THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE OLD CUSTOMS DUTIES IN THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA IN 1710–1717

Abstract

This article analyses the issue of the old customs duties in Lithuania. There were two types of customs duties in Lithuania: old customs duties and new customs duties. The former were all duties imposed by the grand dukes of Lithuania until the mid-sixteenth century, while the latter duties were levied by the Polish-Lithuanian sejms. The nobility were exempted from paying the old customs duties. The income from the old customs duties formed part of the King’s budget to maintain his court, while the income from the new customs duties was part of the Lithuanian state budget. The coaequatio iurum law of 1697 changed the administration of the old customs duties. It determined that the income would be part of Lithuania’s state budget. The Lithuanian treasurer was to administer the old customs duties and pay 50,000 złoties to the king in exchange for a certain fee derived from the duties. Lithuanian treasurer Ludwik Pociej probably dministered the old customs duties from 1703. Having returned to the Commonwealth after his forced abdication, the Polish King Augustus II did not accept the right of the Lithuanian treasurer Michał Kociełł, whom the King appointed to the office in 1710, to administer the old customs duties. The King appointed Jan Szretter as administrator. Later, in 1713, the administration was granted to Stefan Cedrowski and Pinkas Szakowicz. In April of 1715, the administration was transferred to Michał Puzyna. Lithuanian treasurer Michał Kociełł did not renounce his rights to administer the old customs duties. However, his sustained efforts to regain the control were crushed by his arrest under the order of Stefan Cedrowski in late 1713. In 1716, the newly formed Vilnius Confederation, noble union rallied to resist the King’s policy of defying the Commonwealth’s laws, made a claim to the administration of the old customs duties. The dispute on the control of the old customs duties significantly hindered the progress in the peace negotiations between the confederates and the representatives of the King in June and July of 1716. The final agreement foresaw that the control of the old customs duties would be returned to the King, while he would pay a compensation for the administrators of customs houses who had paid the rent to the leaders of the confederation. The old customs duties were one of the few fast cash sources in the early modern Lithuania. This is why the King, the treasurer, and the confederates wanted to keep the administration of these duties in their hands. Lithuanian officials competed for the right to participate in tax farming by paying cash advances to either of the parties for the right to rent certain customs houses. The confederates ardently defended their right to administer the old customs duties not only because of the profit, but also ecause it became a symbol of the dissatisfaction with the King’s policies. By claiming the administration of the old customs duties to himself, the King did not recognize the coequatio iurum law of 1697 which he had confirmed upon his coronation. Such behaviour of the King contradicted the concept of noble democracy.