Notions of Nobility in the 16th Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lineage and Virtue

The aim of this text is two-fold. Firstly, a general view of terminological difficulties arising when attempting to name nobility as a whole is presented with the main issue to be faced is the fact that terms such as ‘bajorija’ (a Lithuanian term) or ‘szlachta’ (a Polish one) simultaneously denote...

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Main Author: Karolis Čižauskas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Vilnius University Press 2024-12-01
Series:Lietuvos Istorijos Studijos
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Online Access:https://ojs.test/index.php/lietuvos-istorijos-studijos/article/view/38182
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author Karolis Čižauskas
author_facet Karolis Čižauskas
author_sort Karolis Čižauskas
collection DOAJ
description The aim of this text is two-fold. Firstly, a general view of terminological difficulties arising when attempting to name nobility as a whole is presented with the main issue to be faced is the fact that terms such as ‘bajorija’ (a Lithuanian term) or ‘szlachta’ (a Polish one) simultaneously denote a specific and smaller subclass of nobility. Therefore, the Lithuanian neologism ‘kilnuomenė’ has been presented and introduced. It is justified as etymologically bearing two significant notions which were core to the nobility – that of lineage plus nobleness (by nobility, we mean here a ‘noble’ quality of personality character, a virtue). Secondly, departing from this proposed concept of nobility, a historical enquiry and analysis have been carried out whose main purpose was that of demonstrating how both lineage and nobleness (via virtue) functioned in defining membership in the group and acting as an important element of self-representation.
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publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Vilnius University Press
record_format Article
series Lietuvos Istorijos Studijos
spelling doaj-art-b0a2775bb0fe4396b07a301686a3cc1c2025-01-03T06:31:30ZengVilnius University PressLietuvos Istorijos Studijos1392-04481648-91012024-12-015410.15388/LIS.2024.54.1Notions of Nobility in the 16th Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lineage and VirtueKarolis Čižauskas0Vilnius University, Lithuania The aim of this text is two-fold. Firstly, a general view of terminological difficulties arising when attempting to name nobility as a whole is presented with the main issue to be faced is the fact that terms such as ‘bajorija’ (a Lithuanian term) or ‘szlachta’ (a Polish one) simultaneously denote a specific and smaller subclass of nobility. Therefore, the Lithuanian neologism ‘kilnuomenė’ has been presented and introduced. It is justified as etymologically bearing two significant notions which were core to the nobility – that of lineage plus nobleness (by nobility, we mean here a ‘noble’ quality of personality character, a virtue). Secondly, departing from this proposed concept of nobility, a historical enquiry and analysis have been carried out whose main purpose was that of demonstrating how both lineage and nobleness (via virtue) functioned in defining membership in the group and acting as an important element of self-representation. https://ojs.test/index.php/lietuvos-istorijos-studijos/article/view/38182nobilityGrand Duchy of LithuaniaAndreas Volanusdiscoursevirtue
spellingShingle Karolis Čižauskas
Notions of Nobility in the 16th Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lineage and Virtue
Lietuvos Istorijos Studijos
nobility
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Andreas Volanus
discourse
virtue
title Notions of Nobility in the 16th Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lineage and Virtue
title_full Notions of Nobility in the 16th Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lineage and Virtue
title_fullStr Notions of Nobility in the 16th Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lineage and Virtue
title_full_unstemmed Notions of Nobility in the 16th Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lineage and Virtue
title_short Notions of Nobility in the 16th Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lineage and Virtue
title_sort notions of nobility in the 16th century grand duchy of lithuania lineage and virtue
topic nobility
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Andreas Volanus
discourse
virtue
url https://ojs.test/index.php/lietuvos-istorijos-studijos/article/view/38182
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