'Paper' state: microphysics of the government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the first half of the 16th century (case study)

Straipsnyje analizuojama Pasvalio bažnyčios klebono Erazmo, Eustachijaus sūnaus, (†1545/1546) ilga teisinė kova (1533–1546–1549) dėl keturių tuščių žemių nuosavybės Pasvalio bažnyčiai pripažinimo. Pagrindžiamas įtarimas dėl dokumentų klastojimo. Didelis dėmesys skirtas to laiko Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės teisinės kultūros aplinkai, teisingumo vykdymo ypatybėms. Išskirti palankūs ir nepalankūs teisinės kultūros elementai, lėmę sėkmingą teisinės kovos baigtį – nuosavybės pripažinimą Pasvalio bažnyčiai. Raktiniai žodžiai: Pasvalio klebonai, Erazmas, Eustachijaus sūnus, falsifikatas, Upytės valsčius, teisinė kultūra. Among the documents in best condition kept at the archive of the St John the Baptist Parish Church in Pasvalys are a collection of various notices and letters relating to the fight lasting several years (1533–1549) waged by the church‘s priests over the allocation of four vacant plots of land to the church‘s jurisdiction. Due to a lucky coincidence, the documents of one, specific extended court proceeding have survived almost completely intact, revealing the personal character qualities of the city-born Pasvalys parish priest Erazmas, the son of Eustachijus (†1545/1546), the Vilnius Chapter canon (1531–1545), secretary of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund the Old (1528–1536), Kaunas customs official (1530–1544), forester of Samogitia, Alytus and Punia (1538–1544), etc., who, in addition to being “clever and greedy”, as related by Stephen C. Rowell, could also be described as “persistent”. One of the presumptions arising from the research is this figure‘s involvement in the forgery of documents. The surviving documents make it possible to describe the actors in detail who in one way or another participated in the above court proceeding and affected the verdicts. Justice was served by officials from the Trakai voivodeship and Upytė rural district. When describing their actions and the documents they issued, attempts were made to grasp the possible extent of their influence on the passing of one or another verdict, and the input of the local administration in the execution of justice. This local case of micropolitics (or “microphysics”, in the sense of Michel Foucault) quite unexpectedly revealed the efforts of the ruler‘s (state) peasants in extending for several years the legal battle of the Pasvalys parish priest Erazmas over acknowledgement of four vacant plots of land to the Pasvalys church. In summarising the research, I urge historians not to ignore the significance of such minor, local politics and small acts of initiative when examining “big politics” for example, such as the battle of the Queen of Poland (1518–1548) and Grand Duchess of Lithuania (1518–1544) Bona Sforza against the seizure of the ruler‘s lands and revision of the nobility‘ s landholding documents in the lands under her rule in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The rich and detailed documentary material relating to the actions of various officials and legal proceedings and their effectiveness (the execution of decrees) reflects the successful functioning of the execution of justice grounded in the culture of written law (“stamped 111 notices”) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the period under discussion. All the necessary institutions were involved to ensure that by choosing purely legal means, the Pasvalys priests could achieve legal victory, rather than resorting to the use of illegal physical force against their opponents, the peasants. The informed presumptions about the “documented” self-will, i.e., revelations of document falsification revealed during the research, are also discussed. Keywords: Pasvalys parish priests, Erazmas, son of Eustachijus, falsification, Upytė rural district, legal culture.