Przedstawiciele dołów szlacheckich w miastach doby stanisławowskiej
The lower strata of the nobility in the Polish cities in the late 18th century

Summary/Abstract: The main thesis of this paper is that the social stratification of 18 th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was quite different from the standard and dominating in historiography social estate-based perspective. Analysis of court testimonies of 182 noblemen accused of petty crimes in Warsaw and Cracow between years 1787 and 1794 suggests that the living conditions of the lower strata of nobility had little in common with popular opinions concerning socio-economical and legal position of the nobility. As the group the accused could be characterized by their high spatial mobility, prevalence of work as the domestic servants. Some of them were even working for members of lower social estates — peasants and burghers. This observation could be collaborated by the analysis of the 18th century population censuses in which the noble born artisans, day labourers, traders, and servants are also recorded.

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