scholarly journals The Jews of Lithuania During the Muscovite Occupation (1655–1660)

2009 â—˝  
Vol 14 (1) â—˝  
pp. 53-70
Author(s):  
Elmantas Meilus

This article deals with the situation of the Jews in 1654 at the beginning of the Muscovite invasion of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It is maintained that that was the main reason to the disasters that befell the Jewry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The extant sources (mainly relating to Vilnius) show that in the occupied western lands of the GDL the attitude of the Russian authorities towards the Jews was more relaxed than in the eastern lands inhabited by the Orthodox. Seeking to win the favour of the population of the occupied territory, the Russians tried the Jews and the Christians by the same laws at least in areas where their jurisdiction was introduced. That could mean that Muscovy had no definite programme concerning the Jews at least in the western part of the GDL, inhabited mainly by the Catholics. Meanwhile, the Jews, despite the hostile attitude of the local population – that was attested by the plea of Vilnius authorities to the tsar to evict the Jews from the city – managed to find a way of coexistence both with the locals and the authorities of the occupiers. The sources show that even after the tsar’s indication to remove the Jews they continued to reside in the city.

2020 â—˝  
Vol 3 (1) â—˝  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
SERGIUSZ ŁUKASIEWICZ

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to explain the activities of the Communist Party of Western Belarus in Vilnius during the fi rst half of the thirties of the twentieth century. The author’s aim is to show the organisation, theory and practice of this illegal party. Further-more, the intention is to present the activities of Vilnius police towards communist sym-pathizers and activists. Founded in 1923 in Vilnius, the Communist Party of Western Belaruswas a branch of The Communist Party of Poland. This organization like the polish communist party was illegal. Its aim was to combat the Polish state and to perform electioneering for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Although the name of the party could indicate a desire for independence of Belarus, in practice it was for the removal of the north eastern provinces of the Second Republic of Poland to the USSR. CPWB activity had a special dimension in Vilnius. As the region’s largest city and former capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnus was home for many nations, religions and cultures. Moreover, Vil-nius was the most important fi eld for communist action. Given the number of inhabitants, industrialized multi-ethnic character, communists had the opportunity to develop wide subversive and conspiratorial work. In addition, the city was the great centre of production and distribution of communist publications, which allowed the spread of propaganda in both its administrative boundaries and in the Vilnius Voivodeship.


Author(s):  
O. Yashchuk
Keyword(s):  
The Third â—˝  
Complete Form â—˝  
The Right â—˝  
Grand Duchy â—˝  

The article is devoted to the problem of representations of supreme authority in the Belarusian-Lithuanian chronicles through a prism of the notices about the gaining and deprivation of the power of the ruler. The author analyzed the first redaction of the Belarusian-Lithuanian chronicles that containing the "Chronicle of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania”, the second redaction that containing the "Chronicle of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania” and the third redaction ("Bychowiec Chronicle”). The study highlighted several ways of the supreme authority’s legitimation: by right of establishment, by right of inheritance, by right of conquest, by the acceptance of the local population, by the electoral way, by the coup if the organizers of it belonging to the ruling dynasty. It should be noted that the way of justifying the right to power through to underscores of blood ties and prince's enthronement of the son of the previous ruler or less often brother is the main way of gaining the power in the chronicles. The article gives a detailed analysis of features of the chronicle notices about the coronation of the representatives of the Gediminids dynasty. In addition, the notices about the deprivation of the authority usually as a result of the death of the ruler are investigated in the article. Notices of the death of the ruler in contradistinction to notices about the enthronement are mainly the fact statements. In the most complete form, the notes of the death of the ruler include the information about a long successful reign, facts of the ruler death and information about the birth and enthronement of the successor.


Istoriya â—˝  
2021 â—˝  
Vol 12 (9 (107)) â—˝  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Iuliia Stepanova

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the territorial, administrative and settlement structure of Toropets and Toropets uezd at the end of the 15th — 16th centuries. During the period when Toropets was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it was influenced by its peripheral position and its status as a state settlement, direct tax collection and at the same time maintaining relative independence. Communal traditions inherited from the Old Russian period were also preserved. The involvement of both urban and rural population in crafts activities was recorded, which influenced the formation of special territories (perevaras) in the Toropets uezd. The territories of volosts and a perevaras according to the scribe book of 1540 were localized. The territories of perevaras were within the borders of volosts. The inhabitants of the volosts and the townspeople of Toropets owned the side honey trees. In the city, the yards of shabry are recorded — the collective landowners, and in the county, on the territory of the crossing — the “nest” of settlements under a generalizing name, which served as a means of identifying the object of taxation. After Toropets joined the Moscow state, these features remain. However, the community land ownership and honey craft gradually decline throughout the 16th century.


Author(s):  
Alla Bortnikova

The political and legal analysis of the principles of organization and main directions of the city government in Lutsk activity according to the normative and legal acts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania supreme authority and materials of local administrative and judicial institutions in the conditions of the of Magdeburg lawimplementation has been carried out. Grand privilege to the city of Lutsk for the Magdeburg law in 1497 has been considered in details. The city’s government structure, its bodies’ functions: council and lava and chief officials ─ Vogt, Landvogt, burgomasters, advisers and lavnyks have been found out. The activities of the local government officials’ in the field of administration and justice, tax and customs policy, the organization of bids and fairs, support for the development of a handicraft trade, etc. has been revealed. It has been proven, that that in the middle of the 16thcentury the city government in Lutsk actually gained the value of a higher judicial and administrative body for the burghers who belonged to the jurisdiction of the city self- government. The confirmation of this was the participation of members of the city council and lava in criminal cases and taking over of such sentences as the death penalty. Considerable attention has been paid to the issue of the rights and freedoms of burghers’ protectiongranted to them by Magdeburg law and local customs  from attacks of the landowners and city officials. The examples of the conflict’s resolution between Lutsk burghers and property owners in connection with the unauthorized placement by private landowners of private customs and the unlawful introduction of bids have been given. It has been proven, that theviolations of ancient customs and traditions in the field of customs and tax policy, as well as other abuse of local authorities and landowners met with collective resistance from the burghers of Magdeburg jurisdiction. During their appeal by the Lutsk burghers, the Grand Duke stood on the side of the burghers, confirming the authority and power of the urban community, as well as respect to the traditions and law, that was publicly demonstrated by the supreme power. Keywords: Grand Duchy of Lithuania, local self-government, the Magdeburg law, city, Luts’k, burghers, council, lava, administration, court


2021 â—˝  
pp. 328-343
Author(s):  
Maria Kalinowska

This text deals with the depiction of Vilnius in the work of Mieczysław Limanowski, geologist, co-founder of the Reduta Theatre Company, art and theatre critic, and professor at the Stefan Batory University. The author, drawing on the work of specialists from various fields, presents a semiotics of Vilnius in Limanowski’s writing. In his depiction of the city and the larger region, reflections on nature and culture and interwoven, and thus his work is an outstanding early example of modern cultural geography. In his vision of Lithuania and Vilnius we can identify such interdisciplinary traits as the motive of the road and the theme of transcendence, along with spirituality recorded in the cultural code of the city. In Limanowski’s writing on Vilnius his reflections on the Gates of Dawn and on the Church of Saint Nicolas are particularly noteworthy.


2002 â—˝  
Vol 30 (2) â—˝  
pp. 503-512
Author(s):  
Kestutis Nastopka

The paper discusses the myth of the founding of Vilnius as an example of a myth of city foundation. The myth has received two independent semiotic interpretations. Narrative grammar procedures are applied to the analysis of the mythical story and the semantic code generating the story in the paper “Gediminas’ Dream (Lithuanian myth of city foundation: an attempt at analysis)” by Algirdas Julien Greimas (1971). The sovereignty ideology expressed in the myth, which describes religious and spiritual culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, is linked to the tri-functional model of the IndoEuropean social structure. The semantics of the Vilnius myth is seen as analogous with such Indo-European myths as king’s accession to the throne and creation of a city-state. The Lithuanian myth of Vilnius is linked paradigmatically to the Indo-European mythology in the study “Vilnius, Wilno, Vil’na: City and myth” by Vladimir Toporov (1980). At the level of the signifier, phonological equivalents of toponyms of Vilnius are traced. At the level of the signified, transformations of the “core” Indo-European myth are identified. The myth of the city foundation can be read both as a figurative form of cultural expression and as an ideology narrated as a plot of a story. In this view, the paradigmatic and syntagmatic approaches complement each other.


2021 â—˝  
Vol 2021 (6) â—˝  
pp. 43-59
Author(s):  
Petro Kulakovsky â—˝  

The article analyzes such an important aspect of the functioning of offices in Ukrainian lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as material support. The focus is on positions that have survived the Lithuanian era and continued to be distributed by monarchs after the Union of Lublin in 1569. The central place was occupied by the palatinus (voivode), which, however, existed only in the Kyiv region. The Kyiv voivode had considerable resources at his disposal, which were of territorial origin can be divided into three groups. The first was income from their voivodship in uniform taxes, privilegia, and duties, which burdened various segments of society in Kyiv. The second group was formed at the expense of the Grand Duke for voivode preferences for the collection of tribute from territories that have not traditionally been within the jurisdiction of Kyiv voivode. The source of the third group was the goodwill of the Grand Duke in Vilna. The funds of this group were allocated directly from the states thesaurus. Already the very structure of income of the head of the Kyiv region indicates a permanent lack of resources for providing various functions assigned to it and primarily related to defense and diplomatic missions to the Crimea. Hence the need for periodic and sometimes constant subsidies aimed at the effective implementation of the voivode’s responsibilities. From this point of view, the position of the capitaneus, especially of the Southern Kyiv region, looked a little better. Significant profits were brought to them by tributes from trapers and Cossacks, various duties, including court, business taxes on the territory of old age. Indirect income was also given by labor duties imposed on the local population. The degree of subordination of these elders to the voivode was relatively insignificant. The institute of capitaneus in Volhyn was even more important given the absence in the region such a government as a voivode. Marshal of the Volhynian land, who was a conditional analog of the Kyiv voivode, had only military power in the region, and his income depended on capitaneatus, which went complete with the office of marshal (Lutsk or Volodymyr). The governments of the claviger, praefectus castrorum, and pontonarius functioned in both regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Their power was concentrated in the key castles of both lands – Kyiv, Lutsk, Volodymyr, Kremenets and the jurisdiction of the locksmith concerned the tenuta – settlements within the old age, the income from which should have gone to public needs. The influence of crown law should be explained by the appearance of vexillator and tribunus, whose activities involved little material support. The reform of 1565–1566 marked the beginning of the work of the succamerarium and terrestre judicium, which became the organs of the gentry municipality. Activities of chanceries and presence of officials there included in the terrestris hierarchy – succamerarius, terrestris judex, subjudex, and notarius, provided for the provision of judicial, notarial, and surveying services on a paid basis. In general, the material support of the governments of the Ukrainian lands of the Grand Duchy Lithuanian was not systematic. Often, especially concerning Kyiv voivode, the prince approved the decision on additional funding from the treasury. Reform 1565–1566 did not add organization in this regard. Instead, it was a plus regulation of sources of funding for newly formed governments – succamerarius, terrestris judex, subjudex, and notarius.


Bibliotheca Lituana â—˝  
2012 â—˝  
Vol 2 â—˝  
pp. 107-121
Author(s):  
Lilia Kowkiel â—˝  
Arvydas Pacevičius â—˝  
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.


10.1558/cis.29620 â—˝  
2017 â—˝  
Vol 10 (2) â—˝  
pp. 157-177
Author(s):  
Egdūnas Račius

Muslim presence in Lithuania, though already addressed from many angles, has not hitherto been approached from either the perspective of the social contract theories or of the compliance with Muslim jurisprudence. The author argues that through choice of non-Muslim Grand Duchy of Lithuania as their adopted Motherland, Muslim Tatars effectively entered into a unique (yet, from the point of Hanafi fiqh, arguably Islamically valid) social contract with the non-Muslim state and society. The article follows the development of this social contract since its inception in the fourteenth century all the way into the nation-state of Lithuania that emerged in the beginning of the twentieth century and continues until the present. The epitome of the social contract under investigation is the official granting in 1995 to Muslim Tatars of a status of one of the nine traditional faiths in Lithuania with all the ensuing political, legal and social consequences for both the Muslim minority and the state.


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