Artistic expression of the "Translatio imperii" concept in the Latin epic poetry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th century and the European literary context
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Translatio imperii; Lotynų epinė poezija; Renesansas; Abiejų Tautų Respublika; Literatūrinė produkcija; Estetinis išgyvenimas. Keywords: Translatio imperii; Latin epic poetry; Renaissance; Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; Literary production; Aesthetic experience.
ENTranslatio imperii is a concept and political stereotype of transfer of metaphysical world domination from country to country. The concept of translatio imperii accounts for the belief of the Byzantine emperors in their exceptional right over emperorship as legal successors of the old Rome. After the fall of Constantinople (1453), the concept of translatio imperii gradually lost its universal character and was interpreted in the confines of a nation. In the epic poetry of the Renaissance, the theme of translatio imperii can manifest itself in describing the history of a concrete dynasty that is fighting with another dynasty, albeit within the borders of the same country. Francesco Filelfo (1398–1481) mused on the concept of translatio imperii in the epic poem Sphortias dedicated to Francesco Sforza, an Italian condottiero. At the end of the 15th century, a new legend appeared that claimed the Byzantine origin of the Monomach’s Cap. That, in turn, explains the religious and political idea of Moscow being the third Rome. Alternative theories emerged in the epic poetry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The epic poem The Prussian War (Lat. Bellum Prutenum, 1516) by Ioannes Visliciensis depicts the events of the Great War with the Teutonic knights and the battle of Grunwald in 1410. The events became the symbol of political might of the Jagiellonian dynasty. The poem provided a literary formulation of the concept “Jagiellonian” patriotism for the first time.In his epic poem Radivilias (1592), Ioannes Radvanus incorporates the idea of translatio imperii when he shares a ‘Roman’ legend according to which the kings of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania trace their origin from patrician Palemon (Publius Palemo Libo) who founded the city of Nova Roma. The true successors of the Roman empire are patricians led by Palemon – the founders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The artistic expression of both the “Jagiellonian” and Lithuanian (i.e., Grand Duchy of Lithuania) patriotism which incorporated the concept of translatio imperii had an enormous impact on the formation of the national identity of the Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Polish peoples. [From the publication]
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