Radvila Našlaitėlis – a Famous Traveler and Pioneer of Travel Writing in Lithuania

Today, traveling is a normal thing. But it wasn’t always like that. For a long time, travelling was risky and took a very long time, so people traveled only when it was most necessary: for marriage, during wars, to escape natural disasters and epidemics. Peoplealso travelled for religious purposes (missionaries spreading the word of God in distant lands) and to learn some crafts. The situation began to change during the Renaissance (in the sixteenth century). The ideal of the Renaissance was a curious, enlightened man, open to the world. So young noblemen – because travelling required a lot of money and good health – were encouraged to travel by parents or the church. And it was only in the late 1970s, when air travel became available to anyone with a ticket, that long-distance travel became common.

Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila Našlaitėlis (1549–1616) was one of the first Lithuanian travelers to describe his experience in a bestselling book. He belonged to the influential and wealthy Radvila family of nobles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. According to a legend, the nickname of Našlaitėlis [Eng. orphan] was given to him when his father Radvila Juodasis visited a close friend, Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. When left alone in the crib, Mikalojus Kristupas cried so loudly that the king heard him and called the child a poor orphan.

From childhood, Našlaitėlis had a remarkable curiosity and talent for science. He was the true  Renaissance man – he was involved in politics, and supported the arts and sciences. For example, he was the one who published the first map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Našlaitėlis went to Jerusalem to thank God for his restored health – a common reason to travel to holy places in those days. He set out in September 1582 and returned home in July 1584. So his journey lasted almost two years, during which time he visited three continents. He described his impressions of the journey in a book of recollections entitled Kelionė į Jeruzalę (‘The Journey to Jerusalem’). The first edition of the book in Latin appeared in 1601. The book became very popular and was translated into German, Polish, and Russian.

During his journey, Našlaitėlis was interested in and wanted to try everything. For example, he tasted a then unfamiliar fruit called a banana and described his experience in the book: “In appearance, that fruit is similar to our cucumber, only slightly longer, thicker, and more bent <...>. The taste and smell are similar to ripe pears <...>. Very filling: after eating two fruits with bread or cheese, you get full.’ He also bought souvenirs during his trip. These were no ordinary souvenirs – Našlaitėlis bought exotic animals and birds and took a piece of a pillar from Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was said to have been whipped. He bought mummies of a man and a woman in Egypt, and tried to secretly ship them to Europe. Unfortunately, they never arrived. Našlaitėlis, like most people of that time, was superstitious – he believed in mysticism and spells – and thought that a journey to a holy place could cure deadly diseases while cursed things could kill. Therefore, when his ship was caught in a storm, he thought that this was because of the cursed mummies, and threw them into the sea. Maybe he was right, because he reached home alive and well.