Povilas Dikavičius serves as the acting head of the Vilnius branch of the German Historical Institute Warsaw. His academic expertise lies in the Early Modern European history with a particular focus on 16th century Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Renaissance studies. Dr. Dikavičius is a graduate Vilnius University and the Central European University (Budapest, Vienna), where he earned his doctorate in Comparative History in 2022. His thesis Honor among nobles in the 16th century Grand Duchy of Lithuania outlined the concept of honor as a historical phenomenon regulating human worth within hierarchical societies and presented its manifestations within philosophical and historical discourse of the state, examples how legal codes instrumentalized honor, and the way nobles defended their honor in courts, ridding themselves of slights and insults. Since completing his studies, he holds a position at the National Museum of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, where he serves in educational and research capacities. Dr. Dikavičius’ current research project explores the forms of punishment for murder in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and their intellectual foundations.

• Social history of Early Modern Europe
• Hierarchies, criminality, and violence
• Political thought and conceptual history
• Theory and methodology of historical scholarship

Current research project:
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. Reform of the penalty for murder in the Renaissance Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Journal articles

Somber Celebrations: Funeral Processions and Civic Community in 17th-Century Vilnius. In Thanatos 9 (2020): 16–45.
https://journal.fi/thanatos/issue/view/10518/1997.

Reviews

Jonas Drungilas, The Eagle in the Bear’s Den: Polish Nobles in Samogitia in the 16th–18th Centuries: Migration, Language, Memory. In European Review of History / Revue européenne d’histoire 28, no. 1 (2020): 157–158.

Richard Butterwick and Wioletta Pawlikowska, eds., Social and Cultural Relations in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Microhistories. In European Review of History / Revue européenne d’histoire 27, no. 6 (2020): 866–868.

Andrej Ryčkov, The Kiss of Judas: The Concept of Treason in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (late 13th–mid–16th centuries). In European Review of History / Revue européenne d’histoire 27, no. 3 (2019): 415–417.

Felicia Roșu, Elective Monarchy in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1569–1587. In European Review of History / Revue européenne d’histoire 27, nos. 1–2 (2019): 241–242.