scholarly journals “People”, “Peoples” - How the May 3, 1791 Constitution framers defined what the People is and handled the duality of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-107
Author(s):  
Arnaud Parent

AbstractIn the Commonwealth of the Two Nations, significant legal texts were implemented under the rule of King Stanislaw August, the most important being the Constitution of May 3, 1791, adopted during the Four-Year Sejm (1788-1792). Its framers faced numerous challenges, first, because then only nobles were considered as constituting the Republic, one was to define who should be considered as a member of the People, who could be elected deputy to the Sejm, and at which condition. Second, since the 1569 Union of Lublin the Commonwealth is made of two distinct states: Poland (the Crown) and the Grand-Duchy of Lithuania, drafters had to handle Lithuanian statehood in a Constitution, which was primarily seen as a way to enhance unification of the two nations. Third, the Grand-Duchy of Lithuania having its own legislation, enclosed in the Lithuanian statute, (adopted in 1529, followed with a Second Statute in 1566, and a Third Statute in 1588), the question of its maintaining or not too had to be taken into consideration by framers. We hope that considering how these different issues were handled will shed a new light on the permanence of Lithuanian laws and political tradition in the May 3 Constitution.

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Neringa Dambrauskaitė

This article deals with the aspects of everyday life of the peasants who lived in private estates of the nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th – the first half of the 17th century. The research was mainly based on published and unpublished acts of court cases, additional information is found in the estate inventories and descriptions provided by the people who travelled through Lithuania. The analysis revealed that the homestead of the peasants were usually modest – it consisted of few wooden buildings, the most important of which being a dwelling house, a granary and a cattle-shed, but richer peasants lived in larger homesteads with more different buildings. Peasants usually lived in wooden farmhouses with a stove, whereas some part of the peasants in Samogitia still lived in the so-called numas with a fireplace. Peasants’ main clothes were sermėgos, sheepskin coats, shirts, woman’s cloaks; some peasants could afford to have more expensive clothes. The main food products included different kinds of grain, first of all, stocks of rye, as well as peas, different vegetables, flitch, dairy products. Probably only richer peasants ate meat more often. There were important various household effects and work tools in the peasant homestead. Although the life of peasants was modest, however there existed differences in the standard of everyday living during the period under discussion.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Magdalena Lewicka

Abstract The literature of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania constitutes the most important and richest part of their cultural heritage, as well as a lasting trace of Tatar settlements in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The literature that flourished during the spiritual revival of the Renaissance and Reformation somewhere in the seemingly God-forsaken, remote Eastern Borderlands has not been forgotten; on the contrary, it has been recognised as a unique phenomenon of great spiritual, literary and cultural value. This phenomenon manifests itself in the extraordinary combination of the Oriental Islamic culture and Christian culture, two components that appear to be mutually exclusive but are in fact in perfect harmony with each other, both in the life of society and in the literary works of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars. The paper is dedicated to literary manuscripts of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including their genesis at the background of the Tatar settlement in the territory of the Republic of Poland, characteristic features and typology of the manuscripts on the basis of the criteria of form and content. Furthermore, the author discusses the research areas, beginning with the description of the state of research on Tatar manuscripts from the point of view, through the characteristics of the current research on this matter, as well as reporting the institutions running and coordinating the interdisciplinary and international activities within the scope of the research, editing and popularization of the issues connected with the kitabistics.


2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
Grigorijus Potašenko

The appearance of an organized Fedoseevian community in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the eighteenth century was a result of the massive migration of the Old Believers (Old Ritualists), closely related to the resettlement and disturbances of the peasants and out-oftown settlers (posadskie liudi) in Russia. It was the first wave of an extensive emigration from Russia into the Baltic countries, and in particular into Lithuania. Its aftermath was the rise of the Pomorian communities (пморские общества) of the Old Believers. In the late eighteenth century there were between 100,000 and 180,000 Old Believers (about 1.1 to 2 per cent of the total population of the 8.79 million citizens of the Republic of Poland-Lithuania). The main motives behind this emigration of the Russians in the eighteenth century were the following: (1) religious persecution of the Old Believers and the social oppression of the peasants and posadskie liudi in Russia; (2) freedom of religion for the Old Believers and more favourable social and economic conditions in Poland and Lithuania; and (3) intense eschatological feelings and impulsiveness, urging the Old Believers to avoid society and the state, in their belief dominated by the spiritual Antichrist. This article is devoted to the issue of religious toleration in respect to the Old Believers in the GDL and its reasons. Religious tolerance as a factor conditioning the emigration and formation of a united Fedoseevian community in Lithuania has not yet been properly researched.


Menotyra ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Balaišytė

The article discusses how the ratification of the 3rd of May 1791 Constitution was celebrated in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This event, understood by the contemporaries as the beginning of the new epoch, inspired organization of both official and spontaneous celebrations all over the country. While analysing the content and visual expression of these events, it is sought to disclose how these festivals of “the new epoch” were formed and what they looked like, what transformations of the society had inspired them. These celebrations were a tool and product of “the Joyful Revolution”: they were used for patriotic upbringing and unification of the society in the presence of outward threats, though, at the same time, the high spirits of the “revolutionary” time inspired spontaneous festive events. The organizers of such celebrations were mostly the representatives of middle nobility and townspeople, as they had become the most active supporters of the ruler and implemented the reform programme. There were especially many initiatives by townspeople, who due to the new law felt the full-fledged citizens of the state. Similar to earlier celebrations of state significance, almost all festivities were dedicated to the ruler, who was pictured as the father of the nation and creator of the Constitution. A new image of the ruler was started to propagate: the portrait of a king-patriot working for the wellbeing of the homeland and its citizens. The ideas of the “citizens’ nation” encompassing all social strata of the Republic were actively manifested. Acts of the nobility oath to the town law were very important for unification of the society in a symbolic sense; they demonstrated the fraternity of all estates. It is worth mentioning here the demonstration of military attributes and military capacities in order to strengthen the morale of population in troublous times. The article covers in more detail the decorations created for the Constitution anniversary by a nobleman Vincentas Ignacas Marevičius (Wincenty Ignacy Marewicz) in his homestead near Lukiškės, which most visually demonstrated the new structure of the society entrenched by the Constitution. These celebrations of the “3rd of May epoch” could be held for quite a short time and thus failed to create new rituals and symbols. Maybe this was the reason why texts were so important in their décor and explained anew the meanings of symbols applied in earlier celebrations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 77-155
Author(s):  
Joanna Gierowska-Kałłaur

Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz. He who could have united the nations of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, yet did notRevered, fluent in all Borderland languages, an excellent soldier; Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz, back when he was a subordinate of Nikolai Yudenich, tried to rename the unit under his command to the "People's Army", or in other words, the Territorial or National Army. The territorial understanding of "Belarusness", in conjunction with the nearly atavistic antibolshevism of Bałachowicz, were a great asset in Józef Piłsudski's new political combination. Piłsudski decided to benefit from Savinkov's idealistic approach for his own purpose. The Russian Political Committee, Bałachowicz's troops and the statements of Vyacheslav Adamovich (father) were to support the establishment of Belarus for Belarusians. Not under Kaunas and Berlin, nor a Soviet one. A “Third Belarus”. A Belarus friendly towards Poland. Following discussions with Savinkov, the builder of the "Third Russia", Piłsudski engaged himself after 6 March 1920 (Millerand Note) in supporting (inter alia financially) the Russian Political Committee. Based on the agreement of the Polish Supreme Command with B.V. Savinkov, all Russian formations on the Polish territory were subordinated politically to B. Savinkov. On 27 August 1920, on the orders of the Supreme Command, Bałachowicz entered a secret agreement with Savinkov. They both were also to seek convening the Constituent Assembly, providing land for the people and democracy, and to create a Union of Nations (i.e., a federation). In the event of Bałachowicz's unit succeeding "deeper into Russian territory", the local government and the administrative board were to be founded on his authority. This is how Bułak-Bałachowicz was to become the executor of the first phase of Piłsudski's new "concept for Belarus". Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz. Postać, która mogła połączyć narody byłego Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego, a jednak ich nie połączyłaDarzony powszechnym szacunkiem przez sobie współczesnych, posługujący się wszystkimi kresowymi językami, świetny żołnierz – Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz jeszcze jako podkomendny Mikołaja Judenicza, starał się o przemianowanie dowodzonego przez siebie oddziału na „Armię Ludową”, inaczej ujmując, Armię Terytorialną lub Krajową. Terytorialnym rozumieniem „białoruskości”, powiązanym z atawistycznym antybolszewizmem Bałachowicza, posłużył się Józef Piłsudski w swojej nowej kombinacji politycznej. Piłsudski postanowił wykorzystać nadarzające się romantyczne marzenie Sawinkowa o Trzeciej Rosji dla własnego celu. Rosyjski Komitet Polityczny, szable Bałachowicza i oświadczenia Wiaczesława Adamowicza ojca (Mozyrz, listopad 1920 r.) miały posłużyć do budowy – Białorusi dla Białorusinów. Nie „kowieńsko-berlińskiej” i nie „sowieckiej”. „Trzeciej Białorusi”. Białorusi przyjaznej Polsce. W wyniku rozmów z Sawinkowem, budowniczym „Trzeciej Rosji”, po 6 marca 1920 r. (tzw. Nota Milleranda) Piłsudski zaangażował się we wspieranie (również finansowe) Rosyjskiego Komitetu Politycznego. Na podstawie umowy Polskiego Naczelnego Dowództwa z B. W. Sawinkowem wszystkie formacje rosyjskie na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej zostały podporządkowane politycznie B. Sawinkowowi. 27 sierpnia 1920 r. z rozkazu Naczelnego Dowództwa Bałachowicz zawarł z Sawinkowem tajną umowę. Obaj z Sawinkowem dążyć mieli do zwołania w przyszłości Zgromadzenia Ustawodawczego, ziemi dla ludu, demokracji i utworzenia Związku Narodów (federacji). W przypadku posunięcia się oddziału Bułak-Bałachowicza „w głąb terytorium rosyjskiego” miały być przy nim zorganizowane samorząd lokalny i zarząd administracyjny. Właśnie w ten sposób Bułak-Bałachowicz miał być wykonawcą kolejnego „pomysłu” J. Piłsudskiego „na Białoruś”.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darius Gudelis ◽  
Milda Baranauskaitė ◽  
Dovydas Mozūras ◽  
Danutė Kontrimavičienė

The Lithuanian state archives are commemorating their 100th anniversary this year. Historically, the origins of the documentary heritage of the Lithuanian state can be traced back to the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Throughout history, despite changes in the system of state archives, their main function and purpose have not changed. They continue to treasure and preserve the state's documentary heritage. Over the course of 100 years, the structure and subordination of the state archives have changed several times, documents moving from one premise to another, technologies regarding document storage constantly improving. The Lithuanian state archives were officially established on October 19th, 1921, when the Minister of Education of the Republic of Lithuania approved the Statute of the Central State Archive and appointed its director. This statute stated that the archive should preserve all existing state and municipal documents acquired before the establishment of the Republic of Lithuania. It must also maintain the liquidated and non-essential documents of these organizations and collect documents of state, public and scientific value from private people and public organizations.


Author(s):  
Gintautas Sliesoriūnas

The article analyses two conventions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania republicans, aristocracy and nobility that won the power in Lithuania at the end of 1700, which took place in Vilnius in 1701. First of the conventions in Vilnius took place 0n May 2–14, 1701. The second convention in Vilnius started meetings in same year, from July 23 through to August 12, 1701. The article discusses documents that were approved in these conventions, location of the gatherings and their significance in the sequence of republican conventions in 1698–1703. The analysis is focused on the influence of the conventions in establishing a new form of republican confederate governance in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, also assessing the international and military context of the conventions. The conventions of the republicans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, having gathered for two meetings in Vilnius in 1701, were the most important political events in the life of Lithuanian state. In the course of these conventions the supreme Lithuanian state power of the time, the nature of which was quite special – close to confederate, decided on the most important issues, facing the new authority, established after the victory by the republicans against the Sapiehas, the aristocrats of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who by the end of the seventeenth century had reached the status of hegemons. These conventions at the capital of Lithuania were extraordinary events that attracted key politicians of the time and some active nobility, which would not participate in great numbers but still were more actively than at other forums, such as inaugurations and sessions of the Lithuanian Tribunal. Republican conventions were initiated in 1698 and ended in 1703. Both 1701 conventions held their meetings in Vilnius alongside the Vilnius sessions of the Lithuanian Tribunal. First of the conventions took place at the eve of the Sejm of the Republic, and the second one soon after the Sejm, thus problems discussed in the conventions were closely related to the agenda of the Sejm of the Polish and Lithuanian state. Keywords: Grand Duchy of Lithuania, eighteenth century, Great Northern War, Lithuanian Civil War, the Sapiehas, August II, confederation, republicans, Vilnius.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-203
Author(s):  
Elena Karpina

The article is dedicated to the study of the religious problems of Vs. S. Solovyov’s historical novel “The Princess of Ostrog”, the central plot conflict of which is an open struggle between the Orthodoxy and the Catholicism that broke out in the 16th century in The Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the process of analysing the designated aspect of the text the author comes to the conclusion that the images of Konstantin, Halshka and Beata Ostrozhsky considered in the paper are a clear embodiment of the three possible life aspirations of the people who lived in the era recreated by the author: the struggle for the Orthodoxy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; asserting one’s right to profess the Orthodoxy; propaganda of the Catholicism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Alexandra Carleton

Constitutionalism may be gaining ascendancy in many countries in Africa. Yet thorough investigation of the extent to which current constitutions accord to the people their internationally recognised right to governance of their mineral wealth under Article 1(2) of the ICCPR has been lacking. Understanding the existing framework of rights which may support claims to land and natural resources is important. Constitutions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Zambia demonstrate the reality of multiple, overlapping land interests and the limitations upon a people's claim to freely govern their mineral wealth.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 107-121
Author(s):  
Lilia Kowkiel ◽  
Arvydas Pacevičius ◽  
Iwona Pietrzkiewicz

Historians and publishers of historical sources have a lot of problems with the texts written in different languages and alphabets, which were created at different times, in the multilingual areas inhabited by many nations following different religions. The historians of book culture have the same problems with texts of inventories and catalogues of books, which are the primary source of knowledge about the content of libraries. At present it’s also important the historical texts to be published in the digital form. This article is a part of the discussion on this very important subject.


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