“For the Party Acted Wrong”: Noble Reflection of Court Trials in Volhynia in the Second Half of the 16th — First Half of the 17th Century

Abstract

The article uses documentary material from the act books of Volhynia borough courts to analyze the perception and importance of the court for the Volhynia voivodeship nobility as an institution for protecting its honor and property in the community. The social changes that started in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the conclusion of the Union of Lublin (1596) are highlighted. It is shown that those transformations were a pan-European trend determined by changes at the political, economic, social, cultural, and religious levels. The article singles out criteria which caused class discord in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and presents the two-pronged classification of the federal judicial system including the division into political and civil proceedings. It is noted that the concepts of “honor”, “freedom”, “right”, and “privilege” were crucial for the establishment of a noble corporation.The examples of four cases from borough courts show how noblemen could interpret encroachment on their status, which required the opposing party to behave ethically and respectfully despite the conflict situation. It is traced that the nobility demanded similar respect for its property, which was an important determinant of its place in the community. It is established that the main legislative source of appeal for the voivodeship gentry seeking to preserve its rights were Lithuanian Statutes, namely the Second, so-called Volhynian Statute (1566). It could be used both for the benefit of the injured party and the defense; however, the case was not always solved in favor of the injured. A legally savvy defense attorney could achieve the desired result for their party even in the event of its guilt. The article shows the connection between the noble perception of the law as a system of codification clauses, which protected noblemen from external dangers and social reality of the Commonwealth, with non-legal instruments of a stratified society, where the notions of sedentarity, patron-client relations, and clear knowledge of the specific legal system functioning were important.