Religiniai medaliukai iš Trakų Šv. Mergelės Marijos Apsilankymo bažnyčios archeologinių tyrinėjimų 2008-2011 metais

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai; Kapai; Religiniai medalikėliai; Religiniai medaliukai; Trakai; Trakų Šv. Mergelės Marijos Apsilankymo bažnyčia; 17 amžius; Archaeological Excavations; Burials; Lithuania; Religious medals; The Middle of the 17th Century; Trakai; Trakai Church of Visitation of Blessed Virgin.

ENThe Trakai parochial church was established by a foundation privilege of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas (1392-1430) in 1409. Until the middle of the 17th c. it remained one of the richest parochial churches in the GDL. Outstanding personalities of the Lithuanian Catholic Church - Vilnius ordinary bishops, supervisors of the Vilnius diocese, and others - used to serve as deans in this church up until the 19th c. It never lost its function, was never closed or given to another confession. Since 2007 the church has been under restoration, and in 2008-2011 extensive excavations were carried out in the church - a territory of ca. 1,500 m2 inside the building and in the churchyard was explored, 527 burials from the 15-19th c. were registered, and a great deal of finds including 20 religious medals were discovered. The medals were found in three graves inside the church (4 items; fig. 1-4) and four graves in the churchyard (9 items; fig. 8-16), and 7 medals were found by accident (fig. 5-7, 17-20). The medals found in graves are dated the middle of the 17th c. and the 18th c, stray found medals - the 17-20th c. The medals from the 17-18th c. are made from copper alloy, and those from the 19-20th c. - from aluminium, copper and zinc alloy with silver-plating, as well as tin, copper and zinc alloy. The stray found medal with a crowned picture of Our Lady of the Snows and the date of the jubilee year 1625 (fig. 20) should be considered the earliest. Another medal with the images of the blessed St. Francis and St. Aloysius can be dated quite precisely to 1624-1671 (fig. 19).The most medals (5 in total) from the early 18th c. with St. Benedicts cross, and three miraculous medals of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary were found. The plots of the remaining medals are different - they bear the images of St. Theresa, St. Peter and St. Paul, the Blessed Virgin Mary and IHS with St. Clement's cross, Jesus and Mary, the Crucified, Our Lady of Czestochowa and St. Anthony, St. Catherine and St. Bridget, Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Dominic, the monogram IHS and the abbreviation MA (Blessed Virgin Mary), Christ and the Mother of God, Pieta and St. Benedicts cross (?), St. Anasthasius and St. Venant, the Blessed St. Francis and St. Aloysius, the crowned picture of Our Lady of the Snows and the date of the jubilee year 1625. Judging from the inscriptions one can assert that the early medals were manufactured in Italy (two of them bear the inscription ROMA), and the late ones - in Poland (with Polish inscriptions) and Italy (with a German and Latin inscription). It was established that there were two ways of wearing the medals - on the chest or as part of a rosary placed in the hands of the deceased (instead of a cross). All the found medals had an eye, through which a thread was put. The medals were found only in the graves of nobler and richer persons (or pilgrims?). The finds of the Trakai church show that religious medals started to gain spread in Lithuania from the middle of the 17th c, i.e. earlier than was thought before. [text from author]