Estates of the Lithuanian Nobility in the Territory of the Present-day Lublin Region in the 15th–16th Centuries

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the estate complexes that were created in the15th and 16th centuries in today’s north-eastern Lublin region. At that time these were the territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and throughout the period a processof shrinkage of the grand ducal domain and development of private property was observed to have been under discussion. The estates of the Zabrzezinski, Ilnicz, Radziwiłł, Sanguszko, Sapieha, Połubieński, and Kopcie families were established near the main transportation routes and on the banks of the River Bug; they permanently changed the local settlement network, and Międzyrzecz, Biała, Kodeń, and Włodawa became important magnate residences for which other families, counted among the elite not only of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania but also of the Polish Crown, vied in the centuries to follow. Some estates were passed from one family to another, others remained in the possession of the same families for decades or even centuries. There were marriages between owners, but also disputes over border lands or lack of proper financial sett lements. Some disputes went on for years over successive generations and usually ended with the most wealthy and influential families succeeding.