The Structure and Pattern of Formation of Court Books to the Lithuanian Metrica under King Sigismund Augustus

This article explores the structure and patterns of formation of court registers included in the Lithuanian Metrica of King Sigismund Augustus. The text focuses on the development and composition of the books attributed to the scribe called Jan Szymkowicz (Court Record Book no. 35, Book of Entries no. 38), with documents spanning a fourteen-year period (1554–1568). Th e article concludes that during King Sigismund Augustus’ rule, under the chancellorship of Mikołaj Radziwiłł called Czarny (Th e Black), there was in the chancery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania no uniform pattern to be followed in order to make the king’s court registers, despite the fact that, in the mid-sixteenth century, chancery’s scribes usually infl uenced the chronological scope and structure of these registers.W artykule omówiono strukturę i zasady kompletowania ksiąg sądowych Zygmunta Augusta w Metryce Litewskiej. Najwięcej uwagi poświęcono na analizę genezy i struktury tzw. ksiąg pisarza Jana Szymkowicza (35. księga spraw sądowych i 38. księga wpisów), do których wpisano dokumenty powstałe w ciągu 14 lat (1554–1568). W konkluzji stwierdzono, że w okresie panowania Zygmunta Augusta oraz pełnienia funkcji kanclerza przez Mikołaja Radziwiłła „Czarnego” w kancelarii Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego nie wypracowano jednego modelu kształtowania i kompletowania ksiąg sądowych władcy, chociaż w połowie XVI w. coraz częściej zajmowali się tym pisarze wielkiego księcia. This article explores the structure and patterns of formation of court registers included in the Lithuanian Metrica of King Sigismund Augustus. The text focuses on the development and composition of the books attributed to the scribe called Jan Szymkowicz (Court Record Book no. 35, Book of Entries no. 38), with documents spanning a fourteen-year period (1554–1568). The article concludes that during King Sigismund Augustus’ rule, under the chancellorship of Mikołaj Radziwiłł called Czarny (The Black), there was in the chancery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania no uniform pattern to be followed in order to make the king’s court registers, despite the fact that, in the mid-sixteenth century, chancery’s scribes usually influenced the chronological scope and structure of these registers