Lietuvos istorijos institutas

The exiles of Smolensk Voivodeship, who moved from Moscow territories occupied by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the late seventeenth century and established in currently ethnic part of Lithuania, in the eighteenth century were faced with the issues of socio-economic integration, relocation of institutions of self-government and preservation of their functionality. Although the Sejm of the Commonwealth of Both Nations through the Constitutions put considerable efforts to legitimize the disposition of property intended for the exiles, and ultimately recognize it as private property, this had to be done quite periodically (1699, 1703, 1717, 1775, and 1786). Similarly, the Sejm of the Commonwealth of Both Nations was forced to constantly remind about the need to ensure the activities of the institutions of self government of the exiles in Smolensk Voivodeship, and to legitimize the changed locations of their activities (1667, 1736,

This article explores the mothers of illegitimate children in the eighteenth-century Vilnius deanery from a perspective of historical demography. While historians in the Western world have produced many studies focused on the phenomenon of illegitimacy, the Lithuanian scientists have not done much in exploring illegitimacy in early modern Vilnius. This article is one of the first attempts to explore illegitimacy and its patterns of historical demography by paying attention to the women who had children outside the wedlock.

Recent decades saw historical scholarship to pay more attention to the phenomena which were earlier considered unimportant or, in some cases, non-existent. Intimate relations between men and women who were not yet married, extramarital affairs, cohabitation, etc. were rediscovered and reassessed as indispensable to the more accurate understanding of the formation of marriages, families and

Straipsnyje aptariama, koks buvo jėzuitų požiūris į Sapiegų giminės hegemoniją Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje, kokia buvo ir kaip kito jėzuitų nuostata bei veiksmų taktika XVII a. paskutiniame dešimtmetyje – XVIII a. pirmajame dešimtmetyje, kai Lietuvą sukrėtė vidaus konfliktai, amžių sandūroje peraugę į vidaus karą. Remdamasis jėzuitiškais archyvais, autorius analizuoja: 1) Vilniaus vyskupo Konstantino Kazimiero Bžostovskio ir Vilniaus akademijos ginčą 1691–1693 m., kurio šerdis buvo nesutarimai dėl vyskupo, kaip Akademijos kanclerio, prerogatyvų ir jo valdžios studentams; 2) sunkią vienuolių padėtį ginčijantis Vilniaus vyskupui ir Lietuvos didžiajam etmonui bei Vilniaus vaivadai Kazimierui Jonui Sapiegai; 3) jėzuitų požiūrį į antisapieginę opoziciją bei jėzuitų veiksmus, kai grupuočių konfliktas Lietuvoje peraugo į vidaus karą, netrukus susiliejusį su Didžiuoju Šiaurės karu. Autorius pabrėžia jėzuitų priklausomybę nuo Sapiegų, kurie ne tik finansiškai rėmė ordino institucijas, bet ir turėjo galingą spaudimo įrankį – galimybę manipuliuoti skirstant kariuomenei pastovius ir žiemojimo vietas dvaruose bei renkant hibernos mokestį. Straipsnyje pastebima, kad jėzuitai prisidėjo prie Lietuvos didžiojo etmono ir jo giminės prestižo ir šlovės kūrimo, todėl Sapiegoms nepalanki bajorija įtarinėjo jėzuitus simpatizavimu Sapiegoms. Tai lėmė blogus jėzuitų santykius su antisapiegine opozicija, vadinamaisiais respublikonais. Tik tada, kai 1700 m. lapkričio 18 d. Sapiegų pajėgos buvo sumuštos Valkininkų mūšyje, jėzuitai buvo priversti ieškoti naujų globėjų, stengėsi užmegzti ryšius su pagrindiniais respublikonų vadais.

The article is dedicated to discussion about the opportunities artists had in the eighteenth-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania, what factors were defining artist’s career and his valuation and how it changed along with social and cultural shifts in the country. Historical sources retain names of around 700 artists that worked in the eighteenth-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The artists belonged to a peculiar inter-estate stratum with significant differences in education, social and economic situation. Majority of artists lived and worked in towns, with smaller part working in the manors of noblemen under continuous service or temporary contracts, and also there was a small number of artist friars who did jobs in various convents of the country. Social and economic situation of artists in towns was similar to that of craftsmen, yet artists working in the manors of aristocrats usually had status of the middle-rank manor officials. Still, eighteenth-century artists were able to achieve higher levels of career than most of craftsmen because of the rank of their patrons. The work of artists was in demand mostly in higher levels of society and that determined better pay, sponsoring of studies and other kind of encouragement. Career opportunities for artists were usually defined by their reputation and education. The top level of the career was occupied by the status of royal court artist, which was a guarantee of high qualification. Noblemen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Church hierarchy, when trying to realize important projects sought to engage the royal masters. Artists that studied abroad were also in demand. Noblemen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, because of the deficit of good artists, tried to keep those artists that worked long-term in their manors. Career of a court artist guaranteed steady payment and legal protection, however artists not always desired long-term service because of the significant limitations on their life and work. Difficulties in searching for a decent master encouraged noblemen to keep artists in their manors while teaching arts to local kids. The need in arts for vocation or special gifts is demonstrated by the fact that only a small part of children selected by the noblemen were able to learn painting. Apart from the ties to influential customers, to the career of an artist were important links to requested architects, also familial links to the ruling elites of towns and important officials of the courts. In the second half of the eighteenth century, especially at the end of the century, attitude towards artistic occupation has incurred significant changes. Social status of famous artists, large compensations and ennoblement affected attitudes towards arts among both the society and the artists, and promoted its prestige. Rise of prestige of the profession was aided by the fact that society started appreciating more of the local artists (artists-fellow countrymen). They have begun to be mentioned in various contexts among the most deserving of the nation.

The article reviews development of the military of one part in the Commonwealth of Both Nations, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, from the viewpoint of estate based structure, calling and professionalism. It reveals that, just like in the other armies of the eighteenth century, in Lithuania most of the estate structure could be found in cavalry, especially in the National Cavalry Brigades, and the least – in artillery and engineering corps. Estates did not carry only the negative meaning if the general level of education and skills among nobility was higher than the indicators in other estates. However, because of the generally low level of education before the reforms of the Commission of National Education, military units with estate based privileges (e. g. National Cavalry Brigades) were noted for a low level of professionalism and showed themselves poorly in the course of 1792 war with Russia and the uprising battles of 1794. At the same time, front guard regiments, made-up of Tartars and less privileged individuals, demonstrated much higher standards because estate exclusivity was accompanied by experience and military traditions carried over from the Seven-Year War. The highest standards of professionalism were maintained in the Lithuanian artillery and engineering corps. The progress was notable during the Four-Year Sejm, especially in the winter of 1791–1792. Infantry units were able to harmonize privileges of the estate structure with professional requirements and could be considered as matching the military of other countries in peace time. There was no place for calling in the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania prior to 1788 drive for expanding the military, and only during the war of 1792 attention was given to the skills of people, holding offices. During uprising of Tadeusz Kościuszko many gifted soldiers came to the fore, and even civilians with leadership gifts who led both improvised rebel units and large military units, thus opening pages of the noble tradition of uprisings in the nineteenth century, where calling and professionalism gradually pushed out the relics of estate-based military.

The article summarizes data on the training of painters and sculptors in the eighteenth-century workshops of the Radvilas’ artists. We seek to evaluate it in the context of the educational phenomena of early modern times. The analysis concerns organization of training, teaching practices, and their dissemination. In the eighteenth century, training of the subjects was carried out in the Radvilas’ residences of several generations. Some teachers were subjects of the dukes, some – arrivals working under contracts. The Radvilas continuously renewed the manor using qualified masters. Some of them were foreigners, experienced artists that mastered different art techniques. Training usually took place in the manor although there are known cases of sponsored trips of the artists to larger cities of the Commonwealth of Both Nations, where subjects improved their skills in the workshops of local artists. In the Radvilas’ residences practical training was dominant. Basics of drawing were studied first, pupils drew sculptural models, copied paintings from the collections of the aristocrats, assisted to masters in implementing orders from the dukes. Thus training in the Radvilas’ residences was performed using practices common in training artists of the early modern times. In the context of training of the Radvilas’ artists stands out the project by Jeronimas Florijonas Radvila to establish a drawing school, which had to be directed by a member of the Viennese academy of painting, sculpture and architecture, painter and drawer Lorenzo Titian de Vecceli. Perhaps in 1756, an eight- year contract was concluded according to which he was to teach young men the drawing of landscapes, figures and ornaments. In the contract this drawing school was called academy, probably after a fashion of the similar eighteenthcentury European, often small ones, schools, called academies. In Biala of Podlasie, Lorenzo Titian worked until the death of Florijonas Radvila in 1760. Although almost there is no data on activities of this artist in Biala, it is probable that the master was teaching to draw. Titian’s work for Radvila was brief and, possibly, did not have any significant influence on the education of the local artists. Despite this, Radvila’s idea and start of its implementation showed the need for higher level training of artists. Links of the Radvilas’ artists with professional and specialized educational institutions were rare. In the residences of the dukes, just like in the rest of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dominated little formalized education of artists. Although it was not always effective, it has produced a number of masters that continued working for the Radvilas. Tutors were usually shared among family members, although there is data on the work of the artists of the dukes for the representatives of other families. Having in mind the scope and dissemination of the training of artists, residences of the Radvilas can be considered one of the important centres of art education in the eighteenth-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania.