...And miracles and fears

Under one cover are collected essays by Olga Babkova on the history of everyday life in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th–17th centuries. The author does not seek to explain the lives of people in the late Middle Ages and early Modern times, but rather tries to feel the colors and tastes of that time.

Many years of work with ancient manuscripts gave the author the opportunity to respond in her own voice to the “existential echo” that arose between the present and the past. The second, expanded edition of the book includes three new texts: “Our “bees”, “The Life and Death of the Minsk Zemstvo Judge Grigory Makarovich” and “Todar’s Day”. The fourth text — “The Four Adams” — seems to “fall out” chronologically, but is closely connected with archival searches and our history.