Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The article deals with the process of organization and development of the study of the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Soviet Union. The author considers the fate of pre-revolutionary historians, experts in Lithuanian history, who were forced to either emigrate or change the field of research. The article presents the analysis of the first works of Soviet scholars concerning the Lithuanian Middle Ages. It also examines the contribution of Vladimir I. Picheta and Vladimir T. Pashuto to the organization of Soviet Lithuanistics.

The article is devoted to the condition of lieges from Scalovia in the State of Teutonic Order, who possessed land estates of 2–6 hakens and were obliged to keep military service and built fortifications. Among representatives of this group, whose possessions were located mainly near the rivers Memel and Jura, there was accumulation of property and fragmentation of land estates. By stabilizing landholding, the Order could receive regular growing in number of lieges, that testified to successful incorporation of Scalovians in the new social system.