Protestant and Catholic ^ Book Culture in ^/РЩА

Protestant and Catholic ^ Book Culture in ^/РЩА Grand Duchy of Lithuania^ New Trends in Reseatclh^,,'''^A>;l:' Arvydas Paccvičiii's"jr~r:ii! r^~-- J Introduction SA'T'} П'О'^- Protestant and Catholic culture in historical Lithuania produced distinct models4.? .-c * i į of ideas and the expression of their way of life, which are still perceived in the present^ V./"" day. The flavour of this distinctiveness would hardly be possible, if the book (not only v *\V the Bible) had not broken from the narrow circle of aristocrats and Church dignitaries into the middle classes and if it had not spoken in the nation's language following the r v Reformation and the later Counter-Reformation, becoming an object of constant study ^ * and a means of self-knowledge. Modern historiography has already turned its attention to these moments. First of all, these books were produced and spread in the multi-confessional, multi-linguistic and multi-ethnic society of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). Secondly, the Protestant and Catholic communities lived between the Orthodox, Uniate, Jewish and even Muslim communities. Thirdly, this heterogeneous environment had an influence on Protestant, as well as Catholic, book culture. On the other hand, this historiography sometimes fails to speak clearly of the Reformation's innovations. 'The press and books had been adapted at the mobile cultural level and handed over to other strata of society'.1 Even more - the historiography tells us about a growing isolation of Protestantism in the history of Lithuania.2 I think that, in recent years, a large amount of work has been done by book science (bibliology) and disciplines related to it, such as the history of book and library history, to reconstruct the segments of both Protestant and Catholic book cultures. In this article I want to project a course for further re search. Not content with theoretical problems of book culture research, I would like to present as many concrete examples as possible to illustrate my ideas. In my opinion, specific features of the book culture of both confessions can be best disclosed by comparing the book signs of institutions and persons, by estimating the views of its representatives on the book and so on. Not without reason, the comparative method is Ingė Lukšaitė. Reformacija Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje ir Mažojoje Lietuvoje. XVI a. trečias dcšimtmctis-XVII a. pirmas dešimtmetis. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 1999, p. 572. 2 Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštijos kultūra. Tyrinėjimai ir vaizdai. Sudarė: Vytautas Ališauskas, Liudas Jovaiša, Mindaugas Paknys, Rimvydas Petrauskas, Eligijus Raila. Vilnius: Aidai, 2001, p. 556. 145 Arvydas Pacevičius especially appreciated in modern book science, cultural studies, and library and infor mation studies. I understand the term 'book culture' as the most important element of written culture. It is determined by the system of values of a given epoch and is used in contrast to the terms 'verbal (oral) culture', as well as 'Internet culture'. As the term 'book culture' is a very broad concept, I shall confine myself to a discussion of the aspect of the functioning of this phenomenon in the society of the GDL, leaving aside the printing (or typographic) aspect of this issue. Speaking of new research trends, or innovations, the following issues always arise: 1) the problem of new viewpoints, which are determined by the actuality of the research and by the choice of relevant methods; 2) the question of penetrating into new spheres of research; 3) the problem of putting new sources into scientific circulation or the 'rereading' of them; 4) the issue of using new methods in this research; and 5) the problem of overcoming the stereotypes which distort and impede further scientific cognition. It is obvious that the discussion of these questions is inevitably connected with an estimation of the achievements of historiography in book culture research. This scheme will be the basis for my attempt to examine the situation in the research of the Protestant and Catholic book culture in Lithuania. First I want to present some histori cal facts, which will be helpful in understanding the subject under consideration. Lithuanian Protestant Ecclesiastical Life Circa 1647 approximately 140 Calvinist churches, ten Lutheran churches and a few anti-Trinitarian communities were active in Lithuania. When the anti-Trinitarians were driven out, the number of Lutherans remained about the same (in Vilnius, Kaunas, Biržai, Skuodas, Kėdainiai, and Tauragė) and the number of Calvinist churches fell considerably because of actions by the Catholic Church and natural losses in the com munities themselves. Even so, the six-district structure was maintained. After the end of the seventeenth century the number of churches stabilised, varying between 38 and 48 (although there was more inconsistency in their status - as parish churches, chapels of ease or closed churches). In 1740,48 churches had 40 clergy and eight schools. Coope ration between Lutherans and Calvinists in Lithuania was quite weak and only during joint synods of the early eighteenth century did the two communities share the use of buildings for prayers. It is necessary to emphasise restrictions on the rights of dissidents. From 1685, when the anti-Trinitarians and Mennonites were forced to leave the Commonwealth or change their religion, the rights of other non-Catholic groups were gradually subjected to increasing restrictions. Sejm instructions increased these restrictions until the mid- eighteenth century: new churches could not be built, public processions were banned, the right to sit in the senate was revoked and later dissidents were not allowed to be elected to the Sejm.3 Christianity in Lithuania. Vilnius: Aidai, 2002, p. 64. 146 Arvydas Pacevičius As the balance between religious forces changed, Catholic clergy began to re mind Protestants of once practically unenforceable spiritual jurisdictions. Synod de bates issued documents imposing sanctions against various Protestant rights: they could not repair old churches or build new ones without obtaining the Catholic bishop's per mission, arrange public funerals, or ring church bells during Holy Week. On the other hand it is difficult to say whether these restrictions were actually put in place. When the influential Protestant patrons, the Radvila dukes of Biržai and Dubingiai, died out, Lithuanian Calvinists lost their powerful supporters and defenders, but Lithua nian Protestants survived this blackest period in their history. Their true strength was revealed during this time of tribulation. Calvinist communities in the Grand Duchy fell into two basic categories: well- supplied, semi-private churches attended in small numbers mainly by the gentry (mostly in Lithuanian Ruthenia) and numerically larger churches attended by various classes (most often Lithuanian peasants) from the locality concentrated in the estates of former Biržai and Dubingiai Radvilas. Lithuanian Calvinism flourished in the latter areas and it was there that future prospects lay, but in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was the gentry who safeguarded the survival of the church, for they were a privileged social elite who ran the Calvinist church in the Grand Duchy. The fact that Lithuanian boyars controlled their Calvinist church more than their colleagues in Poland did theirs meant that the community fared better in the Grand Duchy than in the Kingdom during times of tribulation. In addition many clerics were also of gentry stock and so there was less tension between lay patrons and clerical leaders. Another reason for the resilience of the Grand Duchy's Calvinists lies in the legal status of their parishes, which allowed churches to survive even when they were not in use. A greater number of Calvinist churches in Lithuania than in Poland were influenced by the fact that more churches were founded from scratch and so the Catholic Church could not claim ownership rights over them. There were attempts to deal with the constant shortage of Calvinist clerics by setting up scholarships for students to study at universities in the German states, Hol land and Scotland. Grammar schools continued to operate in Kėdainiai and Slutsk. When the Slutsk press moved to Königsberg, it published a second edition of the 'Book of Christian Devotion' in 1684 and in 1701 the first printed translation of the New Testament in Lithuania (Lithuania Minor, later Prussia) was issued. It is worth mentio ning here Samuel Chilinski's unsuccessful mission to publish Scripture in London in the mid-seventeenth century. Chilinski's initiative was crushed by Synod opposition and the printing work already in process was interrupted.4 In contrast, the Catholics trans lated the entire Scripture only in the early 19"1 century, with the help of the Bible Society, founded in St. Petersburg. But I do not think that this fact should be inter preted one-sidedly, along stereotypical patterns pronouncing a retrograde stance of the Catholic Church hierarchy and priests. The reasons should be looked for in the book culture of the Grand Duchy. 4 Op. cit., pp. 93-94. 147 Arvydas Pacevičius Points of View, Principle Schemes, Paradigms Points of view in regard to the book culture of the GDL are determined by general methodological principles of the humanities and social sciences and also partly by communication and information sciences. In the research on the genesis of the Catholic and Protestant book culture, the idea of the history professor Edvardas Gudavičius regarding the spread of Lithuanian writing (prayers, formulas of catechism), before the Reformation, on wax boards, margins of manuscripts or printed books has great importance. E. Gudavičius even introduced the special term glossa period for this phenomenon.5 From the point of view of communication and social sciences, the use of this non-traditional means of passing information marks the transition from oral to written culture.6 This is a very important insight, introducing the research of book culture even onto the level of the comparative analysis of civilization.

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