Metadata: Vilnius 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:
- 20
- Title:
- Vilnius Zemski Court
- Title (official language):
- Vilniaus žemės teismas
- Creator/accumulator:
- Vilnius Zemski Court
- Date(s):
- 1591/1829
- Language:
- Polish
- Russian
- Slavic languages
- Latin
- Extent:
- 373 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection of the Vilnius Zemski Court for 1591-1829 contains the courts' books, judicial decisions on civil and criminal cases, protocols and registers. It also includes complaints, various financial documents indicating transactions and collection of taxes. The Vilnius Zemski Court was the court of first instance that dealt with various issues of civil law, matters related to wills and debts, threats, insults, etc. The cases heard by the court concerned mainly the life and activities of the nobles. The court usually imposed a fine, and those who did not pay it put all their property at risk.
Part of the documents in the collection refer to the life of the Jewish population. These records facilitate the study of the economic activities of Jews, relations between Jews and Christians, and the tax payments foisted on the Jewish community in Vilnius. For example, the collection includes a book on the liquidation of the debts of the Kahal in Vilna for 1648 -1765 (inventory 1, file 105). This book was compiled by order of the special state body formed to manage the economics and finances of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – the Treasury Commission, which also oversaw tax collection. The kahals were executive elected boards run by Jewish autonomous communities, but reflected an oligarchic system in which the communities were formed by citizens who owned property. The kahals’ duties included a collective tax burden negotiated by the lay leadership with the authorities and imposed on all the communities rather than on each individual within it.
Other materials in the records of the Treasury Commission of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which relate to Jewish life concern several judiciary disputes over mutual monetary claims. These papers mention the Vilna kahal and the kahal of Grodno in 1766 (inventory 1, file 87). The file deals with mutual claims between these Jewish organisations and the Jesuit Academy of Vilnius, Grodno Collegium of Jesuits, Dominican, Bernardine and Basilian monasteries. The collection includes a file of legal inquiry between Beniaminovich and Lapinsky regarding a dispute in 1811-1812 over the payment of a debt (inventory 2, file 17). While this is not evident in the inventory lists, it’s reasonable to assume that one would also find Jewish names and records in the files pertaining to other judicial matters.
- Archival history:
- In 1853 the collection of the Vilnius Zemski Court was handed over to the Vilnius Central Archives of Ancient Acts. At the end of World War II, these materials were transferred to the Central State Archives of the Lithuanian SSR. In 1957 the collection, together with other pre-revolutionary materials, was included in the Central State Historical Archive of the Lithuanian SSR, predecessor of 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 courts operated – zemski, grodski and podkomorski. The Zemski Court comprised a judge, his assistant and a clerk, chosen by the local landowners and approved by the king. In 1792 the Vilnius Zemski Court was abolished, but as early as 1794 its activities were resumed and it continued to operate until 1831.
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of three inventories that are arranged in thematic-chronological order.
- Finding aids:
- Detailed inventories are available 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, 2020
