1.
Lithuanian language
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Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.9 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania, Lithuanian is a Baltic language, related to Latvian. It is written in a Latin alphabet, Lithuanian is often said to be the most conservative living Indo-European language, retaining many features of Proto-Indo-European now lost in other Indo-European languages. Anyone wishing to hear how Indo-Europeans spoke should come and listen to a Lithuanian peasant, among Indo-European languages, Lithuanian is extraordinarily conservative, retaining many archaic features otherwise found only in ancient languages such as Sanskrit or Ancient Greek. For this reason, it is one of the most important sources in the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language despite its late attestation, the Proto-Balto-Slavic languages branched off directly from Proto-Indo-European, then branched into Proto-Baltic and Proto-Slavic. Proto-Baltic branched off into Proto-West Baltic and Proto-East Baltic, according to some glottochronological speculations, the Eastern Baltic languages split from the Western Baltic ones between AD400 and AD600. The Greek geographer Ptolemy had already written of two Baltic tribe/nations by name, the Galindai and Sudinoi in the 2nd century AD, the differentiation between Lithuanian and Latvian started after AD800, for a long period, they could be considered dialects of a single language. At a minimum, transitional dialects existed until the 14th or 15th century, also, the 13th- and 14th-century occupation of the western part of the Daugava basin by the German Sword Brethren had a significant influence on the languages independent development. The earliest surviving written Lithuanian text is a translation dating from about 1503–1525 of the Lords Prayer, the Hail Mary, printed books existed after 1547, but the level of literacy among Lithuanians was low through the 18th century, and books were not commonly available. Brought into the country by book smugglers despite the threat of prison sentences. Jonas Jablonskis made significant contributions to the formation of the standard Lithuanian language and his proposal for Standard Lithuanian was based on his native Western Aukštaitijan dialect with some features of the eastern Prussian Lithuanians dialect spoken in Lithuania Minor. These dialects had preserved archaic phonetics mostly intact due to the influence of the neighbouring Old Prussian language, Lithuanian has been the official language of Lithuania since 1918. During the Soviet era, it was used in official discourse along with Russian, Lithuanian is one of two living Baltic languages, along with Latvian. An earlier Baltic language, Old Prussian, was extinct by the 18th century, such an opinion was first represented by the likes of August Schleicher, and to a certain extent, Antoine Meillet. Endzelīns thought that the similarity between Baltic and Slavic was explicable through language contact while Schleicher, Meillet and others argued for a kinship between the two families. An attempt to reconcile the opposing stances was made by Jan Michał Rozwadowski and he proposed that the two language groups were indeed a unity after the division of Indo-European, but also suggested that after the two had divided into separate entities, they had posterior contact. The genetic kinship view is augmented by the fact that Proto-Balto-Slavic is easily reconstructible with important proofs in historic prosody, vyacheslav Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov believed in the unity of Balto-Slavic, but not in the unity of Baltic. In the 1960s, they proposed a new division, that into East-Baltic, West-Baltic, the Ivanov–Toporov theory is gaining ground among students of comparative-historic grammar of Indo-European language, and seems to be replacing the previous two stances in most PIE textbooks
2.
Mindaugas
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Mindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power, he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, the contemporary and modern sources discussing his ascent mention strategic marriages along with banishment or murder of his rivals. He extended his domain into regions southeast of Lithuania proper during the 1230s and 1240s, during the summer of 1253 he was crowned King of Lithuania, ruling between 300,000 and 400,000 subjects. While his ten-year reign was marked by various state-building accomplishments, Mindaugass conflicts with relatives and other dukes continued and his gains in the southeast were challenged by the Tatars. He broke peace with the Livonian Order in 1261, possibly renouncing Christianity and his three immediate successors were assassinated as well. The disorder was not resolved until Traidenis gained the title of Grand Duke c, although his reputation was unsettled during the following centuries and his descendants were not notable, he gained standing during the 19th and 20th centuries. Mindaugas was the only King of Lithuania, while most of the Lithuanian Grand Dukes from Jogaila onward also reigned as Kings of Poland, in the 1990s the historian Edvardas Gudavičius published research supporting an exact coronation date –6 July 1253. This day is now a national holiday, Statehood Day. Contemporary written sources about Mindaugas are very scarce, much what is known about his reign is obtained from the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle and the Hypatian Codex. Both of these chronicles were produced by enemies of Lithuania and thus have anti-Lithuanian bias and they are also incomplete, both of them lack dates and locations even for the most important events. For example, the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle devoted 125 poetry lines to Mindaugas coronation, other important sources are the papal bulls regarding baptism and coronation of Mindaugas. The Lithuanians did not produce any surviving records themselves, except for a series of acts granting lands to the Livonian Order, due to lack of sources, some important questions regarding Mindaugas and his reign cannot be answered. Because written sources covering the era are scarce, Mindaugas origins and his year of birth, sometimes given as c. 1200, is at times left as a question mark. His father is mentioned in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle as a powerful duke, Dausprungas, mentioned in the text of a 1219 treaty, is presumed to have been his brother, and Dausprungas sons Tautvilas and Gedvydas his nephews. He is thought to have had two sisters, one married to Vykintas and another to Daniel of Halych, Vykintas and his son Treniota played major roles in later power struggles. In addition to Vaišvilkas and his sister, two sons, Ruklys and Rupeikis, are mentioned in written sources, the latter two were assassinated along with Mindaugas. Information on his sons is limited and historians continue to discuss their number and he may have had two other sons whose names were later conflated by scribes into Ruklys and Rupeikis
3.
King of Lithuania
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The Kingdom of Lithuania was a Lithuanian monarchy which existed from 1251 to roughly 1263. King Mindaugas was the first and only crowned king of Lithuania, the status of a kingdom was lost after Mindaugas assassination in 1263. Other monarchs of Lithuania are referred to as Grand Dukes, even though their status was almost identical to that of a king, two attempts were made to reestablish the Kingdom – by Vytautas the Great in 1430 and by the Council of Lithuania in 1918. In the early 13th century, Lithuania was inhabited by various pagan Baltic tribes, by the 1230s, Mindaugas emerged as the leader of the Grand Duchy. In 1249, a war erupted between Mindaugas and his nephews Tautvilas and Edivydas. The status of a kingdom was granted on July 17,1251, two years later, Mindaugas and his wife Morta were crowned as the King and Queen of Lithuania. In 1255, Mindaugas received permission from Pope Alexander IV to crown his son as King of Lithuania, the coronation and the alliance with the Livonian Order allowed a period of peace between Lithuania and Livonia. During that time the Lithuanians expanded east, while Livonia attempted to conquer Samogitia, enticed by his nephew Treniota, Mindaugas broke the peace after the Order was defeated in the Battle of Skuodas in 1259 and Battle of Durbe in 1260. Treniotas influence grew as he waged a war against the Order, the conflict resulted in assassination of Mindaugas and two of his sons in 1263. The country reverted to paganism and its status as a kingdom was lost, the state survived as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the subsequent monarchs are known as Grand Dukes as they could not be crowned as kings until they converted to Christianity. There was an attempt by Grand Duke Vytautas the Great to receive the royal crown, soon afterwards Vytautas died, without being crowned as king. After Lithuania declared independence in February 1918, the monarchy was reestablished, however, the monarchy was short-lived and Mindaugas II never visited Lithuania. The Kingdom of Lithuania was a client-state of the German Empire and following Germanys defeat in World War I in fall 1918, Duchy of Lithuania Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kingdom of Lithuania Lithuania proper
4.
Selonia
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Selonia, also known as Augšzeme, is a cultural region of Latvia encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Semigallia. Its main city and cultural center is Jēkabpils, the Selonian language has become extinct, though some of the inhabitants still speak a Latgalian dialect. The subjugation and baptism of the Selonians started in 1208, when Albert of Buxhoeveden captured Sēlpils, the term Selonians is most probably the German adaptation of the Livonian name Highlanders, which leads to the hypothesis that the Selonians and Aukštaitians belonged to the same ethnos. The Livonian Chronicle of Henry describes the Selonians as allies of the Lithuanians, in 1218 the region formed a Selonian diocese, but in 1226 part of that diocese was joined to the Riga archbishopric and the Bishopric of Semigalia was formed. Nowadays the region is inhabited by Latvians with larger proportion of ethnic minorities of Russians, Poles. Among historical documents, the Mindaugass Donation Act of 1261 is the one that best describes the transfer of the Selonian lands to the Knights of the Sword. It stretched further to the Latuva, Vašuoka and Viešinta rivers, along the Lėvuo river northwards to the Mūša and downstream, thus, the historical sources describing the Selonian boundaries in the second half of the 13th century are rather precise. Edgars Andersons, ed. Latvju enciklopēdija 1962-1982, vytautas Kazakevičius, Selonian archaeological sites in Lithuania Retrieved 25
5.
Teutonic Order
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The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious order founded as a military order in the 12th century in Acre. Purely religious since 1929, it still confers limited honorary knighthoods, the order was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Formed in the year 1190 in Acre, in the Levant, after Christian forces were defeated in the Middle East, the Order moved to Transylvania in 1211 to help defend the South-Eastern borders of the Kingdom of Hungary against the Kipchaks. Starting from there, the Order created the independent Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, adding continuously the conquered Prussians territory, the Order theoretically lost its main purpose in Europe with the Christianization of Lithuania. However, it initiated numerous campaigns against its Christian neighbours, the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Novgorod Republic. The Teutonic Knights had an economic base, and so hired mercenaries from throughout Europe to augment their feudal levies. In 1410, a Polish-Lithuanian army decisively defeated the Order and broke its military power at the Battle of Grunwald, however, the capital of the Teutonic Knights was successfully defended in the following Siege of Marienburg and the Order was saved from collapse. In 1515, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I made an alliance with Sigismund I of Poland-Lithuania. Thereafter, the empire did not support the Order against Poland, in 1525, Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg resigned and converted to Lutheranism, becoming Duke of Prussia as a vassal of Poland. Soon after, the Order lost Livonia and its holdings in the Protestant areas of Germany, the Order did keep its considerable holdings in Catholic areas of Germany until 1809, when Napoleon Bonaparte ordered its dissolution and the Order lost its last secular holdings. However, the Order continued to exist as a charitable and ceremonial body and it was outlawed by Adolf Hitler in 1938, but re-established in 1945. Today it operates primarily with charitable aims in Central Europe, the Knights wore white surcoats with a black cross. A cross pattée was sometimes used as their coat of arms, the motto of the Order was, Helfen, Wehren, Heilen. The full name of the Order in German is Orden der Brüder vom Deutschen Haus St. Mariens in Jerusalem or in Latin Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum, thus, the term Teutonic refers to the German origins of the order in Latin. It is commonly known in German as the Deutscher Orden, historically also as Deutscher Ritterorden, Deutschherrenorden, Deutschritterorden or Die Herren im weißen Mantel. However, based on the model of the Knights Templar, it was transformed into an order in 1198. It received papal orders for crusades to take and hold Jerusalem for Christianity, during the rule of Grand Master Hermann von Salza the Order changed from being a hospice brotherhood for pilgrims to primarily a military order. The Order was founded in Acre, and the Knights purchased Montfort, northeast of Acre, the Order also had a castle at Amouda in Armenia Minor
6.
National Museum of Lithuania
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The National Museum of Lithuania, established in 1952, is a state-sponsored historical museum that encompasses several significant structures and a wide collection of written materials and artifacts. It also organizes archeological digs in Lithuania, the Museum of Antiquities in Vilnius, founded by Eustachy Tyszkiewicz in 1855, was the forerunner of todays museum. At its inception, the focused on the culture and history of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy. Made up mostly of Polish private collections, it was quite popular, after the January Uprising of 1863, the Russian Empire moved much of the collection to Moscow, the remaining collections were re-organized and were incorporated into the Vilnius Public Libray. From 1866 to 1914, the museum and the library operated together, in 1915, when the Eastern Front of World War I approached Vilnius, more of the exhibits was taken to Russia. After Lithuanian independence was established in 1918, the Museum of History and Ethnography was founded, based on the collections in the Museum of Antiquities and its director was Jonas Basanavičius, one of the signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania. After 1919, Vilnius became a part of Poland, and the organization was incorporated into Vilnius University, in 1941, the Academy of Sciences acquired the collections of all the museums in Vilnius. The museum again became an entity in 1952 under the direction of the historian Vincas Žilėnas. In 1967, the museum established itself at the Vilnius Castle Complexs New Arsenal, the museum hosted a major exposition in 1968. During the 1970s and 1980s historic materials from across the country were gathered, in 1992, after Lithuania re-established its independence, it was renamed the National Museum of Lithuania. It is now part of the Ministry of Culture, the museum has five main departments, History and Latest History, Archaeology, Ethnography, Numismatics, and Iconography, containing a total of 800,000 items. Museum official website Museums of Lithuania
7.
Livonian Order
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The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. It was later a member of the Livonian Confederation, from 1435 to 1561, the Order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after their defeat by Samogitians in 1236 at the Battle of Schaulen. They were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights and became known as the Livonian Order in 1237, in 1298 Lithuanians took Karkus castle north of Riga, and defeated the order in the Battle of Turaida, killing Livonian Land Master Bruno and 22 knights. In 1346, the Order bought the Duchy of Estonia from King Valdemar IV of Denmark, life within the Orders territory is described in the Chronicle of Balthasar Russow. The Livonian Orders defeat in the Battle of Swienta on September 1,1435, during the Livonian War, however, the Order suffered a decisive defeat by troops of Muscovite Russia in the Battle of Ergeme in 1560. After coming to an agreement with Sigismund II Augustus and his representatives, in the southern part of the Brothers lands he created the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia for his family. Most of the lands were seized by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The north of Estonia was taken back by Denmark and Sweden, the Livonian Master, like the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order, was elected by his fellow knights for a life term. The grandmaster exercised supervisory powers and his advice was considered equal to a command, the grandmaster of Teutonic knights did not limit local autonomy, he rarely visited Livonia or sent ambassadors for oversight
8.
Pope Alexander IV
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Pope Alexander IV was Pope from 12 December 1254 to his death in 1261. Born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne, he was, on his mothers side, a member of the family de Conti di Segni, the counts of Segni, like Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX. His uncle Gregory IX made him deacon and Protector of the Order of Franciscans in 1227, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church from 1227 until 1231. He became Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1244, on the death of Pope Innocent IV in 1254 he was elected pope at Naples on 12 December 1254. Alexander IV threatened excommunication and interdict against the party of Manfred without effect, nor could he enlist the kings of England and Norway in a crusade against the Hohenstaufens. Rome itself became too Ghibelline for the Pope, who withdrew to Viterbo and he was buried in Viterbo Cathedral, but his tomb was destroyed during sixteenth-century renovations. On 26 September 1255, Alexander IV canonized S. Clare of Assisi and he also confirmed, on 29 October 1255, in the Bull Benigna Operatio, the reality of the stigmata attributed to S. Francis of Assisi. On 14 May 1254, shortly before his death, Innocent IV had granted Sicily, nicolaus de Curbio, OFM, Vita Innocentii Papae IV, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores Tomus Tertius pp. 592–592e. Bernardus Guidonis, Vita Alexandri Papae IV, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, alexis François Artaud de Montor, Histoire des souverains Pontifes Romains Tome III, pp. 1–11. Augustinus Theiner, Caesaris S. R. E. Cardinalis Baronii, laderchii Annales Ecclesiastici Tomus Vigesimus Primus 1229-1256. August Karst, Geschichte Manfreds vom Tode Friedrichs II, bourel de la Roncière Les Registres d Alexandre IV Tome premier. F. Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Volume V.2 second edition, revised Book X, Chapter 1, pp. 335–358. F. Tenckhoff, Papst Alexander IV. S. Andreotta, La famiglia di Alessandro IV e labbazia di Subiaco, rodríguez de Lama, La documentación pontificia de Alejandro IV. Raoul Manselli, Alessandro IV, Dizionario dei Papi. The Crusades, c.1071 – c, herbermann, Charles, ed. Pope Alexander IV. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
9.
Papal bull
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A Papal bull is a specific kind of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by a pope of the Roman Catholic Church. It is named after the seal that was traditionally appended to the end in order to authenticate it. Papal bulls have been in use at least since the 6th century, but the phrase was not used until around the end of the 13th century, and then only internally for unofficial administrative purposes. However, it had become official by the 15th century, when one of the offices of the Apostolic Chancery was named the register of bulls, by the accession of Pope Leo IX in 1048, a clear distinction developed between two classes of bulls of greater and less solemnity. The majority of the bulls now in existence are in the nature of confirmations of property or charters of protection accorded to monasteries. In an epoch when there was much fabrication of such documents, a Papal confirmation, under certain conditions, could be pleaded as itself constituting sufficient evidence of title in cases where the original deed had been lost or destroyed. Since the 12th century, Papal bulls have carried a seal with the heads of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul on one side. Papal bulls were issued by the Pope for many kinds of communication of a public nature. Papyrus seems to have used almost uniformly as the material for these documents until the early years of the eleventh century. Popularly, the name is used for any Papal document that contains a metal seal, today, the bull is the only written communication in which the Pope will refer to himself as Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei. For example, when Pope Benedict XVI issued a decree in bull form, while Papal bulls always used to bear a metal seal, they now do so only on the most solemn occasions. A Papal bull is today the most formal type of public decree or letters patent issued by the Vatican Chancery in the name of the Pope, the body of the text had no specific conventions for its formatting, it was often very simple in layout. For the most solemn bulls, the Pope signed the document himself, following the signature in this case would be an elaborate monogram, the signatures of any witnesses, and then the seal. Nowadays, a member of the Roman Curia signs the document on behalf of the Pope, usually the Cardinal Secretary of State, and thus the monogram is omitted. The most distinctive characteristic of a bull was the seal, which was usually made of lead. On the obverse it depicted, originally somewhat crudely, the early Fathers of the Church of Rome, the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, identified by the letters Sanctus PAulus and Sanctus PEtrus. Each head was surrounded by a circle of globetti, and the rim of the seal was surrounded by a ring of such beads. On the reverse was the name of the issuing Pope in the nominative Latin form, with the letters PP, for Pastor Pastorum
10.
Prussian Privy State Archives
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The Prussian Privy State Archives is an agency of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation headquartered in Berlin, Germany. A Federal statutory body, it is one of the largest repositories of Primary source documents in Germany and spans the history of Prussia, Brandenburg, the House of Hohenzollern and the Prussian Army. Originally located in the Berlin Palace, the Archive moved into a new building erected specifically for it in Berlin-Dahlem. It was built between 1914-1924 following a design by Eduard Fürstenau, the building was renovated and expanded in 1999. Todays GStA PK traces itself back to this professional tradition, in the middle of the 17th century the holdings became a personal repository of the first King of Prussia under archivist Christoph Schönebeck and granted the honorific title Privy State Archives. In 1803, the Archives were expanded with the addition of Prussian governmental, judicial and regional documents, by 1901, the institution had developed precise standards for the preservation of public records that have had a pronounced effect on the archival profession. During World War II, the majority of the holdings were evacuated to abandoned mines at Stassfurt, as the Soviet Army advanced on East Prussia, the Königsberg State Archives were evacuated to Göttingen. After the war, holdings that wound up in the Soviet occupation zone were moved relatively unscathed to a newly created German Central Archive housed in Merseburg, the original Dahlem headquarters building wound up in the US sector of Allied-occupied West Berlin. In 1946 it became the archive for West Berlins government. In 1963, these came under the jurisdiction of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, from 1978-1979 the Königsberg collection was relocated to Berlin. After German Reunification, from 1993 to 1994, the GDR Archives maintained in Merseburg were also back to Berlin. Approximately 35,000 linear meters of archives with a service of some 185,000 volumes and 200 periodical subscriptions. Osgood, The Prussian Archives, Political Science Quarterly,8, JSTOR2139830 Prussian Privy State Archives, in German
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