Klaipėdos universitetas

The appearance of portrait miniature is traditionally dated back to the 16th century when the miniature became a portrait genre. The Reformation processes occurring in Europe at the time also influenced the genesis of forms, technique and style of portrait miniatures. This paper focuses on the factors (related to the Reformation) which affected the formation of new images embodied in H. Holbein’s and N. Hilliard’s works. The rise of the portrait miniature as a new type of portrait, its features, and uniqueness of its properties are explained through the study of certain political, social, and cultural aspects of the Reformation movement in the context of English art.

The article analyzes the links between the hymnals of Prussian Lithuanians (M. Mažvydas, B. Vilentas, A. F. Šimelpenigis and others) and local German publications until 1750. It is assumed that the Prussian Lithuanians prepared their official hymns by using books relied on indigenous Germans. The main conclusion was that Prussia and all diferent national groups had a common treasure of hymns, which could be freely adjusted and supplemented.

He was a tutor for the Radvilas (Radziwiłłs) at Biržai, a student at Oxford, headmaster of a gymnasium in Leszno, and court preacher in Königsberg and later Berlin. Of all the stages in the life of Daniel Ernst Jablonski (1660–1741), his contribution, together with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, to the establishment in 1700 of the Kurfürstlich Brandenburgische Societät der Wissenschaften, the predecessor of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, is emphasised the most. However, his efforts to achieve ecumenical communication between evangelical churches of various hues were no less significant. The article deals with the development of Jablonski’s views leading to these efforts as a result of his family history: the experiences of his childhood and youth. Manifestations of efforts in East Central Europe, especially in the Commonwealth of the Two Nations, are presented through Jablonski’s activities in pursuing ecclesiastical unity, defending the rights of religious minorities, engaging in Hebrew studies, and in the ecclesiastical controversy in Russia.

How were the Reformation and a variety of different confessionalisations manifested in material culture? The article discusses this issue by presenting a dozen examples of works of art relating to the present territory of Latvia. In 1521, when urban citizens there responded to the ideas of the Reformation for the first time, a large part of present-day Latvia belonged to a conglomerate of various holdings called the Livonian Confederation. The religious polarisation of society characteristic of the early period of the Reformation (the 1520s) is represented in works of art discussed in the first chapter. The second chapter discusses works from the period of political instability caused by the First Northern War (1558–1583). It is characterised by Livonia’s political, cultural and confessional division, of which representations can also be seen in many examples of the visual arts.

In the Late Medieval and Early Modern period, tile stoves not only heated premises, but also decorated the homes of those who could afford them. The scenes and figures depicted on the tiles changed according to the broader changes that took place in culture. Images relevant to the Protestants appeared on tiles in the course of the development of the Reformation in Europe, in addition to religious motifs representing Catholic values. But what can the information encoded in the decoration of private spaces tell us about the owners’ religious beliefs and moral values? The article explores the issue by examining the case of a stove made of tiles with ambiguous signs: some of them had a meaning in Catholic culture, others spread after the introduction of Lutheranism, and one tile portrayed an authority relevant to the Anabaptists. Archaeologists have found all these tiles in a closed site on a single plot, a house in a former suburb of Memel (Klaipėda), which itself (and hence the stove) dates back to the 17th century. Not only were contemporaneous tiles used to build the stove, but tiles with symbols from previous periods were also reused. The article provides an interpretation of the contradictory religious signs that appeared on a single stove built in a suburb of Memel.

The visual aspects of sepulchral culture in Livonia in the Late Medieval and Early Modern period have been thoroughly studied by art historians. They have analysed the spread and condition of tombstones and epitaphs, as well as the pictorial programmes of monuments. Less attention has been paid to records inscribed on tombstones, which are known both from surviving examples and from old manuscripts. According to Estonian art historians, Lutheranism changed the pictorial programmes of tombstones, and only in the second half of the 16th century put the word into the central position on them. The article seeks to verify this statement on the basis of broader material than has been used so far. For this purpose, the author uses data on all Latin tombstone records known today from Estonian churches (from the 14th century to 1918, they are held in the yet unpublished database Corpus Electronicum Inscriptionum Latinarum Estoniae), and analyses the oldest Livonian occasional poetry (manuscript and printed) from the first half of the 16th century. The article shows that the attempts to write long texts for grave monuments and place them in the dominating position on the tombstone were made in Livonia already before the Reformation, and can be considered a result of the impact of Renaissance humanism.

There was no ideal or typical way of establishing the Reformation in Europe, while Church reform in East Central Europe cannot be attributed solely to the influence of the ideas from Wittenberg. Much more important than looking for a causal relationship is to analyse the responses, correlations and interactions. This is done in the article by looking for an answer to the question why Protestantism established itself relatively late in the geographical area called Courland (Kurland, present-day Kurzeme), and more precisely how the creation of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1561–1562) was connected with the establishment of the Evangelical Church in this region. In looking for an answer, the article outlines the challenges faced by the Teutonic Order’s domains in Livonia during the Reformation in the first half of the 16th century. It explores the activities of Gotthard Kettler, the last Master of the Teutonic Order in Livonia (1559–1561), in the conversion to Protestantism, and the creation of the Duchy. Finally, the article discusses how ‘the princely Reformation’ that created new confessional and cultural realities in the northeast of Central Europe during the second half of the 16th century manifested itself in a specific region.

The secularisation of the domains of the Teutonic Order in Prussia led to the establishment of the first Lutheran territorial church in the world. This fact is almost forgotten today, and this is evident even in specialised literature on the Reformation. The article outlines the introduction of the Reformation in Prussia, considering it as an example of its smooth and successful entrenchment. In order to show this, the late stage of the rule of the Teutonic Order is defined, showing that fundamental reform was triggered by a multi-layered crisis characteristic of the Order’s domains in Prussia. The article shows that, in coordination with Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchton, and assisted by his bishops, after becoming the first Duke of Prussia in 1525, Albert, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, implemented reforms in his domains that resembled the main problems raised by the Reformation in an almost exemplary way. But at the same time, it shows that the introduction of the Reformation in Prussia was not a unidirectional process, for Duke Albert supported Andreas Osiander’s ideas for some time, before he gradually entered the ranks of the confessors of Augsburg.

The article examines the role of the last Jagiellonian monarchs, Sigismund I (1506-1548) and his son Sigismund II Augustus (1548-1572), in promoting and securing religious peace in the multi-confessional society of the 16th-century Rzeczpospolita. The author argues that the Jagiellonian dynasty, which ascended to the Polish throne in 1386 and ruled until 1572, contributed significantly to the rise of religious pluralism in Poland and Lithuania, and paved the way for a mechanism of tolerance which made it possible for religious groups to live together and to respect their religious diversity. The author analyses the anti-heretical laws passed by Sigismund I in the 1520s, and Sigismund II in the 1550s, which were intended to suppress the dissemination of Reformation ideas. In these documents, both monarchs declared their loyalty to the Roman Church, and threatened followers of the Reformation with severe penalties. All these documents give an insight into the religious policy of the Polish kings. Anti-heretical legislation was just one part of a more complex and sophisticated policy of the Jagiellonian kings, which aimed at preserving the religious status quo in the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional Rzeczpospolita.

The article explores the musical culture of East Prussia of the 18th c. in different forms of its expression. The epoch of Enlightenment provided a new impetus for the development of the culture in the region. The Protestant Lutheran hymnody was developing, and the tradition of Evangelical surinkimai (prayer hours held in private homes by lay preachers (German: Stundenhalters)) was progressing. Königsberg University was of great significance for the promotion of the regional culture. In the 18th c., the East Prussian school of composition was born, different techniques of instrumental ensemble and solo music making started developing, the house music making traditions were gaining popularity, and big cities had the first musical theatres. It was in that context that the personality of Donelaitis and the character of his cultural activity was maturing and developing.