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Grand prince only); 3) the system of district
Seims with regular general seims was
introduced; the szlachta received the
possibility to affect the mechanism of state
government (before it was concentrated in the
hands of 50-60 magnate clans). In 1588 the
III Lithuanian Statute legally executed
serfdom (binding of serfs to the plots of land
and their becoming the feudal’s property). It
was the final stage of the serfdom process,
which started by the seim resolution in 1573
(the so-called articles by Henry of Valois, the
first elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth.
1557 The agrarian reform “Charter of drawing
dies", which abolished the right of property
of land for free peasants. The land belonged
either to the state or szlachta, peasants could
only use it. The notion «community” was
substituted by the notion “allotment”. All
lands were measured and divided into voloks
– the plots of land of 30 mogs (21.3 hectares).
The best plots were united into one and given
under filvarks (the lord’s estate (country seat),
where all products were for sale). Peasant
voloks were situated on worse marginal lands.
The three-field system of agriculture was
introduced. The communal system of land use
was destroyed, the feudal dependence (2-day
serfdom was introduced) consolidated. The
services were laid upon separate homesteads
(“dymy”). To cultivate one volok in a filvark
peasants from seven voloks were drawn. At

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