Poetry and Nation-Building in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Latin epic poetry flourished in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania between the early sixteenth and late seventeenth centuries, accompanied by the widely accepted belief that the Lithuanian language was a corrupted form of Latin and therefore Latin should be Lithuania’s national language. This edition presents translations of three key epics that reflect the beginnings, maturity and decline of the epic tradition in Lithuania: The Prussian War (1516) by Joannes Vislicensis; The Muscovite Expedition (1582) by Francisczek Gradowski; and The Strength of the Lord’s Right Arm (1674) by James Bennett. Between them, these epics show the creativity and inventiveness of the Lithuanian Latin epic tradition and the involvement of authors from different ethnic backgrounds in creating a national literature for early modern Central Europe’s largest state.

Francis Young is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the author or editor of twenty books, including Pagans in the Early Modern Baltic (Arc Humanities Press, 2022)