ĮvadasKą sutiktume įėję į XVI a. ir XVII a. pirmos pusės bajoro sodybą? Kokia buvo bajoro šeimos artimiausia socialinė aplinka? Kur ir ką toje sodyboje veikė tarnai ir šeimynykščiai? Atsakymų į šiuos klausimus paieška Lietuvos istoriografijoje yra inovatyvus bandymas atkurti erdvinį bajoro namų ūkio vaizdinį, leidžiantį pamatyti konkrečioje bajoro sodybos vietoje veikiančius asmenis. Tokio tyrimo įkvėpėja – Vakarų Europos literatūra, kurioje namų ūkis analizuojamas kaip socialinės ir materialinės kultūros istorijos problema. Tiesa, mokslininkai namų ūkio tarnų problematiką tiria ir kaip socialinės namų ūkio struktūros dalį, pagrindinį dėmesį skirdami demografiniams klausimams.Lenkijoje tokių tyrimų aktualumo pavyzdžiai gali būti A. Karpińskio, C. Kuklo, M. Kopczyńskio studijos, skirtos daugiausia „namų tarnų“ miestuose analizei.

Vakarų Europos istoriografijoje jau praėjusio šimtmečio devintame–dešimtame dešimtmetyje išsikerojo istorikų dėmesį prikaustę namų ūkio (household, gospodarstwo domowe) tyrimai. Daugiaaspektis namų ūkio termino pobūdis lėmė, kad tyrėjai skirtingai suvokė jo sampratos plotmę ir teikė pirmenybę skirtingiems jo akcentams. Vieni mokslininkai, namų ūkį suvokę kaip vietą, kurioje formuojami ir palaikomi svarbiausi žmonių tarpusavio ryšiai, orientavosi būtent į socialinį namų ūkio problemos aspektą. Tokiu namų ūkio sampratos modeliu pasekė ir Lenkijos (C. Kuklo) bei Lietuvos (E. Saviščevas) istorikai. Kiti tyrėjai, vadovaudamiesi platesne samprata, namų ūkį suvokė ir kaip materialią aplinką, ir kaip grupę žmonių, kurie toje aplinkoje kartu gyveno. Šiuo atveju mokslininkai dėmesį telkė į įvairius „namų gyvenimo“ bruožus, t. y. ne tik į šeimos narių bei tarnų sudėtį ir jų santykius, bet ir į būstą, namų apyvokos daiktus, virtuvę ir pan. (K. B. Neushel, C. M. Woolgaris, R. Sarti). Tiesa, Lenkijoje tokią problematiką daugiausia aprėpė kasdienybės istorijos – vadinamosios papročių istorijos tyrimo sritis. Nors pastaruoju metu ten jau pasirodo netgi atskirų asmenų virtuvės funkcionavimui ir mitybos racionui skirtų analizių

The objective of the present article is to reveal what food products were used in the cuisine of King Sigismund II Augustus and what were the ways of their supply when the Ruler resided in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania according to the data in the court account books of 1543–1546. The following issues will be addressed in the article: the supply of meat to the court kitchen of Sigismund II Augustus and its use; the consumption and supply of fish; the consumption of dairy products and eggs; bread, cereals, and sweet baked products on the Ruler’s menu; the assortment of vegetables and fruits; a variety of spices and their supply; the consumption of beverages.

This article deals with the aspects of everyday life of the peasants who lived in private estates of the nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th – the first half of the 17th century. The research was mainly based on published and unpublished acts of court cases, additional information is found in the estate inventories and descriptions provided by the people who travelled through Lithuania. The analysis revealed that the homestead of the peasants were usually modest – it consisted of few wooden buildings, the most important of which being a dwelling house, a granary and a cattle-shed, but richer peasants lived in larger homesteads with more different buildings. Peasants usually lived in wooden farmhouses with a stove, whereas some part of the peasants in Samogitia still lived in the so-called numas with a fireplace. Peasants’ main clothes were sermėgos, sheepskin coats, shirts, woman’s cloaks; some peasants could afford to have more expensive clothes. The main food products included different kinds of grain, first of all, stocks of rye, as well as peas, different vegetables, flitch, dairy products. Probably only richer peasants ate meat more often. There were important various household effects and work tools in the peasant homestead. Although the life of peasants was modest, however there existed differences in the standard of everyday living during the period under discussion.

The goal of the article is to explore fish consumption in the cuisine of Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania. The tasks set for the research are the following: 1) to examine the sources of fish stocks; 2) to study the supply of fish to the ruler’s cuisine, and 3) to find out the periodicity and the menu of the fasts. The main sources for the research were court records books of Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and especially the manuscript of the ruler’s steward who kept daily records of Sigismund Augustus’s menu in 1566. Analysis of sources shows that there were several sources of fish stocks: the lakes and rivers of the ruler’s manors, the ponds that composed large systems in the Sigismund Augustus’ manors, and from markets. The supply of fish to the ruler’s cuisine was well organized, and the ruler’s steward who responsible for this. At the time when Sigismund Augustus stayed in his Vilnius residence, most of the fish, in particular pikes, were supplied from the ponds of Viršupis manor near Vilnius. Some fish, for example, salted bream, bass, roach, and catfish were supplied by the administrators of the ruler’s manors. Additionally, various species of fish were bought to Vilnius market. When the ruler went hunting and stayed in a particular hunting manor in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, fish were supplied from local lakes, rivers, and ponds by the administrator of that manor. Some fish were bought in surrounding places. The administrator or the ruler’s steward also bought fish from the markets in Vilnius or Kaunas and sent to the hunting manor. The book of the ruler’s steward of 1566 shows that Sigismund Augustus fasted every Friday and Saturday, and also on the feast days. About two hundred fish of several different species were consumed on each fast day in the ruler’s cuisine. Expensive large pikes usually served for dinner and supper. Other expensive fish such as salmon, sturgeon, and eel were consumed not so often. Carp, crucian carp, tench, bass, roach, bream, trout, ide, herring and other fish also were eaten on the fast days. The ruler’s cuisine was varied, plentiful and luxurious even on the fast days.