Kauno pavieto Pakamario teismo knyga (1619-1624)

LTPirmą kartą skelbiama rankraštinė 1619–1624 m. Kauno pavieto pakamario teismo knyga, saugoma Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyve (LVIA). Publikuojamas originalus tekstas, pateikiama asmenų ir geografinių vietovių rodyklė, taip pat žemėlapis. Tai vertingas istorijos šaltinis, aktualus ne tik profesionaliems istorikams, lingvistams, etnologams, demografams ir geografams, bet ir visiems, besidomintiems XVII a. pradžios Lietuvos istorija.

ENWhen researching the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it is very important to use and publish all related sources, including those containing mass-scale information. Historians have done quite a lot in this sphere, however state powiat (district) court books have been somewhat overlooked. They are an invaluable source in the research of economic, genealogical and everyday history. As such, a broader introduction of these types of sources into historiography is especially important in studies of this epoch. While district court books do contain rather specific information, they are nonetheless an enormous source of data not only to many researchers working in the history disciplines, but to society at large interested in the state's past. The Kaunas district chamberlain's book for 1619-1624 is precisely this type of source. The office of the chamberlain (podkomorzy) or land boundary judge was introduced in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in accordance with the Second Statute of Lithuania in 1566; his duty was to investigate disputes over local legally independent landowners' possession boundaries. In the hierarchy of district court officials, he stood directly under the marshal, meaning he was the second most important figure. The chamberlain's job was not strictly regulated, he made judgements at his discretion, usually at the site of the dispute, i.e., having left the district centre.As his office was important in the hierarchy of positions, he would only pass judgement occassionally, only on the most important cases, while his appointed assistant - the bailiff (komornik) - would stand in for him at court. The measurer (miernik) would assit in conducting specific land plot measurements and boundary-marker construction works, such as making demarcation earth mounds or marking trees or stones. According to the Second Statute of Lithuania, chamberlains would still be appointed at the grand duke's discretion, while by the time of the Third Statute of Lithuania (1588) chamberlains were already to be voted in at electoral district sejmiki (assemblies), as would land court officials. The ruler would chose the best (in his opinion) out of four candidates and appoint him to this office. The individual appointed to be chamberlain would hold his office for life or until he was promoted to a higher office. Cases when the chamberlain would be dismissed from his position for serious misconduct were very rare. Having finished working in this position, the chamberlain would have to give their book to that district's land court archive. Understandably, the human factor was also at play here, which is why (unfortunately!) there are fewer extant chamberlain court books than castle or land court books.The first fragments of GDL district court records started being publicized back in the 19th century in the series of acts published by the Vilnius Archaeogeographical Commission (vol. 6, 1872), while of those records that were published in their entirety we would have to mention one-and-a-half books of the Trakai chamberlain (1585-1613) (ibid., vol. 30, 1904) - Tsarist-era archaeographers in Vilnius also described the content of the consolidated Samogitian chamberlain's book (1595-1654) in the Digest of old books of the Vilnius Central History Archive (bk. 7, 1909). Ukrainian historians have also published (1991) several chamberlains' complete consolidation of the Kiev chamberlain's court book (1584-1644). As far as is known, the first Lutsk district chamberlain's book is currently being prepared for publication by Volodymyr Kravchenko (Kyiv).