Slavery in Lithuania existed on the territory of

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

. It continued in various forms until late in the 16th century and was supplanted by the institution of

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

History

From the 9th century, the lands of

Baltic tribes The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...

was introduced into the slave supply movement. Often attacked by

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

who were capturing slaves there, Lithuanians eventually started enslaving other nations themselves. By the end of 12th century, Lithuanians began slave hunting raids in foreign lands. Baltic tribes started attacking each other and taking slave women and children, while the men were usually killed. Often Lithuanian nobility families had young girl slaves that would work around the houses and farms. Usually girls were taken from Rus' lands and sometimes from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In the 1200s – 1210s, Lithuanians would often attack

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

lands and take numbers of slaves back home, but most of the raids end up unsuccessfully as Lithuanian forces was often attacked by Germans and Livonians on their way back home.Prekyba belaisviais: Pajamų šaltinis
/ref> Between 1277 and 1376, there were recorded 24 big raids by Lithuanians in Prussia and Polish lands, whose aim was to bring back more slaves to Lithuania. Some records show that Grand Dukes of Lithuania would sell slaves to foreign countries for the income. In 1383 Jogaila was accused of selling German slaves to Russian lands. In 1588 the third Statute of Lithuania was signed, which finally completely abolished slavery, but still promoted

(see Serfdom in Poland#15th to 18th centuries for details). Only

Emancipation reform of 1861 The emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia, also known as the Edict of Emancipation of Russia, (russian: Крестьянская реформа 1861 года, translit=Krestyanskaya reforma 1861 goda – "peasants' reform of 1861") was the first ...

abolished serfdom in Lithuania, with exceptions of

Palanga Palanga (; bat-smg, Palonga; pl, Połąga; german: Polangen) is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest summer resort in Lithuania and has sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long ...

(in 1819) and

Suvalkija Suvalkija or Sudovia ( lt, Suvalkija or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans, Suvalkians) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithu ...

(in 1807) where serfdom was already abolished earlier.

Contemporary slavery

According to the

Walk Free Foundation Minderoo Foundation's Walk Free initiative is an independent, privately funded international human rights organisation based in Perth, Western Australia. Walk Free works towards ending modern slavery in all its forms by taking a multifaceted and g ...

's research done 2013 there is about 3,000 people in Lithuania suffering from

contemporary slavery Contemporary slavery, also sometimes known as modern slavery or neo-slavery, refers to institutional slavery that continues to occur in present-day society. Estimates of the number of enslaved people today range from around 38 million to 46 mil ...

.Tyrimas: Lietuva užima 128-ąją vietą pagal vergovės sąlygomis gyvenančių žmonių skaičių

References

{{reflist Economic history of Lithuania Legal history of Lithuania

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

History of Lithuania (1219–1569) Slavery in Europe Human rights abuses in Lithuania