Rzeczpospolita sejmików w XVII–XVIII w. Czyje były?

Abstract

The article presents the places of sejmiks in the legal system of the Commonwealth, their function and political role in the political system of the Commonwealth in the 16ᵗʰ–18ᵗʰ centuries. The purpose of the work is to reconstruct against the background of these conditions the model line of division of power in the sejmiks and the mechanisms of their functioning taken from the political and legal side, and in particular to reconstruct and define the place, role and importance of the activities of the magnates in the sejmiks of this period. It will be of particular importance to show these phenomena against the background of the then-occurring phenomenon of the decentralization of the sovereignty of the Commonwealth, especially at the turn of the 18ᵗʰ century, in which the sejmiks were important organs of power, undertaking tasks beyond the conventionally accepted scope of their activities. In this context, it was important to show the course of political processes in the actions and functioning of the sejmiks, especially the behavior and conduct of the magnates in them, for whom the sejmik was a place to maintain political influence, but also to participate in the exercise of power. [Translated by Stefan Kubiak]