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

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Asmenvardžiai; Bajorai; Christianizacija; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Telšiai; Telšių valsčius; Vardai; Žemaitija (Samogitia); Christianisation; Christianity; Christianization; Name giving; Nobility; Personal names; Samogitia; Telšiai county; Telšiai district; The Diocese of Žemaitija; The Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

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 Żemaitijan districts - Kražiai (which integrated the Kelmė District within its boundaries in the sixteenth century), Telšiai and Karšuva. This article deals with the most complex north-western part of Žemaitija, the Telšiai District which took over a large swathe of northern territory following the final settlement of the border between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Livonia in 1540. Thus in theory this would be the place where the Christianisation process would be expected to be weakest.The results of our research show that on the basis of the 1528 gentry census the main turning point in name-giving traditions in the Telšiai District dates to 1483-1510. The 1567 census material shows the break in traditions noted between 1483 and 1510 became more marked around 1522-1549, as hardly a single ‘pagan’ name remains in the record. The old tradition can be detected among patronymics but even in the 1528 census it is clear that the number of pagan elements in patronymics was in considerable decline. The process must have become active as early as the 1470s-1480s or even sooner but in order to be more sure about this we need to know more about the exact age of those listed in the 1528 record. [From the publication]