History of Lithuania: Primary Documents

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EuroDocs > History of Lithuania: Primary Documents


Antiquity to 14th Century

Overview of various "Germanic" tribes by the Roman historian Tacitus. Includes Aesti living in what is now the Baltic states.
(English translation; 97 AD)
Collection of images of historical documents.
Provided by The Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
(facsimiles from 11th century to 20th century)
Important early history from a German convent, probably written by a nun. First written mention of Lithuania by name, as seen HERE
(Complete German translation)
Multiple records of the Middle Ages in Lithuania and Belarus.
(Middle Ages; transcription in Polish and Russian)
Multiple documents of an economic, juridical, and political nature.
Agreements between princes, as well as with other foreign countries.
(13th to 15th centuries; commentaries, transcriptions in Old Slavic)
Chronological commentary with links to primary documents from Belarus's past.
Includes relations and wars with Lithuania and other countries.
(13th century to present; Belarusian transcriptions, English translations, images, maps, and commentary)
Imperial Bull granting Teutonic Knights power over their conquests in the Baltics.
(1226; Latin)
Translated rhyming chronicle of account of Battle of Saule (also spelled Battle of Caule).
Pagan "Samogitians led by the Duke Vykintas defeated the Knights of the Sword" in this battle.
(22 September 1236; Russian translation)
Information about the battle written in the Simeonovskiy record.
(5 April 1242; transcription in the Old Slavic language and translation in Russian)
Document relating to the conversion of the Lithuanian king, Mindaugas, to Christianity.
(Latin facsimile; 1251)
Collection of Letters to and from the Lithuanian Grand Duke, Gediminas.
(English translation; 1322-1324)
Peace treaty which stopped Teutonic aggression in Lithuania.
(1323; Latin facsimile)
Latin facsimile with Polish excerpts
Conditions of union between Poland and Lithuania.
(14 July 1385; Latin facsimile and English, Belarusian, Latin, and Polish transcriptions)
Vladislav Jagiello, the Great Duke of Lithuania and Polish king, gives rights to nobles who accept Catholicism.
(20 February 1387; Belarusian transcription)

15th Century - 19th Century

Document about confirmation of the rights and privileges to the Lithuanian and Russian dukes and boyars of Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Includes rights of dukes to manage their properties as they choose, equal judicial rights for dukes and boyars, and obligations to renovate roads and castles.
Document recognizes the Russian dukes and boyars and confirms all Polish privileges on them.
(6 May 1434; Russian translation)
Important historical parchments digitized by the Martynas Mazvydas Lithuanian National Library
(1465-1818; facsimiles)
Provided by the Latvian National Library.
(16th to 18th centuries; map facsimiles and descriptions)
Diplomatics of Poland, in which are contained the privileges of the kings of Poland and the great captains of Lithuania
(1506; Latin facsimile)
Document contains information about economic and social changes in the country.
(1529; transcription in Russian)
(19 October 1558-24 February 1560; Russian transcription)
Information about economic, political, and social changes in the country.
(1566; transcription in Old Russian)
Document about decision of Lublen Sejm to unite Poland and Lithuania in one country, the Rzeczpospolita.
Document determines laws about king, Sejm, money, and trade taxes.
(1569; Ukrainian translation)
Chronicle by important German chronicler.
(Low German facsimile; 1584)
Document contains articles about conditions of coexistence of Catholic and Orthodox churches.
(1596; English translation)
(March 1607; transcription in Russian)
Site contains numerous documents about relations between Poland and Russia.
(1772-1795; commentaries, transcription in Russian)
(1789-1792; translation in English)
(1791; translation in Russian)
Image of original document.
Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations.
Obligations and rights of each side.
(20 October 1791; image, Polish transcription)
(19 December 1795; transcription in Russian)
Rebels who were sentenced to death in "Vilna, Kovno, Grodno, Minsk, Vitebsk, [and] Mogilev."
Supplemental Material.
(1863-1864; Belarusian transcriptions)
Administrative edict banning the use of Latin letters to print Lithuanian. Part of attempted Russification of Lithuania.
(1864; Russian and Lithuanian with Cyrillic Letters; Facsimile)
Underground Lithuanian newspaper published during the press ban.
(1883-1886; Lithuanian facsimiles)
Underground newspaper published for years in Lithuanian during the press ban.
(1889-1932; Lithuanian facsimiles)
National Anthem of Lithuania. Adopted in 1919.
(Lithuanian with English translation; 1898)

20th Century - present

Collection of historical documents on recent Lithuanian history, especially in relation to Russia.
(20th century; Russian)
Declaration of independence from the Russian Empire addressed to Russia and Germany. Facsimile also available.
(February 16, 1918; Lithuanian and English)
Józef Piłsudski's proclamation of intentions, published after the Polish occupation of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
(April 22, 1919, Polish and Lithuanian)
In 1940, the United States condemned the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and refused to recognize the annexation of the three Baltic states.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1940-1966; English)
"Cleansing [of Jews] and securing the area of operation"
From Yad Vashem
(1941; English translation)
Database search for orders and records of the KGB from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Enter country and hit search button.
(English interface with Russian-language documents; 1941-1991)
Calling for Resistance
From Yad Vashem
(1942; English translation)
Prepared by Algis Rupainis, this Chronicle is a day-by-day account of Lithuanian's resistance against occupying forces. The Chronicle reflects all partisan warfare throughout Lithuania.
(1944-1949; English and Lithuanian)
Lithuanian Partisans Declaration
(1949; Lithuanian facsimile)
Collected primary documents from the end of the Cold War.
(1980s; English)
Declaration of independence from Soviet Union. Facsimile also available.
(English translation; March 11, 1990)
Current constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
(October 25, 1992; English)
Treaty and other documents concerning Lithuania's admission to the European Union. Part of EUR-Lex, a service of the European Union.
(2003; English)
Act of Lithuanian legislature on standardization of Lithuanian language.
Official English translation of original 1995 Law of the State Language.
(2 June 2003; Lithuanian transcription, English translation)
Lithuanian official data files and documents, including country files, parents' occupation, and sample data.
Files available for download
(2008-2016; Lithuanian & Russian; English interface)

Legal & Governmental Documents

Collection of Lithuanian Laws.
Statutes, criminal and civil codes, and other legal materials.
A portal of the BYU Law School.
Library of Congress guide to constitutional, legal, and government documents.

Maps, Exhibits, & Other Collections

Collection of images from Lithuanian history.
Provided by the Office of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania
(photos, facsimiles)
Digitized manuscripts available to be searched by author, subject, or date.
(Lithuanian; facsimiles)
Digitized manuscripts by topic
(Lithuanian and English; facsimiles)
Lithuanian page of the World Documents Library.
(photos; facsimiles)
Digitized collections of historical Lithuanian documents.
(facsimiles, Lithuanian interface)
Includes documents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, popes letter, documents of France, Italy and other manuscripts.
From the National Library of Lithuania
(facsimiles; English or Lithuanian)
Collection of music manuscripts.
Provided by The Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
(facsimiles)
Collection of historical maps of Europe.
(facsimiles; Hungarian)
Collection of historical maps of Lithuania.
(facsimiles)
  • Genealogical Resources
FOUNDATION for EAST EUROPEAN FAMILY HISTORY STUDIES: Lithuania
LITHUANIAN GLOBAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
(English)
Database of interviews with Jewish people from Lithuania.
Includes facsimiles of official documents.
Explore the database by family name, city.
Advanced search here.
(photos, English transcriptions, Lithuanian and Russian facsimiles)
Also contains a collection of coats of arms for other European countries and principalities.
(Facsimiles)


Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys


EuroDocs > History of Lithuania: Primary Documents



EuroDocs Creator: Richard Hacken, European Studies Librarian,
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
Feel free to get in touch: eurodocs @ byu.edu
With special thanks to Natalya Georgiyeva for her help with this webpage.