Noblewomen’s dowries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the sixteenth - seventeenth centuries

ENA number of studies present noblewomen’s dowries in the context of the development of family law and private documents1, but there is no separate research devoted to the realisation of norms about dowries in legal practice. Moreover, the study of noblewomen’s dowries reveals information not only about female property but also about women’s status in family and society, and about family relations. Thus the topic’s relevance to historiography. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the process of giving a dowry to a noblewoman in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the sixteenth – seventeenth centuries. The article consists of the following parts. The first part presents the general characteristics of the country, its legal system and some aspects of family law. The second part pays attention to apportionment of a dowry in a noble family. The third part analyses judicial process and conflicts in families where the main point was a dowry. The fourth part is devoted to notification of receiving a dowry, and the reasons for the appearance of this document. The last part proves that a noblewoman had the right to dispose of a dowry herself, and demonstrates how she was able to release it. The article ends with a number of conclusions. [Extract, p. 83]