Naujų komunikacinių mazgų formavimasis Žemaitijos ir Kuršo pasienyje: Vegerių miestelio atvejis (XVI a. pabaiga – XIX a. pradžia)

This article presents an analysis of the urban development of Samogitia’s border with the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from the end of the 16th to the early 19th centuries by looking at the history of the small town of Vegeriai as one of the more important cases. The research shows that border-town urbanisation was slow and irregular, coming in three waves where the third and last wave in the late 16th to early 17th century was particularly long. Three attempts at founding the small town of Vegeriai are discussed (in 1602, 1652 and 1754), which were initiated by representatives of families belonging to the Samogitian elite. The importance of liturgical life on the small town’s appearance and its vitality are highlighted. Attention is also drawn to the fact that in the second half of the 18th century Vegeriai became an important border communications hub between Samogitia and the Duchy of Courland, where a multinational community was being formed, trade ties were being developed, and the influence of the Jews and the arriving German Lutherans increased.