Highway Robbery in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th–17th Century

Abstrakti

Road robbery is a specific crime that was widespread across Europe and has been around for ages. The gangs that emerged would rob and live along the roads. Historians have taken note of this social phenomenon. However, the historiography has mainly focused on road robbery in Western Europe in the 15th and 17th centuries. Historians have much less studied road robbery in Eastern Europe, what may lead to the unreliable perception that the scale of these crimes in Eastern Europe was lower. This article examines the case of road robbery in the GDL: the causes and circumstances of crimes, the timing and location, and the composition of social groups of the perpetrators and the victims. The study has led to conclusions that add to the knowledge of the history of crime in Europe.