Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės mikropasaulis: Radvilų Kėdainių visuomenė (XV-XVIII a.)
LTKnygoje tiriama privati Radvilų Kėdainių valdos visuomenė ilgo laiko periodu (XV–XVIII a.). Išanalizuota valdos struktūra, didžiausias dėmesys skirtas institucinėms erdvėms (dvarui-miestui-kaimui) ir socialinėms struktūroms (nuo dvaro pareigūnų, miestiečių iki bažnytinių bendruomenių, etnokonfesinių, profesinių grupių). Buvo atskleistos lokalinės bendruomenės sąsajos su bendresniais LDK procesais ir struktūromis. Darbe pasiremta išlikusiu labai gausiu, įvairiose šalyse saugomu kėdainietiškų šaltinių masyvu (nuo dvaro archyvo dokumentų iki bažnytinio fondo). [Anotacija knygoje]
ENThe monograph sets out to analyze the private society of Kėdainiai estate owned by the Radvilos during a longue durée period (XV-XVIII centuries). The structure of Kėdainiai estate was analyzed with the focus on institutional spaces, i.e. manor, town, village, and social structures (from estate officials, townspeople to ecclesial communities, ethno confessional as well as professional groups). As a result, links between the local community and general processes and structures of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) were revealed. The work employed exceptionally rich archival material and documents of different types (including the ones from Kėdainiai manor archive and the church), collected in several countries (Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Scotland). However, the sources are uneven chronologically and thematically, and there is a lack of serial demographic sources and ego documents. So far there has been no synthetic approach to the past of Kėdainiai estate, only the city and its history has been studied in the abundant. Due to the uneven level of historiography, there are a lot of inaccuracies. Owing to the donation of the Grand Duke of the GDL Kazimieras Jogailaitis, in the first half of the 15th century Kėdainiai became a private estate which did not have the topographical integrity as some of its parts belonged to the Duchy of Samogitia (Žemaitijos seniūnija), the Voivodeships (liet. vaivadija) of Trakai and Vilnius (Upytė, Ukmergė and Kaunas Powiat (liet. pavietai)). Structurally, the estate consisted of the manor, districts (liet. valsčius) with villages (initially Kėdainiai district, later – Kėdainiai and Upytė districts) and the town itself. The supremacy of the manor institute was the distinctive feature of Kėdainiai estate.The manor of Kėdainiai was founded on the left bank of the Nevėžis river. However, in the first half of the 16th century it was moved to the right bank of the river. Mansion fields and folwarks (liet. palivarkai), which were founded at the end of the 16th century, belonged to the manor. There were 2-3 big and 3-4 small folwarks often rented out at the same time. As they expanded, there were 15 folwarks in total in Kėdainiai: Padotnuvėlė, Vilainiai, Pelėdnagiai, Karūnava and others. Some of the manor lands had to provide for Protestant and Catholic churches. The Evangelical-Reformed church had four villages and three folwarks. A very small folwark belonged to Beinorava Evangelical church. After the agreement in 1627, the owners of Kėdainiai estate donated a small plot near the church and a village in Vilkija district, which was exchanged for three villages near Kėdainiai in the XVIII century, to the Catholic Saint George’s parish. All the holdings of Kėdainiai Catholic Church were on the left side of the Nevėžis river. Other structural parts of Kėdainiai districts were villages, zascianki (parts of villages, there were 47 zascianki in 1624) and rare nobility manors. In the 16th century there were 13 villages in the estate, later, in the 17th century, 25 villages of Upytė district were added. Some of them were more than 100 km away from Kėdainiai, i.e. the center of the estate. The number of villages in the estate gradually decreased, some villages were rented out. Their size varied from several large ones (approximately 50 volok (liet. valakai)) to several volok. In the places of zascianki single farms were created. The territory of acceptable land began to increase at the end of the 17th century.A particularly important factor for the development of Kėdainiai town was its geographical location, setting up on both sides of the Nevėžis river, next to the crossing of important land and waterway. Still at the end of the 16th century the settlement made a big urban breakthrough. The Kiškos noble family contributed greatly to the major changes in Kėdainiai. Thanks to Protestants Radvilos the town flourished in the first half of the 17th century. But they developed only the right side of the town. The development of left and right sides of Kėdainiai was different in terms of economic development, the growth of population, religious and national composition, occupations. Almost all peculiarities of the town layout and spatial structure were formed in the first half of the 17th century: four town market squares were formed while the central (Didžioji) market square was reduced. Later Kėdainiai layout did not develop, its spatial composition changed slightly. The town did not expand beyond the pre-Deluge boundaries. The Radvilos implemented a unique urban project in the GDL – they established a semi-self-governing town of New Kėdainiai, called Jonušava, and created a dual town phenomenon. The Deluge in the middle of the 17th century stopped the development of the town. Being a part of the estate owned by the catholic Radvilas, Kėdainiai was marginalized in the 18th century. It never compared to the largest towns like Nesvizh or Slutsk. Kėdainiai estate almost all the time was rented out. [...]. [From the publication]
