REVIEW OF HISTORICAL SCIENCES 2017, VOL. XVI, NO. 3 http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1644-857X.16.03.11 ROBERTAS JURGAITIS LITHUANIAN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES* Where did the sessions of the Vilnius sejmik take place in 1717–1795? eneral assemblies of the nobility, sejmiks in particular, were important events in the life of the city. Having arrived at the Gsejmik session, the nobility not only adopted new resolutions or elected local functionaries and representatives of various state institutions, but also, in their free time, came into contact with peo- ple of different social strata. The cities were coming alive, just as during the fairs. And on the political “market”, the arriving noble- men enjoyed themselves and had a fun time. In the mid-18th centu- ry, an anonymous author associated with Potocki aptly described the social context of sejmiks, though slightly exaggerating: “Sejmiks were held all over the city. Each church, each street, each house and finally, each inn, basement or pit made for a decent setting…”1. It should be noted that the well-known law on cities of April 18, 17912, also mentions that, to a greater or lesser extent, sejmiks contributed to the strengthening of cities and county centers in the province. Such a tendency can be observed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (further on: GDL) after the administrative reform in 1791 as splitting counties into smaller units increased the num- ber of towns in which sejmiks were held. * The Faculty of Education in Humanities, The Department of Lithuanian History / Wydział Humanistyczny, Katedra Historii Litwy, e-mail: robertas.jurga [email protected]. 1 A discussion on sejmiks, The Central Archives of Historical Records in War- saw [further on: AGAD], The Public Archives of Potocki’s Family No. 252, p. 34. 2 Volumina legum [further on: VL], vol. IX, Kraków 1889, pp. 215–216. 242 ROBERTAS JURGAITIS Although the discussions on the locations of sejmik sittings in the counties of GDL already appear in the literature3, detailed studies on particular sejmiks reveal additional facts. In the his- toriography of recent years, the attention is drawn to the location of the Vilnius sejmik sessions in GDL4. In the article, I would like to look into this subject matter in relation to the years 1717–1795. It should not be forgotten that until 1777, the sejmiks-in-exile of the Smolensk voivodship were held in Vilnius. In loco solito While in the second half of the 16th century and in the 17th century, due to various disturbances, the Vilnius sejmik was sometimes taking place neither in Vilnius itself nor in the Vilnius county5, in the 18th century the assembly of nobility was consistently held in the capital of GDL6. A permanent location of sejmiks, most com- monly corresponding to the county and voivodships centers, was established in the laws treating on the activity of sejmiks in GDL at the end of 18th century7. It is rather complicated to determine 3 A.B. Zakrzewski, Sejmiki Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego XVI–XVIII w. Ustrój i funkcjonowanie: sejmik trocki, Warszawa 2000, pp. 29–34; A. R a c h u b a, Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie w systemie parlamentarnym Rzeczypospolitej w latach 1569–1763, Warszawa 2002, pp. 81–90, p. 200; i d e m, Miejsca obrad sejmików Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego w latach 1569–1794, [in:] Parlamenckije struktu- ry ulady u sistemie dzerzavnaga kiravanie Velikaga Kniastva Litouskaga, Minsk 2008, pp. 183–197. 4 A. Ragauskas, Viešasis gyvenimas Vilniaus Žemutinės pilies teritorijoje XVI–II a., [in:] Vilniaus Žemutinė pilis XIV a. – XIX a. pradžioje: 2005–2006 m. ty- rimai, sudarė L. Glemža, Vilnius 2007, pp. 103–104; R. J u r g a i t i s, Bajoriškas seimelis mieste: kur vykdavo Vilniaus seimelio posėdžiai 1717–1795 m.?, [in:] Lie- tuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė XVIII amžiuje: miesto erdvė, Vilnius 2007, pp. 45–53. 5 The non-standard places of the Vilnius sejmik appear in the historiography: Valkininkai (1572), Niemieża (1625), Radashkovichy (1626), Medininkai (1654) and Kamieniec Litewski (1659). See J. Seredyka, Instrukcje powiatu wileńskiego na sejmy za panowania Zygmunta III Wazy, “Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobót- ka” 1993, vol. XLVIII, No. 2–3, p. 191; A. R a c h u b a, op. cit., p. 82, 84. 6 “Each county holds the sejmik sessions in their own town where they select two deputies to the Diet…”. See Wilenskie Woiewodztwo, Kalendarz polityczny na Rok P. 1747, Lublin [1746]. 7 In the statutes of the sejmiks of 1791 and 1793, the first paragraph of the 1st chapter treats on the place where the sejmiks met: “One city per each sejmik, and in the city one place to assemble we appoint once and for all”. See Sejmiki, VL, vol. IX, p. 233. “One city per each sejmik, and in the city one place to assemble is set once and for all”. See Sejmiki W. Ks. Litewskiego, VL, vol. X, Poznań 1952, p. 127. Where did the sessions of the Vilnius sejmik… 243 a particular locale (building, room) of the sessions. Without doubt, it must have been changing over such a long period of 1717–1795. First of all, the sources do not include any clear and comprehen- sive information on the matter. Given that the location was obvious to the participants, it comes as no surprise that the location was not indicated. Therefore, most frequently the documents of the sej- mik simply state that the gathering was “in the city of Vilnius, the castle of His Majesty” or “in the Vilnius castle”8. Sometimes it was added: “in the usual place” (ad solitum locum)9. Putting emphasis on the constancy of the meeting place may have a formal tone: the factor of a regular location gained significance when the sejmiks were split, as the one held in a non-regular place might have been considered unlawful. The importance of this issue is illustrated by the debate between the participants of the pre-convocation sejmik session about the place of the meeting on February 6, 1764. The supporters of Ignacy Pac, the steward of GDL, waited until 3 PM until the session of the proponents of Ignacy Jakub Massalski, the Bishop of Vilnius, finished. It was not until then that they started the meeting10. Pac’s supporters managed to accept the documents of the sejmik and include them in the records of the municipal court already on February 711, whereas Massalski’s proponents on 8 “…they arrived at the pre-convocation sejmik in the city of HM at the regular place of meeting in the Vilnius Castle…”. See The resolutions of the Vilnius sejmik of March 20, 1733, The Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius [further on: LVIA], f. 21, op. 1, No. 91, p. 164. 9 “…the nobility of the voivodship arrived in big numbers in solito loco in the Castle…”. See Z Wilna d. 14. Febr., “Kuryer Polski”, February 14, 1740, No. 163. “…arriving at the Castle ad solitum locum of the sejmik…”. See Z Wilna d. 10. Febr., “Kuryer Polski”, February 10, 1742, No. 272. “…in solito consiliorum loco…”. See The instructions of the Vilnius sejmik of August 1748, LVIA, f. 21, op. 1, No. 103, p. 954v. “having gathered in the city and in the Castle of HM in Vilnius, ad solitum consiliorum locum…”. See The authorization of the Vilnius sejmik of February 7, 1770, LVIA, f. 21, op. 1, No. 128, p. 18. “gathering in Vilnius, the city of HM, at the location of Candlemas sejmik sitting…”. See The authorization of the Vilnius sej- mik of February 4, 1782, LVIA, f. 21, op. 1, No. 139, p. 1. 10 Michał Horain’s letter of February 13, 1764, The manuscript catalogue of the Vrublevskiai Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences in Vilnus, f. 139, No. 1197, pp. 5–8; W. Kriegseisen, Sejmiki Rzeczypospolitej szlacheckiej w XVII i XVIII wieku, Warszawa 1991, p. 98; T. S z w a c i ń s k i, Sejmiki poselskie przed konwokacją 1764 r., “Kwartalnik Historyczny” 2006, vol. CXIII, No. 1, p. 26. 11 The resolutions of the Vilnius sejmik of February 7, 1764, LVIA, f. 21, op. 1, No. 121, pp. 380–383v; The instructions of the Vilnius sejmik of February 7, 1764, ibidem, pp. 384–387v. 244 ROBERTAS JURGAITIS February 912. After the debates were moved to the Warsaw Convo- cation Sejm and after deputies’ powers went under control, the sej- mik of Biszop Massalski was recognized as a lawful one and elected the deputies13. However, the research carried out in recent years shows that the territory of the Vilnius castles on which most build- ings of the GDL institutions were located was large enough to hold their own sejmik assemblies. The records of the Vilnius municipal court from the 18th century point out that the Vilnius sejmik was meeting in the building of said court, in its meeting room14. As stated in the entry of 1715, the Vilnius municipal court and the sejmik sittings took place in the Castle Gate building15. In the descriptions of the Vilnius estates from 1790, it is indicated that court proceedings were held in the Castle Gate building (property No. 462)16. In 1794, the tribunal (deputational) and electoral sejmik of Vilnius also met in the room of the Vilnius municipal court17. Some of the court records from 18th century also include indirect evidence on the location of the 12 The instructions of the Vilnius sejmik of February 9, 1764, Akty izdava- iemyje Vilenskoju archeograficzeskoju komisieju dla razbora drievnich aktov, vol. XIII, pp. 224–236; The resolutions of the Vilnius sejmik of February 6, 1764, ibidem, pp. 217–221.