Vilniaus "aukso amžius". Miesto gyventojai ir svečiai XVI a. 6-7-ajame deš. (Vilniaus vietininko teismo knygų duomenimis)

LTKnygoje analizuojamos išlikusioje Vilniaus vietininko ir kitų pilies teismų medžiagoje atsispindinčios penkios Vilniaus gyventojų grupės, jų ryšiai, užsiėmimai ir profesinė veikla XVI a. 6-7-ajame deš. - Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės sostinės klestėjimo metais. Atskiras dėmesys skirtas daugiausiai atminties apie vilniečius išsaugojusių vietininko teismo knygų istorijai ir teismo procesui, kurio metu rašytos knygos, bei pagrindiniam jų kūrėjui - Vilniaus vietininkui. Aptarti Vilniaus ir į sostinę atvykstantys pirkliai, miesto ir dvare dirbę amatininkai, Vilniaus miestietė ir mieste gyvenusi moteris, tarp gausiai paliudytų etninių mažumų analizuotas totorių atvejis. Šaltiniai suteikė unikalią galimybę pažvelgti ir į jauniausiųjų - vaikų ir jaunuolių gyvenimą mieste. Nustatyta, kad Vilniuje klestėjo prekyba, plėtėsi amatai, nemažai miestiečių vertėsi įvairiomis kitomis veiklomis: miestas aptariamu laikotarpiu išgyveno „aukso amžių“. [Anotacija knygoje]

ENIn the Vilnius Castle Court records of the 1550S-1560S, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania emerges as a dynamic city with a socially and ethnically vibrant and culturally varied public. The description of Vilnius as a state capital city - Vilna Litvaniae Metropolis - in Brauns atlas from 1581 is more than warranted. Vilnius was without question the largest city in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. While there are no sufficiently reliable sources (city officials’ court books or more complete residents’ tax lists) that could provide statistical evidence for the city’s population or its economic potential at the time, we can certainly admit that Vilnius was in the midst of a “golden age” - trade was flourishing, the crafts were being developed and a number of the city’s inhabitants were engaging in other ventures (as tavern-keepers, landlords leasing property, etc.). Life in the city was veritably pulsating. The capital’s transformation into one of the largest centres, in every regard, from politics to culture, perhaps even matching the Polish capital of Krakow ' at the time, was largely determined by the almost permanent residence of the ruler, Sigisimund Augustus, in the city. Even the recent outbreak of the Livonian War was not yet bringing about losses but actually had the effect of intensifying life in the city. Vilnius was also emerging as a metropolis in the architectural sense. Aside from cult buildings, the Palace of the Grand Dukes dominated the city’s panorama, with several other residences of Lithuanian magnates making Vilnius even grander.The pre-reform Vilnius regent’s court. The above general features of the city come from one of the earliest broad-ranging sources on the history of Vilnius - the pre-reform court books of the Vilnius regent Stanislaw Hamszej from 1559-1564. Already in the late 16th century, on account of the policy being enacted by the Vilnius voivodes, these court books became part of the Lithuanian Metrica complex and were legitimised as Book No. 253 and No. 262. Even though the regent’s books were not registers in the strict sense of the word, it is because they were added to the group of Lithuanian Metrica books that they have survived to our times. The emergence of the regent’s court books is associated with the functioning of the Vilnius regents court as a separate institution. From 1551 until the administrative-legal reforms of the mid-i6th century, three courts formed and operated in the Vilnius castle court system: the voivodes court, the court of appointed judges and the Vilnius regents court, which diverged as an independent court subject to the Vilnius voivode. The regents court was a court of first instance: appeals could be submitted to the voivodes court, and then - to the Council of Lords or the rulers own courts. This court operated from a permanent location and on a regular basis: cases were heard on average every second day.Thus, even though the books encompass a chronologically brief periodof only six years, as opposed to the Braudelian short spah period, this record shows that life at this time was very intense indeed. Bringing cases before the regent’s court was less costly than at other courts, thus it was accessible to people of a lower social status. The court case plaintiffs, defendants and claimants were mostly the inhabitants of Vilnius: burghers and guests who had arrived in the city, whereas nobles from the Vilnius District approached the court only on rare occasions. City guests (merchants and other arrivals) had the right to lodge appeals specifically with this court and not the city court. The court was frequented by Madgeburgian burghers and those under the jurisdiction of the Vilnius bishop and the Vilnius Chapter, one or two subjects of the Orthodox metropolitan, inhabitants from the Radziwill and logging jurisdictions and the Jewish part of the city. Burghers from the Vilnius Castle jurisdiction were the most frequently represented individuals at the court, with only one or two coming from the castellans territorial jurisdiction. According to the social status of those approaching the court, the regent court books can justifiably be considered “city” books. They represented a significant part of the burgher population in Vilnius. As there is only a very small quantity of surviving 16th-century sources on the history of Vilnius, the regent’s court books are immensely important. [...]. [From the publication]