Lietuvos bajorų politinė kultūra XVII a. viduryje : M.K. Šemetos „Reliacija“ - istorinės medžiagos šaltinis

Abstract

On the 20th of October, 1655, the Kėdainiai Union was signed between Lithuania and Sweden. It meant that the noblemen of Lithuania refused union with Poland and concluded an alliance with Sweden. The Swedes formed their administration, restricted the freedom of Lithuanian noblemen, collected taxes, devastated the land. This caused the insurrection of Lithuanians in April and June, 1656. Lithuanians broke the Kėdainiai Union and drove the Swedes out of Lithuania. In the historical poem ”A Relation on Samogotia’s Fall under the Guardianship of the Swedes and Its Further Escape”, written in Polish in 1657 by Mikalojus Kazimieras Šemeta, a nobleman of Samo- gitia, the process of forming a union with Sweden, Swedish administration and Lithuanians’ insurrection against it, political culture of the Lithuanian noblemen is represented. ’’Relation” gives a subjective view of a nobleman about the events of 1655- 1656. The aim of this work is to analyse the political culture of the noblemen by studying the subjective view of the author on the Kėdainiai Union, his and other noblemen’s political values, points of view, motivation for actions. According to Almond and Verba’s theory noblemen of Lithuania formed a politically active part of the Lithuanian society. The aim is to approve or reject this thesis. The first part of this work describes Šemeta’s system of political values. The second part is the historical view towards Samogitia; it also describes the historical personages of’’Relation” who are mostly petty noblemen of Samogitia. The third part explains the political attitudes of noblemen and their behaviour during the negotiations with the Swedes. The fourth part considers Šemeta’s attitude to the main political opponent Jonušas Radvila. The fifth part describes the demonstration of the noblemen’s political culture during the insurrection against the Swedes.