Rola poczty w systemie zarządzania majątkami Bogusława Radziwiłła
The Role of the Post Office in Bogusław Radziwiłł’s Estate Management System

Summary/Abstract: The Radziwiłł family of Biržai maintained an itinerant court during the first half ofthe seventeenth century, frequently moving between estates, which precluded the es-tablishment of a permanent postal connection. This situation persisted until the mid-seventeenth century when wars led to the seizure of most estates belonging to Januszand Bogusław Radziwiłł by enemy and Lithuanian forces. Following Bogusław Radzi-wiłł’s appointment as Governor General of Prussia in 1657, the need for effective com-munication with estate officials became critical. By 1658, Radziwiłł initiated effortsto establish a permanent postal connection between the central hub of his estates inSlutsk and Königsberg, where he resided. This culminated in 1659 with the creationof the first postal route through Sielec in the Brest province and Podlasie, which oper-ated until early 1660. A more stable route was established in early 1663, after the lib-eration of most of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from Muscovite invaders. This newroute connected Slutsk with Königsberg via Lubecz and Vilnius, with additional routesadded in subsequent years. To expedite correspondence along the primary routes, in-termediate relay stages were introduced, reducing delivery times between Slutsk andKönigsberg to one week. Despite chronic financial constraints, Radziwiłł organisedthe postal system by utilising existing categories of subjects within his estates. Cor-respondence delivery became the responsibility of landowners and letter-carrying bo-yars, who were granted exemptions from other duties and fees in exchange for theirservice.

• Details
• Contents