Sugyvenimas ir meilė. Jokūbo Nagurskio šeimos pavyzdys

Abstract

Concordance and Love. The Case of Jacob Nagórsky’s Family From the second half of the twentieth century, studies into family history in the Western historiography were particularly intensified. The biggest attention was paid to the structure and type of the household and the family, the distribution and prevalence of different types of households in different European regions, the functioning of the household, changes, strategies, and so on. On the other hand, numerous studies of this kind have been written that can be attributed to the psychoanalytic and emotional direction in family history research. The history of the family in the former Republic of the Two Nations has also already attracted the attention of its researchers. The article highlights the story of one provincial feudal family ( Jacob and Marianna Nagórsky) from the second half of the eighteenth century in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and attempts to trace its emotional climate. There is a quite large base of sources about it, such as personal letters, wills, economic letters, etc. Unfortunately, Jacob Nagórsky’s letters to his wife are missing, which makes it difficult to trace his emotional relationship with his spouse. The study is influenced by the English historian Lawrence Stone who wrote about the “rise of the nuclear family” in the eighteenth century, which gradually pushed out the “open lineage family”. The historian perceived this concept of the nuclear family as a social and psychological unit based on the emotional connection and closed kinship ties. Both spouses came from wealthy families and were educated. They married quite young, had at least six children, and this number was slightly higher than in typical aristocratic families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The surviving correspondence of Jacob Nagórsky and other sources show his rather cold and unemotional attitude towards his wife, but he was constantly concerned about the well-being of his family. Meanwhile, Marianna’s surviving letters reflect more expressions of love. Children were the main binding tie of the family. They were given the mutual care and love of their parents. Both Nagórsky attended to the children’s daily well-being and education. Although much less often than her husband, Marianna engaged herself in the running of the estate; she was active in family concerns. The emotional ties between the spouses can already be attributed to the “nuclear family” model. Keywords: Jacob and Marianna Nagórsky, family, wife, husband, children, Kurtuvėnai.