PRE-REVOLUTIONARY HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PROBLEM OF PROOF OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE NOBILITY IN THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA

The article examines the main pre-revolutionary works on the problem of proving one’s membership in the Szlachta (nobility) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Achievements and shortcomings of pre-revolutionary historiography are identified. The research on this issue is divided into two stages. The first stage (16th–18th centuries) was characterized by genealogical and heraldic studies (Maciej Stryjkowski and Bartosz Paprocki, Kasper Niesiecki). The second stage (late 18th – 1st quarter of the 20th century) is represented by the works of Ivan Lappo, Matvei Lyubavsky, Fyodor Leontovich, Stanisław Ptaszycki, and others. It is concluded that pre-revolutionary historiography provided a rich material for research but missed aspects such as the reasons and legal regulation of the procedure for proving membership in the Szlachta, the tactics of judicial processes, and their impact on the society and culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Nevertheless, the pre-revolutionary period laid the foundation for further research on the problem of proving nobility, which remains relevant in the 21st century.