Abstract

The article is devoted to the actual question of the history of the gentry class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the XVI century, when the mutual demand for the state and the feudal lords reached a maximum. The feudal system that existed throughout Europe established a specific relationship between the nobility and the monarchy, known as vassalage. This relationship was based on military service, which was the only source of protection for the State. The mutual interests of the state and the feudal lords led to the gradual expansion of the specific range of rights in the latter, which resulted from the state's need for a loyal military force. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the monarchical power was forced to significantly expand the political and economic rights of the untitled nobility due to the specificity of the order of succession to the grand ducal power, the need to preserve the dynastic union with Poland, as well as the difficult foreign policy situation. An example in this process was the individual achievements of the Polish gentry. In the ХVІ century, the rights and privileges of the gentry were enshrined in state documents, primarily the Charter, and related to the expansion of political powers, elected courts, religious issues, and representative bodies. From now on, the gentry was a class, all groups of which were legally equal, which certainly contributed to its consolidation and final registration.