OLD AGE IN THE LIFE OF POLISH PEASANTS AT THE TURN OF THE MODERN ERA (Starosc w zyciu kmieci polskich przelomu sredniowiecza i czasów nowozytnych)

The article is based on the book of court record from the village of Trzesniowa from the years 1419-1609. The data was analyzed from both the demographic and the social perspective. Records of village courts allow us to trace peasants' fortunes and to reconstruct their families and lifecycles by the classical genealogical method. The analysed book contains 1542 court notes from the years 1419-1609, regarding the purchase, sale, inheritance or exchange of land, as well as rents, testaments, inventories, loans, pledges, criminal cases and conflicts between neighbours. Most commonly, the people involved were peasants who were hereditary tenants of land and performed some court functions (e.g. jurors). Women were heavily under-represented. Particular people were mentioned from one to over a hundred times. The demographic analysis was conducted on two levels. The first step was to delimit a group of 219 peasants who were mentioned in the book at least five times. This procedure made it possible to trace a significant part of their lifecycle, starting with the purchase or inheritance of land. The last mention of such a person in the book often came from over 20 later. The arithmetic average for the whole of the period in question was almost 24 years, but the median was only 21 years. The average time of activity for members of the village elite was over 25 years (arithmetic average - 26, median - 25), and for the other 'common' peasants it was 20 years (median - 19). Out of the analyzed 219 peasants 64 people were selected, who were active for 30 or more years. 26 of those sold their land on older age, usually on credit (10 of them to their sons or sons-in-law) and appeared in court to confirm the receipt of instalments. They usually stayed with their families, having a guarantee of care and a right to use a room and a piece of land, or they rented accommodation with another family. The other 38 of the group, who formally did not bequeath their land in the old age, probably remained heads of their family households. 22 of them played important roles in the village community, being jurors or the lord's officials. Only in 35 cases of the 64 the land was inherited by the peasant's progeny. Securing a heir to the hereditary plot was the worst demographic and economic problem for both peasants and, indirectly, their lords.