Vytautas kaip žmogus

LTDaugelį amžių Vytautas Didysis buvo aukštinamas kaip žymiausias Lietuvos valdovas. Jo pergalė prieš Vokiečių ordiną ir valstybės išplėtimas „nuo jūros iki jūros" giliai įsirėžė į mūsų istorinę sąmonę, o kova už Lietuvos nepriklausomybę tapo savotišku testamentu ateinančioms kartoms. Vis dėlto žmogiškasis Vytauto portretas tebėra labai miglotas. Istorikai koncentruojasi ties jo politine veikla, o grožinė literatūra taip pat neužpildo spragos. Čia arba stengiamasi pabrėžti Vytauto didybę, ir tuomet jo paveikslas išeina pernelyg statiškas, arba, siekiant „realizmo", Vytautas vaizduojamas kaip savanaudis tironas, beatodairiškai siekiantis valdžios, bet šiuo atveju daugelis istorinių įvykių tampa tiesiog nepaaiškinami. Tad koks gi buvo Vytautas? Kokie žmogiškieji bruožai atsiskleidžia jo veikloje? Kas formavo jo charakterį bei pasaulėžiūrą? Galop, kokią įtaką Vytauto asmeninės savybės turėjo bendriesiems istorijos procesams? Pamėginkime atsakyti į šiuos klausimus. Kadangi žmogaus asmenybė pradeda formuotis šeimoje, pirmiausia reikia pakalbėti apie Vytauto tėvus. Kaip žinome, Kęstutis su Birute susituokė iš meilės, bet labai skandalingomis aplinkybėmis: Kęstutis jau skaičiavo penktą dešimtį, o Birutė buvo jauna žynė, davusi dievams skaistybės įžadus. Galima neabejoti, kad dalis visuomenės jų santuoką laikė smerktina ir net neteisėta, o Vytauto gimimas taip pat turėjo piktinti daugelį. [Iš straipsnio, p. 93]

ENThis article is an attempt to review the personality of Vytautas the Great. Although it is broadly recognised that a leader’s personal features have a major influence on his policy, the personality of Vytautas the Great has never been analysed comprehensively. Conclusions are usually drawn ad hoc: Vytautas the Great is represented as an excessively ambitious man, a heartless pragmatist and sometimes even as a tyrant. But what would be his real portrait? Relations with his cousin Jogaila represent the major feature determining Vytautas’ life. First friends, then rivals, nevertheless they ended up as friends, and this is unique not only for the Middle Ages. Analysis of these relations shows that in his youth Vytautas contained a great deal of idealism. In 1380-1382 he did all he could to reconcile his father Kęstutis with Jogaila, although he could obviously gain more by stimulating their conflict and encouraging his father’s coup. Moreover, in 1382 Jogaila used Vytautas’ devotion to arrest him and Kęstutis. This treason and especially the murder of Kęstutis should have been sufficient to change Vytautas at his core, but it did not happen. He fled to Prussia and made an alliance with the Teutonic Order, but as soon as Jogaila offered him peace, he was back again accepting the terms he was offered. In 1387 Jogaila betrayed Vytautas, for the second time refusing to return him his patrimony, although it was agreed that it would be done as soon as Skirgaila obtained Polock (which he did in 1386]. Vytautas’ coup in 1389 was a natural reaction to such a policy, but in 1392 he once again agreed to make a peace with Jogaila. The later course of history proved Vytautas’ devotion to Jogaila even more. Vytautas could have done away with his rival cousins Skirgaila and Švitrigaila, yet he spared them for they were Jogaila’s brothers.And even in his fight for independence Vytautas tried to maintain his loyalty to Jogaila, showing determination to secure his cousin’s interests and to take the crown with his consent. What was the cause of such devotion? It should be recognised that in a certain sense Vytautas was an illegitimate child - his mother was a sworn vestal virgin who broke the oath of chastity marrying Kęstutis. Moreover this marriage provoked a dramatic conflict between Kęstutis and his elder sons - especially Butautas who saw Vytautas as his major rival. In 1365, feeling that Vytautas was going to become the heir of Trakai, Butautas and his younger brother Survila fled to the Teutonic Order and attempted to seize power in the whole Grand Duchy. They failed, but this event could deeply hurt young Vytautas. He could blame himself for pushing his brothers out of the nest; he could even see his brothers’ treason as a punishment by those gods provoked by his own birth or at least, such could be the view of the public. So Vytautas’ devotion to Jogaila could develop as a compensation to offset the conscious or unconscious, and even as a certain idee fix. As for Jogaila, it should be said that he also loved Vytautas. Their conflicts were provoked mainly by Jogaila’s brothers and mother who could not accept the fact that Jogaila preferred cousin Vytautas to his own flesh and blood. It should also be said that after the 1392 reconciliation Jogaila did everything to compensate Vytautas for his earlier failures, and he mourned his sins for life - this is the only explanation for why Jogaila supported his cousin’s coronation, disregarding the wishes of the Polish nobility and risking his own position. [From the publication]