Decemviratas, arba Tertio ordo communitatis, Kėdainių savivaldoje (XVII-XVIII a.)

ENKėdainiai was one of the smaller cities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where in the middle of the seventeenth century the deccmvirate (tertio ordo commimhatis) was institutionalized. Similar boards of ten representatives, elected by the city community, functioned in the councils of the self-governing cities and towns of Vilnius, Kaunas, Joniškis, Druja and Nesvyžius. Every year the decemvirate elected its dean, who had to sit at a separate table in the city council. In it the decemvirate functioned next to the scabinate (magistrates’ bench) with the vaitas (wójt) and the councillors with the burgomaster. The decemvirate was bound to participate in the election of the officials, to express its opinion on the issues discussed, to safeguard the rights and freedoms conferred on the city and every year to supervise the military readiness of the burghers. The decemvirate was also the basis for the election of the officials (except the vaitas) of the city council - a decemvir, member of the scabinate, councillor and burgomaster successively every year. [From the publication]