Sejmik wiłkomierski jako forum walki politycznej w dobie rokoszu Jerzego Lubomirskiego w świetle instrukcji królewskich

Abstract

Jerzy Lubomirski’s rebellion in 1665–1666 significantly influenced the transformations taking place among the political elite of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as changing the views of the nobility not only on the ongoing civil war in the Crown, but on the policy of the royal court during the mentioned period. This is linked to the struggle between the royalist party led by the Pacs and the opposition grouped around the Radziwills and the Sapiehas. The nobility of Wiłkomierz was critical of the ongoing civil war in the Crown, as twice, in both 1665 and 1666, the Pacs led a corps of Lithuanian troops out of its borders to reinforce the royal troops to fight J. Lubomirski’s rebels. The immediate threat to the Lithuanian borders in the face of the unfinished war with Moscow and the lack of funds to pay for the armed forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were important problems to which the Wilkomierz nobility drew attention in pre-Sejm instructions. It became increasingly strongly associated with opposition to the royal court, coming out sharply against the plans raised by the royal couple to resume vivente rege elections, and demanding that the laws on free election in the Commonwealth be confirmed at the Sejm. In its instructions, it devoted a great deal of space to recommending both the military and its citizens for awards for war merits, while demanding that no indigenates be granted to foreigners. The difficult situation of Lithuania in the face of the protracted treaties with Moscow and the civil war in the Crown resulted in a large attendance of the nobility at the pre-Sejm assemblies, which testified to their involvement in public life in the important problems that troubled not only the elite, but the society of the Commonwealth at the time. Translated by Stefan Kubiak