y in A d ve nt).

- T he festa l m enaeum (late 16

th

-e arly 1 7th c .?): W a rs aw , BN , a kc . 2 56 0, f. 1 53 -1 59

(o ffic e fo r th e S ec on d S un da y in A d ve nt)

- The m enaeum (early 17

th

c .?): W arsaw , B N, akc. 2817, f. 200

Y

-206

Y

(o ff ic e f or

th e S eco nd S un day in

Adven t) , .

f

'T h is synaxarium was destroyed during the bom bing of B elg rad on 6 April 1941 (I ow e

th is inform ation to A . Turilov , S . T ernehin and F .

J.

Thom son). M . Speransky published th is

text in 1909, so th is pub lica tion of the

Passio

has a un ique value (SPERANSK Y,

Cep6cKoe

cumue, p.26-31).

6

T he V ienna m anuscrip t is not accessib le to m e . . A cco rd ing to Speransky , the m artyrs of

V iln ius are comm em orated on 16 D ecem ber and th is text is a lm ost iden tical to that of the

B e lg ra de s yn ax ari um

(ibid.,

p,

S,

24 , the varian ts o f th is

Passio

are anno tated under the text of

the B elg rade synaxariurn). .

7 The officium is pu blish ed in B AR ON A S,T ry s V iln ia us k an kin ia i, p . 244- 266:

The m anusc rip t is described in I. S . SVEN TSITSK Y,

lepxoeno- u PyccKo-C J la 61 lHCKUe

pyxonucu n y611U l HO U 6 u611uom eKU H ap oO Ho2 0 IlO Ma 60 Jlseoee, S t. P ete rsb urg , 1 90 4, p . 3 8-3 9.

9 The last three m enaea derive from Sou th W estern R us'; they have a com mon pro to-

g raph . Their descrip tion is prepared on the basis of the ca ta logue a rranged by A . N aurnow at

the B ib lio tek a N arod ow a in W arsaw .


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TH E TH REE M ARTY RS OF VILN IU S

87

A

.T he East S lav ic R edaction :

- T he co llec tion of the L ives o f sa in ts (la te 15

th

-early 16

th

c .): L I,A S, F I9-102, f.

55-57 (Passio, 20 Sep tem ber)IO ., ,,'

- The collec tion o f the L ives o f sa in ts (la te 15

th

-early 16

th

c .): LLAS F I9-76, f. 5

v

_

7

v

(Passio, 20 September) '.

- T he S up rasl' synaxarium (1512): L LA S, F19-95, f. 491 -493 (Passio, 14 January ) .

B -

The synaxarium (1496): LL AS, F19-100, f. 125-128

(Passio,

14

April) ,

' : The Suprasl ' synaxarium (first quarter of 16

th

c.): LLA S, F I9-98, f. 192

v

-195

, (Passio,

14

April) , '

- The manuscr ipt from the U ndo lsky co llec tion (16

th

c .): M oscow , the R ussian N a-

tio n al L ib ra ry , cop. B . M .YH , {o b cKo r o ( c p . 310), no . 1254 , f. 65-69 (Passio, 14

'. A p ril?)I5 . ,',', , ,,'

Histor iographica l Sources

T he earlies t m en tion o f the th ree m arty rs o f V iln ius is found in the

en try fo r the year 1347 in the fifteen th -cen tu ry R ussian first Soph ia

C h ro nic le . T h is c hro nic le re fle cts a c omp ila tio n o f Me tro po lita n P ho th is

o f R us ' (1408-1431) w hich w as com posed m ostp robab ly in M oscow in

c .

1418

17

In m y op in ion the very w ord ing o f the en try abou t the th ree

10

This Passio is p ublished in B AR ON A S,Trys , V il ni au s kank in ia i, p. 268-276. ,

11 The date of20 Septem ber is no t exp lic itly sta ted . T he

Passto

o f t he L i th u an ia nma rt yr s

in th ese tw o m a nu sc rip ts is fou nd : in first case b etw een the

Passio

o f D uk e M ik hail o fC hem ig ov

and his boyar F eder (20.09) and the m em ory of S t. B arlaam (06.11 ); in the second - betw een

th e Passio of the sam e M ikhail and Feder (20.09) and the Vita of S erg ii o f R ad onezh (25.09).

The rela tion sh ip betw een 20 Sep tem ber and the Passio of the L ithuan ian m artyrs m ay be ex-

p lained by reference to S t. Eustachiu s (P lacidus), com mem orated on th is day , w hose nam e

resem bles that of S t. Eusta th iu s. These tw o m anuscrip ts are nearly contem porary , the first

being sligh tly earlier as its w a term arks indicate (I ow e the inform ation on w aterm arks to N .

Morozova; the dating of the m anuscrip ts is also hers).' . j

. '

1l This

Passio

is p ublished in B AR ON A S,

Trys Vi lniaus kankiniai,

p . 278- 284 .

, 13

This

Passlo

w as d iscovered by the w riter of these lines in June 2000. The m anuscrip t

w as da ted by N . M orozova.

14

This

Passio

is p ub lished in B AR ON AS ,

Try s V iln ta us k an ktn ta i,

p. 286-292. The m anu-

scrip t w as dated by N . M orozova. '

15

This

Passio

i s p ub li sh e d in SPERANSKY ,C ep 6cK oe :J IC U m ue , p . 32-34 . The m anusc rip t is

no t accessib le to m e.' '.

16

C OrpU CK aR n epe as J le mo nU C b cm ap us ee o U 360 0a (,;. ncpJl ,

6 /1 ), M o ~c ow , 2 00 0,

p

428.

17 T here is still d iscussion in R ussian scholarsh ip ~bout the orig in of the 1 Sophi~ and IV

N ovgorod C hronicles, w hich reflect the so -called C om pila tion o f M etropolitan P hotius (cf. G .

M . P RO KH OR OV,I lemonucuue

noo6opKU

pyxonucu mE, F./v 603 u

npo6J1eMa

C600HOZO

06U1epyccKozo

nemonucanus; in TOPJI . 32 [1977], p . 165-198; Y a. S . LU R'E , E U le pas

0


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88

D.BARONAS

martyrs of Vilnius suggests that it must have derived from the metropol-

itan chancery , It is perhaps no accident that the three martyrs of Vilnius

entered the Russian chronicles at just about the time when their images

were embroidered on the major sakkos ofPhotius (discussed below). The

inscription of the first Sophia Chronicle is reflected in later Russian chron-

icles of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries , A shortened version of this

inscription is found in the Yermolin Chronicle of the second half of the

fifteenth century and in the later Russian chronicles which took it from

there , Quite a different record about the Lithuanian martyrs is found in a

later source, the early seventeenth-century South Ruthenian chronicle of the

Gustynya Monastery. This chronicle mentions the three martyrs twice

21

The differences in structure and wording indicate that there is no textual

relation between the South Ruthenian and the Muscovite chronicles and

that the former reflect information obtained from quite a different source.

Iconograph ic Sources

The most important source of this kind is the major sakkos (chasuble)

of Metropolitan Photius of Rus'. There can be no doubt that this prominent

work of Byzantine art was made in the first quarter of the fifteenth cen-

tury. The images of the three Lithuanian martyrs are found between those

CBooe

1448 e.

u HO f lZ OP oOcK O K apC IM3U .HCK Onemon u cu ,

ibid.,

p . 199-218; A . G . B OB RO V,

H 3

ucm opuu J lem OnU CO HW l nep80 u n OJ l0 8U Hbl XY

8., in

TO,aPH,

46 [1993], p . 3 -20; Va. S . LU R'E ,

C/>eOOaJ I bHaJ l8 0UHa

8

M O CK 8e u n em on uca uu e n ep BO U n OJ lO BU H blX Y

S.,

in T O,a P H , 47 [1993], p .

82-94; A. G . B OB RO V,

P eo aK l/u u H O fIZ O PO O C KO 'Ie m Be pm o n em on ucu ,

in

TO , aPH ,

S I [1 99 9],

p . 107-136). I support the op in ion expressed by A . B obrov in h is earlier artic le tha t the 1448

svod w as com piled in c . 1418 (B A RO N AS ,

Trys Yi ln iau kankiniai ;

p.31-37).

11 It is w orth no ting that the earliest m anuscrip t o f the tirs t Soph ia C hron ic le ends w ith a

phrase rem in iscen t o f litu rg ica l texts ([ . .. ]

H

n pa sc ra B eH Q a H e6C C H al

OT

PYKblrocnoaas ,

HX

P lIJlH nocrpaaacra H X PH CTa P lIJlH : and they rece ived the heaven ly palm s from the Lord 's

hand and suffered fo r them and for Christ ''). L a ter versions are som ew hat shorter as they om it

su ffered fo r them and for Christ . T h is m ay

be

charac teristic o f the tendency of la te r scribes

to rew ork the w orks of their ecc lesiastica l p redecessors in a m ore secu lar m anner (cf. A . N .

NASONOV ,Hcmopus P YC CK OZ Osem onucan ux X l - H O 'lQ /lQ X YJ II ,eK O: O 'lepK U u U CC lleO OBaH Wl,

M oscow , 1969, p . 294-295, 300; V a. S . L UR 'E ,

06U fepyccK Ue sem on ucu X1Y-X Y

66., Leningrad,

1 976, p . 1 60).

,

,1 9

M O C K0 8C K U U J le mO n UC H blu C B OO K O H IIO X Y e ex a

(=

nCP H , 25), M oscow - Len ingrad ,

1 94 9, p . 177;H em on ucb n o B OC lC peC eH C KO M ycn UC IC )I(= nCP H , 7), S t. P ete rsb urg , 1 856, p . 21 4-

215;

K H U 20 cm en eu ua s IIo pcK O ZO P O OO C l10 8U J l

(=

ncp H ,

21 ), S t. P ete rsb urg , 1 91 3, p t. 2, p . 3 90.

20EPMOJ lUHCK aJ l n emonucu

(=

nCP H , 23), S t. P e tersburg , 1910, p . 109; HemonucHb l

csoo 15182. (y 8a p0 8C K aJ l s em o nu cs } (= nCP H , 28), Moscow - L en ingrad , 1963 , p . 232;

HbSOBCKaJ l J l emOnUCb (= nCP H , 20), S t. P e tersburg , 1910, p t. I, p . 185.

2lry cm uH cK ciJ lJ le ;o nu C b (= nC P H . 2), S~ . Petersburg , 1843 , p . 349-350. ,


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TH E TH REE M AR TY RS O F VILN IU S

89

o f th e fu tu re B yzan tin e em p ero r Jo hn V III P alaeo lo gu s (1 425-1 44 8) w ith

h is w ife A nna and of G rand D uke B asil I o f M oscow (1389-1425) and his

w ife S ofia , d au gh ter o f V ytau tas. It is su pp osed th at th e latte r co up le com -

m i ss ioned th e sakkoi

2

T ak in g in to acco un t th e fac t th at A n na , d au gh ter o f

B asil I and Sofia , w as m arried to John V III in 1414 and d ied o f the p lague

in 1417 it seem s m ost likely tha t the sakkos w as prod uced betw een th ese

years ,

T he d ep ic tio n o n th e sakkos o f P hotiu s is th e earliest k now n im age o f

the three m artyrs o f V iln iu s and the ir rep resen tation rem ained m uch the

sam e in la te r ic on og ra ph y ,

Epigraphic Sources

S ources o f th is k ind canno t be as e loquen t as narra tives, bu t am ong

th em th ere is th e earliest k now n o bjec t d irec tly re la ted to th e v en era tio n o f

th e th ree m a rty rs o f V iln iu s: th e cro ss o f P atria rch P hilo th eu s C occin us o f

C on stan tino ple (1 353 -1 354 , 1 364 -13 76). T his cross h as lon g b een d ated

to the fifteen th cen tu ry and it has been though t tha t on ly som e obscu re

tr ad itio n ha s a ss oc ia te d th e e ar lie r n ame ($J Io$eeBcKHHI


9/53

9

D.BARONAS

was m ade in c. 1 37 6 a nd c on ta in ed th e re lic s o f th e L ith ua nia n m a rty rs

am on g those of o th er

saints . . .

i

T here are o ther tw o reliquaries con tain ing the relics o f the L ithu-

an ian m arty rs . O ne of them w as produced in 1414 by Ivan D anilov ich , a

scio n o f th e p rin ce s o f S uzd al,27. T he o th er ca n b e d ated to la te fifte en th -

e ar ly s ix te enth c entu ry ,

W e have presen ted a m ore or less com plete corpus of early sources

know n to da te that have to do w ith the m arty rdom and the cu lt o f the th ree

m a rty rs o f

Vilnius .

T he se so urce s are n ot ric h, b ut it is to b e rem em b ered

tha t w e are dea ling w ith a m arty rdom which took p lace in fourteen th -

cen tu ry L ithuan ia , a coun try w hich desp ite its huge size is the ob ject o f

re la tive ly little source m ate ria l. N everthe less , the sou rces listed above

prov id e a basis fo r an in vestiga tion in to the reaso ns o f th e m arty rdo m an d

bear w itness to the early stages in venera tion of the th ree m arty rs o f

V iln iu s. A lth ou gh b y th e ea rly tw en tie th c en tu ry th e b ulk o f th ese so urce s

had been pub lished or m en tioned , they have been used in vary ing degrees

bo th in te rm s of quan tity and qua lity . N ow w e are go ing to d iscuss the

rela tio nsh ip b etw een th e earlie st red actio ns o f th e

Passio

and in dealing

w ith the Sou th S lav ic redac tion w e w ill a ttem pt to reveal those fea tu res

w h ich estab lish th e h isto ric ity o f th e ea rliest Passio and its p roxim ity to

the even ts it desc ribes. T he d isappearance of som e of these featu res w ill

revea l the tendencies o f fu rther m odifica tions as th ey are re flected in th e

East S lav ic redac tion . T h is la tter redaction is m ade up of tw o groups o f

texts , w hich fo r the sake o f conven ience are ca lled groups A and B , and

w e w ill trace th eir reflec tio ns in th e la te r v ersio ns o f th e sto ry w ell in to th e

e igh teen th cen tu ry.

2 . T he Sou th and East S lav ic R edactions of the

Passio

The tim e and p lace of the em ergence o f the Sou th S lav ic version of

the sto ry is a com plica ted issue. In genera l the texts o f the Sou th S lav ic

redac tion correspon d to each o ther, a lthough th e texts o f th e menaea be-

long to the . B ulgarian recen sion of C hu rch S lavon ic , w hile those o f the

26 KUCHKIN, C e pz u P a OO H e:J IC C K U ,

p.

19. '.

27 T . V .

NIKOLAEVA,

flpoU 3seO eH W l P YC CK ~O n p~ KR aO H0 20 U ~K YC C m6a ... (cf. supra , n,

25 ), p . 3 3-3 4, n O 4 ;

p,

1 04, p la te 4 .

21

EAD. , flp 0U 3Se Oe HW l M eJ lK O n s acm ux u ... (cf. supra , n . 25),

p,

266-267, n O 121 b .

29

L ater redaction s w hich w ill be discussed in a sectio n d evoted to them.


10/53

THE THREE MARTYRS OF VILNIUS

91

synaxaria belong to the Serbian recension of Church Slavonic. The main

lines of the story are also revealed in Michael Balsamon's eulogy and this

prompts us to wonder about the possible relation between the Greek and

Church Slavonic texts. Apart from Michael Balsamon there is also some

other evidence suggesting that the South Slavic redaction may have had

some Greek antecedent. The office of the three martyrs is instructive in

this respect. In tackling this problem the Russian scholar D. Ogitsky

turned his attention to the acrostics preserved in the Slavonic text:

TPOH~4

'1b'1'E'T' Ch\ HOOhlAEWblX M'6'1EHHIM..

lb..

GOrOpOAH'IHb4X ~E AHMH-

'1'p'ih\

( The three newly-manifested martyrs are glorified. In theotokia

[the acrostic] of Dem etrius 'Y , He translated the first words of Slavonic

tropes back into Greek, which gives: TQta~ ttl.l:tat vsoqxrvv J.LaQt1JQwv;

the same procedure with the theotokia resulted in L\J.LEtQ(oU.his latter

acrostic identifies the author of the office and according to

A.

Turilov he

may have been Demetrius Chrysolorus , Ogitsky was the first scholar

who most convincingly formulated the idea that the office of the three mar-

tyrs of Vilnius was originally Greek which some time later was translated

into Church Slavonic and in such a form came down to us. He thought

that the office must have been composed about 1374 under the auspices of

the Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople. This opinion is based on two

facts. Firstly, Michael Balsamon states that Patriarch Philotheus was first

in venerating them as martyrs and honouring them with icons, prostrations

and yearly liturgical celebrations? . The South Slavic redaction informs

us that in 1374 Patriarch Philotheus received parts of the relics of the Li-

thuanian martyrs in Hagia Sophia , This

translatio

of the relics means

that the official canonization was in 1374 and the very canonization im-

plies the existence of liturgical texts. Secondly, Ogitsky considered that the

Pass io

similarly must have been originally Greek as it formed part of the

Greek office. Michael Balsamon also lends some support to such a view

because he makes a direct reference to a story in which the martyrs are

called Lithuanians and fire-worshippers (o~ ttou~ w ~ ~t: ?tal. mJQ-

ooMtQa~ 6 A6yo~?tat)34.Already M. Speransky treated this informa-

30

T he S lu tsk m enaeum : LLA S, F19-147,

f.

224

( BARONAS ,

T ry s V lln ia us k an kin ia i,

p.

246).

31 Maka ry (B u lg ak ov ), Hcmopux P y cCK O lI ep K 8U , Moscow ,

1995,

book 3, KOMeHTapHH

(A . A . T urilo v), p. 528. .

3 1 S P E R AN S K Y ,

Cep6c IC o e cumue ,

p.

47.

33 Ibid., p. 31 .

).4 Ibid.,

p.

36.


11/53


12/53

TIlE TH REE M AR TY RS O F VILN IU S

93

girdas against MOSCOW

41

This conjecture is corroborated by the evidence

supplied by Cyprian as he stated that during his stay in Lithuania he made

endeavours to have the Christian prisoners of war released . According

to the Polish chronicler Jan Dlugosz, the Lithuanians always grudged re-

leasing prisoners of war , that is why a release on a massive scale would

not have been an ordinary event. Algirdas agreed to the request and the

church was soon built. Maybe Cyprian's general reference to the churches

built in Lithuania applies also to this particular church in Vilnius' ,

The Passio does not specify that the martyrdom took place in or that

the church was built in Vilnius. This cannot be satisfactorily explained by

simply referring to scanty geographic knowledge on the part of the author

of the

Passio,

On the contrary, the

Passio

reveals a fairly good knowl-

edge of topography. The duke advised that the church be built not in the

valley, as the captives had previously asked, but on the hill, for that site

was, in his opinion, more suitable for the church. The site of the church of

the Holy Trinity in Vilnius, which later tradition holds to have been built

on the place of the martyrdom, is also described as a hill

4 s

Every modern

visitor to Vilnius Old Town can see that for himself. Of course, the hill is

not enough to demonstrate that this is exactly that same place.. However,

taking into account the fact that seventeenth-century writers recorded that

the martyrs had suffered where Holy Trinity Church was later erected, we

can state that in all Lithuania there is no other place that could be claimed

to possess at least similar credentials, both written and topographical .

The historicity of the Passio may also be reinforced a little by a cu-

rious habit of Lithuanians to shave their beards and cut their hair short.

The Passio indicates that the future martyrs were noticed when they dis-

continued shaving their beards and grew their hair long in contrast to

others. The existence of this habit is, rather unexpectedly, confirmed by

41 SPERANSKY , Cep6cKoe :J ICUm ue ,p. 15

. 42

PHD. 190 8, p . 182. T he extra c t fro m C yprian 's le tte r o f23.0 6 .137 8: [ ] An ie 6 b1JT b

e c M b B 'b J IH TB e, M HO ro X pH CTH aH ropsxaro nneaeaas O C B 06 0.A HJ Tb e C M b, M H 0 3C 0Tb H C B e -

J IlIllIH X B ora D 03H anH H a M H H C T H H a T 'O B ora H

IC b

D p a B O C m U I H O H sepe C B l IT b lM l t K p C ll IC H H e M l t

D PH w nH . l.{e pKB H

cssrsra

CTa B HJI ' b

e cM b , X PH C T Ha H CT B O y rB e p.A HJ Tb

ecas,

M e C T a u e pK O B H 8lI,

sanycrouiena . Aa B H b lM H C T b I, onpaaam, e C M b n pH n O lK H TH IC b M H TPo nO H H B ce ll P YC H .

43 J an D l ugo sz ,

Annales,

lib er X , p . 168 . .

44

PHB,

19 08 , p . 182.

45 J.

FUALEK,

Opisy Wilna at do polowy

wieku

XVII-go, in A ten eum W ilen sk ie, 5 -6 (1 92 4),

p.142.

46 KREUZA,

Obrona

jednoici

cerkiewney, p.

59 ; K o s s o w ,

Paterikon; p,

176; DUBOWlcz,

Hierarchia,

p. 177-178.


13/53

94

D .BARONAS

Jan Dlugosz who in describing the pagans also noted that in the pagan

times the Lithuanians observed the habit of wearing short clothes and used

to shave their hair and beards ,

It seems that as an integral part of the

officium,

the

Passio

must have

been composed by near contemporaries of the events, which to all proba-

bility took place in c. 1347. The Passio relates that the tortures of St. Eu-

stathius were described by those who had been there (in Lithuania) , Of

course, not all the elements of the story can be accepted at face value, as is

always the case with hagiographie (or any other) texts. However, I con-

sider that such basic facts, that the martyrs were under the authority of the

pagan duke and were killed for refusing to fulfil his order to eat meat

during the

fast ,

that the church was built in the place of the martyrdom,

that their relics were transferred to Hagia Sophia etc., are substantially true.

The collation of the South and EaSt Slavic redactions reveals the

character of later modifications. The East Slavic redaction presents a

more simplified and harmonised version of the description. The South

Slavic redaction indicates that the priest Nestor and some believers took

part in the burial of SS. Anthony and John. As for St. Eustathius it is said

that the Orthodox sons of the tormentor (Algirdas) brought his body from

the place of martyrdom, which was three days' journey away, and buried it

together with SS. Anthony and John. In both cases the East Slavic redac-

tion knows only of some believers taking part in the burials. The very

description of building the church is shortened. If we had only the East

Slavic redaction we would have been unable to know that the Christians

who were eager to build the church had previously been prisoners of war.

47 Ja n D lu go sz , Annales, liber X , p . 168. Such a change ~f appearance must be linked to

co nv ersio n, w hich enta ile d a re defin itio n o f iden tity .

A

conversion to O rthodoxy in the case of

the three m artyrs o f V ilnius has one m ore parallel. The sam e Jan D lugosz info rm s us tha t Jo -

gaila 's b rother Vygan tas, upon h is conversion, so eagerly adopted the ho ly Po lish custom s that

he seem s to have becom e a really new m an:

Q ui p ost re gen era cion is la vac ru m in Cracoviensi

ecc lesia susceptum adeo singulos barbaros et patrios gestus et mores

in

h ab itu , lo qu ela ,

tonsura et omni conversac ione a se relegaverat totumque se Polonorum moribus sanctis et

religiosis add ixerat, u t n on neop hitu s aut tiro, sed veteran us fid ei et religlonis c atholic ae m iles

c re de re tu r . .. ( ib id .,

p . 195). These cases from L ithuania m ay supp ly add itional substance to

sim ilar phenom ena found elsew here: cf. e. g .

N.

BEREN D ,At the G ate o/Christendom . J ew s,

M uslim s and Pagans

in

m edieval H un gary, c . 1 000 -c . 13 00,

C am brid ge, 2001 , p . 258-260.

41 SPERANSKY ,C ep 6c K oe 3 IC U m u e,p. 30; B AA O NA S,T ry s V tln ia us k an k in ia i, p . 2 60 .

49 A refusal to ea t m eat leading to execution is by no m eans un ique .. Early in the 9

c .

pagan B ulgars killed fourteen C hristians w ho refused to ea t m eat and suffered m arty rdom like

the seven Maccabees (I1 M cc 7, 1-40). For th is m arty rdom see: B . JOVANovlt-SnK :EVIt,

Cnuc 0 y6ujeH U M B yeapuua Teooopa C myoum a (Ilpenuc U 3 cpnCKOZpyxonuca XIII eexa),

in

Apxeoepatpcxu npunosu, 1 (1 979), p . 81 -101.


14/53


9 5

In this case it would have been impossible to trace a relation between the

Passio

and the letter of Metropolitan Cyprian (23.06.1378). Only the

South Slavic redaction describes the site of the church as a hill which had

previously been used for public executions. The East Slavic redaction

does not indicate the time, the year 1374, when the holy relics were

brought to St. Sophia. The very name of Patriarch Philotheus is also omit-

ted in the East Slavic redaction. The main compositional difference

between the South and East Slavic versions is to be seen in the light of

such simplifications of the story. All the texts first narrate the sufferings

of SS. Anthony and John and then those of St. Eustathius. However, the

place of a posthumous miracle is different in the South and East Slavic re-

dactions. The miracle was the fact that after the martyrdom no one else

was hanged at the place of public executions where the church was even-

tually built. In the South Slavic redaction this miracle is placed after the

description of the sufferings of SS. Anthony and John, while in the East

Slavic redaction it is found after the descriptions of the deaths of all three

martyrs. At first sight we may suspect that the South Slavic redaction is

inconsequential, for the statement that after their death no one else was

killed is followed by the description of sufferings of St. Eustathius. Thus,

in the first case the miracle originally referred only to SS. Anthony and

John, and in the second to all three saints. This latter description was con-

ducive to the most widespread opinion that all these martyrs had been

killed in one place, where later the church of the Holy Trinity was built.

By contrast, the South Slavic story allows us to suppose that SS. Anthony

and John were killed in one place and St. Eustathius in some other un-

specified one. The different circumstances, already noted, corroborate this

view. Therefore, the posthumous miracle of SS. Anthony and John was

that no one else was later killed in the place which became sacred due to

their martyrdom. The posthumous miracle of St. Eustathius was that wild

beasts did not devour his body. This means that the South Slavic redaction

is made up of two different stories which end with the relevant post-

humous miracles. In the East Slavic redaction the two stories are rather

mechanically conflated by the transposition of the first posthumous mir-

acle, which thus became the property of all three martyrs.

The collation of the South and East Slavic redactions is informative

in another. respect too. In its composition the South Slavic redaction is

close to the testimony of the Russian chronicles of the fifteenth century.

Their testimony informs us in essence about the martyrdom of St. Eusta-

thius and only as a circumstance of his burial refers to the other two mar-

tyrs. It is evident that they are describing two different events and this


15/53

96

D.BARONAS

difference is preserved in the South Slavic redaction. The South Slavic re-

daction informs us that St. Eustathius was buried where SS. Anthony and

John had previously been buried. The same evidence is supplied by

Russian chronicles, which, moreover, specify that they all were buried in

the Orthodox church of St. Nicholas at Vilnius. Seventeenth-century

writers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (S. Kossow, L.Kreuza,J.

Dubowicz) depict the sufferings of all three martyrs as a simultaneous

event which is followed by the construction of the churclr ' , The pattern is

the same as in the East Slavic redaction.

The more simplified structure and contents of the East Slavic re-

daction reveals, on the other hand, its author's tendency to stress the

spiritual values of the

Passio

at the expense of historical details. The spir-

itualization of the text is obvious in the interpolation commenting upon

the Lithuanians' habit of cutting their hair short. While in the South Slavic

redaction it looks like a curious ethnic peculiarity, in the East Slavic re-

daction it becomes devilish and its rejection is presented as a prerequisite

for spiritual renewal: These fire-worshippers observe the habit which

their father, the good-hating and wily demon, handed down to them as law

to cut their hair short and to shave their beards with razors. He [St. Eusta-

thius] renounced all their infidelity and madness and preserved them

intact

SI.

The manuscripts of the East Slavic version fall into two different

groups which for the sake of convenience have been called groups A and B.

The most visible difference between these groups is the beginning of the

Passio. Group A gives the pagan names of the martyrs: Kruglets, Kumets,

Nezhilo (and this is one of the most important additions to the primary

text by the East Slavic redaction). In the place of pagan names the group

B

text has preserved two verses of a trope inherited directly from the

South Slavic redaction: The deceased three friends of Lithuanian origin I

Now annihilate the spiritual enemies .

The relation of the groups A and

B

to the South Slavic redaction is

rather complicated. They have similar features which are the same with

regard to the South Slavic redaction, but at the same time group A has

>

phrases which are closer to the South Slavic redaction than those of the

group B and vice versa. So it is not possible to derive them from each

other or to suppose that their authors adapted the original text indepen-

s o Kossow.Paterikon, p, 176; KREUZA . O bro na je dn oic l c erk ie w ne y, p . 59; DUBOWIC~

Hierarchia; p. 177-178.

BARONAS . Trys Vi/niau s kankinial ; p. 282.


16/53


97

dently. On these grounds it seems reasonable to assume that both these

groups reflect the hypothetical original East Slavic redaction which in all

probability was not originally separated into two groups. The East Slavic

redaction (and its groups A and B) must have been composed by the end

of the fifteenth century most probably in the Ruthenian lands of Poland or

the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; its basis, the South Slavic redaction, is

known so far only from the manuscripts which originate from Serbia, Po-

land or Lithuania and it seems that the South Slavic redaction was un-

known in Muscovy.

The two groups of the East Slavic redaction were later reflected in

different literary works.

3. The Later Versions of the Story (16_18

tb

Centuries)

The Latin version of the Passio is presented on the pages of the Acta

Sanctorum under Aprill4

s2

How it found its way into them is partly ex-

plained by the Bollandist Godfried Henskens (1601-1681). He informs us

that the renowned Jesuit poet Maciej Sarbiewski sent the acts of these

saints to the Bollandists. Through the good offices of the Bollandists M.

Sarbiewski published his B oo ks o f L yric s in Antwerp and in return he sent

information about the saints, including the Vilnius martyrs, venerated in

his country. According to the Bollandists the Latin text was translated

from Livonian

(=

Lithuanian) and Ruthenian manuscripts. The compar-

ison of the Latin Passio with the Church Slavonic Passiones allows us to

state that the former is based on a translation of the East Slavic redaction.

To be more precise, it was based on a manuscript whose text represented

group A of the East Slavic redaction. .

The Latin Passio has preserved some individual features of group A.

The most conspicuous are two phrases. The South Slavic redaction in-

forms that the appearance of St. Eustathius attracted the duke's attention

while hunting

(8'1. A080X XO~E:NIAi4.

The same is found in group B of

the East Slavic redaction (w AORH'1'8AX)ss, but the protograph of group A

J

2

AASS. A prilis t. 2 , 1675, p . 266 . T he m anuscrip t cop ies o f the Passio are kep t in B i-

b llo theque R oyale (B russe ls): M s. 8004 -17, f. 197 '-199 and M s. 8306-17 , f. 10-lO '. S ee J.

V AN D EN G HEYN ,

C atalogue des m anusc rits de la B ibliotheq ue R oyale de B elgiq ue,

t, 5 , B ru s-

se ls, 1905, n o. 3 452 (46) and 34 64 (5). F or th is in fo rm ation I am g ra tefu l to F ather

R.

Godding .

53 C f. THOMSON [R ev iew ], p . 187. I m ust ag ree w ith the rev iew er tha t the L ivon ian

manu s cr ip t i n t he g lo s s

E x M ss. L iv on ic ls et R uten iets

r efe r t o L ith u an ia .

,_ . S P E RA NS K Y, Ceptic x oe o cumue ,

p, 30; BARONAS ,

T ry s V i/ nia us kan kin ia i,

p.258.

BARONAS ,

T ry s V i/ nia us kan kin ta t,

p . 2 90 .'


17/53

98

D BARONAS

lost two letters and instead ofw AORHTRAX(in hunting) we read W HTRAX

(in Lithuaniasjt The translator can well have been confused a little by a

garbled grammatical form: in Lithuanias ( ), but not with its meaning. So

he rendered it in correct Latin: Quodam autem tempore dum sequeretur

principem in Lituania tune degentem...

(One time when he followed the

duke who was then present in Lithuania ...

i

This reading is alien to both

the South Slavic redaction and group B of the East Slavic redaction, but

it is identical to that of group A. The same may be said in i m other in-

stance too. The Belgrade synaxarium informs' us that St. Eustathius was

flogged with rods

(~~ HIEM)S8.

The same is said in the text of group B

(~e~ ....

i9,

but group A already knows that St. Eustathius was lashed

with iron bars (pO~H ~e,,-k~H M )60. The same meaning is reflected

in the Latin

Passio:

verubus ferreis ,

The translation into Latin displays some features of its own. There

are modifications which are characteristic of the Catholic translator. For

example, while translating the Church Slavonic text the word meaning

piety (SI\ rO'lbtT'ie) was consequently rendered as Veritas Catholica.

There are also other phrases which are conveyed in Catholic wording. For

instance, TA~e SO~btTeH M T HHAM npH'IAtTHWA\ tA\ WSA and

participes facti sunt Sacrosanetae Eucharistiae . At the same time it is

worth observing that while translating the divine mysteries , charac-

teristic of the Eastern Church, by the Holy Eucharist , the original form-

npH'IAtTHWA\ tA\ = participes facti sunt - was preserved. Minor modi-

fications can be seen in the fact that the Lithuanian ruler is always styled

as the duke dux) though group A uses as a synonym also the title of king,

which must simply have meant a powerful ruler .. The seventeenth-

century translator made the titles uniform for he could hardly have failed

to know that the Lithuanian duke was no king.

~6BARONAS , Trys

Vi ln iaus kankin ia t; p.

2 72 , 2 82 .

51 AASS. Aprilis

t.

2, p. 266.

ISPERANSKY,

Cep6 C1C oecum ue,

p . 30

.5 9

BARONAS ,

Trys

Vi lniaus kankinia i;

p.

290. '

60 Ibid., p. 27 4, 2 82 .

61

AASS. April is

t,

2, p. 266.

61 Cf. BARONAS , Trys Vi lniaus kankinia i, p. 280 and AASS, April is t. 2, p . 266.

63 T . L EHR- SPLA W IN SK I,

Pochodzenie

I rozp ow szec hn ien ie w yrazu K ral w p olszc zyinie i

w

i nnych j(Z) l c ach s low ian sk ich (odbitka z P rac p o1 on isty cz ny ch , o fia ro w an yc h p ro f. la no w i

L osiow i), W arsaw , 1926, p . 53.


18/53


99

These modifications allow us to suppose that the text included in the

Ac ta Sancto rum

is the Catholic redaction of the

Passio

of the three mar-

tyrs of Vilnius.

In

the eighteenth century this redaction was adopted by

the Uniates who translated it into Polish with the addition of some details

of their own making. The Uniates suggested that the martyrs had been

converted through the labours of Basilian monks, one of whom was the

priest Nestor himself ,

By contrast to the Ac ta Sanc to rum , the relation of the Passio in Met-

ropolitan Macarius of Moscow's (1542-1563) menologium to the earlier

texts is more complicated'f.

It

seems likely that the compilers under Ma-

carius' direction were familiar with both groups, A and B, of the East

Slavic redaction since they included both the pagan names of the martyrs

and the two verses of a trope. The text of the Macarian menologium used

the text of group B as a basis for its own version of the story. This text .

has preserved individual traits of this group such as the above mentioned

W AOKHTAX

(in hunting) and

~e~A'hI

(canes), but it was not simply re-

written.'

The allusion to the merits of the Greek Church in spreading the faith

was omitted. The East Slavic redaction inherited from the South Slavic

one offers the detail that SS. Anthony and John came in their hearts to

love Christianity and our

(i.

e. Greek) piety 66. The Macarian text has:

From all their heart they came to love piety for Christ'' . The text of the

menologium contains interpolations which are aimed at making the text

easier to understand or which were caused by reconsidering the situation.

In this way new spiritual facets of the story were revealed. Such is the

speech of St. Eustathius addressed to weeping Christians: Brothers, do

not cry for me, although my earthly body will vanish, Christ in heaven

will endow me with an eternal one,,68. .

At the same time Macarius' text becomes sensitive to historical de-

tails. For the first time we come to know that the martyrs originated not

from some part of Lithuania but from the city ofVilnius. The earlier

Pas-

siones

do not mention the duke by name, but Macarius' text speaks of the

64 I . KULCZYN SK I,

M eno lo giu m B asy lia nsk ie, to jest zyw o ty sw iftty ch p ansk ic b o bo iey p lei

z

za lwnu

S.

B az y/e go n a m ie siqce

ro zlo zo ne , ze bra ne I n ap isa ne , pt. I,

V iln iu s, 1 77 1,

p.

338.

B eJ luK Ue M U HB U -ljem bU c0 6paH Hb le 6cepo ccucK UM M U mpO nO JlU m OM M Q lcap ueM ,

Anpes,

M osc ow , 1916,

p.

438-443.

66 BARONAS, Trys

Vilniaus kankiniai, p,

252, 268, 286.

67 Besuxu

MUHBU- ' 1embU . . .

(cf.

sup ra .

n. 65), p. 439.

61

Ibid., p. 442.


19/53

100

D.BARONAS

Lithuanian duke Algirdas expressis verbis , Nonetheless, these particular

details do not outnumber those in the brief notice of the Russian chron-

icles. .The above mentioned historical details of the South Slavic re-

daction that had been omitted in the composition of the East Slavic re-

daction, do not reappear any more. For these reasons the Macarian text of

the

Passio

of the three martyrs of Vilnius may be considered to be yet

another redaction.

It is probable that the

Passio

in the Macarian menologiurn was used

by Metropolitan St. Demetrius Tuptalo of Rostov (1651-1709) when he

composed his own menologium . A characteristic feature of the new re-

working is the more elaborate language. Such an approach made it easier

to draw the parallels between the sufferings of the Vilnius martyrs and

those of Christ more explicitly by noting that the saintly martyr Anthony

was sentenced to an ignominious death like a robber: he was sentenced to

be hanged on a

tree .

M. Speransky has noted that St. Demetrius Tuptalo

of Rostov indicated the date of the death of S1.Anthony as being 14 Jan-

uary, unlike Macarius, who gave 14 April. Speransky supposed that such

a correction was based on some other sources, not the Macarian meno-

logium , These sources can more readily be identified by observing that

Dimitry of Rostov dates the death of S1. John to 24 April. These dates

correspond to those of group A of the East Slavic redaction. S1. Deme-

trius Tuptalo's knowledge of group A is attested also by the fact that he

relates that St. Eustathius was beaten with iron bars. However, I cannot

ascertain the exact way by which S1.Demetrius Tuptalo became familiar

with the information characteristic of group A texts. It seems probable

that he may have come to know it via Church Slavonic manuscripts or the

A cta San cto ru m

73

. .

There are thus six tangible redactions of the Passio of the three mar-

tyrs of Vilnius known to date .. It seems likely that the South Slavic re-

I _

69

Besuxue

MuHeu- 1embu

p . 439. ; : .

70Unfortunately, the original edition of this menologium is not available to me. The

Passlo

of the

three

martyrs of Vilnius first appeared in the third volume of

St.'

Dimitry

Tuptalo 's m enologium published at K iev in

1700

(cf. TH OM SO N, [R eview ]. p.

187).

I refer to

the texts published in

)[ umWl C6JUllblX Ha PYCCICOMRlbllCe U3J1O:JICeHHbleno PYKOBOOCmt1Y

1embUX-MuHe CB. jJUMumpWI PocmOBCKOZO. C c)onOllHeHWlMU. 06bRCHumenbHblMU npuuewa-

HWlMU U U306pa:JICeHWlMU C6JUllblX, book 8, ed, MOCKOBCKOHcHHo ll anbHoH THnorpa4lHH ,

Moscow, 1906 (re prin t, Mosc ow , 1992), Mee Q anp en s, [A pril 14] Crpanaaae CBJlTblXM) Ie-

HHK OBJIHTOBCKH XHTOH HJI.

Hoanaa

H EBCTa4lHJI,p. 211-218.

J

71

Ibid..

p.213.

n SPERANSKY,

Cep6cKoe :JICUmue.

p. 11 .

n It is well known that he used the

AASS.


20/53


101

daction was translated from Greek some time after 1374 and before the

second half of the fifteenth century. The earliest manuscripts of the East

Slavic redaction have come down to us from the very end of the fifteenth

century. By this time this redaction was already represented by two dif-

ferent groups. Therefore we may deduce that the East Slavic redaction

existed at least some decades before the end of the fifteenth century. It

looks more likely that the East Slavic redaction was composed somewhere

in the Ruthenian lands of Poland or the Grand Duchy of Lithuania rather

than in Muscovite Russia. The East Slavic redaction had as its basis the

South Slavic redaction, the manuscripts of which point to a provenance in

the lands of the South Slavs or in Poland or Lithuania. The East Slavic

redaction served as a basis for later redactions of the Passio, namely the

Catholic one in the Ac ta Saneto rum , and those of Metropolitan Macarius

and St. Demetrius Tuptalo . The

Passio

from the latter menologium was

the main source for popular editions of the nineteenth-twentieth centuries.

4. The Theories about the Martyrdom

The memory of the Lithuanian martyr saints Anthony, John and Eu-

stathius has been preserved through centuries by the Orthodox Church a n d

historical tradition. The story about their martyrdom was known, as we

have seen, in Poland and Lithuania, in Russia and in other countries. It

must have been quite widespread as even a dramatic play about the mar-

tyrs of Vilnius was composed

in

1732, most probably by the Jesuit Jan

Jzef Obr ap a ls ki' , ' These martyrs also found their place in popular cal-

endars composed by another Jesuit, Jan Poszakowski, which served as a

channel of Enlightenment ideas 'for Polish-Lithuanian society in the eigh-

teenth century , so it is no exaggeration to state that the story of the three

74

These issues d iscussed above have been addressed in m ore deta il in D . B AR ON AS , D o

n O Bo oy J lu m ep am Y P H o ucmopuu } , / y t I eHUJ I mpex B U I Ie HCK UX M } Ie Hu l C oB ,

in

Krakowsko-

W i/ en sk ie s tu dio s law is ty cz ne ,

3 ( 2001 ), p. 73-98.

75 [I.

J.

OB&\pALSKI]. Sacra fam es In te r p ro fa na s dapes a divis m artyribus J oanne, An-

tonio & Eustachio usque ad consummatlonem v it ae t o/e ra ta ,

Vilnius, 1732. The on ly know n

copy of this d ram a play is preserved at V iln iu s U n iv ers ity L ib ra ry (IV 32040); re pr. in BARONAS ,

Trys

Vt ln tau s kank in ia i, p . 322-336. T he au thorsh ip is attribu ted to O brapalsk l on the grounds

tha t he w as a professo r in rethorics

at

V iln iu s U nive rsity in 1731-1732 (cf.

Drama t s ta ropo ls ki

od paczq l kow do p ow sta nia s ce ny narodowe j : b ib li og ra fi a,

t. 2:

P ro gra my d ru kie m

wydane

do

r. 1765,

p t.

1: Progr amy teatr u je zu ic kie go ,

red . W . KOROTAJ

e t

a l., W r oc la w ,

1976,

p . 535-

536, no . 628).

76

J. POSZAKOWSK l ,

Ka lendar z polity cz ny

i

historyczny na rok panski

1738, Vilnius,

(1737], f. 16'. On sign ificance of such calendars see L . PIECHNIK, O dr od ze nie A ka de mii

W i le ir sk ie j 1730-1773 ,

Rome , 1990, p . 17. . .


21/53

102

D.BARONAS

martyrs of Vilnius was quite well known, and not only among the Or-

thodox believers in Eastern Europe.

When nineteenth-century historians started academic research into

Lithuanian history they did not doubt the reality of the ViInius martyrs.

They used simply to retell the story in its main lines without analysing its

sources and basing their narrative not necessarily on the primary

ones ,

Something more was bound to happen as methods of investigation became

more academic and less antiquarian. K. Stadnicki was one of the first his-

torians to declare that the martyrs were not killed for their Christian faith

but because they plotted against Grand Duke Algirdas, whose religious

tolerance, as it were, was scandalous both to pagans and Orthodox; only

later did their co-religionists make the martyrs out of such criminals ,

Another Polish historian S. SmoIka advanced a different opinion. He sur-

mised that the dissemination of Orthodox Christianity and Russian influ-

ence was a source of anxiety among the pagans and in order to placate

them Algirdas put to death three Russianized Lithuanians79. Such opinions,

as Chodynicki remarked in 1927, were not critical enough' , and indeed the

first really critical studies devoted to the Vilnius martyrs were published

in 1927. They were produced by the Polish historians W. Zahorski and

K.

Chodynicki who were active in Vilnius before the Second World War

8t

These studies, and especially the latter one, marked a turning point in the

investigation of the martyrdom.: Chodynicki draw a radical conclusion

that the entire story about the Vilnius martyrs was nothing else than an

ideological fiction constructed in the end of the fifteenth century by

Muscovite propaganda as part of its attempts to denigrate the Catholic

countries Poland and Lithuania

82

This thesis has long remained so con-

vincing that a large number of Polish and Lithuanian historians have taken

77 N. M. KARAMzIN,

Hcmopus. eacyoapcmea

POCCUCICOZO, vol. 5, S t, Petersburg, 1819,

p. 52-53 ;

I.

DANtLOWIcz ,

Latopisiec

Litwy

k ron ik a ru sk a,

Vilnius, 1827, p. 169-170;

T .

NARBUIT,

Dz ie je narodu

litewskiego,

t.

5, supp. 10, Vilnius, 1839, p . 41-46; J. I. KRASZEwSKI,

W U n o odpoczqtkO wjegodo roku 1750,

t I,V iln iu s, 1 84 0, p . 3 5-3 6, 3 70-3 71 ; t 3,1841, p. 43 .

71 K . STADN tCK l, Olgierd

i

K iejstut, syn ow ie G edym ina w . ksiec ia L itw y, Lw6w , 1870, p.

9-10 and 120-121 .

~ S.

SMOLKA, UniaLitwy z Korona,

C raco w, 1903 , p. 105-106.

10 CHODYNICKI ,

G en eza I rozw 6 j,

p . 4 18 -419 .

11 W. Z AHO RS KI,Legenda 0 trz ec h m e cz en nik ac h w ile ns kic h, in tr6 dla m ocy, 2 (1927), p.

6 8-7 2; CHODYN ICK I,

Geneza

i

ozw6j,

p. 416-451 (K . Chodynicki considered his own study to

be

a continuation ofW . Zahorski's work: cf.

ibid,

p.417).

12

CHODYNICKI ,Geneza l ro zwo j; p . 4 42 -443 .


22/53

TIlE T IIREE M ARTY RS OF VILN IU S

103

it for

grantedf',

Itg oes w ith ou t saying that tenacity o f su ch an assertio n is

an in teresting h isto riog raphical issue in itse lf. T he thesis o f C hodyn ick i

seem s to have persisted in som e quarters desp ite the fact that it w as under-

m ined by M eyendorff a lready in 1981 and seriously critic ised by O gitsky

in 1984

84

These scho lars have turned atten tion to the earliest know n

sources o f the m arty rdom , w hich w ere unknow n to the au thors of the first

critica l studies and their fo llow ers. These new ly-found sources p rove

b eyo nd do ubt th at th e m artyrd om o f th e V iln iu s m arty rs is a real h isto rica l

fac t. I am not going to repeat the argum ents advanced by Ogitsky8s.

S uffice it h ere to p ay so m e atten tio n to th e m o st strik in g facts. C ho dyn ick i

based h is w eigh ty conclusion on inadequate source m ateria l. O f the early

sources o f the m arty rdom enum erated above, he knew only abou t the

existence of the h isto riog raphical sources. H is analysis of the R ussian

chron ic les w as far from satisfacto ry even in the context o f the con tem -

porary sta te o f know ledge a nd he d id no t hesitate to speculate that tw o

O rth od ox n obles k illed fo r refu sin g to b e reb ap tized in 13 86 w hen Jo gaila

becam e a C atho lic w ere transferred from the tim es of Jogaila to those of

A lg irdas and m ade m arty rs w ithout bo thering to exp la in w hy th is shou ld

have happened S 087. H e supposed that the earliest ev idence abou t the ex-

isten ce o f th e Vita is a referen ce in the G usty ny a ch ro nic le an d h e credited

11 E. g. H .

PASZKIEWlCl ,

Poczqtki Rusi ... (cf. supra. n, I) , p. 241; J.

OCHMANSKI ,

Dawna

utw Studia historyczne, O ls zty n, 1 98 6, p, 28-29;

J.

BARDACH ,

La

rencontre des Eglises ca-

tholique et orthodoxe sur les territoires orientaux

du

Royaume de Pologne et de Lithuanie aux

xff

-XI' siecles.

in

The Common Christian Roots of the European Nations. An I nt er na ti on a l

C olloquium in the Vatican , vol. 2, F lorence, 1982, p , 820; H . F RO S,

Hagiographie lithuanienne.

Les

martyrs de Vilnius,

in

AB, 101 (1983). p . 35-36; ID ., Hagiographie brodee, in AB. 103

(1985),

p,

107;

J.

JURGINIS ,PagonyMs ir krikJcionybes santykial Lietuvoje, V iln iu s, 1 976 ,

p.

35-39; Z . IV lN SK lS , Rink/inial raitai; t. 4: KrikJcionybt Lietuvoje, R om e, 1987, p. 22; M .

KOSMAN , Litwa pierwotna: mity, legendy,

fakty,

W arsaw , 1989,

p.

146-168; L . K ORC ZA K,

L ttw a : p rze ch ow a na to isa mo ic , C raco w, 1 998. p. 84 -85.

1 1 4 J.

MEYENDORFF ,

The Three Lithuanian Martyrs. Byzantium and Lithuania

in

the X I V

century. in Eikon und Logos. Beitrge zur Erforschung byzantinischer Kulturtraditionen, ed,

H . GOLTZ , Halle , 1981, p . 179-197; MEYENDORFF , Three Lithuanian Martyrs. p. 29-44;

OGITSKY,K ucmopuu,

p.

226-246; ID ., Blutzeugnisse for Christus in Litauen des 14. Jahr-

hunderts. Legende und Wirklichkeit der drei Mrtyrer von Vilna,

in

Stimme der Orthodoxle,

1984 , fase . 6,

p,

45-48, fase. 7, p . 38-40 and fase . 8, p . 39-48.

IS

OGITSKY,

K

ucmopuu, p. 226-232 and BARONAS ,

Trys

Vilniaus kankiniai, p . 9 -2 5,

SI-54.

16 It suffice here

to

draw atten tion to one passage to dem onstra te that h is analysis w as

rath er su pe rfic ia l. C ho dy nic ki

(Geneza

i

rozwoj,

p. 421, n . I), seem s to believe that the IV

Novgorod Chronicle contains the earliest notice of the m artyrs which w ent over in to the I

Sophia Chronicle . The only difficu lty w ith th is statem ent is that the IV Novgorod Chronicle

has no m ention of the three m artyrs of Vilnius at all

1 7CHOOYN ICK I ,

Geneza irozwoj; p . 4 26.


23/53

104

. D. BARONAS

th e B o llan dis ts w ith d ev elo pin g th e fu ll-fled ged leg en d . D escrip tio ns o f

the m arty rdom prio r to th at o f the

Ac ta Sanc to rum

w ere unknow n to h im .

It

is true that the m anuscrip ts , now kep t a t th e L ib rary of the L ithuan ian

A cadem y of Sciences , w ere no t availab le a t V iln ius betw een the tw o

W orId W ars since they had been evacua ted to R ussia and w ere re tu rned

on ly in 1946. H ow ever, the ir desc rip tion had been pub lished by F . D o-

brian sky already in 1882, w hose book w as pub lished no t som ew ehere

o versea s b ut in V iln iu s

89

I do no t th ink tha t it w as beyond bounds o f th e

possib le to find th is book , a num ber of issues o f w hich are still availab le

in the lib rarie s o f V iln ius . : T here is som e ev idence that C hodyn ick i w as

no t assiduous enough in search ing fo r a ll th e re levan t in fo rm ation . F or

exam ple , a foo tno te in h is artic le show s that he read a page in E . Go lu -

b insk y's w ork w here th ere is ;in fo rm ation ab ou t the dep ic tio n of the th ree

m arty rs o n the g reat

sakkos

o f Me tro po lita n P ho tiu s' , N e ve rth ele ss C h o-

dyn ick i p re ferred to pass it over in silence as he w as overcon fiden t in

sta ting tha t the re w as no any ev idence abou t the m arty rs th at cou ld be

d ated e arlier th an th e la te fifte en th century , Som etim es it is m ore con-

ven ien t indeed to ig nore th e (in con ven ien t) fac ts than to ad just a theo ry of

one 's ow n to them . B ut w hy d id he do so? I do no t know exactly , bu t w e

m ust bear in m ind tha t th e re la tions be tw een the Po les and the R ussians

w ere n ot v ery co rd ia l a t the tim e. It is tem pting to th ink tha t som e k ind of

na tion alis tic p re ju dice w as co ndu cive to the construc tion o f a m yth abo ut

th e n on -e xis te nc e o f th e m a rty rs o fV iln iu s. A h yp erc ritic al a pp ro ac h c ha r-

acteris tic o f C ho dy nic ki w as in stru m en ta l in k ee pin g h im c on vin ced o f its

truth

92

It is reg re ttab le th at its o rig inato r w as such a se riou s scho lar as

Chodyn ick i .

It

is a deep irony that the scho la r w ho set ou t to d ispe l the

legend p roduced the m yth . .'

. M yths tend to su rv ive as long as their foundations are no t exposed .

So it is no t su rp rising tha t the stud ies by M eyendo rff and O gitsky w ere

11CHODYN1CK l ,

Geneza I rozwo j ,

p. 429, 431, 434.

19

F. DoSRYANSKY , Onucanue

p )'K o n u ce il f JU J le H C KOn U 6 J1U 'l H O 6u6 J1 uo m e KU , I Ie p K 0 8H O -

C l ID8J lHCKUXUPYCCKUX ,

Vilnius, 1882, p, 99,194,197,203 and 283.

90

CHODYNICKl ,

Geneza I rozwo j ,

p. 428, n. 2, with reference to GOLUBINSKY,

H c m o p W l

K aH oH U 3a lluu ,p .542. .

91 CHODYN1CK I ,

Geneza

i

rozwo j ,

p. 423-424 and 442-443. '

92 We must bear in mind that much in the same way K. Chodynicki criticized the legend

about the fourteen Franciscan martyrs in Vilnius, who suffered during the reign of Algirdas.

Similarly this theory has long survived and has a rather long list of supporters. Only quite re-

cently did S. C. Rowell pay adequate attention to the earlier sources (unknown to Chodynicki and

most of those who followed in his steps) and proved that there was a real point about the Fran-

ciscan martyrs who must have suffered in Vilnius in

c.

1369.


24/53

ras TH REE M ARTY RS OF VILN IU S

105

pathbreaking and compelled the scholars to treat once again of the matter

which had long seemed to be definitely resolved. As a consequence there

are a number of interpretations.

Some scholars came to suggest that the murder of three Orthodox be-

lievers could have been one of the consequences of the coup d'etat led by

brothers Algirdas and Kestutis against their brother Jaunutis (Grand Duke

of Lithuania 1341-1345)93.The dethroned duke managed to escape, arrived

in Moscow and eventually was baptized with his retinue , These scholars

suppose that if Jaunutis fled to Moscow, he must have been sympathetic

to Orthodoxy already in Vilnius. Consequently the future Orthodox mar-

tyrs are supposed to have been his secret allies uncovered and executed

for political reasons. It seems quite evident that such an opinion is based

on a false premise. There is no evidence which could prove that Grand

Duke Jaunutis was a champion of Orthodoxy at the time when he was sit-

ting on the grand-ducal throne. On the contrary, it was Algirdas who must

have been more familiar with Orthodoxy because he came from Vitebsk to

rule in Vilnius. The fact that Jaunutis fled to Moscow to appeal for help

to his sister Aigusta's husband, Semen the Proud of Moscow (1342-1353),

is rather an indication that he had no support even in those Ruthenian

lands which were under Lithuanian control. The only known significant

supporter of Jaunutis, his brother Narimantas, also abandoned Lithuania

and sought Tatar help. In both cases help was unforthcoming. Jaunutis

and Narimantas finally came to good terms with their brothers Algirdas

and Kestutis and returned to Lithuania some time in 1346_1347

95

It is hard

to imagine that after brotherly friendship had been restored somebody (al-

legedly the future martyrs) would have acted so boldly in favour of the

complete loser of the power struggle as to have themselves executed. It is

also significant that the Passio mentions no other duke except the one who

was lord and executioner of the martyrs. Thus the available sources do

not provide any link between Jaunutis and the three martyrs ofVilnius.

We must remember that upon assuming supreme power in Lithuania

Algirdas was strong enough to pursue an active foreign policy. The be-

ginning of his rule did not lack spectacular episodes of violence. During

his incursion into Livonia in 1345 Algirdas ordered the native Livonian

chieftain to be beheaded on the spot . During the same campaign the Li-

9 3 QGITSKY ,

K ucmopuu,

p. 241; A . Nn


25/53

106

D BARONAS

thuan ians cap tu red a young G erm an m erchan t w ho w as unaw are o f m ili-

ta ry activ ities ; h e w as su bm itted to re fm e d to rtu res a nd fm a lly sa crific ed

to pagan gods . T hese tw o m en k illed in 1345 had no th ing to do w ith the

coup d'etat

o f 1345. B y con trast. w e m ay surm ise tha t th e fu tu re m arty rs

as servan ts o f A lg irdas m ay have taken part in the se izu re o f pow er on the

sid e of the ir lo rd . B ut som e tim e la ter they w ere doom ed . T he m en in

Li-

von ia and the th ree courtiers o f A lg irdas m ay have been execu ted fo r

d iffe ren t reason s, bu t the very execu tion s seem to have served as a dem on-

stra tion o f the pow er o f the new G rand D uke, w ho cam e to the th rone in

d efia nc e o f th e s uc ce ss io n a rra ng ed b y h is fa th er G ed im in as.

C lo se r in ve stig atio n in to th e re aso ns o f th e m a rty rd om c omp els s ch ol-

a rs to ask : W ho w as gu ilty o f th e m urder? A na lysing the part p layed by

A lg irdas the scho lars face a puzzle . W h y did A lg irdas sen tence to dea th

these O rth odo x cou rtiers as h e h im self w as m arried tw ice to R ussian prin -

cesses and som e o f h is ch ild ren w ere O rthodox too? T hus som e scho la rs

are inclin ed to d im in ish the personal gu ilt o f A lg irdas (w ith no good

reason ) . A ccord ing to M eyendo rff, it w as no t so m uch a general perse -

cu tion o f C hris tians, bu t ra ther th e re luc tance of the th ree young m en to

c omp ly w ith e xte rn al re qu irem en ts a t A lg ird as ' still p ag an c ou rt th at o cc a-

s io ned th eir m a rty rd om . O g itsk y sta te d th at afte r Jau nu tis, a lleg ed ly th e

cham pion of O rthod oxy , had been deth ron ed , A lg irdas w as com p elled to

acqu iesce in the dem ands o f the pagans to k ill the th ree O rthodox be-

l ievers

lO o

P . R ab ikauskas conside red tha t such a pagan reac tion m igh t

have arisen na tu ra lly in the w ake o f th e dea th of M aria , firs t w ife o f A I-

g ird as (1346)IO l. A lg irdas is supposed to have had to y ie ld to the pagans

liv ing in that pa rt o f e thn ic L ithuan ia w hich w as ru led by a headstrong

97

Die Chronik Wigands von Marburg, ed . H IR SC H , p. SOS.

91 D . O g itsk y, J. Meyendor fT, R. M a eika attached g reat im portance to one fact from the

Passio w hich they claim ed to be p roof of A lgirdas 's to lerance. W hile A lgirdas and John w ere

alone in the bath the la tter confessed to being a Christian , bu t A lg irdas, though fu ll of w rath ,

d id n o th in g (i, e. w as to leran t). Even if th is ep isode w ere true w e ca n hard ly expect the G ran d

D uke in these circum stances to do som eth ing m ore than he d id then . A lg irdas seem s sim ply not

to have acted as his ow n henchm en, and the given episode is irre levant to prove or d isp rove the

(in)tolerance

of

th e G ran d D uk e.

Cf. OGITSKY,

K

ucmopuu, p. 241;

MEYENDORFF ,Thr ee L ith u-

anian Marty rs , p.

3 1; M A 1 E IK A,

Role a /Pagan L ith uania , p.

6 7 -6 9 .

9 9 MEYENDORFF ,Three L ith uanian Marty rs ,

p.43.

10 0 GITSKY, K u cm op uu ; p. 241.

10 1 P. RABIKAUSKAS, Lktuvi/( tauta ir ankstyviej bandymai krikstytls, in Kri/rJcionybe

Lietuvoje, ed , V.

S.

VARDYS, Chicago ,

1 9 9 7 ,

p. 28 . .


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TH E TH REE M ARTY RS OF VILN IU S

107

p ag an KC ( stu tis

I02

W hen th e p uta tiv e p ag an re ac tio na rie s b ec om e th e m a in

cu lp rits the sch olars b eg in to co ntrad ic t them se lv es, fo r a t th e sam e tim e

th ey c la im th at a g en eral p ersec utio n in fo urteen th -c en tu ry L ith ua nia w as

hardly possible'P, If w e agree that a pagan reaction com pelled the duke

to satisfy the ir v ic ious dem ands, th e ac tua l num ber of the v ic tim s w ould

no t m atter m uch and there w ou ld be no reason to deny that it w as a perse-

cu tion o f C hristians . N o less in te resting is th e fact that the ghost o f the

pagan reac tion w as so in fluen tia l that it cau sed a m isread ing of a post-

h umou s m i ra cle . J. M eyendo rffsaw its descrip tio n as a pro of that the su f-

fe rin gs o f S S. A n th on y, Jo hn an d E usta th iu s m a rk ed th e e nd o f p ersec utio n

o f Ch ris tia ns in L ith u an ia 104. R. Maze ik a h as s im ila rly rem ark ed th at a fte r

th eir su ffe rings no one else w as m arty red in Lithuania'I , Ho w ev er, th e

desc rip tio n of the m iracle is m o re prosa ic . It sim ply sta tes th at no one else

w as k illed a t the p lace o f the m arty rdom , w hich had o rig inally served as a

s ite f or p ub lic execu tlo n s' .

N ot so long ago R. Maze ik a p ro po se d y et a no th er in te rp re ta tio n. S he

n oted q uite reaso na bly th at th e refu sal o f th e m a rty rs to fu lfil th e o rd ers o f

th e duke m igh t have been rela ted to som e kind of pub lic defiance , bu t in

ad dition she a ttem pts to reda te the m arty rd om . In h er op in ion it o ccu rred

no t in

c.

1 34 7 b ut in

c.

1370

10 7

, T his reda ting seem s to have g ained so m e

cu rrency as it w as accep ted by R ow ell

10 8

,'

H o wever, it is d ifficu lt to su b-

scrib e to th is v ie w , b ecau se th e arg um e nts su pp ortin g th is red atin g are n ot

con vincing en oug h. B y m isread ing the d ating of the G ustyny a chron ic le

M a fe ik a fe els ju stifie d in d ou btin g inthe va lid ity o f th e da ting of S op hi a I

and o ther R ussian chron ic les . M oreover, a few w orks have sufficed to

exert a strong im pression on M azeika that the ch rono logy of th e R ussian

c hro nic le s is u nre lia ble in g en era l a nd su ch a n a bstra ct o pin io n is re ga rd ed

a s p ro vid in g g ro un ds fo r c on sid erin g th e d ate o f 1 34 7 a s u nre lia ble a s w e ll.

IM P. R AB lK AU SK AS , Lietuvos krikito aplinkybes,

in

LKMA Suvaiiavimo Darbai. 13

(1991), p. 94-95. The first w ife of A lgirdas is v irtually unknow n, her nam e (presum ably M aria

or A nne) is ind icated only in the la te sources of the sixteenth century. The date of her death is

a ls o un ce rt ai n, but in an y case she m ust have died by the end of 1349.

On

th es e p ro blem s

see nGOWSKl, Pierwsze pokolenia, p. 48 52. .

103 O G l T S K V ,

K

ucmopuu,

p.

24 1; P . R AB IK A US KA S,Lie tu viu, taut a . .. (cf. supra, n. 101),

p.

28 .

10 4 MEYENDORFF,

T hre e L ith ua nia n M a rty rs,

p.

32 and 37-38.

lO S R . M A 1EIK A , T he R elations of G ran d P rinc e

Algirdas

w ith Eastern and W estern

Chris-

ttans, in La C ru tia nizza zio ne d e/ /a Lituania . . . (cf. supra, n. I), p . 82 , note 83 .

106 S P E R A N S K V , Cep6c l


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108

D.BARONAS

The misreading of the dating of the martyrdom is a sad example of

the pertinacity of errors in scholarly literature. From the nineteenth cen-

tury

onwards a great number of scholars (too long to enumerate them all)

have thought that some Russian chronicles and the seventeenth-century

writers date the martyrdom to the year 1328 and the canonization to'1354

or 1364 respectively '? , In both cases the relevant passages date the ac-

cession to the throne of the Rus'ian metropolitans Theognostus (1328) and

Alexius (1354 or, mistakenly, 1364) and relate the martyrdom and canon-

ization of the three martyrs not to the year but to the tenures of these two

metropolitans. So the Gustynya chronicle or writers such as L. Kreuza, S.

Kossow or J. Dubowicz do not indicate the exact date of the martyrdom or

canonization at all, but they refer to some period of time within which,

according to them, these events had taken place , Although such late

sources cannot be considered as reliable as contemporary sources, they

nevertheless support rather than discredit the traditional date of 1347

11 1

The above-mentioned bid for redating is an interesting case which

shows how a twentieth-century scholar may tend to disregard the sources

in favour ofhis/her intuition. It is not surprising then that the most conve-

nient date c. 1370 was picked upon, because it was the time when Lithu-

ania waged war against Moscow and the Teutonic Order and Algirdas

pursued an active policy towards Byzantium in order to secure a separate

metropolitanate for his realm. It was, as it were, a critical phase when

conformity was regarded as conducive to political loyaltyll2. I am ready

to acknowledge that the date 1370 is more convenient than 1347, but the

latter should not be simply dismissed for the sake of the convenience,

which is not after all a reliable navigator through the labyrinth of history.

There is, of course, some ingenuity in these interpretations, but they

suffer from too many inventions. The contrast between Algirdas and pa-

gans is a pure invention. It distorts the account of the

Passio

that depicts

10 9 It seem s that D . Ogitsky w as the first to notice such m ireading in the case ~f

D ub ow icz's w ork (cf. GIT SK Y ,Kucmopuu, p . 2 42 ).

11 0 C f. Fycmuu cx as : semonuc e (= lICPJI, 2), St P etersburg , 1 843 , p . 34 9-350; K RE UZ A,

Obrona je dn oic i c erk ie w ne y,

p. 59;

Kossow, Paterlkon,

p. 176;

DUBOWICZ, Hierarchia;

p.

177-178.

III /ycmuHCKtJJI semonucs (= nCPJI, 2), S t. Petersburg , 1843, p . 349. It is w orth noting

that a lready M . P riselkov noted that in com parison to the ch ronic le com pila tion o f 1408 the

very next com pila tion (that o f P hotiu s) supplies add itional L ithuanian new s from 1345, 1347,

1349, 1381, 1386 (M. D . PR lS EL K O V ,Hcmopus PYCCKOZO JlemOnUCaHUR Xl-XY

68.,

Leningrad ,

1940, p . 146). The dating o f all th is inform ation is co rrect, so w hy shou ld an exception be

m ade in the case o f the m artyrdom of 13471 .

III

ROWELL , Lithuan ia Ascending , p.

275.


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TH E TH REE M ARTY RS O F VILN IU S

109

the duke as the main protagonist of violence. The scholars who have en-

tertained the idea about a persecution of Christians have traced it in an

episode of the posthumous miracle (see n. 104 and 105) which cannot

support their view; they have also noted the striking fact that the priest

Nestor, who baptised the courtiers, acted undisturbed. Contradictory ideas

only serve to thicken the mist that envelopes the martyrdom. At the same

time the interpretations under discussion depart from the Passio too

quickly in favour of a general interpretation of large-scale policy. The

attempts to relate the martyrdom to political events of the day seem to be

artificial, because what is considered to be the causal relationship may be

useful only as a backdrop .: Some scholars believe that the martyrdom and

the

coup d etat

of 1345 were intimately bound up and they are not

disturbed that in all probability the martyrdom took place some two years

later. Others propose that a still more intimate relation between the mar-

tyrdom and the political situation existed in c . 1370. The backdrop has

been changed but the explanation of the martyrdom has not gained much.

All these attempts, however, must be viewed as positive. In viewing the

accounts from K. Chodynicki's time to the present we may say that a rule

of thumb gave way to more sophisticated interpretations. Scholars tend

no longer to dismiss the three martyrs as fictioned and they treat the

Passio

not merely as a literary work, but also as a historical source.

.The Passio does not present the duke eager to punish his political

opponents. It does not hint at the cries of the pagan mob demanding the

execution of the deserters of the native religion. By contrast, we see the

pagans who disdain John, because he failed to remain faithful both to his

native and his new religion (true, for some time in the latter case)ll3. We

do not even see the pagan priests who were depicted in the eighteenth-

century Jesuit dramatic

play

and who were seen also by romantic his-

torians in the nineteenth century . What we see is the grand ducal court.

We can catch a glimpse of the duke feasting, hunting or bathing. Certainly

the most visible are those troublemakers who go bearded and long-haired

and seem strangers to neatly-shaven pagans. Who, in short, observe a dif-

ferent rite. This aspect of court life has recently drawn S. C. Rowell's

attention. Not dismissing the ill-founded date of c. 1370, he acutely re-

.'. JI3 BARONAS, T ry s V iln kIu s U ; n kin ia i. p. 254.

11 4 Ibid..

p.

324 etc.

us

E. g. G. Va.

KIl 'R1ANOVICH,

H cm opu 'IecK U osep

Ilpaeocsaeus;

Kamonuuecmea U

Y H U U 11D eJ l0 P UC C U U U

Ilumee

c ~pe6HeU le 20

~o

H a cm O R lI /e 20 6 pe M eH U ,

2

nd

e d., V iln iu s, 1 899,

p.I6-17. '


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110

D .BARONAS

m arked tha t the m artyrs w ere k illed for v io lation of w hat w as held to be

law (custom ary , of course). T heir crim e w as very serious, because for a

L ithuanian to re jec t L ithuanian relig ion is a felony m ore serious than

sim p ly d iso bey in g th e g ran d d uk e; it is a rejectio n o f th e trib e 116. Is su ch

a c onc lu sion we ll- ba se d?

This

grim

conclu sion m ay prom pt one to im agine that

in

fourteenth-

cen tu ry p ag an L ith uan ia to m eet a C hristian L ith uan ian m ay b e as d ifficu lt

as to find pagans in co ntem p orary P olan d o r E ng lan d.

Tri Mucenika Iz Viljnusa, Litvanija

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