Przyczynek o królewskich pieczęciach litewskich z XVI-XVII wieku

A small contribution to the kings’ seals used in the chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in modern times (mostly during Vasa dynasty reign). Apart from known – thanks to the Pieczęcie królów polskich (Seals of Polish Kings), issued by Marian Gumowski in 1920 – facts about the re-use of the former king’s seals (with needed modification – the name) by his follower (e.g. Wladislaw IV reused in 1633 his father’s seal from the year 1617) and some other examples of not strict heraldic presentation of the coats of arms (the Pogoń), the main problem is discussion about one of the twelve shields with coats of arms around the Great Seal of Lithuania. In the literature – M. Gumowski and lastly S. K. Kuczyński, Polskie herby ziemskie. Geneza, treści, funkcje, Warszawa 1993: who slightly questioned such an identification – a coat of arms with a stag is presented as the symbol of the Lublin voivodeship (or land). This voivodeship however did not belong to the Grand Duchy, it was the Crown land. The possibility recognized by the author is the probably identification of the animal as a moose. And the moose was on the coat of arms of Semigallia, which was a part of Livonia. Livonian title was used of on the kings’ Lithuanian seals, the status of the former Crowns fief was not strictly decided in the 17th century.