The Castle in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Histo Riography, Search for Definitions, Research Model

Abstract

This article aims to reinterpret the castle in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, at the same time as evaluating the state of historiography and trends in terminology used in historical sources. Historiographical problems are defined from a comparative perspective. The author emphasises interpretational issues which refer to the word ‘castle’ in different languages used in different sources. The newly formulated definition of the castle as a changing historical phenomenon expands the concept of the castle. This signifies that the castle was not a static subject. The castle is therefore perceived as an integral part of the historical social reality. This idea is based on certain material and socio-political assumptions. In theory, the castle is understood as an object of structures and social history, research into which should embrace different aspects of social reality: judicial, military-defensive, political-representational, economichousehold. The proposed quaternary model of the research (1. The castle and its internal structure; 2. The castle and its external structure; 3. The particularity of the castles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; 4. The dispersion of castles in the territory of the state) presupposes the multi-layered perspective of the phenomenon of the castle, which guides from fact to process, from object to structure. The article states that the castle as a long time phenomenon cannot be perceived and interpreted separately from simultaneous socio-political circumstances which were formed by the local society.