scholarly journals Manuscript Books: Collections of Political Life Materials from the Area of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Dating Back to the 17th and 18th Centuries in Libraries, Archives and Museums in Poland

Knygotyra ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 171-202
Author(s):  
Maciej Matwijów
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Public Life ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Public Activity ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Grand Duchy

The article discusses manuscript books – collections of public life materials created in the 17th and 18th centuries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, now located in Poland. They were created mainly by nobles and by chancellery clerks and officials employed at magnates’ and state dignitaries’ courts as an expression of the interests of collectors or documentary and historiographical concerns, and sometimes also as support for public activity. They contained various materials related to conducting, documenting and recording public life. The present overview is based on an identification of copies and on the information contained in printed and online manuscript catalogues and inventories. The number of surviving manuscripts of that type can be hypothetically estimated at ca. 400–500 copies, with ca. 100 copies identified in Poland. Their largest collection is held in the Radvilos Archives, part of the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, with single copies scattered across different libraries and museums. The oldest ones date back to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The greatest value should be attributed to several manuscripts originating from the Radvilos of Biržai community from the mid-17th century. Other valuable manuscripts include some made by common nobles, especially in the 17th century, as they often contain unique materials, unknown from elsewhere, as well as those created in the circles of the Sapiegos and Radvilos of Nyasvizh magnate families. Standing out among the latter are miscellanies created during the first three decades of the 18th century by Kazimierz Złotkowski, secretary of the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Karolis Stanislovas Radvila. These books attest to the integration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s nobility and magnates with other lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They largely contain materials relating to public life of the whole Commonwealth, while often including materials relating to local issues.

scholarly journals Trakai Castle Court Acts of 1660–1661: Typological and Language Characteristics

2021 ◽  
pp. 101-115
Author(s):  
Viktorija Ušinskienė
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Reference Book ◽  
Court Records ◽  
Local Courts ◽  
Vilnius University ◽  
Language Characteristics ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Grand Duchy

The paper deals with the local court records of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) from the collection of Vilnius University. The study of Trakai Castle Court documentation of 1660‒1661 (F7–TPT, 1660‒1661) allows us to conclude that the chancery work in local courts in the GDL was highly developed at the time. The system of documents’ drawing up and registering was clearly regulated and structured, taking into account the needs of state and public life. Almost all types of court records were composed according to well-defined canons, owing to which we can speak about certain genres of legal documentation that had developed apparently by the end of the 16th and the middle of the 17th centuries. The manuscript written in Polish and Ruthenian languages is important for research of Lithuanian, Polish and Byelorussian history. The abundance of accumulated information enables us to consider it as unique reference book that reflects changing sociolinguistic situation of the GDL. From the middle of the 17th century, Polish starts to significantly dominate in legal documentation, thus forces Ruthenian out of court by the end of the century.

scholarly journals Jėzuitai Sapiegų hegemonijos bei vidaus karo Lietuvoje akivaizdoje

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020/1 ◽  
pp. 53-78
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Society Of Jesus ◽  
Internal Conflicts ◽  
The Family ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Great Northern War ◽  
Grand Duchy

The article analyses the attitude of the Jesuits towards the hegemony of the Sapieha family in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Jesuits’ standpoint and tactics and the changes they underwent in the last decade of the 17th – the first decade of the 18th century when Lithuania was shaken by internal conflicts which at the turn of the century escalated to a civil war. Making use of the Jesuit archives the author analyses: 1) the conflict between the bishop of Vilnius Konstanty Kazimierz Brzostowski and Vilnius academy which evolved in 1691–1693 around the disagreements with regard to the Bishop’s prerogatives as the chancellor of the Academy and his power over the students; 2) The dire situation of monks amidst the conflict between the bishop of Vilnius and the grand hetman of Lithuania and the voivoide of Vilnius Kazimierz Jan Sapieha; 3) the attitude of the Jesuits towards the anti-Sapieha opposition and actions of the former as the conflict escalated to the civil war which later blended into the Great Northern War. The author emphasises the dependence of Jesuits upon the Sapieha family which not only financially supported the institutions of the order but also had a powerful leverage in the possibility to manipulate by means of quartering their army on the estates and collection of hiberna taxes. The article also points out the fact that the Jesuits contributed to the prestige of the grand hetman of Lithuania and his family, therefore the nobility in opposition to the Sapiehas suspected the Jesuits of being in sympathy with the family. This was accountable for the ill relations between the Jesuits and the anti-Sapieha opposition, the so-called republicans. Only when on 18 November 1700 the Sapiehas were defeated at the battle of Valkininkai, Jesuits were forced to look for new patrons and made effort to establish connections with the republican leaders. KEYWORDS: Society of Jesus, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Sapieha, Konstanty Kazimierz Brzostowski, civil war, Great Northern War (1700–1721), political history, 17th century, 18th century

scholarly journals Lithuanian aspirations for an equality with the Crown in the 17th century. An attempt to systematize

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-187
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Ziober
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Government Institutions ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Vice Chancellors ◽  
Grand Duchy

AbstractThe activity of representatives of the elites of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which sought equality with the Crowners, but also the defense of their prerogatives was present from the first days after the signing of the Lublin Union. Analyzing this issue, it should be remembered that the Crown and Lithuania were separated state bodies, which union did not merge into one country, but formed a federal state. They were characterized by a separate treasury, army, offices, judiciary, law, local government institutions, i.e. basically everything that determines the administrative independence of the country. Lithuanians wanted to guarantee the same rights as the Crown nobility had, however, remaining separate. Thus, offices were established having the same prerogatives in the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, such as the Grand and Field Hetman, Chancellor and Vice-Chancellors, Treasurer and Grand and Court Marshal, as well as a number of land and town dignities and dignitaries. The first of these were allocated appropriate seats in the senate, behind their crown counterparts, which caused quarrels between Poles and Lithuanians. However, manifestations of activity guaranteeing and “reminding” Poles of Lithuania’s separateness from the Crown were evident throughout the entire existence of the federal Commonwealth.

scholarly journals The Image of Lithuania in English Publications in the 17th Century

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-118
Author(s):  
Gintautas Sliesoriūnas
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Related Issue ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
English Society ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Grand Duchy ◽  
West European

In the 17th century, as contacts between citizens of England, which was gaining increasing importance in Europe, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) intensified, the phenomenon of the image of Lithuania in English and Scottish societies, as well as the level of their knowledge about the GDL, became more important. The issue of mentioning Lithuania in West European historical sources and the related issue of the image of Lithuania in the region in the 16th–17th centuries has already been analysed in Lithuania, albeit not thoroughly enough. However, the question of the image of Lithuania in English publications in the 17th–18th centuries still requires more detailed analysis. This article discusses Lithuania-related facts that could have been familiar not only to the narrow circle of people that were in close contact with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but also to wider well-read English and Scottish society. The few educated members of English society who had an interest in learning more about Lithuania had access to publications in various languages published in different countries. However, this article dwells almost exclusively on publications in the English language dating from the 17th century that facilitated the rendering of knowledge and opinions about Lithuania to a much wider circle of people who read in the English language.

scholarly journals Antropologiczna orientacja słowa 'prawo' w twórczości Adama Mickiewicza

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 121-139
Author(s):  
Maria Teresa Lizisowa
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Bad Faith ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
The World ◽  
Symbolic Meanings ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Grand Duchy

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.

scholarly journals About Seraph’s arrow and St. Michael’s shield. A poem by priest Dominik Zabłocki OP for Countess Teresa Barbara Radziwill Pac on the occasion of her name day

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-64
Author(s):  
Regina Jakubėnas
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Intensive Development ◽  
Grand Duchy ◽  
Male Lineage

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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document