Perlaužto kryžiaus kodas: lietuviški 1862 metų plakatai

LTPublikacijos objektas -1862 m. ranka piešti plakatai su perlaužto kryžiaus atvaizdu ir lietuvišku tekstu, kviečiančiu ginti katalikų tikėjimą nuo „maskolių“. Publikaciją sudaro dvi pagrindinės dalys: a) įvadinė „Lietuviškų 1862 m. plakatų istorijos pėdsakais“ ir b) šaltinių faksimilės. Publikuojamos visų šiuo metu žinomų plakatų originalų (5 vnt.) faksimilės, jų 1862 m. ir XX a. pradžioje darytos kopijos bei tekstų perrašai. Prie visų publikuojam ų plakatų ir dokum entų faksimilių (25 vnt.) pateikiama glausta metrika. Plakatų platinimo vietovės pažymėtos žemėlapyje. Įvadinėje dalyje aptariama perlaužto kryžiaus atvaizdo simbolikos genezė, pateikiami pirminiais šaltiniais grįsti duomenys apie plakatų platinimą, imperinės valdžios vykdytas kaltųjų paieškas, svarstomas plakatų autorystės klausimas. Akcentuojama šio vizualaus artefakto svarba politinės ir socialinės istorijos, m enotyros ir lietuvių kalbos raidos tyrinėjimams.

ENThe object of this data publication are Lithuanian hand-written posters from 1862, featuring the image of a broken cross. These posters aimed to declare the Russian imperial governments repressions against Catholics, asking people to pray for the victims of these repressions and to defend the Catholic faith. The posters were displayed in Samogitia, one of the ethnographic regions of present-day Lithuania, in locations around Šiauliai, which today is considered the fourth largest city in the country. It was part of the territory of the Kaunas province [Kovno governorate] of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. According to the Catholic Church’s administrative divisions, these were the domains of the Samogitian bishop at the time, Motiejus Valančius (1801-1875). The territory in which the posters were distributed also defined their target audience - appeals were made to “our Samogitian brothers”. The origins of the symbolism on the posters and the content of the texts related to the events in Warsaw of 1861, in the Kingdom of Poland, where patriotic manifestations were being expressed from mid-1860. The latter manifestations were part of the history of the liberation movement of European nations and a prologue to the armed struggle for freedom and the restoration of the state that began in the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in early 1863. Patriotic manifestations started in the lands for the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1861. During one such manifestation in Warsaw on February 27,1861, the imperial army’s forces were called in for the first time to suppress the unarmed participants of a march. Five participants of the demonstration were killed in clashes with the army on that day, while dozens were injured. The participants of a funeral procession that coincidentally joined the demonstrators also suffered.A church attendant who was carrying a cross in the procession was injured. According to witnesses, the cross the church attendant was holding was knocked out the injured man’s hands and fell onto the pavement. The figure of the Crucified Christ suffered damage - the crown of thorns and a finger on the right hand of Jesus’ figure were broken. The spilled blood of unarmed people and the violated Catholic cross aroused an angry reaction from all layers of society. The organisers of this manifestation received the universal support of city dwellers. The funeral of the victims of the manifestation was held on March 2 and became a mass patriotic manifestation among the residents of Warsaw. It is unclear whose idea it was to visualise the cross violated during the demonstration of February 27 as an emblem. The idea probably came from students of the Warsaw Academy of Art, who were also among the main organisers of the manifestation. The further development of events suggests that this was an insightful idea. The cross acquired an additional symbolic component. It also became a sign of mourning, elevating the victims of the manifestations to a sacred level, also becoming a symbol of the imperial policy enacted against the Catholic Church and identifying those who chose to fight for freedom. The story of February 27 with the cross was repeated during another manifestation organised on April 8,1861 in Warsaw. When the army began to chase away unarmed participants of this demonstration, another cross being carried by someone from the procession ended up being broken again during the havoc. The number of people killed and injured on April 8 reached several hundred (according to other data, the number of victims was as much as two or three times greater).In this way, the symbolism of the Catholic cross violated during the manifestation on February 27 was further entrenched in the blood spilled on April 8. It cannot be denied that the visualised story of the broken cross was one of the factors that contributed to the fact that the cross became one of the main motifs in the symbolism of iconography surrounding the patriotic manifestations and the period of uprisings. The universalism and uniting power of the cross was used wisely indeed. A specific feature of the iconography associated with the patriotic manifestations and uprisings was the combination of state symbols of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with religious symbolism. Jewellery, stamps and proclamations, etc., with the images of the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the White Eagle and the Vytis) and religious symbols (the cross, the Divine Eye) were spread in the lands of both the Kingdom of Poland and the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The posters that were distributed in Samogitia in 1862 with the image of the broken cross provide us with data about the variety of ways religious symbolism was used during the manifestations of 1861- 1862 and the 1863-1864 uprising.