Grand Duchy Research Articles

Parliamentary procedure in the Finnish Parliamentary Reform of 1906. A safeguard of democracy or an obstacle to democratization?

ABSTRACT This article explores the debates and innovations in parliamentary procedure in the Finnish Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. It focuses on the radical parliamentary and suffrage reform of 1905-06, when Finland’s outdated Diet of four Estates was replaced by a unicameral parliament elected through universal male and female suffrage. Until then, Finland had been a latecomer in parliamentary development, with reformists eager to study and apply European experiences, models, and concepts. These European influences inspired Finnish actors to pursue procedural innovations while balancing the risks and benefits of the dramatic reform. While many parliaments were struggling with limited time and considered imposing restrictions on the right to speak, Finnish reformists chose a different path, embracing the traditional ideals of careful, thorough, and multivoiced deliberation. This approach became heavily politicized and was particularly challenged by socialist newcomers, leading to an open struggle between competing concepts of democracy and parliament.

The Hostage in the Law of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania up to the First Lithuanian Statute (1529)

The hostage institution in the Law of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania has got an exhaustive historiography, that's why the manifestation of this institution in the earliest written source of GDL and the regulation of its standards up to the First Lithuanian Statute is discussed in this article.The information about the hostage up to the middle of the 15th century is fragmentary (the exception is the privilege of Duke Vytautas to the Brasta Jewish community in 1388). However, in the 2nd half of the 15th century - the beginning of the 16th century, the acts of the Lithuanian Metrica and other acts allow us to disclose the essence of the hostage, the object and the subject of the hostage law, the continuation, the procedure of return of the hostage, and so on.The First Lithuanian Statute legalized the main standards of the hostage law, though they were reflected in a many-sided way in court practice.

Beginnings of Polish archaeological museums in the 19th century

The first Polish archaeological museums or those with archaeological departments – institutions dealing withgathering collections, conducting research, organizing exhibitions and publishing works devoted to archaeology, as it was understood at that time – began to be established in the mid-19th century. They were created by scientific societies or on the initiative of private individuals. They were: the Museum of Antiquities of the Kraków Scientific Society, the Museum of Antiquities in Vilnius, the Museum of Polish and Slavic Antiquities in the Grand Duchy of Poznań, the Museum of the Toruń Scientific Society, the Museum of the Lubomirski Princes in Lviv and the Dzieduszycki Natural History Museum in Lviv. The article discusses the beginnings of Polish archaeological museums, their creation, the scope and shape of the collections, methods of obtaining artefacts, the headquarters and the further fate of these institutions.

The Image of Alexander Menshikov in the «Polish Iliad» of Janusz Wiśniowiecki

The biography of Alexander Menshikov is one of the most popular topics among the scholars, who deal with the Peter the Great’s epoch. The main reason for this is his rapid climbing up the social ladder, when the Tsar’s favorite tried to prove his noble origin. Accordingly, it caused the early emergence of different myths and legends, concerning the Menshikov’s youth, the beginning of the friendship between him and Tsar Peter I. At the same time many disputable episodes of his biography remain unclear and obscure. «Ilias Polski» («The Polish Iliad»), the memoirs of the Polish aristocrat Janusz Wiśniowiecki contain some new facts about Menshikov’s biography, supplement the evidences, which were known before as well as describes his ambiguous role in the Russian-Polish relations during the Second Northern War 1700–1721. Wiśniowiecki doubted the Menshikov’s noble origin and described some cases that confirm his greed and arrogance. At the same time the author stressed his bravery, fidelity to Tsar Peter the Great, military aptitude and recognizes the favorite’s support in the case of release of his brother, the great hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki from the Russian captivity.

Research of lithuanian metric in Ukraine

The article discusses research conducted by Ukrainian historians on the Lithuanian Metrica or Metrica of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This powerful complex comprises 663 storage units in the Russian State Archives of Ancient Documents (Moscow), as well as several original copies in the Central Archives of Historical Records (Warsaw). The act material in these books enables the study of political, military, economic, social, legal, and other facets of the history of Central and Eastern European countries. The chronological scope spans from the late 1970s of the XX century and until today. The article commences with a scholarly analysis of M. Kovalskyi’s works. Additionally, it provides an overview of monographs, articles, and dissertations referencing the materials from the Lithuanian Metrica. Specifically, it discusses the scholarly contributions of H. Boriak, P. Kulakovskyi, Yu. Sviatets, H. Vynohradov, S. Abrosymova, V. Atamanenko, O. Diachok, O. Rusyna, L. Demchenko, V. Polishchuk, D. Vashchuk, A. Blanutsa, L. Zherebtsova.

Was Grand Duchy of Lithuania a Federation?

According to received wisdom in the historiography of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL), going back to M. Dovnar-Zapolski, M. Liubavski, O. Halecki, the territorial form of government in the GDL was federal in the late XV-early XVI century. The paper critically reviews the arguments advanced in favor of this thesis and argues that the concept of empire describes the territorial organization of GDL in a more accurate way. The criticism of the federalist theory is grounded in the conceptual analysis of the state forms provided by the distinguished Lithuanian historian and law theorist Mykolas Rėimeris (1880-1945). In his analysis, M. Rėimeris draws the distinction between a unitary state and three types of state compounds: federation, confederation, and empire. While federation and empire share the principle of subordination as the mode of organization, in the empire this is the subordination to a privileged metropole territory and cultural-ethnic group, while in federation all territories are subordinated to the federal center on parity grounds, all participating in federal government. Supplementing M. Rėimeris' ideas with those from the contemporary comparative sociological research on empires and imperialism (S. Eisenstadt, M. Doyle, A. Motyl, Ch. Tilly), the author argues that GDL was an empire because relations between Lithuania in the strict sense (including also some Russian lands annexed by the early XV century) and Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Volynia, Kiev, Samogitia, etc. were those of subordination of the periphery to the imperial metropole. The proponents of the federalist thesis mistake as federalism what in reality was a system of indirect rule characteristic for premodern empires. The historiographical tradition was blind to imperial features of GDL because it implicitly or explicitly compared GDL with the Moscow state, considering it as a paradigmatic case of empires. However, the Moscow empire represents only one specific type of empire - Westphalian empire, distinguished by the early application of direct rule. While most medieval polities were transformed into sovereign territorial states and Westphalian empires in the early modern time, GDL was unique in following the path of federalization. However, GDL was transformed into a federation only on the eve of the Lublin Union in 1569, while in the XIV-first half of the XVI century it was a traditional empire, including metropolitan military agrarian domains and indirectly ruled peripheral areas shading into areas of mere hegemony.

Идеология, топонимия, политика памяти: история переименований в странах Балтии

The article presents an analysis of the toponymy of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in historical retrospect and the relationship with local memory politics. The practice of changing geographical names was carried out and continues to be carried out in line with the Baltic historical policy and such fundamental components as ethnocentrism, the fight against the consequences of “Soviet occupation” and decommunization. At the same time, toponymy was transformed most uniformly and consistently in Estonia and Latvia, due to similar historical development. The dynamics of changes in Lithuanian geographical objects are more specific due to the experience of their own statehood in the person of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as changes in borders in 1939.

Public participation in the administration of justice during the polish-lithuanian period (14th – first half of the 17th century)

The scientific article examines the development and functioning of the judicial system on Ukrainian lands during the Polish-Lithuanian rule (14th – first half of the 17th century). The main focus is on the multi-level structure of judicial authority, which included the central power represented by the prince and boyars, as well as local power exercised by appointed officials such as voivodes, volostels, and posadniks. It is established that the legal heritage of Kyivan Rus significantly influenced the judicial system of Ukrainian lands during the Lithuanian principality, providing stability and consistency in legal regulation. The implementation of Magdeburg Law in certain cities is discussed, which brought new legal standards and granted some autonomy to urban communities. The role of various forms of public justice, such as veche, arbitration, kopa, communal, peace, and bench courts, is identified. The analysis covers kopa (communal) courts, which had survived since the times of Kyivan Rus and operated based on ancient Rus law. It is emphasized that kopa courts existed on Ukrainian lands both in the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Their uniqueness lay in the participation of representatives from all social strata, which ensured a wide range of opinions and experiences. This form of justice involved the consideration of various cases, including land disputes, criminal offenses, inheritance issues, and other civil matters. Despite the spread of German law, which introduced new legal standards and procedures, kopa courts remained important institutions, especially in rural communities. Kopa courts were an integral part of the legal system of Ukrainian lands during the medieval period, ensuring access to justice for all social strata and playing an important role in maintaining social justice and legal order. A separate section of the article is dedicated to Wallachian law, which spread in the western Ukrainian lands in the 14th century and provided for a democratic form of justice through judicial veche. In summary, the coexistence of different legal systems – German, Rus, and Wallachian law – created a multifaceted legal culture that met the needs of various societal layers and ensured the stability and predictability of judicial decisions on Ukrainian lands during the medieval period.

The Spaces and Places of Jewish Emancipation during the Vormärz

Abstract During the revolutionary era, Jews in the new Grand Duchy of Baden were given hope that full citizenship and integration would eventually be achieved. However, not every location or space in the Grand Duchy was inclusive, as Jews were excluded from most areas in civil society and the state. The Rhein-Neckar region (including the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg), however, proved to be a location where close contact between Jews and Christians was not only more regular, but an important facet of the developing liberal society—whether that was in the newspapers, the classroom, or bourgeois associations. These so-called ‘fraternal spaces’ shaped the individuals and were shaped by those individuals who came through them. In the case of the Rhein-Neckar region, this led to Jewish-Christian relationships that had an indelible impact on the blossoming liberal movement of the Vormärz as well as the lead-up to the 1848 revolutions.

Protestant German books in Protestant libraries of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th-17th centuries

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Kiedy zaczyna się ojczyzna? O wschodniosłowiańskim koncepcie ojczyzna w aspekcie historycznym

The central topic of this paper is the Slavic concept of homeland in its historical aspect. It will be discussed here with the example of two East Slavic areas: the Moscow Russia and the Belarusian residents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The time span covered is the later pre-national period, i.e. the 17th-18th c. In this context, more global questions are also addressed, concerning the differences between these two areas, as well the main characteristics of the Moscow culture that makes it substantially different from the European culture and worldview.

Ojczyzna w przekładach biblijnych XVI wieku, powstałych na terytorium Rzeczpospolitej i Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego

The article presents an analysis of the concept of homeland in 16th-c. Biblical translations produced on the territory of Poland (the late period of the Jagiellonian dynasty and early Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Those include translations into Polish: the Catholic Leopolita Bible (1561) and the Jakub Wujek Bible (1599), the Protestant Radziwiłł or Brest Bible (1563), the Arian translation by Symon Budny (the Nesvizh Bible) (1572), as well as into Church Slavonic: the Ostrog Bible (1580–1581) or a hybrid translation by Francis Skaryna (1517–1519). It is argued that despite religious and linguistic differences, Biblical translations reveal a large number of similarities. Based on the analysis of these similarities, it can be assumed that the 16th century was a turning point in the development of the concept of homeland, and its formation in the modern understanding was influenced, in different ways, by both the New and the Old Testament.

Orthodox Christians in Lithuania

Abstract In this article we will examine how ethnicity (Russians and Russian speakers of mixed ethnic identities) and religion (Orthodoxy) interact and construct ethnoreligious identity in the case of Orthodox Christians in Lithuania. To investigate these aspects, the article will draw on data from qualitative fieldwork (2019–2021) and the analysis of articles from the official journal of the archdiocese of Vilnius and Lithuania. We argue that for the Orthodox community in Lithuania, the historically established close links of Orthodoxy with Russian Orthodox tradition and Russian identity are important today. However, a significant part of the Lithuanian Orthodox community identifies with the global (Byzantium) and/or local (Grand Duchy of Lithuania) Orthodox tradition and faces the challenge of including the Lithuanian language in religious education and practices.

Methodological Perspectives on Smuggling: The GDL-Prussia Borderlands in the Late Eighteenth Century

ABSTRACT In this article we explore the customs system of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) along its border with Prussia in the late eighteenth century, using as primary sources four inspection reports submitted to the GDL’s Treasury Commission between 1788 and 1792. We focus primarily on the extent of smuggling practices, the state of the customs administration, and the amount of revenues collected from cross-border trade. Our research is an example of a spatial humanities project, and for this reason we are primarily interested in methodological questions. More specifically, we employ a mixed methods analytical framework that includes GIS mapping, qualitative spatial reasoning (QSR), and corpus linguistics to explore the borderlands of the GDL at multiple scales of analysis. We do so to illustrate how a mix of methods and tools can shed new light on the degree of control exerted by the GDL along its border with Prussia.

Литовський рід Монтовтів (Монтовтів Коблинських) на Волині в XV–XVI ст.

The joint development of Lithuanian and Ukrainian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th–16th centuries fostered inter-ethnic family ties. One of such cases was the Lithuanian family of Montovt, known in Volhynia since the second half of the 15th century. The article looks at the history of the family of Montovt. The Grand Duke of Luthuania bestowed upon Mykhailo Montovtovych, a member of this family, the most important administrative office in Volhynia – starosta of Lutsk, and the latter’s descendants settled in Volhynia permanently. Jakub Montovtovych, the younger son of Mykhailo Montovovych, whilst serving as starosta of Kremenets, received for his service substantial land holdings – volost of Mlyniv together with the town of Koblyn. After the name of the town Volhynian Montovts started to be called the Montovt Koblynskies. The important status of the family of Montovt in Volhynia is evidenced not only by high offices held by some of its members, but also by matrimonial ties: the Montovts established kinship ties with several ducal families, in particular the families of Holshan, Porytsky, Lubetsky and Sokolsky. The most famous from the family of Montovt in the 16th century was Hanna Montovtivna, the daughter of Yan Yakubovich, who was the son of Yakub Mykhailovych. Hanna's destiny, which began happily, had a very sorrowful continuation. When she was 14, her father gave her in marriage to Duke Bogush Lubetsky. In her second marriage, she was the wife of Duke Vasyli Sokolsky. Altogether Hanna was married four times. After the death of her father, her stepmother and her second husband Oleksandr Semashko, trying to appropriate her inheritance, married her against her will to a cruel and uneducated man Pavel Zglychynsky, who deprived her from her property and kept her in prison for 14 years. Freed from the captivity, Hanna tried to divorce her husband, but according to the decree of Lutsk bishop, Zglychynsky only apologized to his wife and promised to treat her well henceforth. Thus, Hanna was forced to forgive him and to continue to live with him in marriage.

FORTIFICATION LINE OF THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA: A NEW STAGE OF DEFENSE ARCHITECTURE OF THE EASTERN EUROPE SPACE

The theme of the history of medieval defensive architecture in the Northern Black Sea region becomes extremely relevant in the realities of the modern history of Ukraine, when the Russian invaders try to capture the southern lands of Ukraine and defend the idea of belonging of these territories to Russia with pseudo-historical concepts of «Russian peace». The results of the historical and archaeological study of the South of Ukraine, especially in recent decades, demonstrate other circumstances of the development of the South. They make it possible to highlight the main trends of the evolution of the region in direct continuity with the previous history of Russia in new historical circumstances. This is the time when the Kyiv principality became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhemaitia, the borders of which reach the Black Sea coast in the late 14th — early 15th century. Here the turbulent activity of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas unfolds in the construction of fortresses, customs houses, the arrangement of crossings and port facilities. The defensive architecture of the Southern region of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhemaitia takes place during the formation of a new map of Eastern Europe, with the presence of Lithuania, the formation of early Ukraine on the heritage of Russia, the formation of the Crimean Tatar people and its statehood, the active activity of the Principality of Moldavia in connection with the presence and influences of Genoa, contacts with Poland, influence of Ottoman Empire and other states of that time. It was the time of construction of the castle fortification, which belonged to the first stage of adaptation of military affairs to the artillery of the contemporary world, which covers the time of the 14th— 16th centuries. The comparative castellology gave the possibilities to study some regularity in the typological model of fortresses. This method was used in the course of study of fortresses of Vitovt’s fortification line, such as Tiagin fortress. It allows establishing the common features of the planning structure of the fortification architecture of the Northern Black Sea region — a new stage of evolution, which was characterized by stone castle architecture. In turn, they met the needs of the stage of development of artillery at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 16th centuries. Medieval Europe, in which the influences of various cultures of the East and the West intersect, new defense opportunities and prospects are developing.

Styli in Vilnius

Stylus is a metal or bone instrument that was used for writing on a birch bark or wax-coated wooden tablets. The tool itself (Greek: stilos; Latin: stilus) originated in antiquity: styli were common in ancient Greece and Rome. In Medieval Rus', which is characterised by an abundance of archaeological finds related to writing, the first styli date back to the 10th century. In the Middle Ages two types of styli were used – made of iron, for writing on birch, and made of animal bone, for writing on waxed tablets. This particular paper focuses on the latter. Medieval bone styli are a very rare find in Lithuanian archaeological material, especially in burial monuments. According to the data from 1998, only 15 graves out of almost 8000 contained styli. Bone styli are also rare in urban cultural layers. In addition, styli found in cities precede those found in burial grounds. Styli found in ethnic Lithuania are identical to those found in other cities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, therefore their origin and spread could be associated with the influence of Ruthenian cities of the duchy. Two medieval burial grounds were found in the earliest towns of pagan Lithuania – Kernavė and Vilnius – where the dead were buried according to the Christian tradition (inhumation of the deceased, the east-west orientation (head to the west), wooden constructions, the scant presence of grave goods, and so forth). The most abundant type of grave goods included ornaments; however no tools or weapons typical of pagan burials were found in these two burial grounds. According to archaeological and historical material, burial grounds in Kernavė and Bokšto Street are nearly contemporaneous, both dating back to 13th–14th century although, the burial ground in Bokšto Street remained in use late as the 15th century. Various arguments are provided in debates on the religious affiliation of those who buried members of their community in these burial grounds. Some researchers disagree that the Orthodox were buried in these two burial grounds in the still pagan Lithuania. The lack of evidence on writing in the layers of the town of Kernavė, that is the absence of styli (except those found on the site of the ruler's castle), birch bark or waxed tablets, is presented as one of the arguments supporting the theory of non-Orthodox burials there. It is well known, that such finds were typical of Rus' cities, especially in Great Novgorod, where 1144 items of birch bark have been found up to 2021. Notably, fewer such finds were found in other cities of the Rus'. During the detailed archaeological investigations on the burial ground in Bokšto Street, several bone styli were found. It must be mentioned, that these artefacts were not found in the horizon of the burial ground, but in the later cultural layer, dating back to the 16th century. The material found is discussed in this paper. We also tried to answer the question of whether these styli could have originated from the horizon of the burial ground and how (or if) they could be associated with the 'Civitas Rutenica', Ruthenian city of Vilnius, which was mentioned in historical sources in 1383.

The Czortoryski Princes Cultural Heritage: the Beginnings of the Family History Archive (15–16 centuries)

The Czortoryski princely family representatives held high government positions first in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and then in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural heritage of the family is extremely extensive: from written documents to architectural monuments on the territory of the modern states: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus. The subject of the article is the history of the Czortoryski princes family archive formation during the 15–16th centuries. Having started since the 40s of the 16th century, the number of written documents increased significantly, so we limited the upper chronological limit with 1524, the death year of Semen Oleksandrovych Czortoryski, the representative of the Lithuanian branch. The origin of the family is connected with the name of Prince Kostiantyn, the son of Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd or his brother Koriat. His own documentary heritage is not known to us. His descendants, namely Vasyl Kostiantynovych and his sons Ivan, Olexandr and Mykhailo are of great importance for the study of the subject matter in this research. Among the documentary materials studied, we note the first grants of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk to Prince Ivan Vasylovych, which are known from later confirmations. This prince left no descendants, and thus it is unlikely that his personal archive has survived. Two other Vasyl Kostiantynovich's sons Olexandr and Mykhailo founded two branches of the family: Lithuanian (Lohoisk/Lohozsk) and Volyn. According to the information from the sources we have found, we can assume that, firstly the family archive dates back to the 40s of the 15th century, when the first source information was recorded, and secondly each family branch kept its family documents separately. Accordingly, two collections were formed: 1) descendants of Oleksandr Vasylovych; 2) descendants of Mykhailo Vasylovych.

Соціотопографія Вільнюса в XVII–XVIII ст.: основні особливості та напрямки розвитку

The article summarises the characteristics of the development of the Vilnius community in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, regarding the context of historical events between the 17th and 18th centuries. The summary is part of a scientific project carried out between 2018 and 2021, based on a research of real estate registers and lists of taxes collected by the magistrate. The research used a statistical method, a spatial relational database and the structured query language (SQL) as well as Python programming language libraries NumPy and Pandas for managing and analysing big data. A detailed description of the study and its results can be found in the collective monograph published in 2021. Based on these sources, the value of real estate in different districts of Vilnius, spatial distribution, size and function of the buildings as well as the distribution of their owners in the city between first half of the 17th and the end of the 18th century were analysed. It was determined that frequent large fires were causing the biggest changes to the spatial structure of Vilnius. The greatest changes in demography and sociotopography were recorded after the occupation of Vilnius by the Moscow army between 1655 and 1661 and plague outbreaks in 1657 and between 1709 and 1710. During these times, the city has lost between 30 and 50 percent of its population. As a result, the mediaeval spatial structure of the old city gradually disappeared and its current appearance was formed with large, almost completely built-up plots of land, elite residences and dominant brick architecture of the Baroque style. The social structure has been partially changed. Poor townspeople and some artisans moved from the city centre to the suburbs. In the fortified centre, most real estate passed from the hands of ordinary citizens to wealthy individuals and organisations, who often acquired entire groups of empty land areas. However, some characteristics of the sociotopography of the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries remained unchanged, including the locations of some areas where social groups were living.

Colophons in Cyrillic Codices as a Unique Socio-Cultural Phenomenon of Early Modern Times

In this research, colophons are studied as an essential component of Cyrillic codices, which were created on the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown of Poland (later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). To write the study, the author analysed more than seventy colophons preserved in manuscripts from the collections of libraries in Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. The earliest colophon is contained in the “Lviv Gospel completed (full) aprakos” 1477, and the latest – the “Kotsuriv Gospel” 1600. The study of the text’s structure showed that these colophons belonged to six types with two subtypes, the classifying feature of which was the initial formula. A detailed analysis of the content of each colophon showed that the main components were the recording of the book’s title, the name of its copyist, its origin, time and place of publication, and mention of the customer or buyer. The analysis of the colophons illustrated the phenomenon of authorial statements of scribes, which consisted of explaining the motives of their work, an idea of their mission, instructions to readers, or a request to correct errors in the text. In the colophons 1594 and 1595 by Stepan Popovych, who was from Trushevychi village, the inadmissibility of stealing codices with an appeal to the Holy Scriptures, in particular the passage Hbr 10,31 with its author’s interpretation, was emphasised quite extensively.