Lietuvių kalba reformaciniame judėjime XVII a

ENTwo tendencies were evident in the Reformation movement of the XVIIth century Lithuania: 1) the adherents of the Reformation decreased in number, but 2) the Reformation became more and more firmly established in the mode of life and culture of the Lithuanian people. The above implies the democratisation of the Reformation as cultural process. At the beginning of the 17th century synod (the highest body of the Reformed church) did not encaurage the use of the Lithuanian language in the Lithuanian churches. The Lithuanian language, however, was used in many a Reformed church on the initiative of native-born clergy and patrons of the church. The middle of the 17th century witnessed a strong cultural upsurge in the work of the Lithuanian reformers. Unfortunately, however, it was interrupted by wars and after the ravages of wars in the country had been done away with, the Reformation did not gain its previous vitality. There continued to exist only those communities of reformers which were under the patronage of the mighty magnates Radvilai and other landowners. The decrease of the activity of the reformers resulted in their survival only in such places where the Reformation had been rooted into the mode of life of peasants and townsfolk, as well as of the petty gentry who spoke Lithuanian. This accounts for the fact that some of the clergy who came from Poland learned Lithuanian. The main centres of the Lithuanian reformers were the following: Biržai, where the end of the 17th century peasants and townsfolk greatly contributed to the increase of the calvinistic community, and Kėdainiai, where beginning with the 4th decade of the 17th century there was, firstly, a separate clergyman attached to the community of the Lithuanian reformers, and, secondly, later on a separate church was erected for the community.Lithuanians were to be found among the clergy of the anabaptist community in Kėdainiai as well. Smaller communities clustered around the two main centres. They were in Naujamiestis, Papilys, Raseiniai, Švobiškis, Radviliškis, Šiluva, Pamūšys, Salamiestis, Pašušvys, Gėluva, Beinorava, Čedasai, Deltuva, Griežė. Entire families, active in the Reformation movement, could be found in Lithuania who for generations took care of the publishing of books in Lithuanian and who saw to it that the Lithuanian language be used in churches. Most of them descended from towns folk or from boyars - gentry. Though the Lithuanian language was not taught in the Reformed schools, it could be resorted to in the teaching process at the high school in Kėdainiai since there were many teachers who spoke Lithuanian. At the end of the 17th century the Lithuanian language was used at schools in Biržai and Papilys. At the end of the 17th century anxiety was expressed that clergymen should be chosen from among those speaking Lithuanian. They were framed at the University in Königsberg and in the beginning of the XVIIth century at the high in Kėdainiai. The worsening of the activity conditions of the reformers caused a change in the attitude of the Radvilos, i. e. the greatest patrons of the Reformation, towards the Lithuanian language in its favour. Funds were earmarked by them for the publishing of books in Lithuanian.