Author: Batory Stephen, 1533 - 1586
Title: Novae gubernationis Livoniae Forma, recens a Stephano rege Poloniae instituta, anno 1583. Constitutiones Livonicae.
Title in English: New Form of Governing Livonia, Set by Stephen, King of Poland, Year 1583. Livonian Decrees.
1583.
Format: small 4to (196 x 155 mm). With woodcut printer's mark on title. [8] leaves. [A-B4].
Binding: gray blue wrappers.
One of at least two editions (one was printed in Cracow) which appeared in the same year. The laws and ordinances of Livland under the new rules of Poland. In the article 'De dissidentibus in Religione' the religious liberty was conceided to the Lutheran Church. - Light browning, ms. date of 1582 by and old hand in lower margin of title.
Reference: Cf. Bibliografia Estreichera (Online) 49304.
The information publication New Form of Governing Livonia, Set by Stephen, King of Poland; Livonian Constitution of 1583 presents administrative changes in Livonia after the end of the war of 1558–1583. According to the peace treaty signed in Yam Zaposlky in 1582 by the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Bathory and the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth kept the Duchies of Uždauguvis (also called Duchy of Inflanty and Livonia) and Courland. In the end of 1582, the Sejm of Warsaw approved the Livonian Constitution. It regulated issues of administration, law, religion, commerce, and other fields. The Duchy of Uždauguvis was divided into three Voivodeships (Dorpat, Pernu, and Venden) and 26 Elderships. They were governed by Voivodes and Elders, who were subordinate to the Vicegerent of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Reference: "The Collection of Lawyer Jaunius Gumbis: the Past Preserved in Books". Museum and Collector - 7. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2018, p. 415.
Published: "The Collection of Lawyer Jaunius Gumbis: the Past Preserved in Books". Museum and Collector - 7. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2018, p. 415.