Making a Great Ruler
How does a ruler become "the Great"? Is greatness a part of authority exercised or a part of an image created? These and other questions are addressed in this volume on the life and memory of Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania (r.1392-1430). The study raises a hypothesis that Vytautas was the main engineer of his image as the great ruler while his contemporaries and later generations developed this image and adapted it to their needs and understandings.
Investigating the propaganda surrounding the grand duke, this study reveals that, in fact, there were two opposite images: that of a good ruler and that of a tyrant. The paradox is that frequently these opposites were based on the same features of the grand duke's character or episodes from his biography. The research is based on a wide array of written and visual sources as well as on records of oral tradition. Rich and diverse primary materials are analysed from the perspectives of political and social history, memorial culture, as well as iconography and rhetoric.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
A NOTE ON PERSONAL AND GEOGRAPHIC NAMES
INTRODUCTION
THE LIFE AND DEEDS OF VYTAUTAS THE GREAT
STRUCTURE AND METHOD
SOURCES AND SCHOLARSHIP
CHAPTER I. VYTAUTAS CREATING HIS OWN IMAGE
THE EARLY YEARS
The Troubled 1380s: A “Serpent in the Bosom” or a “Duke with Neither Men nor Lands”
The Return
The Second Flight
RIGHT OF BLOOD
Rex iustus, pacificus et christianissimus
Stableman’s Grandson: the Development of the Origin Story
Gediminas’ Worthy Successor
ON THE GRAND DUCAL SEAT
Give Way to the Duke!
Receptions and Gifts
The Parade of 1411
The Purple Throne of 1428
ON THE FIELD
“And I Shall Sit in Moscow”
The Fields of Grunwald
WITHIN THE SYSTEM OF CHRISTIAN VALUES: FROM SARACEN TO A NEW MESSIAH
False Christianity of Lithuanians
The Perverse Saracen
The New Apostle
The Restorer of the Universal Church
Embracing the Heresy
The “Son of Man”
THE VISUAL EXPRESSION OF LORDSHIP
The Residence in Trakai
- The Murals: Copies and Research
- Tradition of Mural Painting
- The Decoration of the Palace in Trakai
Coins and Seals
THE CHERISHED AND TROUBLED CROWN
The 1390s: From “unsere König” to “König zu Littowen”
The 1410 and 1420s: No Crown at the Right Moment
1429–1430: “One Bone for Two Dogs”
The Fundamental Issue of Liberty
A Crown for the King of Lithuania
Acta volant, verba manent
THE FINAL WORD OF PRAISE
CHAPTER II. THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY: SHAPING OF THE IMAGE
MEMORY AND MEMORIAL
The Warrior's Grave
Prayers for the Soul
THE GOOD OLD TIMES OF VYTAUTAS IN LAW AND ANECDOTE
JAN DLUGOSZ ON VYTAUTAS
The Desirable Ruler
The Distinguished Warrior
The Perfidious Lithuanian
Between Ambition and Virtue
CHAPTER III. THE EARLY-MODERN IMAGE OF VYTAUTAS
IN LITHUANIA AND IN POLAND
Legal Evidence
The Pater Patriae: Vytautas at the Grand Ducal Court
The Hero’s Ensign
The Public Display
The Name of Vytautas as Political Argument
Appeals to Rulers
Stephan Bathory as a New Vytautas
Popular Appeal
Debating the Union and Rulership
Historical Writings
The Polish Perspective
The Lithuanian Man of Virtue
The Spirit of the Baroque
Vytautas and the Magnates
The Radvilas as Worthy Followers of Vytautas
Exemplum docet
Jesuit School Dramas
The “Portraits” of Vytautas
Vytautas in Popular Piety
FOLKLORE TRADITION
Popular Memory
The Lithuanian Hero or the Son of a Vestal and a Knight
The Everlasting Imprints of the Grand Duke’s Deeds
The Traditions of Lithuanian Tatars, Karaites, and Jews
A Brief History of the Lithuanian Tatars
A Brief History of the Lithuanian Karaites
The Unifying Military Virtues
The Warrior Patron of the Tatars
The Fairy Prince of the Karaites
The Legislator for the Jews
IN OTHER COUNTRIES
Russia: Warrior of the Neighbors
Western Europe: The Most Powerful Ruler or a Bloodthirsty Tyrant
CHAPTER IV. IMAGE AND IMAGE
MEMORY AND OBLIVION: MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN IMAGES COMPARED
FOLLOWING THE PATTERNS OF KINGSHIP
An Ideal Prince
Roots and Fruits of Tyranny
The Political Theory
Terror in Practice
Julius Caesar or Ivan the Terrible
THE SENSE OF BYZANTIUM
THE MAKING OF NATIONAL HERO
PATHS NOT PURSUED
St Vytautas of Lithuania?
The Spirit of Adventure
CONCLUSIONS
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
Unpublished Materials
Published Sources
SECONDARY LITERATURE
PICTURE CREDITS