Description
Book SynopsisThis volume analyzes the history of the Lithuanian Metrica—the chancellery books of the Lithuanian grand duke—from the formation of its books in the mid-fifteenth century until now. It reveals how the first Metrica books emerged in the second half of the fifteenth century, discussing the titles given to them in different periods in history, and explains why the Lithuanian Metrica should be considered the state archive of early Lithuania. Material hitherto unknown in academic literature about the fate of the Lithuanian Metrica at the end of the eighteenth century, in the last years of the existence of the joint Polish-Lithuanian state, is also revealed in this account. The book dedicates a great deal of attention to the history of the publication and research of the documents and books of the Lithuanian Metrica, which are now kept in Moscow, Russia, as a historical source.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- 1. The Lithuanian Metrica: The Concept, Term, and Archival Characteristics
- 2. The Grand Issue of the History of the Lithuanian Metrica—the Appearance of the Books (until the Late Sixteenth Century)
- 3. The Chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Metrica in the Fifteenth–First Half of the Sixteenth Centuries
- 4. The Chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Metrica in the Mid-Sixteenth–First Quarter of the Seventeenth Centuries
- 5. The Chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its Staff from the 1620s to the Eighteenth Century
- 6. Structure, Handling, and Control Issues Regarding the Lithuanian Metrica
- 7. Storage of the Lithuanian Metrica: Balancing State Interests and Personal Whims
- 8. The Eighteenth Century—a Time of Journeys: The Lithuanian Metrica between Vilnius, Warsaw, and Saint Petersburg
- 9. In Foreign Hands
- 10. Research and Publishing
- Bibliography
