Teodor Narbutt
Encyclopedia
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
and military engineer. He is best remembered as the author of a ten-volume Polish-language history of Lithuania from the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
to the Union of Lublin
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
.
Life
Teodor Narbutt was in 1784 near HrodnaHrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
(modern Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, to a notable szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
family of Trąby Coat of Arms. Early in his youth his fatherland was partitioned between
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
Russia, Austria and Prussia. After graduating from a Piarist
Piarists
The Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools or, in short, Piarists , is the name of the oldest Catholic educational order also known as the Scolopi, Escolapios or Poor Clerics of the Mother of God...
college at Lyubeshiv, Narbutt entered the Vilna Academy
Vilnius University
Vilnius University is the oldest university in the Baltic states and one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. It is also the largest university in Lithuania....
, where in 1803 he graduated in engineering. He then moved to St. Petersburg, where he joined the Cadet Corps. He served in the Imperial Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
, where he became a captain in the field engineering corps. He took part in the 1807 and 1812 Russian campaigns against Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1809 he constructed the Bobruysk fortress
Babruysk fortress
The Babruysk Fortress is a historic fortress in the city of Babruysk, Belarus that was built between 1810 and 1836. It is one of the best surviving examples of fortification architecture and design in the first half of the 19th century. The fortress was constructed in the historic center of the...
(modern Babruysk, Belarus), for which he was awarded the Order of Saint Anna.
At the same time, since 1813 he became interested in archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and started to organize numerous excavations across the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. His passion for history, culture and folklore of the lands of former Grand Duchy was first shown after 1817, at which date he started to write historical articles for various Vilna-based newspapers. He also started to collect copies of documents related to the ancient history of Lithuania
History of Lithuania
The history of Lithuania dates back to at least 1009, the first recorded written use of the term. Lithuanians, a branch of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands, establishing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in the 13th century the short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania. The Grand Duchy...
, which were published in 1846 in an anthology Pomniki do dziejów litewskich (Monuments of Lithuanian History). Among the most notable primary sources he published was the 16th-century (?) Letopis of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, also known as the Bychowiec Chronicle
Bychowiec Chronicle
The Bychowiec Chronicle named the Letopis of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania is an anonymous 16th century chronicle of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although one of the least reliable sources of the epoch, it is considered the most complete redaction of the Lithuanian Chronicles...
, after its founder Aleksander Bychowiec
Aleksander Bychowiec
Aleksander Bychowiec of Mogiła was a 19th century Polish noble and an amateur historian. He is best known as the discoverer of the so-called Bychowiec Chronicle, a set of 16th century texts related to the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania....
.
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
. Although largely based on folk tales, dubious and often falsified sources, the book had a tremendous impact on both historiography of Lithuania, and later on Lithuanian national revival
Lithuanian National Revival
Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively Lithuanian National Awakening , was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century at the time when a major part of Lithuanian inhabited areas belonged to the Russian Empire...
. Its Lithuanian translation became the first history of Lithuania
History of Lithuania
The history of Lithuania dates back to at least 1009, the first recorded written use of the term. Lithuanians, a branch of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands, establishing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in the 13th century the short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania. The Grand Duchy...
written entirely from a Lithuanian perspective. Paradoxically, the book underlined the Ruthenia
Ruthenia
Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
n past of Lithuania, and as such was highly acclaimed by Russian historians and authorities alike. For it, Narbutt was awarded by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
a gold ring set with a ruby, the Order of Saint Anne and the Order of Saint Vladimir. In 1856, Narbutt published yet another collection of texts, comprising original primary sources and his own forgeries. Among the most popular of the latter was von Kyburg's Diary, a fabricated account of Lithuania in the 13th century.
Throughout his life, Narbutt remained an active member of the Archaeological Commission of Vilna, as well as a notable engineer. Between 1847 and 1852 he constructed a parish church in Eišiškės
Eišiškes
Eišiškės ) is a city in southeastern Lithuania on the border with Belarus. It is situated on a small group of hills, surrounded by marshy valley of Verseka and Dumblė Rivers. Rivers divide the town into two parts; the northern part is called Jurzdika. As of January 2008, Eišiškės had a population...
, now Lithuania. Although loyal to Imperial Russia, the anti-Russian January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
brought an end to his family. His wife, Krystyna Narbutt née Sadowska was sentenced to forced resettlement to Siberia and was not allowed to return until 1871. His older son, Ludwik Narbutt
Ludwik Narbutt
Ludwik Narbutt was a Polish noble and a notable military commander during the January Uprising. Son of Teodor Narbutt, he led a large unit of Polish insurgents in the region of the town of Lida, from the start of the uprising till his death in combat on 5 May 1863.- Further reading :* Paweł...
, became a notable commander of the Polish forces in the area of Lida
Lida
Lida is a city in western Belarus in Hrodna Voblast, situated 160 km west of Minsk. It is the fourteenth largest city in Belarus.- Etymology :...
and was killed in a skirmish against the Russians. The younger son Bolesław was sentenced to death by the Russian authorities, but his sentence was later changed to life imprisonment because of his young age. Narbutt's only daughter Teodora had to flee the country and was sentenced to forced labour in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
. Narbutt himself died in 1864 in Vilna.