Fabulous emergence of Lithuania
Nicholas Zharkikh
Let us consider the "Fabulous emergence of Lithuania" (FEL) stored in 7 copies. As always – who are not interested in the small details can immediately jump to conclusions.
Conclusions
1. FEL was written by the unknown author in one sitting, roughly between 1519 and 1539 years. The same author has made editorial changes to the "Tale of Vytautas" (edition TOV-3) for harmonization the latter with FEL.
2. The original wording FEL was "Erdivil" edition; later came "Nemonos" edition, which differs system replacement workers names while preserving the narrative structure. Shortened copy Lit3L was made after this later edition.
3. The main source of FEL was Galician-Volhynian chronicle, which served for author as a warehouse of finished construction elements and structures, with a very small extent of direct citation.
4. Smaller sources were – Rogvolod’s inscription on the stone, the life of St. Euphrosyne, "Acts of Vytautas", from the "Vytautas" chronicle, Encyclopedia Raffaello Maffei (1506), place names in Lithuania and Belarus. In one episode, one can discern traces of the heroic epic or Goštautai family tradition.
5. Almost certainly FEL was written in Vilnius, the capital of the state.
6. The political aim of the works – to show the origin of the high ancestry of Jagiellonian ruling dynasty, and in such a way to link the history of Lithuania to the "world" (pan-European) history. FEL was supposed to be an ideological weapon against Moscow’s claims to the succession of power from the emperor Augustus. Some importance of this work was to consolidate the ruling class of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania around the idea of a common glorious (Roman) descent magnate and gentry families.
7. "Fabulous emergence of Lithuania" has no historical source value and should not be used for historical reconstructions. All works that are based on the FEL data definitely should be considered erroneous.
8. "Fabulous emergence of Lithuania" is of great interest for the history of the historical and social thought and the history of literature.