Historiographical texts in the environment of the Dominican order in Lithuanian Province – selected examples

Abstract

Historiographical literature functioning in church circles, and particularly monastic ones, is an interesting area of analysis of the meaning of historical writing for these communities. Orders built their identity by referring to both the spiritual values and ethical, legal and historical ones. Relying on the written word, so typical for religious communities, indicates the use of historiography in many contexts, for example in sacred literature, texts devoted to commemoration of others, preaching, historical or hagiographical literature, but also pragmatic texts. A model example are the Dominicans, the order holding a dense network of monasteries on lands belonging to the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. All specific historiographical factors of religious texts, their goals and roles, are discussed on the example of Lithuanian province of the order fighting for its independence. Dominican authors of historical works addressed them both to the religious and external reader, used them in the preaching work by giving them the character of utility, correlated with the pastoral activity. In historiographical works it was important to combine the element of historical teaching with didactic one, the latter playing a very important role. It seems that recalled exemplifications clearly illustrate the importance of historiography for determining the location of this order in the world, and illustrate the specificity of its existence in the broader context of culture model.