| Abstract [eng] |
The dissertation analyses the development of the legal and socio-economic status of Jewish communities in the self-governing towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th-17th centuries. The aim of the study is to determine how the spread of Magdeburg rights affected the legal and socio-economic development of Jewish communities, the existing patterns of their status formation, and to establish whether the Jewish communities located in the private towns belonging to the nobility in the 16th-17th centuries had more favourable conditions than those in the royal towns. This is done by comparing the local privileges granted to Jewish communities in the 16th and 17th centuries in the royal and private towns, agreements between Jews and townspeople, and other normative documents. The legal and socio-economic situation of Jewish communities in private towns is analyzed from different angles: legal subordination, restrictions on economic activities, the formation of living space and the tax policy applied to them. The dissertation also examines the development of Jewish living space and the numerical development of communities in private towns (Biržai, Kėdainiai, Nesvizh, Slutsk, Dubno), with additional attention paid to the economic activities of the Jews, such as craftsmanship, commerce and renting. |
