LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Abiejų Tautų Respublika; Amžiaus tarpsniai; Senatvė; Miestas; Miesto teisė. Keywords: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; Stages of human life; Old age; Town; Town law.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Abiejų Tautų Respublika (ATR; Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów; Žečpospolita; Sandrauga; Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth); Senyvi (pagyvenę) žmonės; 16 amžius; 17 amžius; Amžiaus tarpsniai; Testamentai; Old age; Stages; Testaments; 16th century; 17th century.
ENFrom ancient times, philosophical treatises divided human life into separate periods. The most extreme of them were childhood and old age. If the first of these stages is relatively well represented both in legal literature and documentary sources, the second one is paid much less attention. There was no clear dating of the beginning of old age. The attitude towards older people was ambivalent, which was dictated by both Christian views and the practice of life. These views were widespread in the towns of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th centuries. The town law to some extent protected older people, but in most cases, they did not act as subjects of law. The important groups of sources for the history of old age are the codes of law and burghers' testaments. [From the publication]