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Information Text: Vilnius 1655, Russian Invasion – History of Everday Life

THE CRISIS OF 17TH CENTURY

In European history the 17th century is usually regarded as a period of crisis.  Economic and demographic declines were visible in both Europe and Lithuania. Although there were fewer social conflicts in Vilnius than occurred overall in Europe, the city experienced a deep crisis beginning in the mid-17th century. The attraction of Vilnius within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was in constant decline from the end of the 16th century. Although Vilnius progressed and continued to grow at the start of the 17th century, conditions for and improvement of the welfare of the city’s inhabitants were not favorable. The city expanded, not so much by itself, but more due to the presence of magnates and nobility within its walls. The entire political, cultural and economic life of the country was concentrated in the capital city. For this reason not only the magnates, but also the wealthier nobles, deemed it a point of honor to have their own palaces there. Because of this, Vilnius grew and became more beautiful, not because of its permanent inhabitants, but because of the presence of aristocrats and gentry who had a lot to do in the capital and who liked to spend winters there. In 1610, a huge fire destroyed about 4700 houses and 10 churches – including the century-old cathedral, the academy, and the grand-ducal palace. A fresh catastrophe struck in 1655 – the Moscovite occupation, which lasted until 1661. The entire city was looted and razed by the invading Moscovite army and whatever was not looted was put to the torch, with the fires raging 17 days.

EVERYDAY IN VILNIUS IN 1655–1661

Vilnius was occupied by Russian troops for 6 years 3 months and 24 days. The first days of occupation were the hardest time for the local population. For the first year of occupation there was no other public power except that of the occupational authorities. Court of law did not exist until 1657 and in the same year the city’s self-government was renewed. The Russian Tsar, who wanted to win support for his authority from the local population, issued a number of rules for his troops, prohibiting robberies and other crimes. As a result of this, everyday life in Vilnius slowly but steadily began to revert to a normal rhythm. In the autumn of 1655, local trade between Vilnius and its surrounding areas was renewed. Russian soldiers bought food and alcoholic drinks, selling salt from the Vilnius warehouses. Books were also valuable objects of trade in the city before the start of plague in 1657. When the plague began people were allowed to leave the city but they had to swear that they would not fight against the Tsar and Russian army and that they would come back to Vilnius.

The streets were cleaned from rubbish and the water supplies were cleaned by 1658. Although a large number of craftsmen left the city before the occupation, Russians made efforts to make the materials they needed: the most important of which for them were probably the paper-mills. The Russian authorities went to great lengths to find the treasures that had been hidden by the retreating city dwellers. Documentation states that after the liberation of Vilnius a large number of people looked for their buried money and valuable goods. Only few of them succeeded – everything else had been found and taken earlier by the Russians. Bribes were very common during this period as it was the only way to get proper decrees from the Russians. The people of Vilnius frequently refused to accept Russian money, which was of low value. Even though local people accepted the Tsarist government, they regarded the situation as temporary and looked for every opportunity to free themselves. Russian soldiers lacked supplies and more and more of them became ill or deserted their units. The end of occupation was difficult too. The last Russian ruler of Vilnius, Danil Myshecki, was very cruel and severely punished all disobedience.