Socialinių grupių susidūrimai LDK miestuose

Abstract

The Law of towns, adopted on the 18th of March, 1791, extended the rights of town citizens and granted them a part of noblemen's rights and freedom. In the period of August 1791 - June 1792 towns, which had an institution of self-government, were called free towns and their rule was passed on to town citizens. That is why before the Law of towns was adopted there used to occur conflicts between town citizens and other social groups, which had a definite status not only in towns but in the state as well. The Law of towns specified that noblemen living in towns and earning their living by trade had to accept the rights of town citizens. Some of those, who accepted the rights, were elected to magistracies of towns and took an active part in town affairs such as gaining privileges to towns and litigating with headmen, who ruled small towns before the Constitution of the 3rd of May, 1791. The other part of noblemen and priests didn't obey magistracies. The government's project to transfer foreigners to towns received a silent resistance of town citizens because of competition. Plans to in- tegrate Jewish people to town communities strengthened revanchist sentiments of towns' magistracies, which tried to prevent Jewish people from getting equal rights compared to those of town citizens. Conflicts with other social groups were rare, but they showed an anxiety about the flow of "strangers" to towns' communities. In such conflicts predominated economic interests. Plans of the initiators of reforms to consolidate a strong and solid "third estate" (including not only town citizens but also other social groups) had no support in towns' authorities - magistracies. The enacted laws expressed hostility of town citizens towards other social groups living in towns. However, the Law of towns showed a modern vision of how town's societies should function, but that idea needed more time to mature. In June 1792, the Law of towns was abolished by Torgovitsa Confederation and the previous status was restored.