XVIII amžiaus studijos / The Eighteenth Century Studies

1764, 1768, and 1791). State possessions in the elderships of Vilnius and Trakai voivodeships and in the economies of Alytus and Grodno were distributed as socio-economic support to the exiles in Smolensk Voivodeship. According to the administrative territorial division of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, these possessions were concentrated in several powiats (counties), namely Grodno (Ožė and Perloja elderships), Kaunas (Alvitas or Paširvinčiai elderships) and Ukmergė (Obeliai and Utena elderships). However, in the second half of the eighteenth century, the exiles of Smolensk Voivodeship managed to acquire real estate in Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, especially after the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773 when the property of the order was put on sale. In the period of 1667–1777, institutions of self-government of the exiles in Smolensk Voivodeship operated in Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and this Vilnius period provided them with additional opportunities, as it first increased the political significance of the Smolensk Voivodeship dietines (sejmiki). However, the political combinations of Antoni Tyzenhaus, the treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which reflected the position of the royal court, as well as economic and political interests, impacted the dietines of the exiles of Smolensk Voivodeship, which since 1777 moved to Alytus in the territory of Trakai Voivodeship (dietine of Smolensk Voivodeship) and Žiežmariai (dietine of Starodub powiat). The study revealed, that in the eight decade of the eighteenth century attempts were made to strengthen Alytus as the administrative centre of Alytus economy, and radical infrastructural transformations were implemented. Analysis of the description of the new buildings erected in Alytus in 1780–1783 and the map of Alytus economy in 1781 revealed, that the exiles in Smolensk Voivodeship were provided with modern public infrastructure, which contributed to more efficient activities of Smolensk land court, Chancellery and the dietine.