Mirties bausmė Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės bajoriškos teisės aktuose (XV-XVI a.)

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Teisės aktai; Mirties bausmė; Death penalty; Legal acts.

ENThe article is an attempt to elucidate ways in which the issue of capital punishment was addressed in legal acts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (charters granted by the rulers to estates, the entire state and individual lands, the Casimir’s Code, resolutions of Diets (Lith. seimai, Pol. sejms), Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, constitutions adopted by the diets) from late 14th to mid-17th century. The primary focus is on the prevailing types of death penalties in various periods, the offences for which they were imposed, and the impact of a repeated offence, also whether the severity of punishment depended on the social status of the offender and victim. The research has revealed that the capital punishment (poena sanquinis) was first officially mentioned in the legal acts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1447 in Casimir’s charter. The form of capital punishment and the offences which entailed such penalty were not stipulated in detail. Later, the legal acts of the second half of the 15th century – early 16th century contained references to two types of capital punishments, namely death by hanging and decapitation. The gallows awaited those charged with various thefts, robberies, cutting a tree on which bees lived, also absence without leave. Beheading was imposed for provoking disturbances in the army. In other cases (e.g., treason against the sovereign and state, failure to enlist when the state was in danger) a specific type of capital punishment was not indicated. Application of such penalties across the state also varied. There were differences recorded in charters granted by the rulers and determined by the local customs. Furthermore, it cannot be claimed that only new legal rules were being created by written enactments. A part of them could have existed in earlier periods, but were recorded in writing to give them more prominence in the event of necessity. [...]. [From the publication]