King Mindaugas: Perhaps We Are Dealing with the First Lithuanian Saint, and a King at That!

At the end of last year, the Lithuanian Cultural Institute informed the conventions of the Priests' Union and the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Federation in Pittsburgh that the 700th anniversary of the baptism of Lithuania would occur at the beginning of 1951. Appropriate resolutions were adopted to commemorate this important anniversary as solemnly as possible. The Cultural Institute also provided historical information about the first baptism of Lithuania. We present this information, slightly abridged, to our esteemed readers.

Seven hundred years ago, at the beginning of 1251, the creator of the Lithuanian state, its Grand Duke Mindaugas, was baptized with his family and a large group of Lithuanians. In his bull, Pope Innocent IV states that a great multitude of Lithuanian pagans (numerosa multitudo paganorum) received baptism.

Mindaugas informed the Pope about his baptism by sending a delegation and asking him to take him and the entire Lithuanian nation under his protection. In a letter dated July 17, 1251, Pope Innocent IV declared that he joyfully agreed to protect Mindaugas and all his Christians. The Pope also appealed to neighboring bishops to support the work of Christianizing Lithuania begun by Mindaugas.

The first Bishop of Lithuania was the German Christian, and he was assisted by Franciscans and Dominicans. Around the same time, another bishop, the Dominican Vitus, was appointed and consecrated by the Archbishop of Gniezno. The first diocese was established in Samogitia in the regions of Raseiniai and Betygala, and the second in southern Lithuania, in the land of the Yotvingians, near Veisiejai.

From both dioceses, Mindaugas resolved to form a Lithuanian ecclesiastical province directly dependent on the Holy See. Innocent IV sincerely supported this desire of Mindaugas. Bishop Christian swore allegiance to the Pope himself. The Pope authorized Bishop Christian to crown Mindaugas King of Lithuania. The coronation ceremonies took place in 1253.

These facts show that the question of the baptism of Lithuania was resolved from its very foundations. By accepting baptism and being crowned King of Lithuania, Mindaugas, together with the entire nation, joined the Catholic Church and the family of Christian nations. Thus, everything was formally done so that Christianity could continue to expand in Lithuania.

Did Mindaugas remain a Catholic?

The introduction of Christianity in Lithuania coincided with the beginning of the organization of the Lithuanian state. Consequently, Mindaugas had twofold concerns: to strengthen Christianity and to maintain his own position. At that time, there was no shortage of competitors unwilling to submit to him. His political enemies were joined by staunch adherents of the old faith. Moreover, the Sword Brethren and the Teutonic Knights did not cease attacking Lithuania. Mindaugas had to struggle against these enemies. Some historians believe that, in engaging in conflict with the Christian Order, he also fell away from the Catholic Church. But recent research into historical sources refutes this. Mindaugas continued to fight against the Crusaders only as political enemies of Lithuania. And he was killed not only as the unifier of Lithuania—which not everyone liked—but also as its baptizer, a Catholic ruler. After Mindaugas's death, Pope Clement VI, in one of his bulls written to the Czech King Ottokar II, recalls Mindaugas as a king of Lithuania of honorable memory and notes that he was killed by wicked men. The Pope urges Ottokar to ensure that the situation in Lithuania is restored to what it was under Mindaugas and that a Catholic king be placed on the throne again. There is no doubt that the Pope would not have written thus had Mindaugas fallen away from the Catholic Church.

Likewise, Mindaugas's firm resolve to establish an independent Christian state and an ecclesiastical province dependent on Rome itself does not indicate that he would have so easily changed his convictions. He wanted to arrange matters of succession so that even after him, a Catholic ruler would lead the state. To this end, he had obtained a papal bull in 1255 ensuring that after his death, one of his baptized sons would be crowned King of Lithuania. His wife, Queen Morta, remained a Catholic until her death, which would also be contrary to Mindaugas's apostasy.

Did Christianity not perish together with Mindaugas?

Not only Queen Morta remained faithful to her new faith, but also other baptized individuals. Their number must have grown considerably during the twelve years of unhindered apostolic work. After Mindaugas's death, conditions undoubtedly changed. Internal quarrels among various dukes and contests for the throne began in Lithuania. In places where stronger enemies of Mindaugas prevailed, the operation of the new dioceses must have been hindered. But in regions where Mindaugas's supporters predominated, the Franciscan and Dominican monks could continue their work. Thus, the Catholic forces were not completely broken with Mindaugas's death. For example, Duke Treniota, Mindaugas's killer, who persecuted Mindaugas's supporters and Christians, was himself overcome and removed by them after two years. This indicates that the order introduced by Mindaugas and Christianity strove to survive.

After Mindaugas's death and the internal strife, all the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, from Traidenis to Kęstutis, no longer raised the question of whether to introduce Christianity, but rather concerned themselves with how to expand it in the country. They did not fight Christianity within the state; on the contrary, they were concerned with obtaining priests and monks who would spread the new faith without encroaching upon the state itself, as the Crusaders did. For example, Vytenis, a good half-century after Mindaugas's death, asked the Order to send priests to Lithuania, but it sent not priests but an army. Moreover, the Order even arrested priests traveling to Lithuania.

The question of a new baptism was not relevant, because Christianity was still alive; it only needed to be supported and expanded. But the political conditions for this were very unfavorable. Even Gediminas, who seriously considered carrying out the Christianization of Lithuania on a broader scale, ultimately had to give up. To the papal envoys, he merely said that Christians in Lithuania were given complete freedom and that there were many Franciscan and Dominican monks who had their own churches and freely preached Christianity. He asked the Pope to continue sending priests and monks to Lithuania, assuring them full freedom of action. From history, we know that individual monks even worked in the chanceries of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.

The historian Canon A. Alekna asserts that similar freedom of the Catholic faith existed during the times of Kęstutis and Algirdas. Algirdas's Lithuanian nobleman Goštautas brought 12 Franciscans from Poland and built a monastery for them in Vilnius. Historians today refute the speculation that these Franciscans were attacked and killed by pagans. In general, historical sources and chronicles say nothing about such persecutions of Christians as occurred in other lands.

This state of Christianity lasted until the times of Vytautas and Jogaila, when Lithuania was incorporated into the Catholic Church for the second and final time. This was not a new baptism, but, according to our historian Zenonas Ivinskis, “the second stage of the baptism of Lithuania.” It was already a mass, albeit somewhat belated, but not the first baptism of the nation. The first sign of the cross was imprinted on the Lithuanian nation by King Mindaugas and was never eradicated. It remained in the souls of baptized Lithuanians until the second baptism. Therefore, the baptism of Mindaugas is to be considered the first baptism of Lithuania.

Examples of Other Nations

Polish historians still suggest that we should date the beginning of Lithuania's Christianity from the beginnings of the Lithuanian-Polish union. But the Poles themselves date the beginning of their nation's Christianity from Mieszko I, who was baptized in 967, even though his successors received the royal crown and organized the ecclesiastical administration. And the resistance of pagan princes was overcome and Christianity strengthened only about a hundred years later.

The Poles received their baptism from the Czechs. However, Czech Christianity also had similar difficulties. For the first time, eighteen of their princes with their servants were baptized in Regensburg (Germany) in 845. This event is considered the official beginning of Christianity in the Czech nation, although another 150 years had to pass before the first Czech diocese was established in Prague.

Even such a well-known king of Hungary as St. Stephen, their state's founder and baptizer (997), had to fight extraordinarily much against the resistance of other princes and pagan reaction. After his death, King Ladislaus I had to start much anew so that Christianity could survive.

Similarly, the baptism of Denmark was begun in 850 by the German bishop St. Ansgar. This year is considered the beginning of Denmark's Christianity, although it had to be revived with the help of the Anglo-Saxons and finally strengthened only after 185 years.

More such examples could be found, for the path of Christianity in many nations was similar. This is entirely understandable. It would be unreasonable to expect that Christianity, brought to pagan lands, would suddenly flourish in all its fullness. It did not fully flourish in Lithuania even after the baptism of Vytautas and Jogaila. About two hundred more years had to pass before the entire nation accepted Christianity and began to live with it.

Since the Christianity introduced by Mindaugas was not completely interrupted, only hindered by various difficulties from flourishing, we should not renounce it. We should follow other nations and link the beginning of our Christianity with the beginning of the Lithuanian state. We should link them because the first ruler of the united nation was also the first baptizer of the Lithuanian people.

According to www.laiskailietuviams.lt