Permalink: https://doi.org/10.1353/cro.2024.a963638

Abstract

The transition of Lithuania from a pagan to a Roman Catholic culture began with Pope Innocent IV's issuance of Bulls in 1251. Mindaugas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, was baptized Christian, and Lithuania was placed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome. The Dominicans led crusades against pagans in Prussia and Livonia. Later papal Bulls by Pope Alexander IV further solidified Roman Catholic dominance in Lithuania. The Roman Catholic Church has played a significant role in Lithuania's history and continues to influence its national identity. Christian Nationalism, intertwined with Roman Catholicism, shapes Lithuania's social and political order. Religious NGOs and the Lithuanian Parliament play a role in preserving traditional values and opposing perceived threats. The conflict between Roman Catholicism and traditional Baltic religion, exemplified by the Romuva community, reflects tensions in defining Lithuanian national identity.

INTRODUCTION

papal bulls in the lithuanian context

In 1251, Pope Innocent IV (r. 1243–1254) issued a series of Bulls and orders that began the transition of Lithuania from a pagan culture to a Roman Catholic one. In 1251, Mindaugas (1203–1263), Grand Duke of Lithuania, was baptized Christian and on July 17, 1251, Pope Innocent IV issued a papal bull placing the Kingdom of Lithuania under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome. In 1253, Mindaugas was crowned the first—and only—King of Lithuania.

A few years earlier, Innocent IV had commanded the Dominican Order to lead a crusade against the pagans of Prussia and in Livonia, an area bordering the Baltic Sea in the western part of modern-day Lithuania. These crusades expanded on those carried out in the Holy Land.1

Innocent IV granted religious indulgences in 1244 to those who fought in Livonia under Duke Friedrich of Austria. In 1245, one hundred German knights also received indulgences for campaigns in Prussia. His successor, Pope Alexander IV (r. 1254–1261), issued two Bulls that contributed to the dominance of Roman Catholicism in Lithuania. In the first, signed 6 March 1255, Pope Alexander IV granted the king of Lithuania, Mindaugas, the right to have his son crowned by a bishop of his preference in the Latin Church:

To … the illustrious king of Lithuania. Wishing above all the desires of our heart that the cultivation of the Catholic Faith spread ever more far and wide throughout the > world, we do not cease striving for the augmentation of the same Faith with vigilant and sedulous care; and in order for the fullness of our desire to come forth we maintain > efforts of complete diligence, denying ourselves the leisure of any negligence in this matter, procuring this growth [in the faith] assiduously ourselves and through others > with all effort and labour, in so far as [End Page 483] we are granted [to do] this from on high. Therefore, since, as we have learned through your intimations, you have been > divinely inspired and have returned through the waters of baptism from the errors of pagan blindness to the Way of Life, that is Christ, and are striving through observance of > Christian Religion to please the Living and True God, we through these presents grant your Excellency [the right] to summon a Latin bishop of your preference, who is in peace > and communion with the Apostolic See, to crown by our authority [our] beloved son, the noble man […], your son, asking of Lithuania to the glory of God and the holy Church of > Rome. We have obtained much joy from this and wish to strengthen you in the faith with meet favours and bestow suitable grace upon you, for we are inclined [to grant] your > requests. Let no man … [oppose] our concession and so forth. Given at Naples the day before the nones of March in the first year [of our pontificate].2

The intentions behind the papal bulls in the context of Lithuania sets the stage for the rhetorical pattern followed by later prelates in the Roman Catholic realm. In 1452, Pope Julius III issued the Bull Dum Diversas that authorized Alfonso V of Portugal "to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them."3

As the remote, densely forested, non-Christian territory in Europe, Lithuania was a continuous target for Christian conversion. The bull Romanus Pontifex issued by Nicholas V (r.1447–1455) on January 8, 1454, reflected the ongoing difficulty of Christianizing Lithuania. He wrote that the Church must "restrain the savage excesses of the Saracens and of other infidels, enemies of the Christian name, but also for the defense and increase of the faith vanquish them and their kingdoms and habitations, though situated in the remotest parts unknown to us"4 (italics by the author). Even two hundred years after the baptism of Mindaugas, a significant part of the Lithuanian population still adhered to pagan practices.