Pavainikiai Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės visuomenėje XVI-XVIII a. : teisinė padėtis ir galimybės

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Dispensa; Kanonų teisė; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Lietuvos statutai; Neapykanta; Nesantuokiniai vaikai, teisinė padėtis, Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė, XVI–XVIII a; Pavainikiai; Teisėtumas; Tolerancija; Bastardy; Canon law; Dispensations; Hatred; Illegitimate children, legal status, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 16th–18th centuries; Legitimacy; Lithuanian Statutes; Toleration.

ENThis article examines the legal status and opportunities of illegitimate children in the society of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th—18th century. The legal status of illegitimate children was defined by both - religious law (including canon law (Roman Catholic and Orthodox) and law of the Reformed Churches and non-Christian minorities) and secular law - the Statutes of Lithuania and Magdeburg Law. As defined by the legislation, an illegitimate child was one born in an illegal marriage or of adulterous liaisons. These legal norms were of the greatest significance to the nobility as on the one hand, they dealt with inheritance issues and on the other hand, they served to secure the integrity of the state. Provisions of the Magdeburg Law left an opportunity for the illegitimate child to inherit maternal property (excluding those born from acts of incest). The (il)legitimacy could have been proved by testimony of the cleric who married the child's parents or neighbours or via extracts from parish records. An illegitimate child could have been legitimized by subsequent marriage of his/her parents or by receiving papal dispensation dedefectunatalium. Sources suggest two possible yet opposite "scenarios" for illegitimate children. On the one hand, illegitimate children born to poor mothers were in danger of being killed, on the other hand, those born to rich parents had certain career opportunities (for example, of becoming a cleric). The official attitude towards illegitimate children was generally negative, still there are signs of conditional tolerance in the sources. [From the publication]

• Teisė / Law
• Istorija / History