Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis

The article explores the changes in the gathering, processing and use of amber on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea at the end of the Viking Age and in the 12th to 16th century. In the pagan sacral space, works in amber reflected mythological elements, and later they were transformed and adapted to Christian practice, at the same time as maintaining the commercial value of amber as a material. Archaeological material from the above-mentioned period illustrates the gradual diffusion of Christian elements in the pagan territories. Their expression is visible in new forms of amber works.

The paper focuses on evaluations of the June 1941 uprising in historiography, and analyses aspects of its social preconditions, genesis, aims, and the composition of its participants. Particular attention is paid to an analysis of the relationship between the uprising and previous and concurrent processes in the development of Lithuanian society, and with other Second World War phenomena (collaboration with the Germans, and the Holocaust). The author argues that the uprising was the result not merely of geopolitical or ideological choices, but also of complex social processes. The preconditions for it were created by the character of the socio-political development of society in the period of the independent republic, and a direct reason was the changes in social and economic life implemented during the Soviet occupation and the repressions by the regime. Interrelationships of the membership in different professional groups and political and social organisations were factors that mobilised the insurgents.

A mansionary (from the Latin mansio, ‘a dwelling’) was a member of a community of four to ten secular priests governed by a provost and required to reside by and serve a chantry chapel, similar to a cathedral canon or beneficed chantry priest. Every day they would sing the Hours of Our Lady and offer two Masses, one in honour of Our Lady or the Holy Trinity, and the other for the dead kin of the chantry founder. The chapels they served were attached to a cathedral or a parish church. Those established by the monarch often had pastoral duties, sometimes involving a school or hospice. In Lithuania, they appear from the late 15th century at the cathedrals of Vilnius, Varniai and Lutsk (in Janów Podlaski), and represented a considerable financial investment to establish and maintain. After the Council of Trent, they become even rarer, and concentrate more on pastoral and other educational duties. The paper discusses what a mansionary priest was, and how many of them served in the Diocese of Vilnius and other sees within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Why was it deemed meet and fit to establish a mansionariate in Lithuania at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, and how were such foundations affected by local Reform movements?

The paper presents the general conditions in which the pastoral work of mendicant orders was conducted in the domains of the Teutonic Order and particular bishoprics in Prussia and Livonia, at the same time indicating similarities and differences in the situations in which friars had to work in these areas. The research focuses exclusively on pastoral work conducted among the urban population. The network of mendicant friaries in Prussia and Livonia was a reflection of the demographic potential and the degree of urbanisation of both parts of the domains of the Teutonic Order. The scale of effectiveness of the friars is authenticated by numerous references to prayer agreements concluded with members of religious orders and guilds of craftsmen, burials in friary churches (tombstones), and bequests of townspeople. The degree of success of mendicant orders and the support of the townspeople is confirmed in the partially preserved great hall-type churches erected by mendicants in the main towns (Gdańsk, Toruń, Tallinn, Riga).

Based on archival materials, the paper analyses individual cases of nationally motivated incidents in the autonomous Territory of Memel, or Klaipėda region, in the period 1923 to 1939. After Lithuania annexed the region in 1923, incidents between the pro-German local population and members of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union and soldiers in the Lithuanian army were inspired by the clash of interests between Lithuania and Germany. Lithuanisation and the strengthening of the pro-Lithuanian element in the Klaipėda region were manifested in different forms, including the establishment of different organisations and societies based on the example of Lithuania. The organisations did not always enjoy the support of local Lithuanians; moreover, they caused dissatisfaction among the Germans. One such organisation was the 20th Klaipėda territorial unit of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, established in the region in the first half of 1923. The paper focuses on incidents involving the riflemen Bišofas and Pėteraitis in 1924. It also analyses the increasing number of incidents from the beginning of the 1930s which involved soldiers in the Lithuanian army deployed in the Klaipėda region (the 7th Infantry Samogitian Duke Butigeidis Regiment, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment). Incidents that involved riflemen in the last years of the region’s autonomy are examined, and the gravitation by local Lithuanians towards Germany, expressed by their withdrawal from Lithuanian organisations and joining German ones, is discussed.

During the interwar period in Europe, internal disturbances were not an uncommon form of domestic tension and conflict. This paper looks into the concept and characteristics of domestic disturbances in Lithuania in the period 1918 to 1940. The aim is to show the opportunities for organising such disturbances and the legal regulation of their control, including the use of the army to quell them. The legal regulation of the possibilities to use the army during the disturbances, and the situational circumstances of using troops in such cases in Lithuania, are compared with similar cases in other East-Central European countries, such as Estonia, Latvia and Poland.

In his famous Annals, the 15th-century chronicler Jan Długosz provided a wealth of information on the way of life of the Lithuanians in pagan times, as well as in the period immediately following their conversion in 1387. In drawing attention to the consumption of material goods such as food, clothing and shelter, Długosz portrayed the pagan Lithuanians as a people who could not satisfy even their most basic material needs. After their conversion to Christianity, their faith nevertheless wavered for a long time, and so their needs were only met thanks to the help of the Polish king, Władysław II Jogaila (Jagiełło), whom the chronicler held up as the ‘apostle’ of Lithuania. Długosz’s description of the way of life of the Lithuanians is rich in theological themes, based on the Gospels and the writings of the Prophets. The author examines the reliability of Długosz’s account on the way of life of both pagan and converted Lithuanians.

The paper presents an analysis of the relationships between Colonel Vincas Grigaliūnas Glovackis, commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment and one of the major participants in the coup in 1926, and the cabinets led by Mykolas Sleževičius in 1919 and 1926. The author of the research looks into Colonel Grigaliūnas Glovackis’ dissatisfaction with the policies of the second and fourth Sleževičius governments, the defiance of government orders by the 2nd Infantry Regiment, and the involvement of Colonel Grigaliūnas Glovackis in the conflict between the Cabinet of Ministers and the State Council in 1919. The paper reveals the colonel’s political pro-activeness and his links with politicians representing the Christian Democrats and the Nationalists. The research concludes that the 1926 coup could have been caused not only by the officers’ dissatisfaction with the reforms by the coalition government of Popular Peasants and Social Democrats, but also by the conflicts between politically engaged officers and politicians that started as early as the wars of independence.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, Lithuania’s neighbours were already Christians: Orthodox to the east, Catholics to the north and south. Members of these two branches of Christianity met in pagan Vilnius, which was already looking at choosing a new faith. By consolidating historical, archaeological, architectural and geological sources, this article explores the reasons for and the circumstances of Christian settlement in pagan Vilnius, analyses the living spaces of both communities, and aims to determine the importance of Christians and the changes to their role in developing Vilnius. Differences between the Orthodox and Catholic communities are emphasised, but points of connection between the two communities are also sought. The position of Christians in the town reflects the generic state of emerging Vilnius, is inseparably intertwined with shifts in its history, and also shows how Lithuania’s rulers wavered between the Latin and Greek rites.

In May 1926, a coup took place in the Republic of Poland, which resulted in Józef Piłsudski, head of state (Naczelnik Państwa) in the period 1918–1922, taking over actual power in the country. Among other things, those three days in the streets of Warsaw stood out by the fact that during them Polish soldiers confronted each other: some military units partly supported President Stanisław Wojciechowski and the constitutional government of Wincent Witos, while others backed the plans of the first marshal of Poland, who could already boast a rather ‘whitewashed’ image among the population. Piłsudski’s plans were initially limited to the idea of forcing the resignation of the Cabinet, but finally turned into a broader campaign for the takeover of power, during which 379 people died and over 900 were wounded. The paper covers the sequence of events on 12–14 May, and focuses specifically on the role of army officers and units at different stages in the coup.