XVIII amžiaus studijos / The Eighteenth Century Studies

The aim of the article is an attempt to prepare a collective portrait of a group of former Jesuits who joined the order in Vilnius and, after the dissolution of the order, remained in the service of the Commission of National Education. In order to present the full image of this group, the numerical composition of ex-Jesuits (214 people), their territorial and social origin, education, employment history in the structures of the Commission of National Education and their age at the time of establishing the Commission were established. The article also presents the fate of the members of the described group after the end of the activities of the Commission of National Education, as well as their intellectual activity. The vast majority of the presented group were secondary school teachers in the Lithuanian Department in the years 1773–1794. Of the 10 schools of the Lithuanian Department, seven were post-Jesuit schools: in Grodno, Białystok, Pastawy, Vidzy, Vilnius, Vishnyev and Vawkavysk. Two of schools (in Szczuczyn Litewski and Lida), were Piarist schools. Jesuits taught at the school in Merkinė until 1776, after which the school was handed over to the Dominican Order The article brings out from oblivion ex-Jesuits, members and collaborators of the Society for Elementary Books, professors of the Vilnius Academy (later the Main School of Lithuania), general inspectors of the Commission, inspectors of parish schools, rectors of the schools of the Departments of Lithuania, Nowogrodek and Samogitia, as well as several people holding other important functions for the Commission of National Education.

The aim of the article is to highlight the peaceful functioning of the military garrison in Vilnius from the mid-1760s to the early 1790s. In addition to other issues, the article presents the peaceful composition and structure of the garrison, the form of accommodation, the functions performed by the army, as well as conflict situations.

The article presents a discussion of the state of the city of Vilnius, its buildings, people, disasters and memorable events following the disasters that swept through in the beginning of the 18th century. The start of the Great Northern War in 1700 (1700–1721), the campaigns of the Lithuanian, Russian and Swedish armies and the plague epidemic that followed the war (1710) severely affected the city of Vilnius and its inhabitants. Despite the devastation and disasters, Vilnius was still the most important city in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where the most important political affairs in the land were decided. The article is mainly based on the letters of Maciej Józef Ancuta, the suffragan of the Bishop of Vilnius, to the Chancellor of Lithuania, Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł.

The article deals with our research on the Ruthenian documents of Alexander Jagiellon and Sigismund the Old, the grand dukes of Lithuania, which cover the whole period of the reign of these rulers (1492–1544) and are kept in Vilnius. In the course of empirical research, we registered 142 such documents; the main data about them are represented in the annex to the article. Meanwhile, in the main part of the article we try to identify the scribes who were responsible for the preparation of the documents, to identify the documents that were written by the scribes who signed them, and to discuss the palaeographic features of all the documents.

Kad būtų vertinamas politinėje scenoje, didikas privalėjo turėti atitinkamą rezidenciją Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės sostinėje. Savininko poreikius ir ambicijas atliepiantys rūmai atliko ne tik reprezentacinį vaidmenį, bet ir buvo vieta, apie kurią telkėsi giminės bei didikų klientų gyvenimas. Be to, įsiliedami į gyvą miesto organizmą rūmai tapdavo jo tvaria puošmena, neretai demonstruodavo jų savininkų tikėjimą ir politinę poziciją. Šiame straipsnyje sintetiškai aptariama XVII a. Vilniaus rūmų architektūra tiek tipiškų, tiek miesto įvaizdį formavusių originalių sprendimų kontekste. Taip pat verta atkreipti dėmesį į Vilniaus topografiją – labiau ar mažiau prestižines vietas ir priemiesčius, ypač Antakalnį.