Nierówności majątkowe wśród szlachty Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego w XVI i w XVIII w

ENThe aim of this article is to examine the degree of wealth disparity among the nobility residing in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 16th and 18th centuries and to make comparisons between regions and centuries. The article includes a review of the relevant literature and a discussion of the methodology for studying economic inequalities. The analyses presented in the text are quantitative and based on tax records: the 1528 military census of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the 10 groszy levy – an 1789 tax introduced by the Great Sejm. The results of the statistical analyses clearly indicate a concentration of wealth in the hands of the elite and the existence of many members of the nobility who were so impoverished that they were only required to personally participate in military expeditions or, as in the case of the 10 groszy levy, were even exempted from paying the income tax. High concentrations of wealth are observed both at the beginning of the 16th century and at the end of the existence of the Commonwealth. The data from 1528 suggest that even at the outset of the modern era, there were exceptional inequalities in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on a European scale. Such a situation must have led to significant inequalities in the actual exercise of power (especially since historians believe that the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania did not formulate an independent, non-magnate-influenced agenda in the 16th century), and also likely implied processes and phenomena in social history, culture, and education. A comparison of these findings with the still preliminary results of similar analyses concerning other parts of the Commonwealth showed that the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania exhibited greater wealth disparity than that of the Crown lands.