Metadata: Ukmergė Zemski Court
Collection
- Country:
- Lithuania
- Holding institution:
- Lithuanian State Historical Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas
- Postal address:
- Mindaugo 8, 03107 Vilnius
- Phone number:
- +370 5 219 5320
- Email:
- istorijos.archyvas@lvia.lt
- Reference number:
- 79
- Title:
- Ukmergė Zemski Court
- Title (official language):
- Ukmergės žemės teismas
- Creator/accumulator:
- Vilkomir (Ukmergė) Zemski Court
- Date(s):
- 1586/1833
- Language:
- Polish
- Russian
- Slavic languages
- Extent:
- 235 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection of the Vilkomir (Ukmergė) Zemski Court contains the courts' decisions, minutes and registers. It also includes various documents indicating transactions, complaints of individuals, warrants, and holds minutes of other courts in the Vlkomir powiat and in the Onikshty (Anykščiai) Zemski Court. The Jewish-related material in the collection relates mainly to debt issues. These records enable the study of Jewish economic activity and shed light on the activities of the Jewish kahal, and disputes that were associated with it. For example, the collection contains judicial materials, dated 1793, of claims of debts against the Vilkomir Jewish kahal (inventory 1, files 55, 183 ), judicial inquiries from 1799 regarding financial obligations to a few Jewish merchants (inventory 1, files 186, 187, 191) and minutes of an inquiry regarding a case of property theft brought by the Jewish merchant Leizer Pinhasovich against another Jew, Iosel Wolfovich (inventory 1, file 205
- Archival history:
- In 1853-1859 the collection of the Ukmergė (Vilkomir) Court Books was handed over to the Vilnius Central Archives of Ancient Acts. During the Revolution and the First and Second World War the collection was transferred from Vilnius to neighbouring countries resulting in the loss of a considerable part of the records. . At the end of World War II, materials belonging to the Vilnius Central Archives of Ancient Acts were transferred to the Central State Archives of the Lithuanian SSR. In 1957, together with other pre-revolutionary materials, these records were deposited in the Central State Historical Archive of the Lithuanian SSR, which precedes the current State Historical Archive.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Following legal and administrative reforms in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1566-1564, zemski (regional) courts were established. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was subdivided into administrative areas called powiat, in which several types of court operated – the zemski, grodski and podkomorski. Vilcomir (Ukmerge) powiat were included in the Vilnius Voivodeship. The composition of the zemski court consisted of a judge, his assistant, and a clerk, chosen by the local landowners and approved by the king. The zemski court was the court of first instance and dealt with various issues of civil law, and mainly with matters related to wills, transactions and debts, threats, insults, etc. The court usually sentenced defendants to a fine and non-payment meant putting all their property at risk. In 1792 the Vilkomir Zemski Court was abolished, but two years later, in 1794, it was reinstated and its activities resumed until 1831.
- Subject terms:
- Financial matters
- Financial matters--Debt
- Kahal
- Legal matters
- Trade and commerce
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of two inventories that are arranged in thematic-chronological order.
- Finding aids:
- Detailed inventories are available for free online access on the website of the Lithuanian Chief Archivist Service.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://eais-pub.archyvai.lt/eais/faces/pages/forms/search/F3001.jspx
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Ilya Vovshin, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2019