Christianization of Lithuania

{{Short description|Conversion of country to Christianity}} [[File:Fresco in Vilnius Cathedral crypt.jpg|thumb|The fresco in the Vilnius Cathedral, dating to the Christianization of Lithuania]] The '''Christianization of Lithuania''' ({{langx|lt|Lietuvos krikštas}}) occurred in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, initiated by the Lithuanian royals [[Jogaila]], [[King of Poland]] and [[Grand Duke of Lithuania]], and his cousin [[Vytautas the Great]]. It signified the official adoption of [[Catholic Christianity]] by [[Lithuania]], the last [[Baltic paganism|pagan]] country in [[Europe]].<ref name="ConversionOfLithuania"/> However, Lithuania's first ruler to be baptised was [[Mindaugas]] in 1250s. This event ended one of the most complicated and lengthiest processes of [[Christianization]] in European history.

===Early contacts with Christianity=== Lithuanians' contacts with the Christian religion predated the establishment of the [[Duchy of Lithuania]] in the 13th century. The first known record of [[Name of Lithuania|the name Lithuania]] (''Litua''), recorded in the [[Annals of Quedlinburg]] in 1009, relates to the mission led by [[Bruno of Querfurt]], who baptised several rulers of the [[Yotvingians]], a nearby [[Balts|Baltic tribe]]. Nonetheless Bruno did not reach [[Lithuania proper]].{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2024|p=27}}

Lithuanians had more active contacts with the [[Kievan Rus']] and subsequent [[East Slavs|Eastern Slavic]] states, which had adopted [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity]] following the [[Christianization of Kievan Rus']] in the 10th century. From the 12th century onwards, Orthodox missions reached [[Latgale]] and [[Nalšia]], directed from [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]], [[Pskov]], and [[Polotsk]].{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2024|p=36}} By the end of that century, Catholic missionaries began arriving in the Baltic territories, with [[Saint Meinhard]], the [[Bishop of Livonia]], as a pioneer.{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|2024|p=37}}

As the dukes of Lithuania extended their dominion eastwards, the influence of the Slavic states on their culture increased. Their subordinates and the people followed their example, borrowing, for instance, many of the East Slavic versions of Christian names in the 11th–12th centuries. This borrowing became increasingly widespread among the pagan population in [[Aukštaitija]], though much less so in [[Samogitia]]. The influence of Orthodox Christianity on [[Lithuanian mythology|pagan Lithuanian]] culture is evidenced in about one-third of present-day Lithuanian surnames which are constructed from [[saint's name|baptismal names]] are [[Old Church Slavonic]] in origin.<ref>{{in lang|lt}} [[Zigmas Zinkevičius|Z. Zinkevičius]]. [https://www.voruta.lt/archyvas/45/588 Krikščionybės ištakos Lietuvoje]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In addition, the Lithuanian words for "church", "baptism", "Christmas" and "[[fasting|fast]]" are classed as loanwords from Ruthenian rather than Polish.<ref>S.C. Rowell. ''Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-central Europe, 1295-1345''. Cambridge University Press, 1994. Page 149.</ref>

===Baptism of Mindaugas===

The emergence of a monastic state of the [[Livonian Order]] around the Lithuanian borders made it rather urgent to choose a state religion. The first Lithuanian Grand Duke to adopt [[Western Christianity]] was [[Mindaugas]], although his nephew and rival [[Tautvilas]] had done that earlier, in 1250. The first translations of Catholic [[Prayer in Christianity|prayers]] from [[German language|German]] were made during his reign and have been known since.<ref>For instance, the initial verse of the [[Trinitarian formula]] in Lithuanian, as well as in [[Latvian language|Latvian]] and [[Old Prussian language|Prussian]], is presented as ''vardan Dievo Tėvo'', i.e. "in the name of [[God the Father]]", in contrast to the common version "in the name of Father". It shows the influence of German [[Arianism]], which used the denomination ''Got Vater'', on the earliest Lithuanian [[liturgy]].</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A.Butkus: Mindaugas ir latgaliai |url=https://www.delfi.lt/news/ringas/lit/abutkus-mindaugas-ir-latgaliai-13702041 |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=Delfi |language=lt}}</ref> [[File:Papal bull regarding Lithuanian ruler Mindaugas 1251.jpg|thumb|201 px|The Pope Innocent IV bull regarding Lithuania's placement under the jurisdiction of the [[Bishop of Rome]], Mindaugas' baptism and coronation]] In 1249, Tautvilas' ally [[Daniel of Galicia]] attacked Navahradak, and in 1250, another ally of Tautvilas, the Livonian Order, organized a major raid against [[Nalšia]] land and Mindaugas' domains in [[Lithuania proper]]. Attacked from the south and north and facing the possibility of unrest elsewhere, Mindaugas was placed in an extremely difficult position, but managed to use the conflicts between the Livonian Order and the [[Archbishopric of Riga|Archbishop of Riga]] in his own interests. In 1250 or 1251, Mindaugas agreed to receive baptism and relinquish control over some lands in western Lithuania, for which he was to receive a crown in return.

Mindaugas and his family were baptised in the Catholic rite in 1250 or 1251. On July 17, 1251 [[Pope Innocent IV]] issued a [[papal bull]] proclaiming Lithuania a [[Kingdom of Lithuania|Kingdom]] and the state was placed under the jurisdiction of the [[Bishop of Rome]]. Mindaugas and his wife [[Morta (queen)|Morta]] were crowned at some time during the summer of 1253, and the [[Kingdom of Lithuania]], formally a Christian state, was established. Even after nominally becoming a Catholic, King Mindaugas did not cease sacrificing to his own gods.<ref>S. C. Rowell Page 120</ref> Despite the ruling family's baptism, Lithuania had not become a truly Christian state, since there were no fruitful efforts to convert its population; Lithuanians and [[Samogitians]] stood firmly for [[Lithuanian mythology|their ancestral religion]]. Some of this might be attributed to the [[Golden Horde]] tumanbashi Burundaj's campaign in 1259 and 1260, which caused destruction in Lithuania proper and [[Nalšia]].{{fact|date=August 2025}}

[[File:Lietuva (Lithuania).March towards the Cross.jpg|thumb|201px|Medieval fresco from the [[Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Protestant Church|Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Church]] in [[Strasbourg]], portraying 15 European nations' path towards Christianity. Lithuania presented as the last figure.]]

===Vacillation between East and West===

Mindaugas' successors did not express enough interest in following in his footsteps. There were decades of vacillation between the Latin and the Orthodox options.<ref>Davies, Norman. ''Europe:A history''. Oxford University Press. Page 430.</ref> "For [[Gediminas]] and [[Algirdas]], retention of paganism provided a useful diplomatic tool and weapon... that allowed them to use promises of conversion as a means of preserving their power and independence".<ref>Muldoon, James. ''Varieties of Religious Conversion in the Middle Ages''. University Press of Florida, 1997. Page 140.</ref> Grand Duke Algirdas had pursued an option of "dynamic balance". Throughout his reign, he teased both [[Avignon Papacy|Avignon]] and [[Constantinople]] with the prospects of a conversion;<ref>Davies, Page 430</ref> several unsuccessful attempts were made to negotiate the conversion of Lithuania.<ref>Muldon, Page 137</ref>

To avoid further clashes with the [[Teutonic Order]], in 1349, Lithuanian co-ruler [[Kęstutis]] started the negotiations with Pope [[Clement VI]] for the conversion and had been promised royal crowns for himself and his sons. Algirdas willingly remained aside of the business and dealt with the order in the Ruthenian part of the state. The intermediary in the negotiations, Polish King [[Casimir III of Poland|Casimir III]], made an unexpected assault on [[Volhynia]] and [[Brest (Belarus)|Brest]] in October 1349 that ruined Kęstutis' plan. During the Polish-Lithuanian war for Volhynia, King [[Louis I of Hungary]] offered a peace agreement to Kęstutis on 15 August 1351, according to which Kęstutis obliged himself to accept Christianity and provide the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] with military aid, in exchange of the royal crown. Kęstutis confirmed the agreement by performing a pagan ritual<ref>killing a bull by throwing a knife at it</ref> to convince the other side. In fact, Kęstutis had no intentions to abide the agreement and ran away on his way to [[Buda]].<ref>{{in lang|lt}} [http://www.lrytas.lt/?data=&id=11832768841182643783&sk_id=&view=4&p=4 Kęstutis: was he a proponent or opponent of the Christianization], accessed on 01-07-2007</ref>

By the 14th century, the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] had emerged as a successor to [[Kievan Rus]] in the western part of its dominions.<ref>Daniel Z. Stone. ''The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795''. University of Washington Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-295-98093-1}}. Page 3; [[Paul Robert Magocsi]]. ''A History of Ukraine''. University of Toronto Press, 1996. Page 67.</ref> Although its sovereign was pagan, the majority of the population was Slavic and Orthodox. To legitimize their rule in these areas, the Lithuanian royalty frequently married into the Orthodox [[Rurikid]] aristocracy of Eastern Europe. As a result, some Lithuanian rulers were baptised into Eastern Orthodoxy either as children ([[Švitrigaila]]) or adults. The first one was [[Vaišelga]], son and heir of [[Mindaugas]], who took monastic vows at an Orthodox monastery in Lavrashev<ref>[http://viduramziu.istorija.net/etno/gudavicius-en.htm Following the Tracks of a Myth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911125151/http://viduramziu.istorija.net/etno/gudavicius-en.htm |date=2019-09-11 }}, [[Edvardas Gudavičius]]</ref> near [[Novgorodok]] and later established a convent there.<ref>S.C. Rowell. Page 149.</ref>

===Christianization by Jogaila and Vytautas===

The final attempt to Christianize Lithuania was made by [[Jogaila]]. Jogaila's Russian mother [[Uliana of Tver]] urged him to marry Sofia, daughter of [[Dmitri Donskoi|Prince Dmitri of Moscow]], who required him first to convert to Orthodoxy and to make Lithuania a fief of the [[Grand Duchy of Moscow]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lane |first1=Thomas |title=Lithuania: Stepping Westward |date=2001 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-0415267311 |page=xxi |quote=Jogaila, the son of Algirdas and a Russian mother, considered contracting a dynastic marriage with a Russian princess and converting to Orthodoxy}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2025}} That option, however, was unrealistic{{why?|date=August 2025}} and unlikely to halt the crusades against Lithuania by the Teutonic Order. Jogaila chose therefore to accept a Polish proposal to become a Catholic and marry [[Jadwiga of Poland]]. On these and other terms, on 14 August 1385, at the castle of [[Krėva]], Jogaila agreed to adopt Christianity, signing the [[Union of Krewo|Act of Krėva]].

Jogaila was duly baptised at the [[Wawel Cathedral]] in [[Kraków]] on 15 February 1386 and became Władysław II Jagiełło, the [[King of Poland]]. The royal baptism was followed by the conversion of most of Jogaila's court and knights,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kloczowski |first=Jerzy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ecdye8hk_tgC&dq=Wladyslaw+Jagiello&pg=PA55 |title=A History of Polish Christianity |date=2000-09-14 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-36429-4 |pages=54–57 |language=en}}</ref> as well as Jogaila's brothers [[Karigaila]], [[Vygantas]], [[Švitrigaila]] and cousin [[Vytautas]]. Jogaila sent Dobrogost, Bishop of [[Poznań]], as ambassador to Pope [[Urban VI]] with a petition for the erection of an [[Archdiocese of Vilnius|episcopal see at Vilnius]] and the appointment of [[Andrzej Jastrzębiec]] to fill it. [[File:Chrzest Litwy 1387 Matejko.JPG|thumb|360 px|"[[The Baptism of Lithuania]]" by [[Jan Matejko]]]] Jogaila returned to Lithuania in February 1387. The baptism of nobles and their peasants was at first carried out in the capital [[Vilnius]] and its environs. The nobility and some peasants in [[Aukštaitija]] were baptized in spring, followed by the rest of the Lithuanian nobility. The parishes were established in ethnic Lithuania and the new [[Vilnius Cathedral]] was built in 1387 on the site of a demolished pagan temple. According to the information of disputed accuracy provided by [[Jan Długosz]], the first [[parochial church]]es were built in Lithuanian [[pagan]] towns [[Vilkmergė]], [[Maišiagala]], [[Lida]], [[Nemenčinė]], [[Medininkai]], [[Kreva]], Haina and Abolcy, all belonging to the Jogaila's patrimony. Jogaila destroyed the old places of worship: [[altar]]s, [[sacred grove]]s, killed [[Žaltys|grass snakes]] and other snakes that were regarded as divine guardians of households at the time.<ref name="Vykintas">{{cite journal |last1=Vaitkevičius |first1=Vykintas |title=Lietuvos krikštas: istorija ir tautosaka |journal=Liaudies kultūra |date=2011 |volume=2 |issue=137 |page=12 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3163734 |access-date=5 February 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> The [[papal bull]] issued by [[Pope Urban VI]] on 12 March 1388 has information about destruction of pagan cult objects in [[Vilnius]] and provided legal grounds for establishment of the [[Vilnius Cathedral]].<ref name="ConversionOfLithuania">{{cite book|last1=Rowell|first1=Stephen Christopher|url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:B.03~2015~1467038656538/datastreams/DS.001.1.01.BOOK/content|title=The conversion of Lithuania: from pagan barbarians to late medieval Christians|last2=Baronas|first2=Darius|date=2015|publisher=Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore|isbn=9786094251528|location=[[Vilnius]]|author-link1=Stephen Christopher Rowell|pages=2, 273|access-date=4 March 2023}}</ref> On 19 April 1389, Pope Urban VI recognized the status of Lithuania as a Roman Catholic state.<ref name="Eidintas2015">{{cite book |last1=Eidintas |first1=Alfonsas |title=The history of Lithuania |date=2015 |publisher=Publishing House “Eugrimas” |location=Vilnius |isbn=978-609-437-163-9 |page=51 |url=https://urm.lt/uploads/default/documents/Travel_Residence/history_of_lithuania_new.pdf |access-date=4 March 2023 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128190626/https://urm.lt/uploads/default/documents/Travel_Residence/history_of_lithuania_new.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lithuania was the last state in [[Europe]] to be [[Christianization|Christianized]].<ref name="ConversionOfLithuania"/>

[[Samogitia]] was the last ethnic [[region of Lithuania]] to become Christianized in 1413, following the defeat of the [[Teutonic Order]] in the [[Battle of Grunwald]] and the [[Peace of Thorn (1411)|Peace of Thorn]] and its subsequent return to the Lithuanian control.<ref name="Bucevice">{{cite web |last1=Bucevičė |first1=Janina |title=Žemaičių Krikšto 600 m. jubiliejaus istorija ir šaltiniai |url=https://telsiuvyskupija.lt/600-m-jubilliejus/istorija |website=[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Telšiai]] |access-date=4 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> In November 1413, Vytautas himself sailed [[Neman River]] and [[Dubysa]], reached the environs of [[Betygala]], where he baptised the first groups of [[Samogitians]].<ref>{{in lang|lt}}[http://ausis.gf.vu.lt/mg/nr/2001/078/07d.html Dualistinis lietuvių tautybės susidarymas ir trialistinis Lietuvos krikšto pobūdis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030502192236/http://ausis.gf.vu.lt/mg/nr/2001/078/07d.html |date=2003-05-02 }} Dr. Aleksandras Vitkus</ref> In 1416, the construction of eight first parochial churches was started. The Diocese of Samogitia was established on 23 October 1417 and [[Matthias of Trakai]] became the first [[Bishop of Samogitia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Motiejus Trakiškis |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/motiejus-trakiskis/ |website=[[Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija]] |access-date=4 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> The [[Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Varniai|cathedral]] was built in [[Varniai|Medininkai]] around 1464.<ref name="Bucevice"/>

== Aftermath ==

Ethnic [[Lithuanian nobility|Lithuanian nobles]] were the main converts to Catholicism, but paganism remained strong among the peasantry. Pagan customs prevailed for a long time among the common people of Lithuania and were covertly practiced. There had been no persecution of priests and adherents of the old faith. However, by the 17th century, following the [[Counter-Reformation]] (1545–1648), Roman Catholicism had essentially taken precedence over earlier pagan beliefs.

The conversion and its political implications had lasting repercussions for the history of Lithuania. As the majority of the population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania outside [[Lithuania proper]] was Orthodox and the elite gradually converted to [[Roman Catholicism]], religious tensions increased. Some of the Orthodox [[Gediminids]] left Lithuania for [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]], where they gave rise to such families as the [[House of Golitsyn|Galitzine]] and the [[Troubetzkoy]]. The Orthodox population of present-day [[Ukraine]] and eastern [[Belarus]] often sympathized with the rulers of Muscovy, who portrayed themselves as the champions of Orthodoxy. These feelings contributed to such reverses as the [[Battle of Vedrosha]], which crippled the Grand Duchy and undermined its position as a dominant power in [[Eastern Europe]].

On the other hand, the conversion to Roman Catholicism facilitated Lithuania's integration into the cultural sphere of [[Central Europe]] and paved the way to the political alliance of Lithuania and Poland, finalized as the [[Union of Lublin]] in 1569.

== See also == *[[Northern Crusades]] * [[History of Lithuania]]

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==Further reading== * {{Cite book |last=Bednarczuk |first=Leszek |title=Językowy obraz Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego |date=2024 |publisher=Lexis |location=Kraków |language=pl |trans-title=The Linguistic Image of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania}} * Gouguenheim, Sylvain. ''Les derniers païens: les Baltes face aux chrétiens, {{sm|xiii}}e-{{sm|xviii}}e siècle''. Paris: Passés-composés, 2022.

==External links== *[http://www.lituanus.org/1987/87_4_03.htm The Conversion of Lithuania 1387] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727151454/http://www.lituanus.org/1987/87_4_03.htm |date=2020-07-27 }}

[[Category:1387 in Europe]] [[Category:14th century in Lithuania]] [[Category:History of Christianity in Lithuania]] [[Category:Christianization of Europe|Lithuania, Christianization of]] [[Category:14th-century Catholicism]] [[Category:Paganism in Lithuania]]