This book is a collection of analytic studies. They are based principally on the Sound Toll Registers (STR) preserved in the Danish Public Record Office (Rigsarkivet, Copenhagen) and on the Sound Toll Tables (Tabeller over Skibsfart og Vere transport gennem 0resund, vols. I, II A, II B) — i.e., printed abstracts from the STR. Emphasis is laid on source criticism and on long controversial questions of the balance of trade. The two last essays have a more synthetic character....

Ceremonial has always played a great role among European and Middle Eastern societies, reflecting the value systems cherished by their elites. Embassy instructions and envoys' reports provide valuable material concerning codes of behavior in early modern diplomacy. What was considered "proper," and how was an envoy expected to behave in order to stress his sovereign's dignity and power? Oriental courts in Istanbul and Bahçesaray developed elaborate ceremonials for foreign envoys. Forced into a deep prostration before the Muslim ruler, sometimes even threatened with physical violence, Polish envoys deeply resented their humiliation. Some of them sought comfort in alcohol, others produced fabulous reports of their imaginary altercations with Ottoman and Crimean dignitaries, and others found pleasure and revenge in contemptuous descriptions of their hosts' "barbarous" habits. Until recently, such diplomatic reports have been used in Polish historiography almost uncritically. Yet such reports often tell us more about their authors' mentalities than about the world they pretend to describe....

The Seym of Lithuanian Jews (Hebrew: waad medinat Lita) was established in 1623 by breaking away from the Jewish seym called the Council of the Four Lands (created about 1580). The main reason for the division of the institution was the dualism of the Crown treasury and Lithuania (Lithuanian Jews were answerable to the Lithuanian treasurer [podskarbi]). The scope of the activity of the Seym of Lithuanian Jews was very broad. Apart from the distribution and collection of taxes, the seym settled all problems important for Jews, which included administrative, economic, religious and social questions. It also regulated issues connected with contacts with non-Jewish institutions and the Christian population. The Lithuanian Waad, like its counterpart in the Polish Kingdom, was dissolved at the convocation seym of 1764 as part of administrative and financial reforms....
Sejm Żydów Litewskich (hebr. waad medinat Lita) został utworzony w 1623 roku przez usamodzielnienie się od sejmu żydowskiego zwanego Sejmem Czterech Ziem (powstałego około 1580). Głównym powodem wyodrębnienia się tej instytucji był dualizm skarbowości Korony i Litwy, przy którym Żydzi litewscy w naturalny sposób podlegali podskarbiemu litewskiemu. Zakres działalności Sejmu Żydów Litewskich był bardzo szeroki. Oprócz rozkładu i poboru podatków państwowych sejm regulował wszystkie istotne dla Żydów kwestie (administracyjne, gospodarcze, religijne, społeczne), a także kwestie kontaktów z instytucjami nieżydowskimi i ludnością chrześcijańską. Waad litewski, podobnie jak koronny, został rozwiązany w czasie sejmu konwokacyjnego 1764, w ramach reform administracyjno-skarbowych....
Das Parlament (der Sejm) der Litauischen Juden (Hebräisch waad medinat Lita) entstand 1623 durch die Teilung des jüdischen Parlaments, dem sog. Sejm der Vier Länder (gegründet um 1580). Der Hauptgrund für die Ausgliederung der Institution war der Dualismus des Finanzwesens von Polen und Litauen, die litauischen Juden unterstanden traditionell dem litauischen Schatzmeister (Pol. podskarbi). Der Zuständigkeitsbereich des Sejms der Litauischen Juden war sehr breit. Neben der Erhebung und Verteilung der staatlichen Steuern war der Sejm für alle für die Juden relevanten Fragen (administrative, wirtschaft liche, religiöse und soziale) zuständig sowie für die Kontakte mit nicht-jüdischen Institutionen und der christlichen Bevölkerung. Ebenso wie in Polen wurde auch der Litauische Vaad während des Konvokationssejms 1764 aufgelöst, im Rahmen der Verwaltungs- und Steuerreform....