The court of Alexander Jagiellon and its account books

PILIU TYRIMO CENTRAS ,,LIETUVOS PILYS" LTETUVoS DrDZtoto KUNIGAIrcSEIO ALEKSANDRo JocAnarero DVARO s,tsKArru r<wVGos (t4e4-1s 04) parenge Darius Antanavidius ir Rimr,ydas Petrauskas VILNIUS 2OO7 4The Grand Duke Introduc:tion. The Court of Alexander Jagiellon and its Account Books Rimvyclas P etratts lcas The Grand Duke In July 1492 Alexander Jagiellonian was elected grand duke of Lithuaniar. He nrler of the Grand Duchy after the death of his father, casimir (1440-92), who had mled Lithuania for almost fifty-two years, and the Kingdom of poland for nearly forty-five. His father's long and successful reign determtned the final consolidation of the Jagiellonian dynasty at the helm of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the became Kingdom of Poland, and ensured the peaceful inheritance of those realms by his sons2. of Alexander to the grand-ducal throne was probably the first conflictfiee accession in Lithuanian history. At the same time his elder brother John Albert became king of Poland. The consolidatron of the dynasty is witnessed by the inheritance of the family namel Jagiello, at the tum of the fitleenth and sixteenth centuries3. Historians do not agree wl-rether the accession of Alexander, rather than that of one of his brothers, to the grand-ducal throne was agreed in ailvance by members of the dynasty, or whether it was the result of a choice made by the Lithuanian aristocracy; The elevation llkely it was detennined by an agreement between the whole of the ruling elite, andAlexander's elevation was a combination of the inheritance of the throne and ar-r election, typical of those times. More interestrng is the fact that a gathering of the ruling elite was called for the first time on the occasion of Alexander's election in l492,which can be regarded as the origin of the Lrthuanian Parliament; an insf,uction was issued for each area to send several representatives to the election- ar-rd installation cer-r{entry emonies, thereby marking the beginning of the tradition of gentry representationa. Alexander was horn in 1461, the fburlh son of Casimirthe Jagiellon, king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania, and Elisabeth Habsburg, scion of the Austrian royal farnily. His name was chosen in memory of Grand Duke vytautas, who had been baptised Aiexander, and this ruler's model was to influence the prince's self-image as grand dLrke. King Casimir took pains to provide his chrldren with a good education, appointing the Cracow canon and historian, Jan Dlugosz and later the Italian philosopher, Filippo callimach as their tutors in the wawel castle. casimir's sons may have been the first literate Jagrellonians. Even so, Alexander hirnself, as we can see from rnost rTlre best studres ofAlexander's life and reign are: F. Pap6e, Aleksander Jagielloticzyk, (Cracow, 1949; edition, Crcaow, 2006); K. Pietkiewicz, Wielkie Ksiqstwo Litewskie pod rzqdanti Aleksayclra JagielLoitczyka (Poznari, I 995). Lithuanian scholarship can offer a short, conceptual arlicle: E. Banionis, 'Aleksandras', Ii kur atifome, comp. A. Nekro5iene (Kaunas, 1988), p. g4-91. r M. Bogucka, Ka zinierz Jagielloiczyk i jego czasy (Warsaw, 1 98 l); S. C. Rowe11, 'Casimir Jagiellonczyk and the Polish Gamble', Lithuanian Historical Stu.clies 4 (1999), p. 20-3g. r Cf. the work of historians contemporary r.vith Alexancler, such as Ludovicus Decius, De Jagellon.tnt laarilia (Cracou. I 52 I l. I For mote detail see R. Petrattskas, 'Lictuvos DidZiosios Kunigaik5tystes Seimo iitakos: DidZiojo kunigaiksdio taryba ir bajorq suvaziavimai XIV XV a.' , parlamento studijos 3 (2005), p. 9 32. second XXVII Inlroduction The Grand Duke surviving letters written in his own hand, are not rerrarkable for any exceptittnal talent in Latin5. What is important is that Alcxander's education led him to gather leamed rnen around him and value their advicc. Good counsel r,vas something. which Alexander would need in abundance after he became grand duke (141)2) and hade to face a wl,ole range of new challenges. The grcatest of these was the incipient war with Muscovy, which was to last many years. In the summer of 1492 Grand Dukc Ivan lll of Moscow exploited the unceftain interregnum fbllowing thc death of Grand Duke-King Casimir to tnake war within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. ln the collrse of a few years the Grand Duchy not only lost scveral border duchies but also rn etfect had to abandon its interests in the Norlh-East Rus'ian domains olNovgorod and Pskov6. It't 1494 peace was made which u'as intended to be confirmecl the lbllorving year by the mamiage of Alexandcr to lvan's claughter Elena. However, as later evcnts were to provr:, kindred ties did not stop lvan fion-r renewing the war in 1500. This conflict ended in I 503 with a truce and the loss of n quafier of the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (namely the duchies of Novgorod Severskii, Starodub and Chernigov). Another aspect of Alcxar-rder's fbreign policy dealt with thc broad swathe of eastem and central European territories ruled by rnembers of the Jagiellonian dynasryr. Aln-rost thc r,vhole of east-central Europe lay in the hands of Casimir's sons at the turn of the flficcnth arLd sixteenth ccnturies. The largest territories and wcakest power were held by Alerander's eldest brothcr, Wladislaw (L6szlii), king of Hungary and Bohemra. Although hc attempted, as senior mernber of-the dynasty, to coordinatc and controi dynastic policy, hc was unable to forrn an effective Jagiellonian power bloc. The dynasty had to compcte with influential nobles in the lands they ruled, and the policies conceived by Jagiellonian monarchs far fiom alr,vays frtted in with the interests of their Polish, Bohernian. Hungarian and Lithuanian aristocracies. In Lithuania the dynasty sought without srrccess to create a new tcrritorial unit lbr its youngest tnetnber, Sigismund, to rulc. However, the lack of more active measures to aid his brother shows that Alexander, as sovereign rulcr of the Grand Duchy. clid not contcmplate the creation of ner'v principaltties u,ithin thc teritory of-the GDL with any enthusiastn. On the contrary, in his day the piocess of territorialising ancl consolidating the intcmal structure o1'the GDL advanced fr-rfiher. ln 1504 the palatinate of Polotsk was creatcd which continued making the territories within thc Grand Dr-rchy structuraliy more unifotm. The palatinatcs of MlniLrs, Trakai and Kiev alrcady existed, as did the starostaship (lord lieutenancy) of Zcrnaitr.la. One after another the gcntry of various Rnthenian lands obtained local chafiers, which promoted the integralisation of the statc. One condition fbr the successful rule of any prince is his ability to obtain and maintain the supporl of his country's political elites. On August 6 1492 at the very beginning of his The Grand Duke rule Alexander granted institutional legitimi satr grand duke took on the with the knowledge of t by the council. Often l monarch to the aristocrr earlier days too rulers powerful lords and the grand duke alone, free Alexander was influenc days, when the monarc issues had to be resolver body, the Council of Lc and Alexander's chafter oped during the second 'greatly restrict the actio quite a independent poli trative organisation of t} In effect representat relations between this r several conflicts. The fi John Albert of Poland r Polish border and bega throne in Cracow. After the GDL aristocracy ag Provision was made for jointly-elected ruler. a j comrnon syslenr of coin parl of Alexander's obli; dralted at a time olmilir had suffered a painful de after which several influr this union treaty never c: nian parliament refused union. In this case those an interest in the underrlt have increased the powe important loss on the part ty's rights to inhent the I what the Jagiellonians h p. 9. 6W. Bialowiejska, 'stosunki Litwy z Moskw4 w l. polowic panowania Aleksandra Jagiellonczyka (1492 1499)', Atenetnt Wilehskie,T (1930), p. 59 I 10, 126-785. 5 Pap6e, Aleksander, TSeeR.R.Trimonene,LietuvosDidiiojiKunigaikitystiirVidurioEuropaXV XVt o.sandilxtje(Siauliai,i996). 124. sOntlierr-rlingLithuanianeliteinAlexander'sday,seePietkicwicz,WiellcieKsiqstwoLitewskie,p.l6 XXViII members alone to inherit " Seo R. Pctrauskas. Lietuyos 2003). p. 167 208. r d, The Grctnd Duke rule Alexancler ganted a chafter ,o ,n. OOa gtl"y, the main point of which was the institutionar regitimisation instirutionar r.*r7*i.rrt"n of nrr1.o.^..-^:, .; the grand duke took on th^eobligation to appoint officiars;"J;;; out forei-en poricy onry with the knowredqe orthe ar]stoc.*y ii. any decision. tuk.n bv the council. tiften this charte, u, u-.J,r..ssion ,ronarch to the aristocracy fr.o* trre new or even as eartier davs too rLrrers hacr him. Even so, in had to powerful rords and the rr" wi, of the most appointment of state olficers ,u, n.u.. grand duke arone, fi'ee a prerogati'e of the tio,r-, uny ,".t.i.tionse. The the Alexander was infruenced chafter issuecl bv mostly ", situation a.u.top"a days, when the monarch in his fatheri *u, ,o,."ria.n, permanentry in the Grand Duchy ancr many c".,.i""ri5.JJ;.ix",Tillff#r;i,Ti:*J:Ti: ,rr"";;;;;;;;;il*. histor;;;-il.;;t ;..";;;;;.;il il"il'",..,". ",,ora,,"";;;;;.r'ii,* *r*o ;;il; *hi.;;; ;:'il:'Ht ff.li:"l i:*:, mli*:i1s or stare,,,. tr,",i,toc, andAlexancler's chafterrnererv oped during the second half ofihe;rtt."r,r, ..nrury.i,r'urr'."r. greatly restrict the actions ortrre g.unJ 4,,r.. u, acv an d its por i tic.l r"s,ti,ri;.1':';.1xii;ii:rfi::;ffiffi;j.,i:h:l; quire indepedent policy trative organisarion orthe countryrrJ *" ,or;"i;,;;and a "rrpp"i,riffi.iur. p..roioi,, new charrer did not Arexander eftbcted uno .^,.rcring rhe adminis_ In effect representativ"s of the ;st* _ relarions between this rurer -o ni, ,"',,,"",'t?;ly:i:f,f::'ffi';L.Jfiil.l..[il; [irrr,r-u foreign policy. sevcrar corrflicrs. The trrsr i:i:iiT[:li:,?,. thro n *r,..on,r..,'"iwirh rhe ,roi ,r1",,'"f.Mernik. when Kinp r,," year, Arexano". _"a" his way towards thJ "i,ni n,, *. u," J Hj,:i:""h|,^HH5"I ",,i ", J;,i:",T, T,1 died in e, .,"."*,i;:ii the GDL aristocracv agreed on Provision was made foiporand jointly-electro . o.tot". z: ;11;;;rd *'"t.:,]-oir, .vri",i i,."rir.;ilTfi,,xlrffir.ilxr:: duchy," comrnon svstem orc3lnase "t:i,t,,.", and mutuai miritary pafi of Arexander's obrigalions i,, r,,r ,., on. uoay poritic with ; ;;"". Tj;.3 ;i1,, erwhichs."*,il,n*,;;il;;il;il::r'.l:;fJ::.J::,J"-J[".?*:,f u:,r :li:*l;'i:lg.}lra [:1",1,:i:.J M ;.;; this Lrnion rreatv never.r,rr" ,rio ro-r;;"0'";,r" the councrr nian parriament refused-to rarify i,, ,.."ra"nce with e ;i;;;. ar, ie and it was r L i,h u a,i a X.";:lll and later a Lirhua_ of rhe act of have had ,,;;;;;;".ents ffil".'J,llf ;T:*:',:'*::,;lt ;T """,0"' in', jil:y;H:iq:,,:.'fi ^,",,,i1i'n'*,.,r,,av 11r",,il,;;il;""#.Ti?:l :1,,1i*ilil",t1*,1-,:*1 rrnpoftanr loss on rhe narr orthe monar.n lJ; i';ll:: ,J,Hlii*:i*fi m em b ers a r o n e to i,,r, ",, i,r,l. *oita mu. ,r".rlrir.*iil.,ur,o, of his dynas_ wo,, J ;;;; ;; a ren unc i a,ion o r ]Tf::,,:,":hich ; ;.' a a orMerniJ< was ";t;;;;;;.'r,i"'Lnion rri.-"r""ti", ,"1n"'ir"iish throne ,"ir- aft ,rii" .o^.,r,oro, ry-r"i,rrr(parriaments), il, ;;i:i,Ill;,,1[1ffi #.# ,,ffi* :,f*' m,I 'Scc R. Pclrauska:, Liettno, a,.t,,^-"-.) ------. 2003),p. ri)-Jog.'-''"ttosdiductmenexttrta.pabaigrie-xvo...sttcreris-sh.uktira-var.riia(Mlnius. XXIX Introduction The Grand Duke The Grand Duke and Hungary expressed his protcst against the union. ln this sense the actions of the GDL Council of Lords and the dynasty were not completely coordinated but thcre was no essential conflict between their interests. A somewhat greater disruption struck the counuy's leaders as a rcsult of thc growing influence of-Mikhail Glinsky over the r-uler's entourage. After returning from a tour of the coufis of European rulers, this duke o1Tatar descent achieved a staggeringly swift rise to power and a career which was rare even lbr such times. Without havin-q strong kin behind him he acqr-rired one post after another until in 1500 he became marshal of Alexander's court. His rise smashed through the quite balancecl aristocratic class within the CDL for a long time and led after Alexander's cleath to a serious political crisis within the cor-rntty. This episode probably deten,-rined the negative attitude of later generations towards Alexander's reign. After less than two decades following the grand duke's death the Bychowicc Chronicle, the new version of-the Lithuanian Chronicle, which r,vas ances. Muscory. In Alexander,s dr was renewed. Alexander,s about, and initiatives journey of Alexaoder's I 501 marked the certain Orthodox not enjoy the range ofactions on day, which reveal When which perhaps compiled on the initiative of the the GDL aristocracy, claimed that the physical tant for the illness which struck Alexander was punishment fbr the injustices he had wrought. In the nineteenth ccntr-rry Ltthuanian and Polish historians continued the tradition ofvierving Alexander in a negative Hght, contrasting Alexander's one time strong political position rvith this allcged weak policies. The unsucccssful onset of what would prove to be a long-term war against Muscovy and afbrerrentioned conflicts historians In Alexander's ernisation, the reign of with oflicial with the aristocrzrcy of both Lithtiania and Poland, apparently, seems to prove that indeed the monarch's most itnportant functions (safeguarding the def'ence of the realm and ensuring peace w'ithin the country) were not carried out suitably. However, later historians, who began to take a more all round and deeper r.iew of the political sitr-ration in that ase ancl the real possibilities open to thc grand dukc and his cntourage, have provicled a rrore subtie assessrnent of Alexancler's bequest to the nationr0. The war with Moscow was probably inevitable, as Ivan lI[ u,as simply waiting for the right mornent to bcgin his attack and this happened to coincide with Alexander's accession to the Lithuanian throne. The actions taken by the GDL's ruler shows he made serious eftbr1s to resolve the situation. His marriage to Ivan's daughter, Elena was an attempt to create conditions conducive to long-tenl peace and it was cefiainly not a result of the actions of these spouses that the hopes placecl in their mariagc were doomed not to be fulfiiled. Despite Ivan III's attempts to tum Elena into a tool to irnplement his own policy, she attempted to mcdiate betwcen her father and husband and the letters she sent to Moscow reveal how she defcnded her husband's actions. Atter this marriage strategy failed to provide the results desired by Moscow Alexander atter-npted to fbrm a coalltion of regional powers against Muscovy. It was in his reign that the diplomatic senrice developcd more fullyrr. Representatives were continually sent to Poland, both branches of the Teutonic order (in Prussia and Livonia respectively), Moldavia, Denmark and Sweden and the Tatar khanates seeking various ways to forni nrilitary alli- foreign counEies mats Metrica, acquired lated. certain from the rest. copies for the and a more or less ander's reign that a which has left us a days. The rise in careers ofA rank and henceforth An important his minting of pennies (denaii), monetary economy, years Li lrtcrature tiom notc ytlskit'h. (Warsaw" l99l). I p ancl also. 316 i2.5. rr I-orgrcaterdctail. scc E. Baniot-tis. arrr-'rrri,r (Vilnius, XXX I 99E). J. Ilardach's account. 'Alcksiinclcr'" Poc:et liroliyr i li.titl:t1t Lialtn,os t)itl:io.lio.s Kunigaik.ittste.s'lto.tiuntinl'biLllurnt,htt XLl .\L,t ofA (alongside the rr i" In addition, followi fbunded an order ofknights See O. Halecki,0d politinis XV ir biltovis. a. 1999), p. 235-262;G. lished doctoral rr See Pietkiewicz, --The Grand Duke Inlrocluction ances' In additron, following the traditions of westem European rulers Alexander fbunded an order of knights in 1500, which was intended to concentrate tbrces against Muscovy' In Alexander's day the idea for reuniting the eastern and western Churches was renewed. Alexander's marriage to Elena forrned an oppol-tunrty to bring this about, and initiatives taken by certain orthodox noblemen'iromisecl success. The journey of Alexander's coul-t scribe, Ivan Sapieha to pope Alerander vI in Rome in 1501 marked the apogee of this policyr2. Neverlheless, the atternpts of Alexancler and certain Orlhodox noblemen to overcorne confbssional diflbrences within the CDL did not enjoy the supporl of the Catholic or orthodox hierarchy. Thus we can see a whole range of actions on the parl of the grand duke, which met the political realities of his day, which reveal serious and well-consiclered attempts to overcome various crises. when assessing the reign of Alexander it is worlh our while noting those changes, which perhaps did not have swift results, but which did prove to be especially important for the country's furlher social and political developr.,-rert. First of all moclenr historians clearly discem continuity in the ilodernisation of the country,s governance. In Alexander's day the grand-ducal chancery, which was the vanguard of this rnodemisation, received its second irnpetus fbr development, the last haling cor.rc during the reign of vytautas13. State documents dealing with clomestic aflairs and replete with officral fbnnulae increased markedly in number; diplomatic correspondence with foreign countries became more active, the special qualiiications of scribes and diplomats developed. and most impoftantly of all, the state archive, the so-called Lithuanian Metrica. acquired new-dirnensions. Although the number of scribes was still not regulated, certain basic olfices (those ofthe great scribes or secretaries) stooci out clearly fiorn the rest. These took charge of procedures for fonning documents and making formality in the chancery,s activities and a more or less sorid way of drafting and checking documentation. It was in Alex_ ander's reign that a sea change occurred in the auth"orities, correspondence process, which has left us a great amount of documentary evidence in comparison with earlier days The rise in the significance of the grand-ducal chancery is rlflected in the later careers of Alexander's scribes. The Sapiehas and Bogovitinoviches obtained noble rank and hencefbrlh the GDL chancellor was the leader official within the state. An imporlant novelty in Alexander's day was his reactivated econor-nic policy and his rninting of coinage. Since the end ol ih" fou,t."nth century local coins, callcd pennies (.denarii), had been minted in the GDL, but these were part r.rot so much of a monetary cconomy as representational commemorative policy. Meanwhile, thc t'irst years of Alexander's reign saw the beginning of the rnrnting ofilithuanian haif-groats (alongside the pennies which continued to te rninted). This was a phenomcnon of copies for the archive' AI1 this pennitted more I See o Halecki, oct totii .florenckiei clo tmii brze.skiei,2 vols (Lublin, I 997); R. temir-rs. .Ko,l.esinrs ir XV a pabaigos Baznytines unijos aspektas Lietuvos Didziojoje Kluligaikstijoje ,, Torp ir butttvis politinis i,stctrilcts sntlilos prof. Edvartlo Guclaviiiaui 70-met\iui,comp. A. gunrblauskls, R. petrauskas (vilnius, 1999)'p 235-262: G Kirkiene, Choclkevili4vaiclmuo LDK politinio elitostrukrinyexy'.-lz1a, r-rnp,bLshed doctoral disscrtation, University of Vilnius. 2005. rr See Pietkiewicz, Il/ielkie Ksiqstwo Litey,skie, pp. 13_42. XXXI i Introduction The Grand Duke The M'onarch's Court Lithr-ranian monetary pohcy. Early in the reig, (14g5) a mint began to operate regularlyrl' The creation of this mint was connected closely with the u.tiuiti", of a Cracow dinating the traditions o reflects the dynastic per tnerchalt olGcmarl clcscct.tt. Henryk Szlageq r,vho was its unofflcial head and a close co,fldant of tl-rc grancl duker'. Szlager's name appears rcgularly rn the grand ,s duke accottnt books. He was collnected with Alexancler in many financial matters. which attracted thc Cracovian to Lithuania for some tirne. For several years he became the rcnticr of thc Kar-tnas flustonx I-louse and one of the hcads of the GDL mint. lvhich was tbLmded at that time. Szlagcr's olficial title was GDL Minter of Coin. By all accounts, to two countries. For the fi bol of the dynasty rathr manifestation of Jagielli tic authority, that is the heirs on the thrones ofpc a consiclcr:able ertent rt lvas his financial expertise which meant that during Alexander,s reign thc rrint linally began to firnction nonnally and the grand duke's marshal. Jan Litawor Cihrcptorvicz. who was ofticially resporrsible for the workings of the mint, took chal-9e only of overseeing general work. Despite the sharp nse in the amount of coinage lniutcd u'ithin the countty the currency of Lithuanian groats couid not match that of the All Prague groatsr('. Horvever, the establishment of-the mint and the creation of new public ofliccs rvas the basc on which the tuture monetary economy would be tutional grand-ducal built. In thc era of war against Muscor,1, the organisation ofthe GDL's anned fbrces changed. At the ttrrrr of'the fifteenth- and sixteenth ccnturies the post of full-tirne commancler of the as a post fbr of the frfteenth and sixteenth centuries with contracts and mutual obligations and this is rcflecteci as a military structure within the court account books. The visualisation of these changes was expressed in a new system of authority syrnbols. Zenotr Piech, who has analyscd the syrnbolism ofJagiellonian authority consid- ers that in Aierander's day the grand dukes' use and design of seals experienced a second r'r'atershed since the reigns of Jogaila and Vytautas. The ruler's great seal took on a novel and suggestive composition of dynastic and territorial aflrrs surrollnding the Vytis or Horsetnan device. Fufiherrnorc, an analogous heraldic cornposition *as adapted soon aftcrwards in Poland too, and that, according to piech, is a r_urique case oi the infl-tcncc of Lithuaniatt seal dcsign over its polish counterparlrs. The syrnbolism coor- r lbid p. 1 87- I 90. Sce too M. Gumowski , Mennit:u wilefi,s ka w XVI-XVII wieka (\\rarsar.v , , l92l); lvanauskas, M. Baldius, Lietu.ttcts Didziosios Kunigaikiry^.stes b,diniai ir monetos nuo t3g7 iki t4g5 rzel4 (Vilnius, 199a); E. Remecas, 'XVI a. monetq apyvarta dabarlines Lietuvos teritorijoje,, pinzg4 .rtutlijos, 2 (2002), p. 58-77. E r'L Karalins.'Kaunomrritlninkasl-IcnrikasSlitrchcris(1496 l-6.1. rr G. Lcsmaiti s, Lietuvos Didiiosio"s Kuni.gai.k,itl;stes .santcktntoji karittontene Xlt a. pcrbaigctje _ 1570 nt,.unpublished cloctolal dissertation, Kaunas, vytautas the Great univcr"sity,2005. XXXII offices, the court chanci duke's court council wa its institutton ofpermane until then was only slight pemanent dwellers at c curienses), who were Io the monarch's entourag, marked an impofiant ste the country was goverrie( Lithuania gradually aclo1 The organisation of t cessors Svitligaila and , became king of poland i the Lithuanian grand-dut eral new otfices were cr( tedly, under Casimir the for the sons of the Lithu: ture [or Lithuanian court 1499; 1504)',Kcrunoistnrilosntetra,itis, 3 (2002), p. 185-201. r" Even so they rverc well enough known for forgers to rnint thern. On November 30 i502 the lor.d lieutenant of Lvov corr-rplained o1'Prince Wisniowiecki's actions to Alexander. He had been lbrging both Polrsh ancl Lithuanian coit (Lithttanica rnoneta) - (Akta Atelisa.n.tlra, wyd,. F-. papee, Krak6w, I 927. p l-5 cor podant components of tl aid of which tire country ity was confirmed withi a sovereign ruler's cour Middle Ages in Wester anry, or hetman, was creatcd. Llnlike that of other oflices, thc institutionalisation of the post of rnilitary chief rvas not complcte and the appointment of a hetman was not regarded life. In Alexander's days a new par-t of the GDL army, namely a hiredfbrce, was fbrmed and its significance increased fiom thencefor-thrr. Although soldiers had been hired srnce Vytautas' clay, the hired am-ry became organised as an institution from the tum these novelties sl his realm fbr the life o1 Litl-ruania or Poland for space where new ideas 1s Z. Piech, Mone6,, piecziqcie 'l06, ,l 111. See also E. Rim5a, R. Petrauskas, 'DidZiojo kuni XV a. r,iduryie)', LiettLvos isto 2o The concept ofa defined group re -_ The Monarch's Court Introduction dinating the traditions ofthe Crown of Poland and the Grar-rd Duchy of Lithuania clearly which overcame the political antagonism between the two countries. For the first time the Polish eagle appears on Lithuanian seals as a symbol of the dynasty rathet than the union of the two states. This was an iconographic reflects the dynastic perspective, manifbstatron of Jagiellronian porvcr, witnessing the gencsis of a new concept of dynas- tic authority, that is the heirs on the thrones bith of a traditjon which was continued later by Alexander's ofPoland and Lithuania. Sigisrnund the Old and Sigismund Augustus. The Monarch's Court All these novclties show the impoftance ola rnonarch's permanent residence within his realm fbr the lif'e of that country. This was a sitr-ration, which had not existed in fofiy live years or so. The grand duke 's cout-t was a political new ideas of govemance were discussed and put into effect. The institutional grand-ducal courl was creatcd under Vytautasre. It was onc of the most important components of the administrational re forms begun by this grand duke, with the aid of r,vhich the country's ruling elite becarne consolidatecl and the monarch's authority was conflrmed within the realm. ln this way Lithuania introduced the structure of a sovereign mler's court, which had developed during the most mature phase of the Middle Ages in Westcrn Europe. TI-ris structure consisted of a system of basic titular offices, the court chancery, and the chapel. In the context ofthis process the grand duke's coutl council was formed (known in Latin as cctnsilium, rcrd.a in Russian) and its institution of-permancnt advisers, which replaced the ruler's personal council, which until then was only slightly institutionalised and undeflned. Another impofiant group of pemanent dwellers at coul-t comprised the courliers (dvoriune in Russian, in Latin rurienses), who were local and fbreign persons comprising the most private parl of the monarch's crttourager0. The creation of the grand-dr-rcal court as an institution marked an impofiant stcp towards the transfomation and modernisation of the way Lithuania or Poland for space where the country was governcd. Thanks to the international nature of the grand-ducal court, Lithuania gradually adopted a westem European way of life and outlook. The organisation of the court cstablished by Vytautas was taken over by his successors Svitrigaila and Zygirnar-rtas Kqstutaitis. In 1447 when grand duke Casimir king of Poland and the residence practices of the Lithuanian ruler changed, courl lost some of its fullness. Although at that time several new offices were created at cour1, these were more titular appointrnents. Admittedly, under Casimir the role of the ruler's Lithuanian coufi as an educational centre forthe sons of the Lithuanian nobility increased, andthere was still a separate structure for Lithuanian cotuliers, cven thor"rghthe coufi operated mostly in Poland and its became the Lithuanian grand-ducal rf Z. Piech, Moneht, pi.ecziqr:ie i h.erbt: vt sttstentie sintboli t,ladzt'Ju.giellorrrjr, (Warsaw, 2003), 1ll. See also E. Rim5a. 'Lietr.rvos drdysis antspaudas', KtlL[urt.s barai, 1989 nr. 3, p. i. p. 103 106. r'r R. Petrauskas, 'DidZiojo kunigaik5dio institucinio dvaro susifomavimas Lietuvoje (XlV a. pabaigoje XV a. viduryje)'. Lieluvos i.ttorilo.s netrditis 2005/1. p. 5 38. r" Thc concept ofa dcfinecl gr oup olpeople is not the salnc as a term signifving all pennanent residents at cor-nt. XXX]II lntroducti.ot't The Monarth's Court influence over domestic atlairs within the GDL was not as clear as before2r. Even so. in comparison with the coutls of Vytautas' predecessors, that grand duke's courl rvith its soltd institutions enjoyed a clearly noticeable continuity in later decades. Although the coutl was directly connected with the person of the ruler and separate e lernents within it were conceived of in personalised terms (our counsellors, our scribes ancl so fbrth) later grand dukes did take on the structures fomred in Vytautas' day and developed it. The courl provided a new impetus for the country's political development. In the fifteenth and sirtecnth centuries the country's basic politic institutions grew out of the coutl: the grand-ducal council gave rise to the Council of Lords and Lithuanian parliaments or .;ejms, while court servants provided a n-rodel for state officials; ancl the ruler's scribes fbrmed the basis for the GDL chancery. we have grounds for regarding Alexander's couft as marking a new development in the history of the grand-ducal court, which was established in the first half of the fifteenth century. At the same time there appeared tendencies at cour1, which were typicai of the general developrnent of European courts at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. First of all, we have in rnind the growth in the srze of the couft, which u'as closely connected with changing practices in royal residence . Alexander's itinerary shows that this ruler, like his predecessors spent considerable periods of time on progress around his realms but, compared with Vytautas, he spent rnuch longer periods in residence in the centre of the state, namely Vilnius22. Thus Alexander spent most of 1495 in Vilnius (from the beginning of December 1491to the middle of August 1495), as he did in 1499 (fiom the beginning of March to the end of October, with brief interludes for hunting). Even after he became king of Poland he spent ahnost all of 1503 in Vilnius. The other two favourite residences close to Vilnius, namely Trakai and Grodno, were ttsed rn line with the tradition established by Vytautas. it is irnportant to note that it was in Vilnius that Alexandcr resolved rnost affairs of state, issuing documents, receiving fbreign embassies and so forth. He would leave the central residences only r'vhen unexpected political circumstances developed such as rnilitary expeditions against Muscovy. his 1501 trip to the Polish border as pafi of his candidacy for the throne, or when the hunting season began. During the whole of his reign in Lithuania befbre 1501 Alexander practically never left GDL teritoryI. This was how it was when Jagiellonian dominion in East-Central Europe reached its climax and the intemational situation forced the ruler to take trips abroad. However, the regulated work of the chancery and envoy service released thc ruler from the need to take parl in intemational congresses personally and allowed him to take on the role of coordina- rr On Casimir's court, see S. Cl. Rolvell, 'Trumpos akimilkos ii Kazintrero Jogailaidio dvaro: neeiline kasdienybe tamauia valstybci', Lietuvos istorijos metraitis 2001/1, p. 25 55. I M. Neuman, K. Pietkieu'icz, 'Lienrvos didZiojo kunigaikidio ir Lenkijos karaliaus Aleksandro Jo.qailaidio itrnerariumas(1492m. birzclis l506m.rugpjfltis)', Lietuvosistorijo.smetraitis t995,p. 151 240. fbr a single occasion, at a mecting ofPolish and Lithuanian representatives in thc border town of Parczew (.Lietuvo.s metraiti.s; Bychovc:o kronika, tr. and comrnentary by R. Jasas, (Vilnius, 1971), 2r Except p. 150 l5l). XXXIV i Court Account Records tor. Thus we can say that i at the end of the fifteenth r an in-depth study of Alex prise as many as 1,000 pe The most important sor ganisation, its intemal life a ury which record income a in royal. ecclesiastical, arisl vive in any quantity are tht developed much more brm books" or "treasury books" ages there were various na counts also differed: fundsA were received or spent; ing to the recipients or expenditure and revenue, Unlike other records follow a stnct form and being kept. After the usually no one took any ordered late-mediaeval usually accidental. Thus matter. On the other cally without extra evi existed but have not probability that when larly, but were subject to quired the functioning of hence the existence ofa surviving account books ance of new practices. [n Teutonic Ordenstaat, fourteenth and fifteenth period, which were kept :' r5 Sce below note 33. R. Sprandel, ' 16 Das Marienburger dworu lndla Wladyslawa 1896): Rachunki stoQ i nowosqdeckiej, d.. H, Introcluction Court Ac:c:ount Records tor. Thus we can say that a system of centralised rule becarne established in Lithuania end of thc fifteenth century. According to Krzysztof Pietkiewicz, who has made of Alexandcr's conr1. the grand-ducal entourage could have comprise as many as 1,000 people by the er-rd of the t'ifteenth centuryra. at the an in-depth study Court Account Records The most irnportant source, which allows us to become acquainted u,ith coufi organisation, its internal lifb and cveryday reality, is the account books of the coufi treasury. which record incornc and expenditure. In Westem Europe such accounts were kept in royal, ecclesiastical, aristocratic and urban chanceries. The first such records to survive in any qLrantity are the English pipe rolls frorn the mid-twelfth century but they developed mlrch more broadly in the thirleenth and fburleenth cenfuries. Thc "account books" or "treasury books" is the name given to them by scholars, while in the rdddle ages there were various names for llnancial records25. The system of recording accounts also diflbred: fLrnds could be recorded chronologically according to the date they were received or spent; thematically according to what money was spent on, or according to the recipients or payers. The most developed system had two kinds of books: expenditure and revenue, or main books and auxiliary volumes. Unlike other records (couft inventories or tribute registers), account books did not fbllow a strict form and were of relevance usually only during thc period they were berng kept. After the account period ended thcy were sent off to the archive where usually no one took any notice of them. Their preselation and suruival even in the bestordered late-n-rediaeval or early modern archives was not a rnatter of course and was usually accidental. Thus the study of how account books developed is always a compiex matter. On the other hand, we cannot suppose the existence of such books methodologically without extra evidence, merely on the basis of the argument that they must have existed but have not survived. Fufthermore, we must take account of the very real probabiiity that when they were kept, account books may not have been produced regularly, but were subject to chronological gaps. The written organisation of accounts required the functioning of quite a good financial system and qualified scribal staff and hence the existence of a sufficiently institutionalised state organisation. Thus the earliest sur.;iving account books in a parlicular statc more or less reflect objectively the appearance of new practices. In states contiguous upon the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the Teutonic Orclensto.at. Poland) the earliest account books survive from the turn of the ioufteenth and fifteenth centuries2('. The Teutonic Order has records fiorn an earlier period, which were kept sporadically for a shofi period (such as the accounts for Grand ! Scc bclow, notc 33. 15 R. Sprandel, 'Rechnungsbiicher' , Lexikon de.y Mittelaltets. Vo1. 7 (Munich, 1995), p. 508 510 )h Das Marienbnrger Tresslerhuch der.Jahre 1 399-1109, ed. E. Joachim (Konigsberg, 1896); Rochunki dwrtrtr krrjltt Wludyslawa Jugietl,v i krltlowej Jadwigi z 1896'): Rttchunki krrilewskie z lat 1393-1395 stacji rtovtosqdeckiej, ed.. H Wajs ( Warsaw, I i lat 13t98 do 1120, ed. F. Piekosiiski (Cracow, 1112: Rachunki podrzqctvt,ct krakovskiego. Rachunki 993). XXXV i I I t I I Introductiott Co url Ac:cotut t ('ourt At'c'ounI Reco rtls Master Sigfiied Feuchtwangen's joumey to Bohemia in 130317). we have several early records lrom the order's bailiwicks outside prussia, brt u,ror" systematised record of treasury accounts was begun in the grand masters, chancery onty at the en<l of the fourleer-rth ccnturyrs The keeping of various tbnns of o".ouni, became rnore concentrated in Poland in the sccond hall.of the fifteenth centuryre. At the same time the dukes of Mazovia also attcmpted to record their courl finances-.0. Therc are no grounds fbr claiming that account books may have been cornpiled in Lithuania befbre Alexander's reign. ihe institutionalisation of th" scribal service began dr-rring the reign of the first Alexander "ou,t,s and the first post of courl treasurer was also established by vytautas but in that period recording the revenue and expcnditure of-the court (an itinerant phenomenon rvith an unregulated systern of tribute and taxation) was not needed. vytautas's settling of accounts wrth members of his court trnd servants was probabiy similar to traditional gift exchange rather than the y9der1 quarterly payments recorded in Alexander Jaglellon's reign. [n the seconcl half of the fifteenth century the creation of treasury books was held back bv the failure of the grand dLrke to reside penrranenrry in t-it6Lrania. u;;;;" ,;;ffi, i*Four in the Lithuanian Metrica records pecuniary payrne,ts made by casimir Jagicllonian (usLrally firrrn inns, custorn houses, ktittchi (ioyal properties) and fines) and thc donation of ob.iects (mostly croth, horses and honey)io various account books from A from the requirements enced by several other work of the grand-dur proved conditions for the courl chancery an< time, is ofparlicular irn senior scribes also helc circa 1 53 1. but there treasury affairs was pa treasury scribes are me between the chancery i essential lactor in rhe c himself and his closest .traces of more active pr this case the political e countercd whr le residir rT , Thus we can underst nobles, gentle_ rnen, courtiers and servants3r. These registers deal with thl period l486_90 and show that there was already an established method for recording gif,, f.o,, and expenditure made by the monarch. Structurally these books can be ."!La"a as the bare bones of the GDL land treasury account books. Unfortunately, the further evolution of these records rernains unclear since we have onry o,e territoriar treasury account book f'om Alexander's reign u,hich is devoted to dealings with the Tatarsr2. A con-rpletely diff'erent situation developed withln the courl treasury. The restoration of a permancnt grand-ducal courl in Lithuania rneant that we have extensive rr K Ge s Forstreuter, 'Eine Rcisclechnung des Deutschen ordens aus dem Jahr.e 1303,, in: Hansi.rche b ltjrte ( ch ich rs rr For exampJc, r, 7 6 1 9 5g). J Flarntl'tct'lc. Die Deutscltot'tlens-Bollei Bcihmen. in ihren Recltn.ung.sbtichern (Bonn-Bad Goclcsberg, 1 r)67). :') l3g2-llll RachLrnki krolcttxkie z rat r47r-jrr2 i rr76-jr7B, ed.. S. Gawqd a, Z. pevanowski, A. Strzerecka (wroclaw-cracor'v, 1960);.'Liber quitanciarum regis casimiri ab a. 1484 ad a. l.1gg,, Teki putviti.skie,qo. vol 2 (warsaw, 1897); S Klzy2anor'vski, 'Rachunf,i wielkorzEdowe kr6lervskiez lat 1461-2i 1471,, in: Arclivrun,Kornisii Hi.storvcznei, vol. r 1 (Cr-acow, r909-i9r3), pp. r66-526;R. Gr.odecki. ,Rachrmki rviclkorz4dorvekrakowskie zr. r471'.Ar.cr.rivttLm hrr.,rl.il", ot,6) (cracow, r9-5r), 365--'134: Ksiqgo Menyki Koronnej poclkanclerzego Antlrzejct oporowskieg. z tat 14g3, ze Antrtniego Prttr:haski, cd. G. Rutkowska (warsaw, zo0i). Several ,nii,uri.rr"a account books 'ptticizt. are held in rhe Polish Main Archive of Ancienr ects 1acaol in warsaw (see ibid., p. t'r 21). 'l Senkowski (cd ), 'Ksiqga skarbowa Janusza II ksiqcia rnazowieckieg o zlat I4..l--1490., Kwartalrtik historii kulhq; ntateriaLnej,7 (1959). p. 549_718. pp Komisji ,o ,',,,* ll79 Metriko. (/ira.ivm4 longa 4, ed. L. Anuiyte (Vilnius, " 2004), p.21_g9. rr M.V. Dovnar-Zapoi,r11i ,'r-rr";.;r; y;r;;HKU rarapc*rrN,r opAaM. Cxap6oear xnrra Merpr'rru Jluroecxori 1502-1509 r'', [4see"r:mutr Tn,ltuuecxoi yueuctti altxtteuctti Ko,t4,tlltccltLt, 28 (Simfcropol' 1898), pp. 1-xr ('r pietkicwi ez, wicrkie Ksiqruro ti,nnrii", rsz-,ss. Lietut,ct.s fl' XXXVI Rec,or among the group of pec total there are three extr will refer hencefofth as he became grand duke. , of Lithuania, despite thr Poland in 1501. The o scribe, Master Erazm C his sumame, Vitellius), whose posrtion rs best i books, which was kept and confidential agent. retary' since the time of chief secretary was to t highest non-senatorial o Duchy and a separate o only Ciolek was referet " l'hesc books havc becn ciir K. Pictkicr.r'icz. 'Duiir Iitew wl.tl'bc.Yll .\L'lll u..cd. Z. I considcrably casier. t1 L,'t'-qdtt it'.t ( (,ntrdlni i (lost H. LLrlcrl,icz. A. RachLrba (Kr r5 Warsau,. AGAD. Rachunki Darius Antanaviiius. r" Pietkicwicz. Dtror litey'sk b i t t grul i c: n.t, r'ol. ;l (()'acow,, ----Cotrrt Accottnt Records Introduction fiom Alexander's coufi, recording revenue and expenditurerr. Apatl fiorn the requirements of a permanent cour-t the keeping of these records was influ- account books impoftant of the sc -,r,,as the expansion of the work of the grand-ducal chancery, which we have mentioned above, and the improved conditions for making and keeping records. In this case the joining together of the courl chancery and treasury, which is parlicularly noticeable fi'om Alexander's time, is ofparticular imporl. The tradition of governance according to which one of the senior scribes also he ld the post of land treasurer developed within the Grand Duchy c'irca 7531, but there can be no doubt that even befbre that date the recording of treasury affairs was part of the duties of the courl scribes, especially since separate treasury scribes are mentioned in GDL sources only after 1519r1. Close cooperation between the chancery and the trcasury is reflected in all the account books. Another essential factor in thc developrnent of collrt accollnts was the person of the monarch himself and his closest entourage of-advisers. Admittedly, before 1492we cannot find traces of more activc political or administrational activity on Alexander's par1, but in this case the political experience and the circle of trusted counsellors Alexander encounterecl while residing at his father's extended coufi is more important. enced by several other factors. The most Thus lve can understand that the idea of ordering the grand duke 's finances emerged of people who accompanied Alexander fiorn Poland to Lithuania. ln coufi account books from Alexandcr's reign (to lvhich we Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3)rs. These began to be kept after henceforlh as wili refer he became grand duke. AlI these books contain data exclusively fi'om the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, despite the fact that they were also kept after Alexander became kitrg of Poland in 1501. The origins of the first book are connected with the grand duke's scribe, Master Erazm Ciolek (1414-1522\16. Ciolek (known also by the Latin forrn of his sumame, Vitellius) was one of Alexander's closest and tnost influential coutlicrs, whose position is best illustrated by ref-erencc to him in the title of one of the account books, which was kept by duc'alis secretarii et factoris secreti, the ducal secretary/ and confidential agent. The rnost impofiant scribes in LithLrania had been called 'secretary' since the time of Vytautas and according to King Alexander's 1504 StatLrte the chiefsecretary was to be set apart from other chancery servants as thc holder ofthe among the groLrp total thcre are three extant highest non-senatorial o1fice. Even though this legislation was not applied in the Grand Duchy and a separate officc of secretary was not confimed, in Alexander's day not only Ciolek was referred to as 'secretary'; so too was the chief scribe of the Rr-rthenian I These books have been discussed fully by Pietkiewicz, who has analysed their material succinctly: K. Pietkiewicz, 'Dw6r litewski wielkiego ksiqcia Aleksandra Jagiellonczyka (1492 1506)', Lietu.vos val,stybi XILWilI a.,ed. Z. Kiaupa el a/. (Vilnius, 1991), p. 75 131. This work made our present task considerably easier. centralni i dctstctjnicy Wielkiego Ksiq.stwtt Litetvskiego XII/-XVIII wi.eku. Spisy, comp. A. Rachuba (K6mik, 1994), p. 112. rs Warsaw, AGAD, Rachunki Kr6lervskie 23,25,21; see the palaeographical description given here by )a LlrzqclrLic.,- H. Lulewicz, Darius Antanavidius. 16 Pietkrewicz, Dw6r litewski, p. '7'1 On Ciolek, see S. Lempicki, 'Ciolek Erazrn', Polski slownik 4 (Cracow, 1938), pp. 78 8'1. biogrc(icztt1,-, vo1. XXXVII i i I I I Cottrl Accounl Records Cotrrt Act'otutt Rcc'ot chanccry, Ivan Sapreha. Ciolek's position was distinguished further still by the use of the predicatc ',\ec'retL6', which in European colrrts ref-erred to a person enjoying the special confidcnce of the ruier. Alexander probably became acquainted with Ciolek, a graduate of Cralow University in that city, where both were bom, and their friendship 1502-October 1503 (fc expenditure from Lith money (157v-158v). tl in Cracow, Sandomier connected with Alexat Introduction lasted until thc king's dcath. The rnost intense period of relations between the two Iren were 1500- 1501 and 1505, when Ciolek headed a diplomatic mission to the Holy See. Ciolek came to court in Vilnius in 1494 and soon after his arrival Bookl was begun r,vith a still inconsistent record of tl-rc monarch's income. lncome and erpenditurc came to be recorded regularly only from the beginning of 1498. It is hard to say rvhy four years were necessary for the practice to take root. We can only gucss that Ciolek was busy with other tasks. It is no coincidence that the regularity of the record increases during the period when Stanislaw Kowarski and Stanislaw Milanowski served as recorders of treasury activities. ln I,198 Kowarski began keeping Book2, which was continued after his death by Milanowski. These two men are referred to in the records as treasurers (Latin: tticethesaurarius, strbthesaurarius', the equivalent of the Polish pctcl,skarbi, to bc translated in this instancc as treasurer rather than dcputy treasurerrT). They were also close confidants of the ruler, who combined service in the court treasury with the chancery represented by Ciolek. In summer 1500 atter Ciolek left for Rome to begin an especially succcssful diplornatic career, Stanislaw Milanowski in efTect controlled the cornpilation of all three account books. Milanowski began entries in the third book (Book3) at the end of 1499. Admittedly, despite this coordination, the books remained structurally qLrite diverse. Moreover, different scribes made the records as we can tell not only fiom the different hands but also the different uses of terminology for the same phenomena. For exarnple, there are more Polonisms in Book3 when describing offices and duties such as dw'oran.yn, pac:holyuthy, sluszebny, pothczaschy, kon.vttsch1,, artisans who served fi ofdebts by the ruler. I with a separate topic earlier written receipl later. The fact that se' sophisticated level o1 specific matters. For 1500 Polotsk military services and so on. I mythn.vkovv, sz.vodlarz, sloszarz, bombanykovv, puskarzy, draboyv, sthraza, nttt,sz.r'kot,)t, karzel, and so fbrth. The last phase of the history of these books, before they were placcd in the mottarch's archive, is also associated with Milanowski. Aftcr Alexander's coronation in 1501 Milanowski moved to the royal court and took the books begLrn in the Grand Duchy with him to Clracow. The account books continued to record the expenditure of the Lithuanian courl until l504rE. Attention should be paid to the fact that financial operations, which took place on GDL territory, were the only ones to be recorded in these books. The keeping of the books was interrr-rpted every time Alexander left the Grand Duchy and records were renewed only afier he rctumed to Lithuanra. This is state of affairs is illustrated best by the composition of Book Three . Book3 consists of fbur pafis, separated by vacant fblios: l. courl accounts of Grand Duke Alexander, october 1499-Noven-rber 1501 (fbs 2-49); 2. couft accounts of the king-grand duke after his arival in Lithuania, Jr-rne another kind ofrecorr ri Tlrat thc Latin tenns these books in the case ''E the,sourarius andviz'ethesatu'aritts are used in terchangeably see material from of Fedka Chreptowicz (Book1 fo. 5i,,, 8, 57 atc) Pietkiewicz, Dw*or Liten-ski, p. 76. XXXVIil i count books were be6 mention Lithuanian in The structure of I received at court and t often in chronological Jagiellon's time, Alexr and when gifts of hc money they cost. Th development of mont Two is somewhat mot The account book giv in regestris curiensil the extant account b records, which came and sixteenth centurie in Trakai, and later, \ after this they probat As has been note tory of the organisatic which grabs our atten is the progress attainer soon as he became gt soon after that a fur officials and the gene that the post of seniot '" lbid.. 78 (:\GAD. Ms l t" Such rccotds r.r'crc also Court Account Recorcl.s Introtluc:tion 1502-October 1503 (fos 57-77); 3. various non-continuous entries made in poland of expcnditure fi'om Lithuanian revenue (fos 79v-B2v);4.1503 expenditure of jubilee money (157v-i58v). the sole greater exception is the entries made at the end of 1501 in Cracow, Sandomicrz and Nowe Miasto Korczyir (Book2, fos 42-47v), which are with Alexarrder's election and coronation as king of Poland. Separate account books were begun tbr the financial activities of the Polish court" and these mention Lithuanian infomation only on rare occasions3,r. connected The structure of Alexander's court account books is quite simple. Revenues received at court and expenditure relating to courtiers and guests are recorde6 most often in chronological order. It should be noted that unlike the records from Casimir Jagrellon's time, Alexander's accounts mention presentation of livery less frequently and when gifis of horses or cloth are recorded, the treasurer notes the sum of money they cost. These changes were undoubtedly connected with the greater development of money-based economic dealings at court. The structure of Book Two is somewhat more complex. Book 2 deals with payments to courtiers and court artisans who served fbr a longer period, debts paicl to merchants and the payments of debts by the ruler. Here there is no chronological order, and new fblios often deal with a separate topic. lt rnay be that the compiler of the accounts made use of earlier written receipts (accounts or guarantees) frorn which data was generaSsed later. The fact that several books were compiled at the same time reveals the quite sophisticated level of the treasury scribes' art. Each book was devoted to ceftain specific matters. For example, Book Three details expenditure connected with the 1500 Polotsk military campaign against Muscovy as well as payments for religious services and so on. Book Two gives general accounts of dealings with courtiers. The account book gives hints at the existence ofspecial registers ofcourtiers Qtrout in rege.stris curien,sibu.s) (Book 2, fo. l0Bv). This would suggest that there was another kind of record, which dealt solely with matters relevant to courtiersa0. Thus the extant account books should be regarded as just a part of broader financial records, which came to be kept at the grand-ducal court at the turn of the fitleenth and sixteenth centuries. The other records were probably retained in the courl treasury in Trakai. and later, Vilnius for sorne time after they lost their practical relevancy; after this they probably perished during palace fires. As has been noted already, the account books are a first-rate source tbr the history of the organisation and everyday lif-e of the ruler's cour1. One of the first things, which grabs our attention after reading the information in Alexander's courl accounts is the progress attained in the institutionalisation of courl-, and national lifb. Almost as soon as he becarne grand duke, Alexander appointed seven new coufi marshals and soon after that a furlher four. Such an increase in the number of the main courl officials and the generally expanding number of couftiers and courl servants meant that the post of senior courl marshal was introduced at the Lithuanian cour1, equiva- '' Ibid., 78 (AGAD, Ms 30, 31, 32). r0 Such records were also kept at the coud in cracou,, pietkiewicz, Dw,or litetu,rki, p.7g. XXXIX i I I I Introduction Cottrt Account Records lent to the magisler cttriae known fiorn other E.uropean courtsar. In addition, the office of courl marshal was cstablished too at the courl of Alexander's consort, Grand Duchess Elena lvanovna. Admittedly, we shoulcl bear in mind that the account books do not ref'lect the eristence of all cotrrt oftces because officers at the grand cluke,s court did not serve for a salary and so they dicl not necessarily fali within the scope of the account scribe's attelttiolrs. Sinrply tlie life of court offrcials, rvho were scions of leading families within the Grancl Duchy was financed by their parents or kin. in the course of tirne many of them obtained benef-ices or became tenants of grand-ducal estates as a rcward fbre their sen,iccs. Despite this circurnstance the account books pem-rit us to add data top lists of GDL central and local officialsar. In early 1503 the lord lieutenant of cherkassy was prince Semen (Book3, fo. 67), the presence of a scribe named Stanrslaw Venet at courl is recorcled in June t 500 and 1 502 (Book I fo. , 53r';Book2, fo. Il7);Johannes Lubsza, ciwttn (rcnant) of Mlnius is noted in Septern_ ber 1 500 (Book3, fb. l 9v), while the commander of the castle garison (holt)n,ycz| of Trakai, Mikhna Chreptowicz still held that office at the end of i sOz (Book1, tb. 65). However, the oflices which are rnentioned for the frrst tirne in Alexander,s reign are no less interesting than the well-established oncs ancl these represent an indication of the extended organisation of thrs ruler's court. Thus in t+q8 we come across the master of the arsenal (ruogister ccmlere armigere), narnecl Martin (Bookl, fo. 4v) and in lz[99 onc Stanislaw is recordecl as master of thc trltyard (.ntagi,ster- pctlestre) (Book I , fo. 21). From I 502 we ream of the usher (/zosli oriril, Felix (Booki, ru. osl. In addition data from the accounts allow us to obtain a better idea oI the functrons of courl ofllcers. Many court clffices were titular and sor-ne of thern even came to be inherited within cefiain families, while daily functions were carried out by lower-ranking court servants (cotticliani mini.srti regalis curie)at. For example, the nobleman. Piotr Olechnowicz was the court cook, while the actual duties of running the mier,s kitchen were carried out by the master of the kitchen, ruttgister. coclttine,whose name was Raclaw (Book2, fo. 40 etc). A similar relationship probably existed be_ tween the trtular constablc of the cour-t. Martin Chreptowicz ona tn" actual head of tlre stables, Luke. A couftier named F.razrn Kreicllar is mentionccl in the accounts as being in charge of coutl denlings with merchants. In a later solrrce we find another descriptton of Kreidlar's activities: ctu'iensis et factor c,atnerae regiae Litu.artiae (coufiier and factor of the royal Lrthuanian couft)aa. Such ten'ninoiogy ancl the hierar- chical differentiation of func ofattendants at court and so find the master of carriages ( 6v). When reading the acoqr terms, which deputy fteasuretr, treasuer, sewer could be the The main courtiers the sons Polandf. exception h againS involvod wanion. accounb. charter, wbo courtierg of camedoU by the break forth ttre noble at court in because the betrveen in tire accourt of Krev, whose Even so, tation to court tions and was renarssance the account the Sw ar This tem, couft marshal, was rserl in vytautas' day, but at that timc it meant the same as the ruler,s uarshal Probably in order to rnake a distinction between this and other royal marshals, Mikhail Glinsky rcfers to himself in a letter to the grand master of the Teutonic older, 4 n,{ay tsoo, as the grand, or senior, courl trarslrai (uu'i.e supremus m.arsulctts): I)erlin, Geheintes Sloatsarchiv pret(lischer Ku.lturbesitz, oBA Court Account Records militari)to fo. l8v). It is 19119). a2 C'f Llrzqdnicy centralni i dostojnicy ll/ielkiego Ksiqstwo Litetvskiego;K. pietkiewicz , wielkie K'ieshuo Litev,skie, pp. 208-215. ar w Rosener,'l{oftimter an rlittelalterlrchen Fiirstenhofen', Deursches Archiv./i)r EtJbr.schu.ng de.s MiltelaLters,45 (1989), p. 502-5 10. aa MatricularLtm regni Polonicte suntntaria,ed. Th. Wierzbou,ski, vol.3 (Warsau,, l90g), no. i954 (s.a. 1505) This same document shows that aftel thc death of this court servant the couft marshal (pri,ce Mikhail Glinsky) dealt with sorting out the deceased,s property. XL '5 1o A broad, albeit E. Gudavidius, p. 13 I l8 1r See the 1502 (here, p. Jakub Wangorzewsti as On this mater, prad:ioje (in press). '.!l-F Court Account Records Introduction chical differentiation of functions had a semantic influence over more ordinary groups of attendants at coutl and so it is no surprise that alongside all manner of masters we find the master of caniages (rnagister c'tu'ruum),voinka (Book1, fb. 34v, Book2, fo. 6v)' when reading the account books we should bear the specific nature of ceftain terms, which deveioped at the polish cour1, in rnind. For example, the titres deputy treasurer, deputy sewer and deputy butler of courl meant in effect the same as those treasurer' sewer and butler, whrle on the other hand the sewer could be the actual lower-rank deputies of those The marn group of or butler tout co,rt officiarly calred creputies. of rnmates at courl, which also dominarc the accounts, comprisecl the coutiers (curienses, dtuorya,yn).courtiers can be divided rnto roughly nvo $orps, namely the sons of Lithuanian nobles, and fbreigners (among whom the most numerous were fiom Poland)a5. unfoftunatery, Lithuanian couliers appear in the record very rarely. A greater exception to this rule is provided by the expenditure for the 1500 polotskrnilitary coripaign Moscow (Book 3, fo. 10v etc). As in the case of cout officers, trre rurer was not lnvolved directly in ther tpkeep, which was a matter of prestige for the flmilies of noble wariors' The one exception was Mikhail Glinsky, whose nanre is recorded continr-rally in the accounts' Another group of local coutiers cornpnsed persons in possession of a g a,rd-ducal chafier, who as a result had to serve under the cout banner. Along with military se.ice cotuliers' of whom there were several hundreds (a figure that quic"kty increased further), camed out administrative and Iegal lirnctions. The rise in theLr number was mfluenced most by the break out of war agaurst Muscovy, and the concept of .,couftier,,broadened. Hence_ forth the word "couttier" meant not only noble members of the ruler's court but also salaried noble selantsa6. It is no accident that many captains of-the hired r-egiments were mentionecl at court in earlier periodsr'. In real tenxs the number of hired ,oldi"r, were even greater because the couliers came with their own servants (usually cor-uliers seled along wrth between hvo and trvelve horsemen). In atldition we come uno,t , g.orp ofhired rne, in the account books, called the "Kievan inlautry", who were armed servants of the palatine of Krev, whose main f,nction was to guard trre countly's eastem castles. Even so, we cannot refer to the fbreign courtiers as against u"-* hired men because their rnviprinciples than straightforward financial considerations and was a paft of chivalric and court culture that was unclergoing a special tation to couft was based on other renaissance throughout Europe at that timeas. we frnd evidence of-chivalrrc culture in account books too. For example, on March 30 1500 in Grodno Aiexander,s cotrfiiers, the Swierczowski brothers, Baftosz and Janusz, gave their oath as knights (verbo suo the militari) to repay the debt they owed to the cracow burgher piotr Morsztyn (Book 2, fo' 18v)' It is known that Alexander himself was a great fanatic of chivalric touma- ll t6 bload, albeit incofrplete list of both groups is given in pietkiewicz, Dtvor liteyvski,p. 109-25. 1 E Gudavidius, 'Lietuviq pasauktines kariuomene"s organizacijos bruozai,, Karo a.rchyvcts, 13 11992), p,43-118 (here, p. 111). ]i See the 1502 contract with the captain, arnong whom were Alexander,s couftiers: Stanislaw Halicki, Morawi cki (Aita Aleksandra, p. 102) '3on this matler' see: R. Petrauskas. Rircriai Lieruvo' oia:,ioioi" iu,,,ri,'t,,,rr,"rn Jakub Wangorzewski and Jakub pradiioje (in press). Xll a. pabaigoje xltl a. XLI Court Account Records Introducti.on of thc coufliers' concept of chivalry is provided by the 1500 by the grand duke for the establishment of an order in sumlner iclea announcccl of chivalry to fight against the Muscovites and paganssi'. ln the Late Middle Ages mentsae. The best cvidence such orders \\rere an established u-leasure employed by rulers to strengthen ties with the nobility ancl form coalitions with intemational groups of knights. ln Poland and Lithuania members of westem ordcrs of chivalry were known fiom the days of Jogaila and Vytautas, but these rulers did not attempt to create such orders at their own courls. This attempt by Alcxander was the only one of its kind in these realms and it reveals the level at which the idea of chivalry was received at the Lithuanian cotttl. ln the document addressed to foreign knights Alexander declares his intention with the supporl of his subjects to form an order of knights ein ritterliche bruderschqllt) to aid hirn in thc struggle against Muscovy and "other infidels". In order to spread news of his plans he sent his couftiers (hoJJgesind) abroad as messengers: Jost (Dracula) and Maciej Steczko (Book2, fo. 30; Book3, fo. 6v - where these lnen are named as envoys to Hungary). In this case it is not so imporlant that we have no infonr-ration about the fufihcr exjstence of this project; the invitation issued to knights highlights the personal relationship between the ruler and his cottftiers, which was based not only on financial interest but also categories of European chivalry5r. Hirelings in the true sense of the word were the membcrs of bands of coufiiers and specific groups of Swiss and German guards (Book2, fo. 40v: Sn+'ayczaror"r.ye; Bookl , fo. 29 etc peditibus G erm a ni,s 1,,- u n c z k ny a c h t i s). The most important function of couftiers was to represent the ruler's courl: this was a core grollp cornprising the mler"s petmanent entourage and maintaining the exceptional status of the grand duke's court. Anothet quality with which this group was endowed was its intemational composition. The domination of Poles among the foreign couftiers is completely understandable, since many of thern had bcen connected with Alexander's life at court in Cracow. Alexander "inherited" cefiain couftiers, such as the Milanowski brothers, Jan and Andrzej, Stanislaw Okuri and Jerzy Krupski, lrorn his father, King Casimir, whilc others continued their own family tradition of scrvice at court52. Service at the grand-ducal court brought representatives of the Polish political clite to Vilnius such as.Ian Rabsztyfiski, kin to the influential Little Polish Tqczynski clan, .lan Andrzej and Jan Felix, sons of Palatine Jan Buczacki of Podolia, and others. For many of these, such ser,,ice opened the doors later to high office in Poland. Aparl from Lithuanians, Ruthenians and Poles we also come across Getmans (Leitelt, re B. W. Blzustowicz. Tlniej n;cerski y, Krolewstwie Polski.m tt pltlnl,tn iredniovti.ec:ztt i renesan.sie nct tle etLnryej.skint (Warsarv, 2003), p. 212 213. il) The Geman document ct'afted by Alexander on 2 July 1500, announcing the foundation of the order: J. Caro. Ge.schichte Polen.t, vol. 5/2 (Gotha, 1888), Analekten,p. 1022 1024. ir Alexancler returned to consiclering this idca in May I 503. when prcparing Ciolek's new embassy to the Pope (Aktrr Aleksandra. p. 281 82). 5rCf.ThclistofCasirnir'scoufiiersin lzl84-88: Liberquitonc:iurumregisCasimiriaba. 1484atla. 1188. p.14,15. 1 10. 162, 181, 189 etc. i, Fo, example, Maciej, brother of Alexander's coufiier Stanislaw Tuchorski served at the coufl of Wlacl islaw Jagicllon's H ungar-ian co:::rlt ( M atrictr lct rum, v o1.3, no' 904) Court Ac<'ourtt Rccortls Merkel Ramfelt, Kristof Mr Vanek, Dobrogost, Bemat, garians (Ferenc Bot, Veresz (Leopold ofSagen) and sut Kristof, Kaspar, Peter; Sil' well as Jost Dracula, who p appear in the accounts ofte clearly senred to attract ner serued at the coutls of other tion about their lives behin books. but the very diversit influence the place had on A group, which was cL serrrants (cubicularii, cam day needs and caried out s cour1, they were often entn with the transfer of confide quent visitors at the courls Frederick, and Prince Sigis ants, the pages Qtueri, pac, r group of chamber servants both as chamber selants a 1502 he is referred to as ci Sulkowski, Jaroszek, Stefar 2,fo.42). The fact that their Jaroszek, Marcinek, Radw their young age (there was court hierarchy. They were seems to have been the son general it can be said that n ries were not marked, ever From the very beginnin the most imporlant parts o lains referred to in this sot lain were interchangeable books he is referred to as (Book l, fo.37 and elsewl jr Incorlplete list given in ' Pietkie CL R. Petrluskas. lnsritucinio Dwit litev'ski. s.87. j" ,trrr/r'A.s d1'plonatrc;ny kotedry l9'18). p.658 t -- Court Account Records Introductictn Merkel Ramfblt, Kristof Maisner, Mathias Preis, Klaus, Herisch), Bohemians (Janecek, Vanek, Dobrogost, Bemat, Zigmunt. Oldrich, indrich, Bohdal, Boguslav, Aiberl), Hungarians (Ferenc Bot, Veresz Balasz, Janusz), Croatians, Wallachians (tvaszka), Silesians (Leopold of Sagen) and subjects of the Teutonic Order or Prussia (the Gestorf brothers, Kristof, Kaspar. Petcr; Silvester Felsdorf, Mathias) among Alexander's coufiiers as wcll as Jost Dracula. u'ho probably hailed from Transylvania. It is typical that courliers appear in the accounts often alongside their brothers and other kinsmen. Ktnship ties clearly serued to attract new people to courl and the kinsrnen of cerlain courtiers even serv-ed at the coutls of other Jagicllonians5r. Of course, it is difficult to hope for infbrrnation about their hves behind the scenes at coufi frorn the laconic entries in the account books, but the very dir,ersity of the grand duke's courtiers allows us to guess about the inf'luence thc place had on the lives of the aristocracy. A group, which was closely connectcd with the couftiers, comprised the charnber seruants (cubicularii, camerarii)sa. The chamber selants seryed the ruler's evelyday needs and canrcd out special tasks fbr him. It should be noted that, as at Vytautas' coutt, they were often entrusted with imporlant, albeit unofflcial entbassies, connected with the transfer of confidential infonnation55. Chamber seryants were pafiicularly li'equent visitors at the coutls of thc ruler's brothers, King John Albefi of-Poland, Cardinal Frederich, and Prince Sigismund. Pietkiewicz also notes another group of noble sen,ants, the pages (pueri, pachol,vath_v)56. Most probably the pages were pafi of the sarne group of chamber servants bccause some of them are recorded in the account books both as chamber servants and pages: thus, Pergaminek is called puer in 1499, while in 1502 he is ref-erred to as cubic:ularius (Book 1, fos 43,62v). The same can be said of Sulkowski, Jaroszek, Stefanek, Radvanek and Kotwicz (Book 1, tbs 23v, 29, 6lv; Book 2,fo.42). The fact that their names are often given in diminutive fbms (Piotrek, Jaworek, Jaroszek, Marcinek, Radrvanek, Stefanek, Pergaminek and Kniazik) reflects not only their young age (there was no shorlage of youngsters at coufi) but also their place in the coufi hierarchy. They were supefl/ised by Piotr, or Piotrek, the puerorum prctvi,sor, who seems to have been the son of Kierdej, a nobleman fiom volyn (Book 1, fos 13, 30v). In general it can be said that noble courliers fbrmed a general group where social boundaries were not marked, even though differences in rank were clear. From the very beginning of the institutionalisation of courls the chapel was one of the most imporlant pafis of the structure. Alexander's couft chapel comprised chaplains referred to in this source as presbiteri. The fact that the words priest and chaplainwerc interchangeable is illustratedby the case of FrJan Zaluska. In the account books he is referred to as pre,sbiter, llked the other clergy in Alexandcr's service (Book 1, fo. 37 ancl elsewherc), while in another source Alexander refbrs to him as sa Incomplete list given in Pietkiewicz, Dw6r litewski, p. 86-87. Cf. R. Pehauskas, Institttci.nio didiiojo kunigaikiiio dvaro susiformavitnas, p. 17 18; Pietkiewicz, Dw6r litewski, s. 8'7. n Kodeks dyplomatyczny katedry; i diecezji wileiskiej, edrl. J. Fijatrek, W Semkowicz (Cracow, 1932 ss 1948), p. 658. XLTTT Introdttction Court Accotutt Records c'apellonus noster5l . Several chaplains were resident permanently at courl and some of these accol-npanied the grand duke on his travels. Alongsrde these courl sources mention c:lerici, who were members of chapel, even though they were not priested. Cantors and the organist (one Antanas) were closely associatecl with the chapel (Bookl , 1b. 26v etc). The royal preacher, Cregorius, is mentionecl fi'om I503; he too stands out among the other members of chapel. Other inmates of cotttt rnentioned in the account books include musicians. physicrans. stable seruants and afiisans. In comparison with Vytautas' cotut, the relatively small nunber of marginal attendants at cot"ttt (exotic characters) is noticeabless. The account books record only the dwarfjester lgnar (Gignato karzel, Book3, fo. 8v) and the other dwan-es, Ivanka and Vitoslav (ibid. fo. 7lv). However, liequent mention is rnade of musiciars humpetcrs, f'lautists, lLrte-players, and drummers. Of these the most famous were singers with a European reputation, Hennch Fink and Kaspar Ceis. In addition nTusicians accompanied coutiers on milrtary caupaign: thus the flautists Zenovij and Johannes were members of the band of captains (Book2, fbs I 15v. I 16, 1 l9v etc); in remote places courtiers and solcliers rvere entertaincd by calxpjfbllwer musicians. ibaldi,who are mentioned in the accounts. When Alexander took up residence in Poland the organisation of his Lithuanian courl changed. Many courtiers travelled along with the new king to Cracow. The cook, Raclaw sen'ed at the Wawe I courl in l5035e. Alexander's most trusted seryants trccompaniecl their rulcr everywhcre, but in later accounts the seryants in Lithuania and thc Crown of Poland are always mentioned separately('0. ln one sr.trviving coufi case from i 505 we find tnention of arbitmtors appointed by the king to resolve a conflict between mernbers of the Lithiranian and Polish coufis (cttriae regiae pol.onicae, ex Lil1o ... cttrioe lithuaniccrc ctrrienses')61 . The courl accounts also rnention Polish courlicrs separately (ctrrien.sibu,s Poloni's) (Book 3, fb. 66): this description refered undoubtedly not to ethnic distinctions but membership of the Crown collft, as opposed to that of the Grand Duchy. The courl of Alexander's wife, Elena also features in the account books. The separate queen's coufi was a phenomenon of the Late Middle Ages. ln the clays of Vytagtas and his irnmediate successors the grand cfi,rke and his consoft held ajoint court and the grand duchess's servants and couftiers fbrmecl part of the general court structure. Meanr'vhile' liom the outset Elena lvanovna had her own institutional cour1. Tiris is not Iikely to have been a resuit of her father's wish to exerl inf'luence over his mariecl claughter (especialiy since therc werc virtually no Muscovites at tire grand duchess's courl). Most likely this was a result of Lithuania's attainment of European cultural stanclarcls. Antagister ctu'iae was in charge of Elena's courl; he rvas Alberl Janowicz Kloczka. a nobleman fiom the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whom we also find in the account books. Her Court Ac'c'ount Records chancellor was Alexande couft to fill the titular offic her cook was Nicolaus Jun and her treasurer was Johi was surrounded by chambr were supervised by a sen duciss am mognam maiori) f show that most of Elena's servants may have been rt Maria, who were sent Despite the the identity of the ruler. deals with funds for 35). This occurence indication of how account books also Alexander's accompanied him I made to such mcn virtually every The account especially the were made when cornplement signi general reference while he was on dence (Grodno) to The monarch such a person The grand duke 8. The journey to must have taken I reveal that he vi may suppose that (Merecz). The The accounts name servants. and so the sons). five chamber 5? R. Petrauskas, 'Vytauto dvaras: strul<thra ir kasdienybe' , Na.ujasi.t Ziclin.y,s-Aittai. 2003 no. l-2, keepers ofcannoq Malri.cularu.m, vol. 3, no. 1021. was entertained by si and several singers pp. 39-44. s8 lbid., no. 1950: 1505, Stanislaw Hinek' servititmt lithuani.cum and.in regno;no. I986: I505,.lohannes Gut' ,servitimn in Li.thuctnia). n) ibid., no. 2002. 6' See also, Pietkiewicz, Dy,6r litewski., p. 94-95. -'e XLIV "r Ibid.. p. 95. "' Scc Ncuman. Court Account Records - Introduction chancellor was Alexander's scribe, [van Sapieha. Erena had GDL noblemen at her similar to those, which we atso find at Arexander,s courl: :::Tl:llli]l::l*1"'of,i"".r.: her cook was Nicolaus Jundilowicz, her carver was Butrim Jakubowicz Ne,rirowicz6r, and her treasurer was Johann (Book 3, fo. 5g). Like her husband, the grand duchess was surounded by charnber servants and ladies-in-waiting (puellae, clonticellae), who were supe.ised by a senior lady-in-waitirrg, Mme :ur.,i*u (antique. donrine apr,rr ducissctm n'tagnam tnaiori) (Book 1,fo.3|v,Book 3, fo. B). The narnes of coufiiers show that most of Elena's female attendants were orlhodox. Male and female chamber seruants may have been related to one another closery, as in the case of.Janek ancl Maria, who were sent home together on one occasion (Book 3 fo. 62). Despite the "business-rike" nature of our source, the account books also reflect the identity of the ruler. In_ this case an entry from 1B october 14gg is of interest. This deals with funds for purchasing black vervet to adorn vytautas,s tomb (Book r, fo. 35). This occu1Tence just beforl the annrversary of vytautas, death gives an indirect indrcation of how Alexander propagated the memory of his famous namesake. The account books arso r:I"1 the ruler's piety of which *" rrr-,o*-rrom other sources. Alexander's spiritual life is not iilustrated orty uy tt-," presence of courl chaplains, who accompanied him everywhere. Book : coniains n.r.t info,_r,;;;;;;;l;rd;; to such men in retum for their prayers as welr as the alms given to the poor in virtually every town to represent the christian monarch's the unfortunate. made The account books also offer a chance to learn more"on..*lb. about the rurer,s ctrstoms, especially the routes he took on his progresses throughout his lands. Many payments when he was present and his absence is markecl crearry. These data complement significantly what we klow of his itineraries from other sources63. In general reference to the account books permits us to imagine the rurer,s entourage while he was on progress. Let us take, for example, a typical journey fiom one resi_ dence (Grodno) to a,other (Mrnius) early in t+o-o (accordrrg io noot r, fo.24v_27). The monarch clearry was in no haste urra ,n" joun-rey rastJ a month, even though such a person could cover the distance even with his entourage in a couple of days. The grand duke reft Grodno, where he had spent almost three months, on February l8' The journey to Mlnius stretcrred through the Dzukijan forests and so Alexander must have taken advantage of the opporti,nity for excelent rrunting. The sources reveal that he visited his estates at Berstai (Berszty) and Dubidiai (Dubiczi). and we may suppose that he spenr time at his hunting lodges in (Merecz)' The grand duke was uc"ompu,,i"i by quite a rarge number of courtiers. The accounts name 26 members of court (each of whom h-ad at reast a couple of sen/ants, and so the total size of the entourage may have been around g0_r00 per_ sons), five chamber servants or pages, two scribes, eight chaprains and clerics, two keepers of cannon, six aftisans, u ,tlbt"-un, a barber uio , prryri"iun. The entollrage was enteftained by six trumpeters, two flautists, an organisi, a rute-player, a harpist, and several singers under the Ieadership of rheir,rrr,".l Some courl orficers undoubt_ were made varena(oil;;'ilil,;; 6'?Ibid., 63 See p. 95. Neuman, pietkiewicz, ,Lietuvos didZiojo kunigaik5dio XLV Itttt'oduction Court Account Recorcls edly also took parl in the pro-eress, but they were not, as usual, mentioned in the accounts. The size of the entourage as a whole may have been several hundrecl people. We may surmise that the arrival of such a court cavalcade made a great imprcssion on the lif'e of provincial tow'ns on this and other occasions. For townsfblk such events wcre an organisational challenge, a provision of financial benefit and subj ection to cultural inf'luence. The names of clothing and fabrics mentioned in the account books allow us to gain an impression at least of the colourfulness of the entourage's dress. We may deduce that some of the coutliers wore special garments of the same style or colour; the pages wore a unifoIr of'recl and white (Book 1, fo. 35). Latin names for clothing and fabrics, especially when compared with the Ruthenian vocabulary of the Lithuanian Metrica, extends or-r knowledge of aristocratic attire at the end of the fifteenth century(,a. Thc account books were part of the Lithuanran rnonetary economy and so they are an irrpofiant source of information conceming the financial system. At that trme this system rvas in the fbrmation stage in the GDL and it was quitc complicated. When we consult the account books it is worlh noting the differences between actual money ancl units of account65. Curency in Lithuania comprised Prague and Polish groats along wrth Litlruartian pennies and half-groats (the so-called motleta Lithttunic:a'), Hungarian clucats and coin from Westem Europe. The florins which we come across constantly in the records were usually a unit of measure. one florin was worth variably 22,24,25 or even 30 groats (the latter sum was colnfiron in Poland). An exception is provided by ref'erences to gold florins, which usually mean Hungarian coins, known as ducats. These were wofth 33 or 37 groats. For example, we have this valuation from Book 1, fo. 74v: "also to certain brothers, Baltazar and Protr Rakiel I gave 28 gold florins, the equivalent of 42 fordinary] florins valued at 22 groats". we should realise that the payrnent was made in gold coins (florins), which were valued at 33 groats and also calculatecl according to the rate of-non-coin florins, which were wofih only 22 groats. Meanwhile groats were usually counted in units of 60 coins known as a kopa. The tenn groat could refbr to coins of that name rninled in Prague or in Poland, as well as Lithuanian half-groats. Which money is meant can be understood only from the context; thus, broad groats (/ari) were always Prague groats, while "Lithuanian coin" always mcant half'-groats minted in Lithuania. The accounting rnethod was cornplicated fur1her by the various units,which were uscd such as the Polish Mark. or Rus'ian ruble. The Polish mark was equivalent to 36 or 48 groats, while the Rus'ian ruble was wor1h 100 groats. If this were not enough, the mark was also a mcasurement of tl-re weight of silver. Book 2 shows clearly that the ruler was always short of ready cash in order to settle accounts with courliers or merchants and so he had to borrow money or delay payments by issuing debt notes. The methocl of settling accounts with courliers reveals the seruiccs rendered to the grand duke and how he paid for them66. One such example could be G Ct. Lietuvos Metrikos 4-qjqLlirail;nt4kn1,gq; for a study of costume, sce M. MatuSakaitd, Aprun.ga XL'I XVIII a. Lieruvoje (Vilnius,2003). 6: R. Kiersnowski, Wstqp do numizntatyki polskiej wiekoyt, irednich (Warsaw, 1964). f"'For nrore detail see: Pietkiewicz, Dwor litewski, s. 96-100. XLVI Court Account Records the way he seftles with Jona rendered him by their late-b (Book2, fo. 9). The accounts and served for nvo years, p( years. During all that time h courtiers were usuallypaid 3 himself gradually (udging I f Fedka, and his bnltrerLitaum dub p Black, with the grand clearly illustrates the for 570 florins, ofwhi Such a financial state ury, which is The account books administative the beginning f supported the merchants to established in the court's court inevitably the city and numbers. The and the city see the come to ttre cr{ next to the permanent priory tions. Admittedly, Lower Castle, bttt way or anothu, in European Jagi given a local touch It is probably though the Cathedral, while Mother of God. Thi policy for Church never crowned the importance of range of famous Ciolek, was not jwt propagator ofnew master of this more .Trr-lntroducl.ion Court Account Records with Jonas and Jakub Kowarski, members of his courl, for sewices him by their late-brother, Stanislaw, in Vilnius early in the summer of 1500 (Book2, fo. 9). The accounts indicate that he began to senre the grand duke in July 1493 and sen',ed fbr two years, providing six horses, and then eight horses for a fur1her frve years. During all that tirne he eamed 2,000 florins. Such a sum was reached because couftiers were usually paid 3 florins per horse per quafier. Stanislaw received 130 florins hirnself gradually (udging from other data in the account books) from the treasllrer, Fedka. and his brother Litawor. He borowed 300 from the merchant known as Paul the Black, wrth the grand duke providing the necessary guarantee of repaynent, and this clearly illustrates the shodage of money at cour1. The grand duke remained in his debt the way he settles rendered for 570 florins, of which 90 kopa of groats was to be paid out to the deceased's seruants. Such a financial state of affairs required closer control of courl revenue and the treas- ury, which is illustrated by the need to begin keeping accounts. pemanent residence in Vilnius, as illustrated by the city into a true capital with the basic metropolitan attributes of adrninistrative bodies. Alexander sought to adom his main city of residence suitably: at the beginning f his reign he confinned the city's statutes of Magdeburg law and also supporled the citizens in their aim to obtain nghts to restrict the liberlies of foreign merchants to trade directly in the city. ln 1495 the GDL's first goldsmiths' guild was established in the city. However, the investment and business opportunities provided by the coufi's residence in Vilnius was of even more importance to the citizens. The large courl inevitably attracted members of the political elite from across the Grand Duchy to The establishment of the couft's account books tumed that the city and these began to establish residences for themselves in Vilnius in greater numbers. The urban infrastructure was improved: roads, the bridge across the Vilnele city walls, on which construction work began in 1503. Even today we can still see the Bemardines' Gothic church, the architects for which were invited personally to come to the city from Gdafsk by Alexander. Perhaps St Anne's Church, which stands next to the priory was built at the same time. In I 501 the Dominicans fbunded their first pemanent priory in Vilnius. Alexander also took pains to improve his or,vn living conditions. Admittedly, the extant account books do not mention construction work on the Lower Castle, but there may have been a separate record for such expenditure. In one way or another, in Alexander's day Vilnius gained the appearance of an east-centralEuropean Jagiellonian metropolis akin to Cracow, Budapest or Pmgue. This style was given a local touch by the polyethnic culture of the Grand Duchy and its capital city. It is probably symbolic that both Alexander and Elena were buried in Vilnius, even though the monarch had other plans fbr his final resting place. Alexander lies in Vilnius Cathedral, while Elena lvanovna was buried in the Orlhodox Church of the Most Pure Mother of God. This diffbrence in burial sites reflects the failure of Alexander's failed policy for Church Union and the problems surrounding his wife's status (she was never crowned queen of Poland). However, at the same time the burial site reflects the imporlance of Alexander's reign for the Grand Duchy. Alexander invited a whole range of famous and burgeoning talent to his Vilnius court. His secretary,Erazm Ciolek, was not just the initiator of reforms in the chancery and treaslrry but also the propagator of new diplomatic culture. One of the most famous European astrologers, master of this more socially significant aspect of astronomy at the time, Wojciech of and the XLVII IntrodLtctiort Cotu't A ccount Rec:orcl s Brudzewo, probably helpcd spread kr-rowledge of astronomy in vilnius, even though he spent only a shoft titnc at cout16r. A rnusician knorvn to European coul-ts, Henrich Fink, was in charge of the court chapel. The international cour-t assembled by Alexalder was parl of the realm's official represe ntation, clernonstrating the exceptional stateliness of the rnonarch's prestige. Howeveq alongside this the c*ourt spreia new ways of lifb and cultural trenc'ls arnong the GDL aristocracy and urban population and also contributed to inno'ations in the way the Grand Duchy was govemed. Alexander,s ability to select suitable counsellors, his realisatron of the irnlortance of literacy rn governtnent, his harnlorrising of the interests of various social groups (the nobility, and townsfblk) and his readiness for compromise were all qualities -qenhy essentral io good go'emance by a r-nonarch in thc Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period. which Alcxander possessed in abundance. The laconic and apparently dry entries in thc courl account books ailolv us to take a closer look at the everyday life of the grand dr"ike and his entourage and gain a new appreciation of the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the tum of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This pLrblication of Alexander.lagiellon' account records is intended for specialists and it rvider audience. Therefore it was decided to provide a Lithuanian translation alongside the onginal text. The translation is intended to reflect as closely as possible the style of the original, literary watls ancl all. The translation also attempts to identify individuals. whose llames are recorded in various fbms in the Latin text. The books are rcplcte \vith historical detail, whrch should interest researchers in various discrplines. It u'ould not bc practicai to analyse all the rnaterial in this source in full in this publication. Short conltrcntaries by the translators of each section are given to help elucidate specific rnatters for thc Reader. Personal names are listed in an explanatory inclex. We would like to express our gratitude to Liudas Jovai5a, Laimontas Kaialius and Gecliminas Lesrnaitis fcrr the assistance tlrcy have afforded those preparing this publication. (-otr rt Accottn I Rc<,orclt This volurne contains r ir ing corrrt account rcgi king of Poland ( l50l- l: counts" (Rat,hunki kr.6let chive (Arc'hiyunt Skorbu , Gl6wne Akt Dawnych) i Alerander's reign (numbr to the history of the Gran< thcsc on this occasion. Thc first rcgister (No. 2 binding. On the exrerior it i flxed to the binding by spe, 20 cm (in width) by 30.5 r (stampecl) )3, Rok ll94 do w'hile fbs -52-61 are attacher 79-9 [ arc loose fiom the bir apan. These fblios fbrm a this separate quirc. One ty mark is a bull's head with entwinecl around thc stem. tu,entieth centuries in penc easy to rcad. Thc cursive ( Thc seconcj register (Nc decorative dark lcather bind shclf:nrark. 25. At present t The ntanuscr-ipt has a total o1 l. .+9-102" 125. 126-t6g are 8". Folio 3 has rhc inscnptir rately into the- binc-lins. havir coiicx scdpt. TIte u,atcnlar cnhl'ined arouncl thc stent. F the fblios. Thc hand is clcar ri litterr irr ctrrsir e ( irrtlllq 1s1 Thc third rcgistcr (No. century decoratirc soft ler rcpair. espccialll, u,here the lice olrltc hrrrdrrrg. Thc spi 21 . At preseltt this ntanusc script contains a total o1' l5l 49v-56r,,. l8-lL)" 83-1-57 are the rranuscript. Folio I con t'irst trvel'u,c tblios are loos o' S. C. Rowell. 'The .lagiellonians ancl the stars: dynasty_sponsored astrology in the fittecnth century,l Lithucutitrn ITi.troric:ul Sludie.t, vo\. 7.2002. p. ZljZ (here, pp 34 36) XLVII i ['aterrxark is the sarne as t] bottom-risht. Thc hantl rs Gothic script. apparently. b