Jonas Vaidutis (Polish: Jan Wajduta Butawtowicz; 1365 – 1402) was a Lithuanian duke, priest, and academic rector from the Gediminid dynasty.[1][2][3][4][5] Vaidutis was a son of duke Butautas and a grandson of the former Lithuanian monarch Kęstutis.[1] He titled himself as the Duke of Drohiczyn.[1]
| Jonas Vaidutis | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Drohiczyn | |
| Reign | ?–1402 |
| Born | 1365 Drohiczyn, Grand Duchy of Lithuania |
| Died | Spring of 1402 Kraków, Kingdom of Poland |
| Burial | Wawel Cathedral (presumably) |
| House | Gediminids |
| Father | Butautas |
| Mother | Unknown |
| Religion | Lithuanian paganism, later Catholic |
He held the positions of the Custos of the Franciscans of Kraków and the Canon of Kraków and Sandomierz. From 1401 to 1402, the year of his death, he was the Rector of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.[1][6][7][8][9]
According to Czech philologist Tomáš Hoskovec, Vaidutis was the first ethnic Lithuanian to be a European intellectual.[10] Lithuanian-American historian Vanda Sruogienė deemed him the earliest known Lithuanian to graduate from a university.[11] His pre-Christian Lithuanian name Vaidutis[12] is sometimes confused with that of his uncle Vaidotas.[13]
Biography
editVaidutis was born in 1365 in Drohiczyn, Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[1] His father was Lithuanian duke Butautas, a son of the monarch Kęstutis.[1] Butautas unsuccessfully attempted a coup d'état in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, failing to capture the capital city Vilnius while the monarchs Kęstutis and Algirdas were away in Volhynia assisting their brother Liubartas, the Grand Prince of Volhynia.[1] Therefore, in 1365, Butautas retreated first to the Prussia region controlled by the State of the Teutonic Order and then to the royal manor of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in Prague, the capital city of the Kingdom of Bohemia.[1][14][7] By departing abroad Butautas left his recently born son Vaidutis in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[8][13] Vaidutis may have been raised in the royal manor of his grandfather Kęstutis,[10] or may have entered into the custody of his uncle Vaidotas.[15]
In 1381, the same year that Kęstutis had died after being imprisoned in the Kreva Castle by Jogaila, sixteen-year-old Vaidutis followed in his father's footsteps by departing to Prussia.[1][6][7][13] He subsequently moved to the imperial court in Prague,[6] arriving after his father Butautas had died there,[13] possibly of a plague outbreak in the city.[10]
It is believed that Vaidutis was baptized in Prague as Jonas (Czech: Jan).[1][6][8] While in Bohemia, Vaidutis studied at the University of Prague (possibly in the Faculty of Theology) and was ordained as a priest.[1][6][16][5] According to some accounts, Vaidutis went on to Paris, where graduated from a university in 1387.[10][13] Despite being abroad, Vaidutis retained personal connections with the Lithuanian nobles as he swore an oath to the Lithuanian duke Žadvydas, who conflicted with the Lithuanian monarch Skirgaila.[8]
Later on, Jonas Vaidutis moved to the Kingdom of Poland, which was ruled by his Gediminid relative, King Władysław II Jagiełło (Lithuanian: Jogaila).[1][6] Since at least 1389, Jonas Vaidutis was appointed as the custos of the Franciscans of Kraków and as the canon of the Kraków Cathedral and Sandomierz Collegiate Church.[1][6][7][8] In 1401, he was elected as the second rector of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków after it was reformed in 1400 by Władysław II Jagiełło (today the oldest university in Poland).[1][6][9][7][8][17] Jonas Vaidutis' career developed with the patronage of Władysław II Jagiełło.[7] The election took place on St. Gall's Day, October 16, 1401.[18] His candidacy was supported by the outgoing rector, Stanisław of Skarbimierz, who delivered a laudation in favor of the prince, emphasizing his theological education, noble birth, and virtuous conduct. He also mentioned that the prince had been a benefactor of the university.[19]
Vaidutis did not hold the position of rector for long; by May of the following year, he was already deceased. During his tenure, the university admitted only 43 students.[20] He was presumably buried in the Kraków Cathedral.[1][8] His successor was Mikołaj of Gorzków, a canon of the Kraków Cathedral, and later the bishop of Vilnius.[18]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Petrauskas, Rimvydas. "Jonas Vaidutis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ "Krokuvos universitetą puošia ir lietuviški ženklai". MoksloLietuva.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ Tęgowski, Jan (1999). Pierwsze pokolenia Giedyminowiczów (in Polish). Poznań - Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Historyczne. pp. 205–206. ISBN 83-913563-1-0.
- ^ Pechta 2003, pp. 357–370.
- ^ a b "Związani z Drohiczynem". Drohiczyn.info (in Polish). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Ar žinojai: Kęstučio anūkas buvo antrasis Krokuvos universiteto rektorius". Kauno diena, Lithuanian National Radio and Television (in Lithuanian). 8 May 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Baranauskienė, Inga (2008). "Survila – užmirštas Lietuvos didžiojo kunigaikščio Kęstučio sūnus" (PDF). Kultūros barai. 4: 77. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ar žinote, kas bendra tarp žmogaus plaukų ir gyvūnų ragų". Lithuanian National Radio and Television (in Lithuanian). 8 May 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Jogailos universitetas". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d Hoskovec, Tomáš (2021). "Lithuanica aliter: Encompassing Philology as to be applied to Baltic studies". Acta Linguistica Lithuanica (85): 118–141. doi:10.35321/all85-06.
- ^ Sruogienė, Vanda (1962). Lietuvos kultūros istorijos bruožai: paskaitos, skaitytos Pedagoginiame lituanistikos institute 1960-61 m. m (in Lithuanian). Chicago, Illinois: Pedagoginis lituanistikos institutas. p. 42. OCLC 4360977.
Pirmasis lietuvis, kuris mums yra žinomas baigęs universitetą, buvo Kęstučio vaikaitis Vaidutis, Butauto sūnus, taip pat žinomas Drohičino kunigaikščio Jono vardu.
- ^ Materiały źródłowe do dziejów kościoła w Polsce (in Polish). Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL. 1965. p. 194.
- ^ a b c d e Sužiedėlis, Simas, ed. (1970–1978). "Vaidutis". Encyclopedia Lituanica. Vol. VI. Boston, Massachusetts: Juozas Kapočius. p. 21. LCCN 74-114275.
- ^ "Butautas". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ Baranauskienė, Inga (30 December 2015). "Survila and His Descendants: Once More about the Unrecognized Kęstutis Family Line". Istorija. 99 (3): 18–33. doi:10.15823/istorija.2015.16. ISSN 1392-0456.
- ^ "Prahos universitetas". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ Akujärvi, Johanna; Savin, Kristiina (2024). Reading, Writing, Translating: Greek in Early Modern Schools, Universities, and beyond (PDF). Lund: Faculty of Humanities and Theology of the Lund University. p. 212. ISBN 978-91-89874-38-1. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ a b Pechta 2003, p. 367.
- ^ Pechta 2003, p. 364, 368.
- ^ Pechta 2003, p. 369.
Bibliography
edit- Pechta, Agnieszka (2003). "Jan Wajduta Butawtowicz - zapomniany książę litewski w oświetleniu historiografii polskiej" (PDF). Piotrkowskie Zeszyty Historyczne. 5.