Augustinus Rotundus
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Augustinus Rotundus ( pl, Augustyn Rotundus, lt, Augustinas Rotundas, 1520–1582) was a Christian and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
humanist, erudite, jurist, political writer, first historian and apologist of
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
. Rotundus was
vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
of
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...
, general secretary to the Grand Duke and King
Sigismund Augustus Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...
and
elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and ...
of Stakliškės. After his nobilitation to the
szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...
, Rotundus adopted surname Mieleski, or Milewski.


Biography

Rotundus was born in
Wieluń Wieluń ( la, Velun) is a town in south-central Poland with 21,624 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), it was previously in Sieradz Voivodeship (1975–1998). Wieluń has a long and rich history. In the past, ...
around year 1520. His surname is supposed to be "Mieleski", although some researchers suggest that it was adopted later. ''Rotundus'' is translated nickname, probably inherited from his father – Mikołaj ( en, Nickolas) "Okrągły" ( la, Rotundus), who was a rich furrier in the city of Wieluń. Rotundus studied in
University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...
and Lubrański Academy in
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
, where he was suspected of writing a nasty lampoon about Poznań catholic chapter. Undoubtedly Rotundus was a passionate catholic after graduation and supported
Hereditary monarchy A hereditary monarchy is a form of government and succession of power in which the throne passes from one member of a ruling family to another member of the same family. A series of rulers from the same family would constitute a dynasty. It is h ...
and
Execution movement The Executionist movement was a 16th-century political movement in the Kingdom of Poland and, later, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was popular among lesser, middle and even some higher nobility, and it also enjoyed the support of the P ...
. He arrived in
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...
, capital of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...
on 20 August 1551. Albinas Jovaišas, Augusto Rotundo Lietuvos valstybės vizija (Vision of Lithuanian State by Augustinus Rotundus). In "Šešioliktojo amžiaus raštija, Series: Senoji Lietuvos lteratūra vol.5, Vilnius 2000. , p. 77 He was invited by
Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power— Ho ...
Sigismund Augustus as a legal advisor, and one who knew both Grand Duchy and Crown's law. Assigned as vogt of Vilnius in 1552 (most probably suggested by city inhabitants), he became loyal citizen of Lithuania, and wrote several works on Lithuania's history and political polemic works defending Lithuania's rights. In 1558 he was appointed as
elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and ...
of Stakliškės.Jovaišas, p.79 He was married to Sofia Montanówna,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
by origin (she died after 10 March 1604). They had a son, Nickolas, who died in his infancy and two daughters: Regina and Elizabeth. For his work and achievements Rotundus was ennobled in 1568 by
Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...
held in
Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...
. He was awarded
Rola coat of arms Rola is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. One of the several Polish coats of arms which adopted Lithuanian catholic nobles due to Union of ...
. Augustinus Rotundus died on 20 March 1582 and was buried in the church of Saint John's - the Baptist and Evangelist, in Vilnius.


Ideas and works

Rotundus supported Lithuanian statehood against claims of the Polish Crown. He was progenitor of mythical deductions and his passion were
noble families Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...
. Rotundus contributed to the second and the third
Statutes of Lithuania The Statutes of Lithuania, originally known as the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were a 16th-century codification of all the legislation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its successor, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Stat ...
. He collaborated on these acts together with Peter Roisius, Ostafi Wołłowicz and
Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł (4 February 1515 – 28 May 1565), nicknamed ''The Black'' (Polish: ''Czarny''), was a Polish- Lithuanian noble who held several administrative positions within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Voivode of Vilnius, ...
. He personally translated the Second Statute into
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
and added his own study ''Epitome principum Lituaniae'' (Lithuanian Dukes Epitome) as a foreword. In this study Rotundus promoted the idea, that Lithuanians together with their Dukes have roots in the ancient
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, from the
myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
ical house of Palemonids. Similar theories were raised by
Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...
, but both were lacking evidences to support this theory. Rotundus was probably contributing to the second edition of the
Lithuanian Chronicles The Lithuanian Chronicles ( lt, Lietuvos metraščiai, also called Belarusian-Lithuanian Chronicles) are three redactions of chronicles compiled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. All redactions were written in the Ruthenian language and served the ...
. He claimed that Publius Libonus, Roman commander who fled from
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
and supposedly settled down in Lithuania, was ancestor of Lithuanian and
Ruthenia Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin as one of several terms ...
n rulers. Supposedly the name of ''
Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
'' comes from ''Libonus''. In his opinion, this explained why Latin language was common in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
and also served to support
sarmatism Sarmatism (or Sarmatianism; pl, Sarmatyzm; lt, Sarmatizmas) was an ethno-cultural ideology within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was the dominant Baroque culture and ideology of the nobility () that existed in times of the Renai ...
ideals. Rotundus was a close friend to other Vilnius renaissance scholars like physician Jan Antonin ( la, Joannes Antoninus) and a poet
Klemens Janicki Klemens Janicki (Janiciusz, Januszkowski, from Januszkowo) ( la, 'Clemens Ianicius') (1516–1543) was one of the most outstanding Latin poets of the 16th century. Biography Janicki was born in Januszkowo, a village near Żnin, Poland, to a peasa ...
( la, Clemens Ianicius), after the latter died, both published Ianicius artworks. In 1564 on personal request by
Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł (4 February 1515 – 28 May 1565), nicknamed ''The Black'' (Polish: ''Czarny''), was a Polish- Lithuanian noble who held several administrative positions within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Voivode of Vilnius, ...
Rotundus wrote ''Rozmowy Polaka z Litwinem'' (''Conversations of Pole with Lithuanian'') – a polemic work, where he defended Lithuania's dignity against insults by Polish author Stanisław Orzechowski in ''Quincunx'' (1554), "''...against disgraceful and mistaken Stanisławs Orzechowski writing, which innocent famous Lithuanian Duchy insulted...''". Although it is recognized as Rotundus personal work, after thorough analysis of the work Lithuanian historian
Ingė Lukšaitė Ingė Lukšaitė (born 1940) is a Lithuanian cultural historian and university professor. She specializes in the history of the Reformation in Lithuania. She worked at the Lithuanian Institute of History for over four decades. Biography Lukšai ...
suggested that it was a collective work by several authors.


Bibliography

* ''Rozmowa Polaka z Litwinem'' 1564 (''Conversation of a Pole with a Lithuanian'') * ''Epitome principum Lituaniae'' 1566 (''Lithuanian Dukes Epitome'') * ''De dignitate ordinis ecclesiastici Regni Poloniae'' Kraków 1582Eugeniusz Jarra: Historia Polskiej Filozofii Politycznej, 966-1795
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References


Further reading

* Poleminiai ir istoriografiniai Augustino Rotundo raštai (Polemic and historigraphic writings by Augustinus Rotundus), articles and translations by various authors in "Šešioliktojo amžiaus raštija, Series: Senoji Lietuvos lteratūra vol.5, Vilnius 2000. p. 75-44. *
''Rozmowa Polaka z Litwinem''
( Digitalized book, java required) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotundus, Augustinus 1520 births 1582 deaths 16th-century Lithuanian historians 16th-century Lithuanian nobility 16th-century Polish historians Mielecki, Augustyn 16th-century Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth people Historians of Lithuania Polish male writers Polish male non-fiction writers