The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
October 4, 2012 marks the 450th anniversary of the marriage in Vilnius of Catherine Jagiellon (1526–1583), the sister of the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Augustus, to the Duke of Finland John Vasa (1537–1592). The marriage, which took place in Vilnius Cathedral and was celebrated in Vilnius Lower Castle’s palace, embodied the kinship tie and union between two dynasties (the Jagiellonian and the Vasa), not only during the hard-fought Livonian War (1558 –1584), but also, 16 years later, upon the transfer of the monarchic rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to members of the Vasa dynasty: Sigismund III Vasa (1587 –1632), Wladyslaw IV Vasa (1632 –1648), and John II Casimir Vasa (1648 –1668). During their 80-year rule over Lithuania and Poland, members of the Vasa dynasty always emphasized that their mother and grandmother, Queen Catherine of Sweden, was from the Jagiellonian dynasty.
This international conference will commemorate the 450th anniversary of this dynastic union. It will be devoted to the European dynasties of the late Medieval and early Modern eras: the ties between them, their impact on state politics, social and cultural development. Conference participants should focus on dynasties and their representatives associated with Lithuanian history. This conference will be the first in a cycle of Vilnius conferences entitled “The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Europe’s Dynastic Ties” which will analyze the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s (and thus the ducal palace’s) European dynastic ties, aspects of dynastic politics (international contacts, state relations, diplomacy, cultural exchanges, artistic heritage), and dynastic tradition forms (court life, ceremonials, state symbols and others).
In this first conference of the cycle we will try to discuss not only the historic ties between the Jagiellonians and the Vasas and the era of Vasa rule in the Commonwealth, but also more general issues related to dynastic rule and culture. The major themes are: (1) European dynasties during the late Medieval and early Modern eras; (2) the dynastic ties of the Jagiellonians and the Vasas; (3) Vasa rule in Lithuania and Poland; (4) the Forms and Symbols of Dynastic Rule. Conference organizers invite historians; genealogists; heraldists; historians of culture, architecture, art, literature, and music; archeologists; and scholars from other fields to participate in these discussions. More
The following honorary patrons have been invited:
Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis
Swedish Ambassador to Lithuania Ms. Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Lithuania, Mr. Janusz Skolimowski
Conference participants:
Prof. habil. dr. Karl-Heinz Spieß (Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, Germany)
Prof. dr. Raimonda Ragauskienė (The Lithuanian Institute of History, Educational Sciences, Lithuania)
Prof. dr. Rimvydas Petrauskas (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
Dr. Stephen C. Rowell (The Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania)
Prof. habil. dr. dr. h. c. Sven Ekdahl (Polish-Scandinavian Research Institute, Denmark, Åbo Akademic University, Sweden)
Prof. habil. dr. Eugenija Ulčinaitė (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
Mgr. Krzysztof Czyżewski (Wawel Royal Castle – The National Art Collection, Krakow, Poland)
Dr. Birutė Rūta Vitkauskienė (Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania)
Mgr. Jacek Żukowski (Warsaw University's Institute of Art History, Poland)
Prof. habil. dr. Lars Ericson Wolke (Åbo Akademic University, Swedish National Defense College, Sweden)
Prof. habil. dr. Robert Frost (University of Aberdeen, Great Britain)
Prof. habil. dr. Michał Kopczyński (University of Warsaw, Poland)
Prof. habil. dr. Tomasz Kempa (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland)
Prof. dr. Andrej Kotlarčuk (European Humanities University, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Prof. habil. dr. Guido Michelini (University of Parma, Italy, Alberto Vimina‘s Account of His Visit to Christina, Queen of Sweden)
Doc. dr. Edmundas Rimša (The Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Dr. Marek Wrede (The Royal Castle in Warsaw – A Monument of Polish History and Culture)
Habil. dr. Jūratė Trilupaitienė(Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, Lithuania)
Dr. Liudas Glemža (National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania)
Dr. Anna Czarniecka (The Royal Castle in Warsaw – A Monument of Polish History and Culture)
Dr. Gintautas Sliesoriūnas (The Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius)
Conference organizers:
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
Lithuanian Institute of History
Vilnius University
Conference organizing partners:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Polish Institute in Vilnius
