The Bychowiec Chronicle (Lithuanian : Bychovco kronika; Polish : Kronika Bychowca; also spelled Bykhovets, Bykovets or Bychovec) is an anonymous 16th-century chronicle of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although one of the least reliable sources of the epoch, [1] it is considered the most extensive redaction of the Lithuanian Chronicles. It is named after its discoverer.
The chronicle was most probably authored between 1519 and 1542, [1] though some parts continued to be added until 1574. [2] Authors of the chronicle are not known. The text highlights achievements of the Goštautai and Olshanski families, particularly to Jonas Goštautas. [3] Therefore, scholars concluded that it was sponsored by a member of these families. Scholars proposed Grand Chancellor Albertas Goštautas, Bishop Paweł Holszański, and Duke Olelkovich. [3]
Aleksander Bychowiec, a 19th-century Polish noble and historian, discovered the chronicle in 1830 and it is now known by his name. Teodor Narbutt studied, copied and published it in full in 1846 under the title Pomniki do dziejów litewskich. [4] The original 159-page manuscript went missing soon after Narbutt's publication, and until 2011 the chronicle was known only from Narbutt's copy. Because of that, earlier researchers were skeptical of the chronicle's authenticity. [4] The chronicle was also published in 1907 in the volume 17 of the Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles . [5] A Lithuanian translation was published in 1971.
In 2011, Lithuanian historians discovered a fragment (about one-fifth of the original) of a chronicle that is essentially identical to the Bychowiec Chronicle at the National Archives in Kraków and published it in 2018. [6]
Narbutt claimed that the reverse of the last page said that it is a Lithuanian chronicle translated from the Ruthenian language into Polish. In fact, it is in Ruthenian transcribed in the Polish alphabet. [7] The chronicle is missing a beginning and an end. The first page was reconstructed by editors of the Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles using the writings of Maciej Stryjkowski. [4] The chronicle ends in the middle of a sentence describing the 1506 Battle of Kletsk. [4] In addition to being positively biased towards Lithuanian nobility, particularly the Goštautai family, the chronicle also pays closer attention to Catholic affairs, [2] particularly the Franciscans. The legend of the Franciscan martyrs of Vilnius was first recorded in the chronicle. [3]
The content can be broadly divided into three parts: legendary, historical, and contemporary. [4] The legendary section elaborated on the Palemonids legends, tracing genealogy of Lithuanian nobility back to Apolon or Palemon, a 5th-century noble from the Roman Empire. [3] The historical section describes historical events using other chronicles as a source. This section is often confused and contradictory. It rarely dates events and mixes them according to the theme; the reconstruction of proper chronology would be impossible without other sources. This section is not considered reliable. [3] The contemporary section describes events during the chronicler's life, particularly the reign of Alexander Jagiellon (1492–1506). This section is considered valuable and reliable. [3]
The Bychowiec chronicle used many medieval documents as its sources, primarily earlier versions of Lithuanian Chronicles, which in turn used other chronicles, including the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. After about 1446, the chronicle became an independent source, using notes made during the reign of Alexander Jagiellon. [3] The chroniclers probably had access to notes or chronicles of Jonas Goštautas as his activities in 1440–53 are particularly detailed. [3]
Although one of the least reliable Slavonic chronicles, [8] the Bychowiec chronicle is generally believed to have used many medieval documents as its sources. The research [9] [10] by the comparative text analysis, however, attempted to prove that a very important source of the Bychowiec manuscript was, in fact, the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle only, possibly in a copy or in excerpts that differed slightly from the versions which we know now.
Casimir IV was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under him, Poland defeated the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War and recovered Pomerania.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 partitions of Poland–Lithuania. The state was founded by Lithuanians, who were at the time a polytheistic nation of several united Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija. By 1440 the grand duchy had become the largest European state, controlling an area from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south.
The Lithuanian nobility or szlachta of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth consisting of Lithuanians from Lithuania Proper; Samogitians from Duchy of Samogitia; following Lithuania's eastward expansion into what is now Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, many ethnically Ruthenian noble families (boyars); and, later on, predominantly Baltic German families from the Duchy of Livonia and Inflanty Voivodeship.
The Principality or, from 1253, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, also known as the Kingdom of Ruthenia or Kingdom of Rus,also Kingdom of Halych–Volhynian was a medieval state in Eastern Europe which existed from 1199 to 1349. Its territory was predominantly located in modern-day Ukraine, with parts in Belarus, Poland, Moldova, and Lithuania. Along with Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal, it was one of the three most important powers to emerge from the collapse of Kievan Rus'.
The Galician–Volhynian Chronicle (GVC), also known as Chronicle of Halych–Volhynia and by other names is a prominent work of Old Ruthenian literature and historiography covering 1201–1292 in the history of the Principality of Galicia–Volhynia.
Teodor Narbutt was a Polish–Lithuanian romantic historian and military engineer in service of the Russian Empire. He is best remembered as the author of a nine-volume Polish-language history of Lithuania from the early Middle Ages to the Union of Lublin.
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The Lithuanian Metrica or the Metrica of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a collection of the 14–18th-century legal documents of the Chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). Maintained systematically since the 2nd half of the 15th century, metrica consisted, initially and primarily, of the copies of the documents issued by the Grand Duke, Lithuanian Council of Lords, and Seimas.
Albertas Goštautas was a Lithuanian noble of the Goštautai family from the ethnically Lithuanian lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Voivode of Navahrudak since 1508, Voivode of Polotsk since 1514, Voivode of Trakai since 1519 and Voivode of Vilnius since 1522. In 1522, he became Grand Chancellor of Lithuania. He was the initiator and the editor of the First Statute of Lithuania, as a successor of his staunch opponent Mikolaj Radziwiłł, who rivaled him in the precedence in the Council of Lords. His subsequent rival in influence in the Grand Duchy was Konstanty Ostrogski. In 1529, he received the title of count from Pope Clement VII, and in the following year, thanks to the efforts of Jan Dantyszek, he received the title of Graf of Murowane Gieranojny from Emperor Charles V.
Mykolas Kęsgaila Valimantaitis was a Lithuanian nobleman from Deltuva. He established the Kęsgaila family in Samogitia, where their power rivalled that of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Mykolas Kęsgaila was the deputy of Ukmergė (1409–1412), Elder of Samogitia, and castellan of Vilnius (1443–1448). He was a father of Jonas Kęsgaila and Mykolas Kęsgaila the Younger.
The House of Alšėniškiai was a Lithuanian by origin Ruthenianized and predominantly Eastern Orthodox princely family of Hipocentaur coat of arms. Their patrimony was the Principality of Alšėnai, which included the castles of Rokantiškės and Alšėnai.
Martynas Goštautas was a nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the Goštautai family. He was the Grand Marshal of Lithuania, Voivode of Navahrudak (1464–1471), first Voivode of Kiev (1471–1475) and Voivode of Trakai (1480–1483). He was a servant to King Casimir IV Jagiellon, and was a founder of Tykocin monastery and the Dominican monastery and church in Trakai.
The Lithuanian Chronicles are three redactions of chronicles compiled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. All redactions were written in the Ruthenian language and served the needs of Lithuanian patriotism. The first edition, compiled in the 1420s, glorified Vytautas the Great and supported his side in power struggles. The second redaction, prepared in the first half of the 16th century, started the myth of Lithuanian Roman origin: it gave a fanciful genealogy of Palemon, a noble from the Roman Empire who founded the Grand Duchy. This noble origin of Lithuanians was important in cultural rivalry with the Kingdom of Poland. The third redaction, known as the Bychowiec Chronicle, elaborated even further on the legend, but also provided some useful information about the second half of the 15th century. The three redactions, the first known historical accounts produced within the Grand Duchy, gave rise to the historiography of Lithuania. All medieval historians used these accounts, that survived in over 30 known manuscripts, as basis for their publications and some of the myths created in the chronicles persisted even to the beginning of the 20th century.
The House of Olelkovich was a princely family from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th and 16th centuries. Their main possession was the Duchy of Slutsk–Kapyl. They are sometimes known as Slutskys. They were descended from the Lithuanian Gediminids and Ruthenian Rurikids. According to the 1528 military census, the family was the fourth wealthiest magnate family in the Grand Duchy. However, its influence declined after the Union of Lublin (1569). The last member of the family was Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill (1585–1612), wife of Janusz Radziwiłł. She was elevated to sainthood in the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1983. As part of her marriage negotiations, she insisted on remaining a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church, despite her future husband's allegiance to Calvinism. She died in childbirth, as did the child. After her death, her considerable wealth and the Principality of Slutsk passed to the Radziwiłł family.
The Jagiellonian or Jagellonian dynasty, otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty, the House of Jagiellon, or simply the Jagiellons, was the name assumed by a cadet branch of the Lithuanian ducal dynasty of Gediminids upon reception by Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, of baptism as Ladislaus in 1386, which paved the way to his ensuing marriage to the Queen Regnant Hedwig of Poland, resulting in his ascension to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland as Ladislaus II Jagiełło, and the effective promotion of his branch to a royal dynasty. The Jagiellons were polyglots and per historical evidence Casimir IV Jagiellon and his son Saint Casimir possibly were the last Jagiellons who spoke in their patrilineal ancestors' Lithuanian language; however, even the last patrilineal Jagiellonian monarch Sigismund II Augustus maintained two separate and equally lavish Lithuanian-speaking and Polish-speaking royal courts in Lithuania's capital Vilnius. The Jagiellons reigned in several European countries between the 14th and 16th centuries. Members of the dynasty were Kings of Poland (1386–1572), Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Kings of Hungary, and Kings of Bohemia and imperial electors (1471–1526).
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Franciscan martyrs of Vilnius are 14 semi-legendary Franciscan friars murdered in Vilnius, capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, during the reign of Algirdas (1345–77). The story was first recorded in the Bychowiec Chronicle, a generally unreliable source from the early 16th century, and was further embellished, conflated, and confused by later chroniclers and historians. Nonetheless, the cult of the martyrs spread in the 16th century. A prominent monument in Vilnius, the Three Crosses, was originally erected in their memory sometime before 1648. Around the same time Bishop Jerzy Tyszkiewicz started canonization procedures, but they were abandoned. At the advent of critical historiography in the 20th century, the story was dismissed as fictional in its entirety. However, newer research attempts to restore some credibility to the legend.
The Chronicle of Rivius is a German-language manuscript often cited by Teodor Narbutt in his nine-volume work on the history of Lithuania and journal articles. Supposedly written between 1697 and 1730s by Jan Fryderyk Rivius, the chronicle remains unpublished. Lithuanian researcher Artūras Dubonis pointed out many inconsistencies in its authorship, unclear provenance, factual and chronological fallacies, and concluded that it is most likely a forgery, though more extensive study is required for a conclusive determination.
The Kievan Chronicle or Kyivan Chronicle is a chronicle of Kievan Rus'. It was written around 1200 in Vydubychi Monastery as a continuation of the Primary Chronicle. It is known from two manuscripts: a copy in the Hypatian Codex, and a copy in the Khlebnikov Codex ; in both codices, it is sandwiched between the Primary Chronicle and the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. It covers the period from 1118, where the Primary Chronicle ends, until about 1200, although scholars disagree where exactly the Kievan Chronicle ends and the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle begins.
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