Lietuvos magdeburginių miestų privilegijos ir aktai. T. 9. Berznykas, Liudvinavas, Pilypavas

LTSiame dokumentų rinkinyje publikuojami Berznyko (Beriniki), Liudvinavo ir Pilypavo (Filipów) - trijų mažųjų magdeburginių miestų - dokumentai. Sis rinkinys praplečia ligšiolinėje serijoje publikuotų Lietuvos magdeburginių miestų dokumentų geografines (du miestai priklauso Lenkijai, vienas - Lietuvai) ribas. Minėtų trijų miestų istorija atskirais tematiniais pjūviais yra tyrinėta aptariant jų apgyvendinimo, urbanistinę raidą, naudotų antspaudų istoriją. O šiame rinkinyje pateikiamas trijų Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės ir Lenkijos Karalystėje pasienio ruože buvusių mažųjų magdeburginių miestų savivaldos istorijos vaizdas.

ENThis is a publication of a collection of documents pertaining to Berźniki, Liudvinavas and Filipów - three Magdeburgian cities. The variance in identification in sources from those times of these locations (Pol. miasto, miasteczko), and their size, economic potential and agrarian nature allows attributing them to the category of small Magdeburgian cities. It is noteworthy that this collection goes beyond the boundaries of Lithuanian Magdeburgian city document series hitherto published. In the administrative sense, today Berźniki and Filipów are part of Poland (the Voivodeship of Podlasie), while Liudvinavas is part of Lithuania, whereas in the 16th-18th centuries they were part of the Grodno and Kaunas counties (powiats) respectively, i. e., the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The history of each of these cities has not been researched to the same extent. Berźniki and Filipów have been the subject of most research thus far, whose history (or its fragments) has been presented by Polish researchers when analysing the history of settlement in the Podlasie region or when looking at a specific historical period. The past of Liudvinavas has received significantly less attention, which has only been discussed in Lithuanian historiography in terms of sigillography. Thus, it is worthwhile taking a closer look at the past of these cities. The origins of Berźniki date to 1510, when Sigismund the Old gave Mikołaj Pac, the Master of the Hunt of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, permission to use the forest going by the same name. Pac established a manor there in 1524, while the ruler Sigismund the Old not only allowed the founding of this manor but also separated a section of the Berźniki forest as an endowment for his own wife, Queen Bona.The town of Berźniki was soon established near the manor in the years 1547-1557, which is considered one of the oldest in the Sejny region. It is known that there were 70 houses and four streets in Berźniki in 1560. The town had ten butchers, five bakers, five cobblers, two tailors, two felters, one tanner, one blacksmith, one potter and one maltster. At around the same time, a church was constructed on the southern edge of the town. The rulers manor was located nearby, where the elder resided. The manor estate consisted of residential and utilitarian buildings, an orchard, vegetable garden, mill and brickworks. At this stage, Berźniki could already be consi-dered a “proto-Magdeburgian” city, which was economically viable and active with a varied and strong community of townspeople (Poles, Lithuanians, Masovians and Ruthenians settled there). The town was depopulated after the wars against Russia and Sweden. By the second half of the 17th century, it had a market square and four streets: Grodno, Lazdijai, Sejny and Church Street, and of the 107 plots of land in the town, only 38 remained. Also, from the first half of the 17th century, the townspeople were engaged in a struggle against the elders of Berźniki at the time, the Sempkowskis, who exploited the locals, forcing them to perform various duties. The townspeople ultimately complained to the ruler that the former elder, Adam Sempkowski, was holding the city’s documents (taken by the latter’s father) and was exacting various taxes from them.Upon learning of this, the ruler Jan Sobieski granted Berźniki the privilege of Magdeburg rights in 1679, which were confirmed by Augustus II in 1699. Incidentally, this privilege also mentions that Berźniki received a coat of arms - a standing deer (this city coat of arms or its seals had not been mentioned before in historiography). According to this privilege, the townspeople had to elect city officials, they could hold four main markets a year and establish their own mill. As we can see from later documents, the city continued to be exploited by the local elder. Thus, in 1699 Zygmunt Franciszek Bokiej (wójt of Trakai in 1716-1725) was appointed to act as the wójt (senior civil administrative officer) in Berźniki, and upon his death in 1726, a new Queen Bona. The town of Berźniki was soon established near the manor in the years 1547-1557, which is considered one of the oldest in the Sejny region. It is known that there were 70 houses and four streets in Berźniki in 1560. The town had ten butchers, five bakers, five cobblers, two tailors, two felters, one tanner, one blacksmith, one potter and one maltster. At around the same time, a church was constructed on the southern edge of the town. The rulers manor was located nearby, where the elder resided. The manor estate consisted of residential and utilitarian buildings, an orchard, vegetable garden, mill and brickworks. At this stage, Berźniki could already be considered a “proto-Magdeburgian” city, which was economically viable and active with a varied and strong community of townspeople (Poles, Lithuanians, Masovians and Ruthenians settled there).