Inkwell

In the 15th century, inkwells were used only by the literate segment of society—those who needed to write as part of their official duties. During excavations in the territory of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, a particularly distinctive inkwell was discovered in a 15th-century layer. The appearance of inkwells often reflected the owner’s status—the higher the position, the more ornate the inkwell.

As literacy spread in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 15th century, chanceries were established, documents were prepared, and the nobility and institutions accumulated archives. The chancery, as a governing institution, was formed under Grand Duke Vytautas (1392/1401–1430).

Interestingly, the ruler entrusted clerks not only with drafting documents and letters but also with other tasks, the most important of which were diplomatic missions.

It is also worth noting the remarkable correspondence of women. From the 14th century, it became customary for members of the Lithuanian elite to write not only personal letters on everyday matters, business, marriage, or children, but by the late 15th to the first half of the 16th century, the epistolary genre had been mastered by all queens of Poland and grand duchesses of Lithuania.