Namų užpuolimai XVIII amžiaus Vilniuje – bajorų nusikaltimas miesto erdvėje / Home Invasions in 18th Century Vilnius: Nobility Crime in Urban Environment

Abstract

The article sets out to analyze organized home invasions – a rare, yet nearly annually recorded, violent crime in Vilnius. This crime included offences against a person’s health, life and property. The article investigates the content of the legal norms of that time on the crimes of this type; it analyzes the statistics and motives of home invasions and addresses the issue of lawfulness (‘restoration of justice’ by force), objects, the social situation of plaintiffs and defendants, the degree of violence as well as the sentences imposed for the crimes of this type. Keywords: Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, nobility, courts, crimes, houses, manor houses. Summary Home invasions in a city was a rather rare crime committed by the nobility, which did inflict excessive violence but it was nevertheless an audacious offence. Legal historians did not categorize it as a separate criminal offence, but the context of the research dealing with the crimes committed by the nobility in Vilnius district enables us to investigate this crime in isolation from the raids on estates carried out in the rural environment. Home invasion is close to other crimes committed in the urban environment – contusions, robbery, theft. During the period in question around 84 cases of home invasions in Vilnius were identified; roughly one in three crimes of this type took place at night. The most common motive for home invasions was disputes over ownership; however, there are also cases when home invasions were driven by financial disagreements, revenge or simply an attempt to embezzle other’s property by force. As a rule, home invasions were targeted at private buildings, but there were also cult objects, such as the invasion into the Augustinian Church in Saviciaus street, Vilnius Orthodox Monastery, as well as the buildings of public authorities – Vilnius Tower Prison and Vilnius Garrison. The social composition of invaders and their victims was varied; invaders were predominantly the nobles who did not hold any posts in the public service. Both direct subordinates of landlords as well as people “from the outside”, mostly representatives of the urban environment, were in the company of invaders. Outbursts of harsh violence were rather rare; there is information on a single death followed by contusion; severe traumas were rare. The nature of this crime was determined by specific city conditions – a stronger police control and a high number of the people who could become witnesses to the crime. Similarly to other crimes, sentences were rarely imposed for home invasions in Vilnius; there are several instances of banishment (exile) and infamy (deprivation of honour). However, there is no information on their practical enforcement. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15823/istorija.2016.08