Magnaci w przekazach polskiej prasy rękopiśmiennej na temat sejmików z drugiej połowy XVIII w.

Abstract

The important issue of reports on the participation of magnates in the sejmik life of the noble Commonwealth, contained in manuscript newspapers, has not yet found its way into the scientific historical literature. Written newspapers, created in addition to the printed press, which appeared regularly in the second half of the 18ᵗʰ century, brought much information on the subject. Due to the richness of the source material, only accounts of magnate activity created on the basis of newspaper reports of pre-sejm and partially deputy sejmiks are presented. This is because these types of electoral sejmiks most revealed the influence of the magnates on the political life of the state. In a special way, the participation and role of the magnates in sejmik deliberations was raised in the last half-century of the noble Commonwealth. During the reign of Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, mentions of the magnates’ activities at sejmiks appeared when reporting on the proceedings of subsequent sessions. These were often lists of elected deputies and deputies. More extensive reports were also placed to inform readers about the most important issues in the sejmic context: reform projects, the formation of a political base, the struggles of the Bar Confederation and partition. Finally, the political struggle of the magnates themselves and their anti-royal, oppositional stance were often reflected in written newspapers. The issue of limiting magnate influence, manifested in the diametrical change of the law on assemblies, vigorously debated in the late 1880s and early 1890s, which was considered the foundation of the new parliamentary system, also had a great echo in the press. [Translated by Stefan Kubiak]