The dispute among vilnius humanists regarding Latin, Lithuanian, and Ruthenian

Pietro U. Dini
Università di Pisa

Summary

Even before the Lublin Union (1569) between Poland and Lithuania there was an important linguistic controversy among Lithuanian Humanists. In the wider context of a general ‘Latinization’ of the culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the so-called ‘Latinizers’ (Agrippa, Rotundus, Michalo Lituanus) harked back to a classic language such as Latin, the dignitas of which was considered to be undisputed. The Latin language could compete with other languages of culture used inside the Grand Duchy, primarily with Ruski. According to the Latinizers the identity of Latin and Lithuanian was the principal evidence to support the derivation of the Lithuanians as a people from the Romans. Promoting Latin was equivalent to promoting vulgar Lithuanian from the point of view of the Latinizers. In this paper I discuss the textual aspects of the debate about the literae (Latin vs. Muscovite or Ruthenian) exposed in the works of Michalo Lituanus (Tractatus de moribus Tartarorwn, Lithuanorum et Moschorum, 1615[1550]) and Augustinus Rotundus (Preface to the second Lithuanian Statute, 1576). Possible implications of the dispute for the question of the Ruthenian language are investigated, too.

Quick links
Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

A.Primary sources

Gessner, Conrad
1555 Mithridates: De differenfia linguarum, tum veterum, tum quœ hodie apud diversas nationes in toto orbe terrarum in usu sunt. Tiguri: Froschoverus.Google Scholar
Jurginis, Juozas
1966[1615] Apie Totorių, Lietuvių ir Maskvénų papročius. Vil-nius: Vaga.Google Scholar
Korzeniowski, Jerzy
1890[c.l564] Rozmowa Polaka z Litwinem. Kraków: Wy-dawnictwa Akademij Umiejętności w Krakowie.Google Scholar

B.Secondary sources

Baryczowa, Maria
1935–1936 “Augustyn Rotundus Mieleski, wójt wileński, pierwszy historyk i apologeta Litwy [Augustyn Rotundus Mieleski, mayor of Vilnius, first historian and apologist of Lithuanian]”. Ateneum Wileńskie 10. 70–96, 11.117–172.Google Scholar
Dini, Pietro U.
1994 “Lituano e latino nel Rinascimento. Sull’importanza del momento linguistico nel mito dell’origine romana dei Lituani”. Italy and Europe in Renaissance Linguistics: Comparisons and relations ed. by Mirko Tavoni [ et al.], Vol.II, 363–375. Modena: Panini.Google Scholar
1995 “Ruski e latino/lituano secondo i ‘latinizzanti’ di Vilnius”. Res Balticae 1.141–156.Google Scholar
1998 “Ikimažvydiné Lietuvos lingvistika [Lithuanian linguistics before Mažvydas]”. Martynas Mazvydas and the Cultural Context of the First Book of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Moscow.Google Scholar
Fortunatov, F[ilipp] F[edorovic]
1876 “Miscellanea”. Beiträge zur verglei-chenden Sprachforschung 8.111–119.Google Scholar
Frick, David
1985 “Meletij Smotryc’kyj and the Ruthenian Language Question”. Harvard Ukrainian Studies 9:1/2.25–52.Google Scholar
Jablonowski, Horst
1961 Westrussland zwischen Wilna und Moskau. Leiden: J. E. Brill.Google Scholar
Jakubowski, Jan Z.
1921 Tautybių santykiai Lietuvoje prieš Liublino unijq [Ethnic relations in Lithuania before the Lublin union]. Kaunas: Žaibas.Google Scholar
Korsakas, Kostas
1957 Lietuvių literatūros istorija [History of the Lithuanian literature]. Vol. I. Vilnius: Valstybinė politinés ir mokslinė s literatūros leidykla.Google Scholar
Kuolys, Darius
1992 Asmuo, tauta, valstybė Lietuvos Didž iosios Kunigaikštystės istorinėje literatūroje [Person, people, state in the historical literature of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla.Google Scholar
Lebedys, Jurgis
1977 Senoji lietuvių literatūra [Old Lithuanian literature]. Vilnius: Mokslas.Google Scholar
Martel, Antoine
1937 La langue polonaise dans les pays Ruthènes (1569–1667). Lille: Travaux et Mémoires de I’Université de Lille.Google Scholar
Ochmański, Jerzy
1976 “Michalon Litwin i jego traktat o zwyczajach Tatarów, Litwinów i Moskwicinów z poiowy XVI wieku [Michalo Lituanus and his treatise on the habits of Tatars, Lithuanians and Muscovites from the mid-16th century]”. Kwartalnik Historiczny 4.765–783.Google Scholar
Pisani, Vittore
1983 “Rom und die Balten”. Baltistica 19.7–22.Google Scholar
Strumins’kyj, Bohdan
1984 “The Language Question in the Ukrainian Lands before the Nineteenth Century”. Aspects of the Slavic Language Question ed. by Riccardo Picchio & Harvey Goldblatt, vol.11, 9–47. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Russian and East European Publications, Yale University.Google Scholar