The merchamts of Vilnius in 1800-1824

This article reviews the legislations regulating economic activity of the merchants, analyses the changes of the benefits given to the merchants and the formation of Vilnius merchants’ stratum in the years 1800–1824 after the third partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, when the legislations of the Russian Empire came into effect in Lithuania. These legislations altered the business possibilities of the merchants, and the body of Vilnius merchants’ stratum was changing along with them