In 1579, Prienai was given by Grand Duke of Lithuania Steponas Batoras to the Hungarian nobleman Gabriel Bekes, brother of the more famed Gáspár Bekes, for his loyal participation in the Livonian War. The Bekes family ruled Prienai for the next two decades. Afterwards, it became the property of another Hungarian nobleman, named Kaspar Horvat. In 1616, the Lithuanian nobleman and politician Steponas Pacas, who would later become the Deputy Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, acquired Prienai. He and his sons Stanislovas and Mikalojus Pacas owned it up until 1643.