The dissertation focuses on legal, sociocultural and property aspects of
testamentary practices of Volhynian urban dwellers based on wills and other sources
from the late 16th – 17th cent. Early modern testaments – documents that contain
instructions regarding the funeral, salvation of the soul, division of inheritance, debt
repayment and more – are valuable and multifaceted sources for exploring various
aspects of the functioning of society. Aside from social and economic data, they
shine the light on genealogy, demographics, religious beliefs and the history of the
quotidian that can be of interest to scholars of cultural anthropology, legal history,
prosopography, diplomatics and paleography. The dissertation focuses on legal, sociocultural and property aspects of
testamentary practices of Volhynian urban dwellers based on wills and other sources
from the late 16th – 17th cent. Early modern testaments – documents that contain
instructions regarding the funeral, salvation of the soul, division of inheritance, debt
repayment and more – are valuable and multifaceted sources for exploring various
aspects of the functioning of society. Aside from social and economic data, they
shine the light on genealogy, demographics, religious beliefs and the history of the
quotidian that can be of interest to scholars of cultural anthropology, legal history,
prosopography, diplomatics and paleography. the will went into legal effect, and copied them to the records.
Last wills of Volhynian towns residents provide materials for certain
demographic calculations, in some cases allowing to establish the number of family
members, children and marriages, child mortality, etc. These sources reflect the
broad panorama of familial relations with all their problems and emotions.
Testaments document complicated configurations for dividing up the inheritance
among heirs, and conflicts that could arise in the process. That said, the majority of
testaments reveal the ideal image of family life. They were usually drawn up to
minimize the risk of conflicts, and, as a rule, did fulfill that function.
The dissertation also addresses certain religious beliefs and perceptions of
death among Volhynian town dwellers. I demonstrate that testaments are important
sources for studying the religious culture of Volhynian town dwellers, for whom the
slogan of memento mori and the science of ars bene moriendi were an ineluctable
part of daily life. Remembering these precepts, testators attempted to bid farewell to their mortal life as one should. They left certain sums of money, often quite
considerable, or some of their property to Orthodox or Catholic churches,
monasteries, hospitals and charitable causes to ensure their salvation. Urban
dwellers wanted their inheritors to fulfill their instructions regarding funerary
ceremonies and memorial services.
The dissertation provides a comprehensive description of testators’ material
environment. Testaments of Volhynian town dwellers shed light on the quantity and
variety of their property, allowing for approximate evaluations of testators’
economic status and activities. The analysis of personal property of urban elites
demonstrates that they tried to emulate the attractive lifestyle of local aristocracy.
Clothing can be seen as a sign of social status, and the clothes of urban dwellers
followed the aristocratic fashion. This detail demonstrates that aristocratic culture
had a strong influence on the values and lifestyle in towns of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, including Ukrainian territory. Testaments and descriptions of
property contain detailed information about the quotidian culture of various groups
of urban dwellers, their living standards and priorities, and in some sources of income and expenditures that reveal cultural preferences
