Abstract
What is hidden behind the descriptions in sixteenth- to eighteenth-century narrative sources of the losses and disasters experienced by civilian populations during the many wars and civil catastrophes that befell the Grand Duchy of Lithuania? Considering the content of sources, we cannot fully reject instances of cannibalism as cases of extreme deviant behaviour. However, we must acknowledge that a certain pattern, a ‘narrative formula’ existed for describing such dramatic incidents. Chroniclers, chancellery officials and memoirists of that time worked in the framework of their state political systems and ethical ideas. One of their chief tasks was to accuse the enemy of deviation from Christian ethics. Besides, quotation was widespread. Therefore, we should at least remember that when examining descriptions of cannibalism in early modern narrative sources, we deal with traditional ways of telling such stories, and not necessarily with first-hand descriptions of events. Accordingly, during the analysis of this problem a historian should use anthropological and source criticism filters. When quoting horrible stories, we should explain the conventional style of narrating such events.
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