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the economic dimension, a more efficient use of land and more active
participation of manor farms in the markets as well as the growth of income
to the interest of the landlords. The structures of land-ownership
and land-use developed at that time determined the economic, political
and cultural positions of the country and the region and laid down the
guidelines determining the development of economic structures of subsequent
times and economic activity models of European countries.
The period of prosperity of manorialism in the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the GDL) as well as the neighbouring
Poland and Livonia coincided with the end of the 15 th century – the 16 th
century. Researchers universally agree to refer to this period as the period
of economic revival. Even though Samogitia distinguished by the peculiar
characteristics of its political, judicial-administrative and socialeconomic
development in the context of the GDL, it was nevertheless
influenced by economic changes occurring in the GDL and across
Europe. Nevertheless, according to some historians the changes took a
rather peculiar form in this territory. It is generally agreed that by contrast
to the remaining territory of Lithuania, the manorial-serf economy did not
establish its positions in Samogitia.
The political changes seen in Europe from the 1980s made a significant
impact on the development of the science of history. As soon
as historians realised the inadequacy of the paradigm of manorial-serf
system, a number of Central European countries embarked on the historiographical
revision of social-economic relations. The established
historiographical clichés, such as manorial-serf system, the process of
“the second serfdom phenomenon”, were refused. It was realised that
the essential mistake of previous research was the study of manorial
relations in separation from the relations of this system in the West.
We may conclude that the same problem existed in the Lithuanian
historiography, even though the research of manorial system of the
GDL and Samogitia alike is not sufficiently developed. During the last
two decades the research of the GDL nobility has been developed in
the directions of genealogical research of individual families and social-political
research of the elite, whereas such aspects as economic
activities of the nobility, land-ownership or its structure remained out-
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