History-before-1900

The Four Wives of Jogaila

BY EDVARDAS BARANAUSKAS IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE HOW Jogaila (1350–1434), the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, became involved with the Polish royal family, and his eventual marriage to their young queen. Very little is mentioned by historians that he was widowed three times, that his fourth marriage …

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Easter Holiday Customs and Traditions in Lithuania

BY ANGELĖ VYŠNIAUSKAITĖ FROM GOOD FRIDAY UNTIL THE RESURRECTION devotions, the Church’s bells during Masses are silent, replaced at the Consecration by the dry, solemn rattle of the wooden clappers. But on Easter morning, in joyous celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, all the bells inside the church and those in its …

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My Father was a Smuggler

by John Millar (Jonas Stepšis) The two swimmers carefully pushed their water-proof wrapped bundles onto the sloping riverbank and slipped silently out of the water. Shaking themselves like dogs to rid their bodies of as much water as possible, they hurriedly donned the clothes that were secured to the top …

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Lithuanian History Highlights: Lithuanian Military Under Napoleon

BY ILYA KUDRIASHOV The article by Vytautas J. Šliūpas about “Napoleon’s First and Last Steps in Lithuania,” and the report of the discovery of the mass grave of Napoleonic soldiers in Vilnius—both of which appeared in the July/August 2002 issue of Lithuanian Heritage— stirred more interest among readers of this …

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Culture: Goldsmithing in Lithuania: Seven Centuries Plus

BY K. PAUL ZYGAS The complete absence of gold or silver-bearing ores in their country has never stopped the Lithuanians from appreciating and crafting the noble metals. Jewelry found in archaeological sites reveals that silver has been prized and fashioned in Baltic lands continuously since times immemorial. While small deposits …

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Lithuanian History Highlights: the Bajorai of Lithuania Then and Now, First of Two Parts

By K. Paul Žygas WHE THE BAJORAI ESTABLISHED A SOCIETY IN VILNIUS several years ago, the announcement was generally met with a fair measure of genuine surprise. Most everyone believed that, given the long record of assimilation, waves of deportation, and the generations lost through war, the bajorai had become …

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Beautiful Lithuania: Samogitians: a Breed of Their Own?

By Tračevskis Rokas In western Lithuania there is a group of people who speak a different dialect and sometimes claim a different nationality. Still, they remain a part of Lithuania. Rokas M. Tračevskis reports on how the Samogitians became a “sub-nation” of Lithuania. WE ARE AN INTERNATIONAL FAMILY, SAID Vilma laughing, …

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Lithuanian History Highlights: Those Magnificent Men in Their Winged Armor

By K. Paul Žygas Those Magnificent Men in Their Winged Armor OF ALL THE ARMOR DISPLAYED IN THE ART ! Institute of Chicago, the “Half-armor for a hussar” invariably catches and holds the attention of every Lithuanian history buff. Worn by the crack hussar units of the Polish and Lithuanian …

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The Noble Beasts of Lithuania

Lithuania’s vast forest tracts were some of the last havens for two species of spectacular wildlife, the European bison and the aurochs, or stumbras and tauras respectively in Lithuanian. Archeologists have found images of these animals in cave paintings, clay figures, and carvings from the Stone Age. Similarly, the stumbras …

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Lithuanian History Highlights: the Noble Beasts of Lithuania Part I- Stumbras

By: William J. Morrison THE NOBLE BEASTS OF THE LITHUANIA In 1517 Maciej from  Miechow, Master of the Krakow Academy included the following in a description h of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: “There are large territories covered with primeval forest, completely unpopulated, spreading for 10,15 and 25 miles. Only …

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