Naratyviniai fragmentai Stepono Batoro laikų Lietuvos Metrikos knygose

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvos Metrika; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Šaltiniai, istoriniai; Lithuanian metrica; Historical sources.

ENThe Lithuanian Metrica seems to have nothing to do with the narrative sources. Nonetheless such inserts, varying from several lines to a page to several pages can be found in its books. Technically these inserts cannot be referred to as documents or acts in the broad sense of the term. This paper presents some examples of such inserts, going back to Stephen Bathory's times (1576-1586) and the interregnum following his death in the Books of Inscriptions of the Lithuanian Metrica. Thus the extended title of the Book, begun in 1576, contains a narrative chronicle insert, related to the circumstances of Stephen Bathory's ascending the throne. After the King's death in 1586, soon after the interregnum, there appeared a number of documents describing the struggle for power. All these documents are united by a commentary of their compiler, throwing light on the circumstances of their coming into existence and about the process of the political struggle. All the documents are specially selected and thematically edited. Thus an entire group of inscriptions acquires paranarrative features, and the whole work resembles a study of the historian of the events he witnessed. Another example - a story about the 1578 battle at Venden (now - Cesis, Latvia), in which the Lithuanian army defeated the Russian forces - is a typically narrative piece. Inscriptions of narrative/paranarrative nature make up a very small part of the Lithuanian Metrica. Presumably they were introduced into the Metrica on the grounds of politics. A key to a more comprehensive understanding of this specific phenomenon would be a better knowledge of the functions and significance of chanceries in the political life of the state. The texts or their excepts cited in the paper are presented in the language of the original. [From the publication]