Mirusiųjų pinigai Lietuvoje XIV a. pabaigoje - XVIII a. pradžioje: krikščioniškas laidojimo paprotys ir jo semantika

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Ankstyvieji naujieji laikai; Archeologija; Krikščionybė; Laidojimo paminklai; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Monetos; Numizmatika; Palaidojimai; Archaeology; Burial grounds; Burials; Christianity; Coins; Early modern period; Lithuania; Numismatics; The Great Duchy of Lithuania.

ENThe custom of putting a coin or more into a grave was known throughout Europe. Tb judge from one of the most thoroughly explored Lithuanian burial sites it was also practiced in this area. As many as 8,500 graves, dating from the period between the late fourteenth and early eighteenth centuries, were uncovered in 200 cemeteries. The finds were described in several articles, however, the semantics of this custom has not yet been analyzed in the context of the Christianization of Lithuania. In the present paper attempts are made 1) to determine the circumstances under which the custom of putting coins into graves appeared in Europe, 2) to analyze how this custom was treated by the authors of different religions in the sources in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 3) to establish whether this custom was practiced in the burials in Lithuanian churches and churchyards, and 4) to ascertain the Christian symbolism of the custom and its reflection in ecclesiastical sources. A historiographical survey shows that the custom of ‘the obol of the dead appeared simultaneously with the introduction of Christianity in corresponding regions, and it spread from the countries of both Byzantine and Latin culture. In the Christian world coins were put into graves as the entrance fee to St. Peter, the keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Thus, the main reason for the appearance of this custom must have been the introduction of Christianity. In the historiographical sources and the accounts of church visitations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there are indications that coins were put into the graves in Prussia and Livonia, and the described custom was characterized as pagan or heathen. [...]. [From the publication]

• Teologija / Theology
• Archeologija / Archaeology
• Istorija / History