Veldamas

Veldamas (plural: veldamai) was a form of landownership in the early stages of Lithuanian serfdom. The term describes a peasant family with its land and other belongings granted by the Grand Duke of Lithuania to his loyal followers, usually as a reward for military service.[1] The peasant retained ownership of his property, including land, but owed taxes and levies imposed by the noble.[2] Veldamas was a middle stage between laukininkas (a free peasant) and a serf. The term veldamas is derived from Lithuanian word veldėti, valda and means "to rule something".[3] East Slavic texts of the Grand Duchy loaned the word as велдомы (plural; singular: велдом).[1] The term gradually disappeared after the Volok Reform in 1557, but it was still used in Postilė by Mikalojus Daukša (1599) to denote a subordinate.[3]

  1. ^ a b Zigmas, Zinkevičius (1995). "Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės kanceliarinės slavų kalbos termino nusakymo problema". In Neporožnia, Nadija (ed.). Lietuva - Ukraina: istorija, politologija, kultūrologija medžiaga (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Amžius. ISBN 5-87534-123-8.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference maryte was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Skardžius, Pranas (March 1973). "Donum Balticum". Aidai (in Lithuanian). 3. ISSN 0002-208X.