Kobiety z rodu Radziwiłłów w świetle inwentarzy i testamentów (XVI-XVIII w.)

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Abiejų Tautų Respublika (ATR; Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów; Žečpospolita; Sandrauga; Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth); Inventoriai; Moterys; Radvilos (Radziwill; Radvila family); Radvilos (Radziwill; Radvila family); Testamentai; 16 amžius; 16 amžius; 17 amžius; 18 amžius; 17 amžius; 18 amžius; 16th century; 17th century; 18th century; Inventories; Testaments; Testaments, Inventories; The Radvilos; Woman; Women; XVI-XVIII c.

ENThe starting point for this work was the examination of posthumous inventories thanks to which we wanted to create a catalogue of items belonging to women of the modern era. The abundance and variety of inventories enforced focusing on one group solely. The choice of the Radziwiłł inventories was motivated by the accessibility of the archives, especially by a variety of aspects after having conducted a survey of the collection: several lineages, a wide collection of women, territorial range and diversified types of sources. In the course of the works it has turned out that it is worth to transgress the posthumous inventories of furnishings in order to get to know the owners mentioned in the lists of items. It became essential to get to know the reasons and circumstances of contracting marriages, the age of spouses, and to check how long they have been together. The sources, apart from family connections, also showed demographic, moral and economic data. Marriage and the creation of a new family required an adequate setting — therefore the items received in the trousseau and the attempts of the husband to supplement possible deficiencies. One can notice in the sets of items a certain duality of life requiring a person to find oneself in official and private situations. More expensive items could be distinguished (silver, precious fabrics) as well as adequately decorated ones (embroideries, precious stones), which were used for representative purposes emphasizing the affinity to a group of a certain social and material status. Apart from that it also shows an ordinary life of a wife and housewife with all her household cares. Among the investigated women there were mentioned entrepreneurial managers of property from which they obtained profits and home-birds which are known to have been much preoccupied with the fate of their children.The specific character of the will may disturb the view of the testator. In the light of the will, the woman has always been a devout mother and wife, thanking her husband for care and his taking care of the fate of her children. It is not an incorrect view, other sources confirm it as well. However, the testaments present the will — the wish of the testator, which does not always have a real chance to come true. Testaments, similarly as inventories of expeditions, created a slightly idealized view of a person, especially as far as his/her wealth was concerned. They are often the richest source of knowledge about family ties, tensions and emotions in the family circle extended by favourites and servants. The more so as it is a touching and sincere source, if we remember about the circumstances of writing it, most often in the time of pregnancy with the consciousness of a threat to life. It is the very care for children which, whenever it appeared in the sources, showed the priorities of women: to secure the future by acquiring knowledge, to raise the child with the aid of relatives, to join the convent or to fulfill a previously arranged marriage. Strong family ties were expressed by showing the places of burial (the graves of a husband, children, parents) and by leaving the items as means of security or relic.The sources do not confirm the faith of people only, but in many cases the fact that people really experienced it, which was shown by practices (collected devotional articles, paying for the mass, belonging to religious brotherhoods) and by charitable acts (legacies for hospitals, dowries for those joining the convents and certainly the bequests for family convent and parish funds). The use of posthumous inventories of items, the ways of expeditions, marriage articles and testaments gave the basis for the knowledge of individualities and the view of groups. The purpose was not to create a microbiography as the set of over 50 women was too vast. However, unique items or testimonies of women indicated the problems around which a microbiography could be created but only after extending the source base. The investigated record could not give a complete view of the group due to a vast diversity of sources, and at the same time of the scarcity of the sources. Nevertheless, common phenomena and viewpoints emerged. Some of the aspects of ordinary lives of women were discovered, which has encouraged one to look for the answers to successive questions. [From the publication]

• Archeologija / Archaeology
• Istorija / History