Działy majątków ziemskich w północnej części województwa kaliskiego (powiaty kcynńki i nakielski) w drugiej połowie XVI wieku

Divisions of land estates (divisiones bonorum) are sources which inform about the wealth basis of noble families. They deal with inherited estates, as well as with dowries for daughters and settlements of debts. The author discusses the divisions of land estates (mostly belonging to middle nobility) from two northern counties of Kalisz voivodeship: those of Nakło and Kcynia (26 documents in all). The divisions involve mainly middle nobility, owning several villages. The discussed documents inform mainly about the ways of dividing land estates, especially about the so-called „niedział” (common management of the estate). They also show the rules for preparing such agreements: who decided about the parts of the estate to be divided and who had the right to choose the inherited part first. The agreements from the 16th c. were compared with similar documents from the following century. This allows to conclude that the agreements from the 16th c. contain very little information, e.g. about the future of the widow of the late owner or about the debts of the land estates.