Strefy wpływów magnackich na Litwie za panowania Wazów

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to outline the spheres of influence of magnate factions in Lithuania during the reign of the Vasa dynasty. This is an extremely important issue, and insufficiently researched so far, although some achievements in this field have already been made. In turn, the importance of the problem lies in the fact that a characteristic feature of political life in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th–18th centuries was the domination of 2–3 magnate factions exerting a huge (decisive in periods of so-called hegemony) influence on the attitude of the nobility and the decisions made by them at the assemblies. The leaders of these factions had to rely on their partisans in the field, in particular counties, so learning about the extent and strength of their influence in these counties is important for understanding the decisions they made. Our main field of observation therefore became the deputies to the various assemblies. On this basis, we are (to some extent) able to determine which counties were the most important points of support for both lines (Protestant and Catholic) of the Radziwills, the Chodkiewiczes, the Sapiehas (the so-called Różan line) and the Pacs. However, the lack of relevant sources does not yet allow us to reconstruct a complete map of their influence during periods of domination and struggle for it. The rapid development of Lithuanian studies in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus in the last 30 years raises hopes for a corresponding increase in our knowledge of the subject of interest, although it does not seem to have succeeded to its full extent. It is clear, however, that the Biryani Radziwills were strongest in the districts of Wiłkomierz (Ukmerge), Lida, Upita and in Samogitia; the Nyasvizh Radziwills in the Novogrudok and Brzesk districts; The Chodkiewicz family in Novogrudok, Orsha, Volkovysk, Mstislavl and Samogitia counties; the Sapieha family in Slonim, Orsha, Volkovysk and Brest counties; and the Pac family in Kaunas, Upita, Grodno counties and the Samogitia. It is not difficult to see that these spheres of influence often coincided with the locations of judicial functions (as starosts), and especially the location of the main family seats and vast estates, which was conducive to exploiting their administrative apparatus and hoodwinking partisans from among local land officials and influential nobility. Translated by Stefan Kubiak