Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės šiaurės rytinių regionų valdžios elitai (XIII-XIV a. sandūra - 1579 m.). 1 t.. Polocko ir Vitebsko žemių valdžios elitai

• Polocko ir Vitebsko žemių valdžios elitai
• Power elites of the North-Eastern regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (from the turn of the fourteenth century to 1579), Volume 1: The power elites of the lands of Polotsk and Vitebsk

LTPirmajame monografijos tome nagrinėjami dviejų Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės šiaurės rytų regionų - Polocko ir Vitebsko žemių – valdžios elitai. Daugiausiai dėmesio telkiama į pagrindines vartojamas sąvokas, politines minėtųjų regionų gyvenimo formas, teritorinę struktūrą, pareigybių genezę, valdžios elito atstovų (pareigūnų) prerogatyvas ir pareigybių skyrimo tvarką, aptariamos valdžios elito atstovų (pareigūnų) personalijos ir jų karjeros ypatybės. Bendros Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės raidos tendencijos lėmė, kad įvairūs pareigūnų sluoksniai valstybės regionuose formavosi veikiami skirtingų teisinių sistemų. Tiriamojo laikotarpio šaltiniai leidžia identifikuoti tris pagrindines teisines sistemas, kurios buvo paremtos pilies arba žemės teise, kanonų teise ir miesto arba Magdeburgo teise. Šia skirtimi ir remiamasi tiriant Polocko ir Vitebsko žemių valdžios elitus.

ENThe Ruthenian regions in the north-eastern part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - the lands of Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Toropets, Mstislavl, Severia, and Gomel, also the region of the upper reaches of the Oka River - had distinctive traditions of governance. In the second half of the fourteenth and in the fifteenth centuries, the grand duke of Lithuania appointed his officials - governors - for the most important castles in these and in many other regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, replacing the local princes, who had ruled the castles with patrimonial rights. At the same time, the previous traditions of regional governance were also changing, and new types of office systems began to emerge, at the top of which were the governors of the castles of the Lithuanian ruler. This process was continuous and lasted until the collapse of the Republic of the Two Nations - Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - in 1795. Some positions were created, while others disappeared. The prerogatives of some officials grew, while the functions of others became only nominal over time. Three main factors that shaped the layers and systems of officials in the selected regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania can be identified: (1) the geographical, social, political situation, and local traditions of the regions themselves, (2) the general trends in the development of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and (3) external factors (military threats from other countries). All three of these factors were partly related and interacted with one another. We consider their interaction as one of the most important issues linked to the evolution of the official layers in the regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania chosen for analysis. The systems of officials in the analysed regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were heterogeneous. [...].The object of the two planned volumes of the monograph is the process of the formation of layers and positions of officials and the similarities and differences between these processes in the north-eastern regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: the lands of Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Toropets, Mstislavl, Severia, and Gomel, and also the upper reaches of the Oka River. We treat officials from these regions as representatives of the local power elites. The first step in a study is defining its basic concepts, which are directly related to the object of research. Moving on to the discussion of each selected region of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it is important to establish their spatial boundaries and to highlight the aspects of the development of the most important administrative centres and territorial units, which were administered by local government officials. To achieve this goal, the cartograms we have developed, which will be part of both volumes of this monograph and which we often use to illustrate our points, play an ancillary yet very important role. The next stage of research is identification of the most important forms of political life in the regions under study and a discussion of their significance in the context of the formation and functioning of the regional power elites. Proceeding to the discussion of these elites, we seek to clarify the genesis of the official positions, the prerogatives of the representatives of the power elites (officials) and the procedure for the appointment of the positions; we examine the personalities of the representatives of the power elites (officials) and the specifics of their careers. For this step of the study, we compiled lists of officials of all eight selected regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which will be published in both volumes of this monograph.We associate the starting point of the whole study with the turn of the fourteenth century, when the state of Lithuania annexed the Principality of Polotsk and thus began the process of the conquest of the regions under scrutiny. The examination of the history of the power elite of each region starts with the date of the annexation of the region or a part of it to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The end of the research is associated with a significant geopolitical turning point in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Republic of the Two Nations: the liberation, on 30 August 1579, of Polotsk Castle from the occupation by Muscovy. The monograph is divided into two volumes, which are published separately. The first volume of the monograph consists of an introduction, three chapters of the main text, conclusions, a list of sources and references, two appendices, and a summary.