The Bychowiec Chronicle (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.
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 chronicles 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.
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, which by 1440, became 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 Lithuanian szlachta was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania 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. It traced its origins via Palemonids to Polemon II of Pontus.
The coat of arms of Lithuania is a mounted armoured knight holding a sword and shield, known as Vytis. Since the early 15th century, it has been Lithuania's official coat of arms and is one of the oldest European coats of arms. It is also known by other names in various languages, such as Waykimas, Pagaunė in the Lithuanian language or as Pogonia, Pogoń, Пагоня in the Polish, and Belarusian languages. Vytis is translatable as Chase, Pursuer, Knight or Horseman, similar to the Slavic vityaz. Historically – raitas senovės karžygys or in heraldry – raitas valdovas.
The Galician–Volhynian Chronicle (GVC), also known as Chronicle of Halych–Volhynia and The Dynastic Chronicle of the Romanovichi, is a prominent work of Old Ruthenian literature and historiography covering 1201–1292 in the history of the Principality of Galicia–Volhynia.
Polonization or Polonisation is the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular the Polish language. This happened in some historic periods among non-Polish populations in territories controlled by or substantially under the influence of Poland.
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.
Anna was Grand Duchess of Lithuania (1392–1418). She probably was the first wife of Vytautas the Great, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Anna was mother of Sophia of Lithuania, the wife of Vasily I of Moscow. She is best remembered for helping Vytautas to escape from a prison in Kreva in 1382 and thus probably saving his life. Little is known about Anna's life and even her origins remain disputed by historians.
The House of Gasztold was a family of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, one of the most influential magnate of families of its region during the 15th and early 16th centuries. Their only serious rivals were the Kieżgajło, and from the end of the 15th century the fast rising in power and influence Radziwiłł family clan. It appears from the Latin original spelling of their name Gastoldus which is a variation of castaldius that they had been close to the Grand Dukes and that their function was to oversee ducal demesne. Most power family gained during the reign of Casimir Jagiellon. The castaldius of Vytautas, Andrius Goštautas might have been a voivode of Vilnius and Kreva, and father of Jonas, appears to have been the precursor of the family growth. The majority of the family's possessions (lands) were in the western part of the Duchy and eastern ethnic Lithuania. After the death of the last scion of the family, Stanisław Gasztold, the Polish King and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus inherited his possessions as a matter of right, per Grand Duchy of Lithuania law.
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 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 ethnic 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.
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.
The family of Gediminas is a group of family members of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who interacted in the 14th century. The family included the siblings, children, and grandchildren of the Grand Duke and played the pivotal role in the history of Lithuania for the period as the Lithuanian nobility had not yet acquired its influence. Gediminas was also the forefather of the Gediminid dynasty, which ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1310s or 1280s to 1572.
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.
Mindaugas was the first known grand duke of Lithuania and the only crowned king of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians. The contemporary and modern sources discussing his ascent mention strategic marriages along with banishment or murder of his rivals. He extended his domain into regions southeast of Lithuania proper during the 1230s and 1240s. In 1250 or 1251, during the course of internal power struggles, he was baptised as a Roman Catholic; this action enabled him to establish an alliance with the Livonian Order, a long-standing antagonist of the Lithuanians. By 1245, Mindaugas was already being referred to as "the highest king" in certain documents. During the summer of 1253, he was crowned king, ruling between 300,000 and 400,000 subjects.
Alekna Sudimantaitis was an influential Lithuanian noble of Trąby coat of arms, Grand Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1478–1490) and Voivode of Vilnius (1477–1490).
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.