Christianizacijos plėtra Žemaitijoje XV a. pabaigoje - XVI a. pirmojoje pusėje remiantis asmenvardžių duomenimis : Kražių valsčiaus pavyzdys

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Bajorai; Christianizacija; Jėzuitai; Kražiai; Kražių valsčius; Krikščionybė; Krikščionėjimas; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); 16 amžius; Protestantizmas; Prūsija; Surašymai; Vardai; Žemaitija (Samogitia); Catholic Christian; Census; Christian names; Christianisation; Christianity; Kelmė District; Kražai county; Kražiai District; Lithuanian XVI c. history; Nobility; Reformation; Samogitia; South-western Žemaitija; The Diocese of Žemaitija.

ENWhen Lithuanian historians discuss the more or less complete establishment of Christianity in the Diocese of Žemaitija they rely more on theory to stress that this happened during the early seventeenth century. Zenonas Ivinskis opposed this theory in his later work and it is undermined by the very early example of Reformation preaching we have from Jonas Tartilavičius of Batakai, who preached Lutheran sermons in Šilalė in 1536. After Ivinskis studied the letters of Martynas Mažvydas he noted that Christian culture had taken hold in south-western Žemaitija at least by the middle of the sixteenth century. In order to establish the time when Catholic Christian became established in the diocese of Žemaitija to analyse the use of Christian names in three Žemaitijan districts - Kražiai (which integrated the Kelmė District within its boundaries in the sixteenth century), Telšiai and Karšuva. This article examines the case of Kražiai and Kelmė Districts, in the centres of which were built some of the earliest churches in Žemaitija and Kražiai was the residence of the lord lieutenant (starosta) of Žemaitija.The turning point in the formation of name-giving in the Christian tradition came in these districts during the second half of the fifteenth century. This is reflected very clearly in the 1528 gentry census material which shows that boyars in the census gave their sons Christian names. Given that most of the boyars in the census were men of mature age (30-40 years), they must have received their (Christian) names around 1488-1498. Given that their parents must have come to maturity several years earlier than the birth of these men, we can take the decades 1470-1500 to make the turning point in the accepted tradition of giving Christian names. As census material shows, the old tradition of name-giving disappeared increasingly during the first half of the sixteenth century. This evidence requires we take a different view of the dynamics of the establishment of Christian practices in Žemaitija from that traditionally expounded in Lithuanian historical studies. [From the publication]

• Teologija / Theology
• Istorija / History