Watching King Charles' coronation, as much of it as I could stand anyway, Daina said that much of Lithuania's royal heritage is spread around the world in museums. I suppose it was auctioned off after the collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom in the late 18th century. Many of these artifacts date back to Grand Duchy times, like this Horse's head armor from the time of Grand Duke Nikolaus "The Black" Radziwill, which can be viewed at the Met. Daina noted that the pattern on a tie I bought from the Met some years ago is from the Radziwill family. Indeed, I can see it on the horse head armor.
The noble family still exists, albeit similarly spread around the world. One of its most well known members was Lee Radziwill, sister of Jackie Kennedy. She had married Prince Stanislaw Radziwill of Poland, where it seems the Radziwills ended up after the Russian partitions in the early 19th century.
However, the ancestral homes are here in Lithuania. The palace in Vilnius today serves as an art museum. It was chopped apart during the Russian occupation. There are plans to rebuild the historic form of it, as it was once a very beautiful palace, although it will be a modern interpretation. It would be nice to have some of the royal artifacts returned here.
There are more palaces spread throughout the country, including the foundation remnants of one in Dubingai, an absolutely gorgeous setting north of Vilnius. A colleague of mine did the architectural research and supervised the excavation of the ruins. The protective covering looks a little too much like a mausoleum but it serves its purpose.
I'm not sure when the palace was destroyed. It might have been during the time of the Lithuanian civil war in the late 17th century. The noble families weren't very happy about the ascendency of the Sapiegos family during this time and banded together against them. The internecine war stretched for five years causing a lot of damage to these estates. We are currently working on one of the Sapiegos estates in Žemoji Panemunė, about a half an hour away from Kaunas along the Nemunas river.
Like many of the estates, there isn't much information available. Our client has scoured the Polish archives and only come up with anecdotal references. We know its height and that it had a matching arcade on the other side of the central hall. It is a very unique structure. I haven't been able to find an analogy anywhere in Europe. The closest I came was the Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza by Palladio. This palace is a little later, but could have been modeled after it.
My colleagues often wonder what might have been had Lithuania not fallen under the yoke of Poland and later Russia. It didn't help that their Grand Dukes gave away huge chunks of their kingdom to appease their neighbors. The so-called Jageillonian dynasty, which is often attributed to Poland, stems from Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania in the 15th century. I suppose since he has Slavic roots, Poland considers him their own, but he was born in Vilnius.
It's nice to have an island kingdom where you can more or less keep your European rivals at bay. Not that there wasn't stress and strain in the British kingdom, especially its many internal conflicts, but it is still able to boast of a heritage that dates back a millennium or more.
There are royal links such as this one that was dug up by LRT reporters. Queen Elizabeth II even spoke of this Lithuanian connection on her visit to Vilnius in 2006. It was a festive occasion and there was talk about reviving the monarchy in Lithuania but fortunately it was quickly squelched. Some Austrian count claimed to be the descendent of Mindaugas, the only Grand Duke to be coronated by the Vatican, but I can't seem to find anything on the internet about him. That would have been the last thing we needed.
For Lithuanians, the Grand Duchy was the peak of their country, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The largest kingdom in Europe at the time. However, they only boast of one true king, who was coronated on July 6, 1253, officially beginning this dynasty. Unfortunately, other grand dukes were not crowned as Poland went out of its way to block delegates form the Vatican to reach Lithuania before the duke had a chance to see his crown. Such was the case with Vytautas, considered by many the greatest Grand Duke off them all. No crown no king.
With the reconstruction of the royal palace in Vilnius a few years ago, one can get a feel for what it might have been like 400 years ago at the tail end of the Grand Duchy. It wasn't the same with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After that Vilnius became subordinate to Warsaw.
There are Baroque nights replete with music and dance from the era. The art collection is small but very beautiful. In summer the courtyard comes alive with concerts and theatrical productions of all kinds that have become a big draw.
Anyway, "the queen is dead, long live the king!" After 70 years the world gets to see all the pomp and circumstance associated with a British coronation. Daina noted that it seemed more like a funeral than a celebratory event. A glum Charles couldn't even memorize his few lines, turning to his cue cards when taking the royal oath. I doubt he will inspire any renewed faith in the empire.
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