The noble family of Pacai (Pacowie) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Lithuanian baroque (Kaunas, Lituanie)

The noble family of Pacai (Pacowie) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Lithuanian baroque

International scientific conference, dedicated to

the 400th birth anniversary of the GDL Chancellor Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac (1621–1684)

Université Vytautas Magnus, Kaunas, Lituanie

13-14 mai 2021

The noble family of Pacowie (Pacai) is important to the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in many respects. The members of the family – famous statesmen, public figures, the mouthpieces of religious culture, the patrons of art. The prominent members of the family: the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac, his father Stefan Pac, the Vice-chancellor of the GDL, the Grand Hetman of the GDL Michał Kazimierz Pac, the Bishop of Vilnius Mikołaj Stefan Pac, the Bishop of Samogitia Kazimierz Pac, Samogitian Doyen Piotr Pac and the others. The noblemen Pacowie (Pacai) were extremely active and profitable in the Baroque period. The Baroque of the GDL is hardly imaginable without the churches and monasteries establishes by them. Not only their mansions in Vilnius and Warsaw astonished everybody with magnificent architecture, but the palaces in the provinces (in Jieznas, for example) as well. Nevertheless there are not enough fullscale research works analysing the influence of Pacowie (Pacai) on social-political life in the GDL and on the development of artistic culture.

Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac was the Chancellor of the GDL for a long period of time, during the reign of three kings (1658–1684); he was the founder of several churches and of the monastery, had his residence in several mansion-houses and constantly participated in diplomatic contests in the Commonwealth of Both Nations and abroad. The Chancellor’s French wife Claire Isabelle Mailly de Lascaris was the first lady at the Queen’s manor.

Our international conference “The Noble Family of Pacowie (Pacai) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Lithuanian Baroque” is being organised feeling the need to spotlight the significance of the Pacowie (Pacai) and especially of the nobleman Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac for the Baroque culture. We kindly invite historians, art critics, literary researchers and other scholars of the humanities and social sciences to participate in the conference and to discuss the issues we propose:

• The problems of the genealogical research of Pacowie (Pacai) family, the biogramsof the most prominent members of the family

• The influence of Pacowie (Pacai) on the political life in the Commonwealth of Both Nations

• The political consciousness of the nobility in the GDL in early modern times

• Cultural contacts of the nobility in the GDL in the Baroque period

• Baroque art, the Church and the society in the GDL

• The tradition of Baroque Rhetoric and it’s expression in the GDL culture

• The phenomenon of church foundation and patronage by Pacowie (Pacai)

• The destiny of Pacowie (Pacai) heritage in Lithuania and abroad.

We kindly ask you to send the title and short abstract of your paper till October 15 via e-mail: ricardas.jaramicius@vdu.lt

The languages of the conference: the languages of the historiography of the GDL and English.

The conference will be held in Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas) and in Pacowie (Pacai) mansion in Jieznas.

The steering committee:

Prof. Dr. Irena Buckley (chair)

Prof. Dr. Vaida Kamuntavičienė

Prof. Dr. Mindaugas Paknys

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Indrė Žakevičienė

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aušra Vasiliauskienė

Ričardas Jaramičius

Milda Gineikaitė

Sponsors:

Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas City Municipality, The Embassy of France in Lithuania, Jieznas Eldership