2. The State in the Political and Legal Culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

2020 ◽  
pp. 117-157
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 148-166
Author(s):  
Gabrielė Jasiūnienė

Heraldry and its research have deep traditions in Europe, making it a certain focus of attention among researchers. The interest in this field in Lithuania is a more recent phenomenon. The late beginning of heraldry research was partly influenced by Lithuania’s loss of independence. At present, researchers’ attention is focused mainly on the periods of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, also looking at Lithuanian heraldry from the 20th–21st centuries, and conducting thorough research of the coats of arms of the state, cities, and towns. Research of the heraldry of the nobility is also being conducted, such as the heraldry of the political elite in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – the Goštautas, Pacas, Radvila, Sapiega families, etc. The heraldry of representatives of the lower gentry, especially among the Samogitian families, has received less attention. Many unanswered questions and undeveloped themes remain in the field of the Samogitian nobility’s heraldry, overlooked in research for a long time. This article analyzes how genealogical links were reflected in Samogitian nobility heraldry sources in the second half of the 16th–18th centuries. Having analyzed the heraldic sources of the Samogitian nobility, it was found that these reflected not only information about a specific individual, but also their broader origins, family and marital lines. The coats of arms of the Samogitian nobility in time became a unique means of representation. The coats of arms of the Samogitian nobility were depicted in seals, literature, portraits, architecture, and elsewhere.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 121-139
Author(s):  
Maria Teresa Lizisowa

The anthropological orientation of the word law in Adam Mickiewicz’s writingsThis article discusses the anthropological orientation of the word law in Adam Mickiewicz’s writings. The author claims that this word is essential for the interpretation of the poet’s historiosophical thought, in the context of legal culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The citizens of Lithuanian territories recognized the 16th century Statutes as a distinctive feature of the state’s cultural identity, because they were still effective in the judicature under the Russian Partition, and in social awareness they remained a semblance of the independence from the foreign rule. The Romantic understanding of law, state and morality resulted in perceiving these values as “the spirit of the world” of which the image of virtue was born. In the dimension of legal discourse, law as an idea takes a real shape in its definition, in poetic tropes, and in scholarly discussions, but most of all in the actions of literary characters. The metaphorical and symbolic meanings of law manifest themselves in the topos of the court of law, judging what is right and what is wrong; good and bad faith; in family, social and political relations. The analysis of the texts has shown that the poet, by depicting the way of perceiving and understanding the organisation of political life in analogy to family life, enclosed his own personal vision of law and order in the structures of language. Антропологическая ориентация слова право в творчестве Адама МицкевичаСтатья посвящена антропологической ориентации слова право в текстах Адама Мицкевича. Автор утверждает, что слово является ключом к интерпрета ции главной историософической мысли поэта в контексте юридической культуры Великого княжества Литовского. Культурообразующим знаком государства для жителей литовских земель были статуты XVI века, которые были обязательны еще на территории аннексированной Россией, а в общественном сознании oни были символом зависимости от чужой власти. Понимание права, государства и моральности в Романтизме отражают ценности, олицетворяющие «дух мира», который рождает представление о добродетели. В юридическом дискурсе право как идея добра принимает реальную форму в определении, в поэтических тропах и в ученых выводах, а прежде всего в действиях литературных героев. Метафорическое и символическое значение права выражается в теме суда, устанавливающего правых и виноватых, выносящего решение о добрых и злых намерениях в семейных, общественных и политических отношениях. Анализ текстов показывает, что поэт, проводя аналогию между политической и семейной жизнью, в структурах языка реализует собственное представление о законности.


Author(s):  
С.А. Денисов

Статья посвящена инкорпорированию жителей Погезании, одной из за- падных прусских земель, в орденскую систему ленного землевладения в 1261–1370 гг. Основную часть ленников (173 из 176 персон) составили лица, обязанные нести во- енную службу и платить налог (группа 1) или освобожденные от податей (группа 2). Рост их численности был связан с потребностями Ордена в военной силе и доходах от земельной собственности для борьбы с Великим Литовским княжеством за поли- тическое лидерство в Юго-Восточной Прибалтике. The article deals with the incorporation of inhabitants of Pogezania one of the western Prussian lands, into the Order’s system of fi ef land ownership in 1261–1370. The main part of lieges (173 from 176 persons) consisted of individuals, who were obliged to keep military service and to pay taxes (group 1) or free from any payment (group 2). The growth of their number was caused by needs of Order in military force and incomes from the land estates for the struggle with Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the leadership in South-East of Baltic region.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-48
Author(s):  
Andrey Mikhailovich Belov ◽  
Dmitry Aleksandrovich Bulyukin

The article is devoted to the little-studied problem of elections to the First State Duma of the Russian Empire in Kostroma Province, as well as the attitude of different strata, classes and estates to the elections and activities of deputies. As sources, the documents of the funds of the State Archive of Kostroma Region (GAKO), in particular, the materials of the local newspapers “Kostroma Speechˮ and “Herald of Povolzhyeˮ are used. An attempt is made to reveal to what extent the institution of Russian parliamentarism was rooted in the Province, to what extent the elected deputies expressed the interests of voters of different classes. The extensive factual material covers the organisation of elections, the course of elections in different counties, as well as conflicts and violations during the conduct of elections. Rich material is also provided by memoirs, business correspondence of officials and other documents. The authors come to the conclusion that Kostroma newspapers of that time covered the above issues in great detail and meaningfully, that in the conditions of the emerging multiparty system, the political and legal culture of the Province grew, as well as the interest of representatives of different classes in solving the most important problems of the then Russian reality.


2021 ◽  
pp. 52-64
Author(s):  
Regina Jakubėnas

In the second half of the eighteenth century a lot of occasional poems were published in Vilnius. Their authors were often representatives of various orders: the Piarists, the Jesuits, the Basilians, the Dominicans. Name day poems enjoyed great popularity, which was influenced by the intensive development of various forms of social life. Name day poems were part of “home muse” or family poetry. The authors often addressed their works to representatives of the political and official elite of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who played an important role in the public and political life of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The poems were more often devoted to the representatives of the male lineage due to their social status and functions, although it happened that women, especially representatives of influential families in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were also the recipients of these poems. The article discusses an occasional work by a priest Dominik Zabłocki, Dominican friar, devoted to Countess Teresa Barbara Pacowa of the Dukes of Radziwills – a lady of the Austrian Order of the Starry Cross. The poem describes her personal merits, the merits of her husband and family, referring to the rich symbolism of the coat of arms of the Pac, the Radziwill and the Zawisza families from which Teresa Pacowa’s mother was descended. This piece of work undoubtedly belongs to the group of texts that were addressed to a wider audience and performed a political and propaganda function.


Terminus ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (Special Issue 1) ◽  
pp. 81-105
Author(s):  
Justyna Kiliańczyk-Zięba

Jan Januszowski, best known as Jan Kochanowski’ friend, was the most distinguished printer of the Polish Renaissance. Januszowski, a lawyer educated in Cracow and Padua, was an extremely versatile man: an outstanding printer, as well as a prolific writer and translator. For all his achievements, he was ennobled by Sigismund III Vasa, and—happily—the diploma of nobility of Jan Januszowski, penned on parchment and splendidly illuminated, survived to the present day. The illumination of the document is rich and sumptuous. It shows the coats-of-arms representing the provinces of the Polish Kingdom and Grand Duchy of Lithuania and small portraits: three of them depict Polish kings, the fourth is of Januszowski himself—it is one of the very few known portraits of Polish Renaissance intellectuals and the oldest portrait of a Polish printer. The document’s decoration is not only beautiful, but also meaningful, as its content and composition reflects the nature of the state—the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth—and suggests Januszowski’s important place in its structure and strong links between the printer and the most important dignitaries of the country.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-203
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Ziober

AbstractThe attitudes of the elite of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and especially of representatives of Radziwill family (Krzysztof and Janusz) towards the election of the last two Vasas are an interesting problem for deliberations and research, especially taking into account differences in the country’s internal and foreign situation in 1632 and 1648, which determined the activities of mentioned above. This article was mainly intended to discuss the problem connected with the attitudes of the Lithuanian nobility towards the election of a new king and also indicating the role of connections of Wladyslaw IV and Jan Kazimierz with the Jagiellonians in political games. Answering the question of what and how influenced the attitudes and moods among the nobility, their argumentation to support one or other candidate requires many years of research and use of methods developed by other humanities, such as sociology, social psychology or political science.


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