Relations between the Lithuanian nobility and other social groups recorded in land court books (Lithuanian Tatars)

A rich historiography on the legal situation of Lithuanian Tatars includes diverging opinions on the topic. It is often argued that the social sub-class of Lithuanian Tatars did not have all the rights associated with the nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and faced discrimination in a number of life spheres, e. g. district land courts. The data from the manuscript and published district court books provided in the article bring doubts to such arguments, showing that at the end of the 16th century Lithuanian Tatars who were in the military service were admitted to the district corporation of landowners and were entrusted with the majority (excluding the right to be elected court officers) of legal rights of the Lithuanian nobility: they certified notarial records, governed lands with Christian peasants, acted as witnesses in courts and were actively involved in judicial proceedings. It leads to the conclusion that the letter of the law (Statute of Lithuania) was not always upheld in realit