Great Scribe of Lithuania - was a central, though non-Senatorial, office in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Great Scribe served as an adviser to the Grand Duke of Lithuania and his chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

.

History of the office

The office was created in 1504, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...

 where there were three such positions, compared to only one in the Crown of Poland. The office was often staffed by Catholic clergy. In 1764, the Convocation sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

 rearranged the number of positions, establishing two offices for the Grand Duchy and the Crown each, and restricted it to non-clergy. In 1775 the number of offices was doubled and it was decided that one of the four would be staffed by a secular person while the other three were filled once again by clergy.

Responsibilities

The responsibility of the Great Scribe were to prepare properly worded versions and announcements of new laws which were put into effect. The office issued ready documents and certificates for individuals that these were sometimes addressed to. A Great Scribe was often part of diplomatic missions to foreign rulers. The scribe also was part, with veto power, of the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Judicial Court (which ruled mostly on matters related to cities' rights

Magdeburg rights

Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...

and burghers). He was also responsible for writing out the sentences passed by this court.