Confederation of Kaunas pavietas of 1792–1793

The article discusses the events of 1792-1793 in Kaunas pavietas (an administrative district). The author strives to clarify the attitude of the nobility of Kaunas pavietas towards the confederation that was adversarial to the reforms of the Four-year Seimas (parliament) and the Constitution of May 3, 1791, as well as the changes in that attitude. The pavietas confederation is viewed through the following prism of the union of nobility: which way (forced or by the initiative of local nobility) the confederation was created in Kaunas pavietas, what people formed the authorities of the confederation, and what was the manifestation of the activity of these authorities. The confederation of Kaunas pavietas is also compared to other confederations of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The formation and the activity of Kaunas confederation is analyzed on the basis of the information provided in the documents registered in the book deeds of Kaunas land court, the excerpts from Kaunas confederation book of deeds kept in the Superior Archive of old document in Warsaw, the diary of the commander of the Russian army Michail Nikitich Krechetnikov, the correspondence of the organizers of Lithuanian confederation brothers Jozef Kazimierz Kossakowski (the bishop of Livonia) and Szyman Marcin Kossakowski (general lieutenant of the armies of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia, later - field hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), the documents of the general confederation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (universals, protocols of daily activity), the books of the Supreme Confederation Court, and other sources. [...