| Abstract [eng] |
The article aims to shed light on the privileges accorded by the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as GDL) as a legal means of printed press regulation. It should be noted that so far, the research has mostly been focused on the privileges granted to the printing houses of the Mamoniciai and Vilnius academies. The current research, based on various studies about the privileges granted to other printing houses and new historical sources, attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of the privilege phenomenon in its entirety, by examining the dynamics of granting privileges, privilege providers and recipients, types of privileges, sanctions imposed and the languages in which printing was allowed. It has been established that during the period of 1569–1793, the 37 privileges by rulers were granted to GDL printing houses. In the second half of the 16th century, the GDL rulers accorded 6 privileges, in the 17th century – 8, and in the 18th century – 22 privileges, respectively. The greatest number of the privileges was granted during the reign of Augustus III (the period of 1734–1763) and Stanislaw II Augustus (the period of 1764–1795). During the 29 years of holding the throne, Augustus III granted 10 privileges to the GDL printing houses. Stanislaw II Augustus reigned the GDL for 31 years, during which he issued 7 privileges. Among the GDL rulers were also the individuals who failed to grant a single privilege to the existing printing houses. They were John II Casimir Vasa (1648–1668), whose reign coincided with the wars waged against Moscow and Sweden and Stanisław I Leszczyński (1704–1709, 1733–1734).... |
