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The article aims to shed light on the privileges accorded by the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as GDL) as a legal means of printed press regulation. It should be noted that so far, the research has mostly been focused on the privileges granted to the printing houses of the Mamoniciai and Vilnius academies. The current research, based on various studies about the privileges granted to other printing houses and new histori­cal sources, attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of the privilege phenomenon in its entirety, by examining the dynamics of granting privileges, privilege providers and recipients, types of privileges, sanctions imposed and the languages in which printing was allowed. It has been established that during the period of 1569–1793, the 37 privileges by rulers were granted to GDL printing houses. In the second half of the 16th century, the GDL rulers accorded 6 privi­leges, in the 17th century – 8, and in the 18th century – 22 privileges, respectively. The greatest number of the privileges was granted during the reign of Augustus III (the period of 1734–1763) and Stanislaw II Augustus (the period of 1764–1795). During the 29 years of holding the throne, Augustus III granted 10 privileges to the GDL printing houses. Stanislaw II Augustus reigned the GDL for 31 years, during which he issued 7 privileges. Among the GDL rulers were also the individuals who failed to grant a single privilege to the existing printing houses. They were John II Casimir Vasa (1648–1668), whose reign coincided with the wars waged against Moscow and Sweden and Stanislaw I Leszczynski (1704–1709, 1733–1734). On the grounds of the intended business purposes, the privileges granted to the GDL print­ing houses can be classified as publishing privileges (in total 13 privileges, accounting for 35%), the privileges to establish a printing house (in total 9 privileges, accounting for 24%), confirming privileges (in total 11 privileges, accounting for 30%) and miscellaneous privileges (in total 4 privileges). In the 16th and the first half of the 17th century, the privileges accorded by the rulers were not very widespread, as part of the printing houses conducted their activities under the auspices of the GDL noblemen. In the 18th century, GDL saw the predominance of insti­tutional printing house. It is only natural that such printing houses sought the privileges granted by the rulers as an important means to establish themselves in the book print­ing market. Among the GDL institutions having a printing house of its own, was a higher edu­cation institution (Vilnius Jesuit Academy), religious organizations of city-dwellers (so-called fraternities) and monasteries (Catholic, Orthodox and Uniate). The largest number of privileges was granted to the printing house of the Vilnius Jesuit Academy (in total 13 privileges), whereas the printing houses of other GDL institutions (brotherhoods of city-dwellers as well as Catholic, Orthodox and Uniate monasteries) were usually accorded one, two or three privileges. The analysis of thirteen privileges granted to the GDL printing houses revealed that they included penalties foreseen for violating publishing rights. The greatest sanction ever in the his­tory of GDL printing – 5000 florins (Italian coins)– was in 1588 imposed on the GDL nobleman Kazimierz Leon Sapieha for violating the privilege to publish the Lithuanian Statute. In the his­tory of GDL printing, one case should be particularly highlighted, namely, when a large fine was imposed not for illegal reproduction but for resisting the failing to comply with the purpose of the privilege – to establish a printing house. More specifically, the 1701 privilege granted by Au­gustus II foresaw a fine of 1000 kapa (medieval unit of measurement used in the 15–18th century GDL) imposed on anybody for hindering the Mogilev Orthodox brotherhood in their attempt to establish a printing house. The privileges accorded by GDL rulers gave permission to publish books not only in the official literary languages – Polish and Latin – but also in the languages of ethnoconfessional communities such as Ruthenian, Lithuanian and Jewish. Even though in principle, the privileges granted by GDL rulers did reflect benevolence for printing books in the languages of other GL confessions and cultures, the monopoly of the Vilnius Jesuit Academy hindered the development of other printing houses.

Kada Vytautas ima tituluotis didžiuoju kunigaikščiu? Vilniaus–Radomo sutartimi Jogaila skyrė Vytautą Lietuvos didžiuoju kunigaikščiu iki gyvos galvos ir priėmė jį savo teisių dalininku. Lietuvos valdovo institucija suskilo į dvi – realųjį didįjį kunigaikštį ir jo siuzereną, nominalųjį valdovą – aukščiausiąjį kunigaikštį. Titulatūra taip pat buvo padalyta, nes 1401 m. sutartis įtvirtino savarankiško Lietuvos valdovo instituciją, o jos valdžios išraišką apibūdino valdovo titulas „magnus dux“. Kitas dokumentas, žymintis Lietuvos atskiro valdovo institucijos atgimimą, buvo 1392 m. Astravos sutartis, kuria Jogaila skyrė Vytautą savo vietininku Lietuvoje. Minėtos datos lyg ir apibrėžia istorinį periodą, kuriame turėtų glūdėti atsakymas į iškeltą klausimą. Tačiau straipsnyje siekiama ne tik atrasti chronologiškai tikslią datą, bet ir aptarti šį klausimą lietuviškoje istoriografijoje plačiau nagrinėtu lietuviškosios valdoviškosios titulatūros požiūriu. Lietuvos krikštas sąlygojo kokybiškai naują valstybės ir valdovo padėtį. Lietuva tapo naujo politinio darinio dalis. Krėvos sutartis ir Jogailos išrinkimas Lenkijos karaliumi pradėjo naują Lietuvos valdovo titulo formavimosi etapą. Lietuvos valdovas, nuo šiol ir Lenkijos karalius, sujungė Lietuvos valdovo titulą su Lenkijos karaliaus titulatūra ir išvyko į Krokuvą. Lietuvos valstybė neteko vienintelės valstybingumą įkūnijančios institucijos – savarankiško valdovo. Tačiau tarp dviejų Gediminaičių šakų kilęs konfliktas buvo atmosfera, kurioje formavosi ne tik Lietuvos valdovo, bet ir visos valstybės titulas. Lithuanian ruler until the Krėva union used to have different titles. Although, in a variety of names the title of Lithuanian ruler was superior to those of ruling dynasty. As a consequence of the Krėva union the title of the Lithuanian ruler was being formed in a framework of two poles: on the one side it was the title of Jogaila as the king of Poland and on the other side it was the title of Vytautas - a local and later an independent ruler of Lithuania. When Jogaila became the king of Poland the Lithuanian title of Lithuanian ruler was combined with that of the Polish king. The formation of the title belonging to the local Lithuanian ruler Vytautas was closely related to the title of patrimonial Lithuanian ruler - Jogaila. The first titles defined Vytautas as a local duke ruling over some territories. Under the Astravą treaty Vytautas become Jogaila's vicegerent in Lithuania. However, on conducting local affairs he did not avoid to title himself as a grand duke of Lithuania in Russian documents. With an increase of his power Vytautas transferred this title of grand duke to German documents. The relationships with the Orden represent only very narrow channel with the outside world. At that time the international language was Latin. It was a high rank diplomatic language. Thus, the Latin document of 1396 where Vytautas titled himself as the grand duke is of very great importance. With reference to this we can assume that Vytautas titled himself officially for the first time as the grand duke of Lithuania. Up to 1396 Vytautas was in conformity with the Astrava's treaty representing himself as a vicegerent, but from 1396 he stepped over the limits of this treaty.