Magnateria - specyfika litewska

Abstract

A purpose of my speech was to show that the issue of magnates in the Commonwealth with regard to the entire country is very complex, which can be exemplified by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Its socio-political structure, which was developing for several centuries, was clearly dominated by a few families of aristocratic origin (with the predominance of Lords, i.e. members of the Grand Dukes Advisory Council). In the 16th century, they completely dominated the political life of their state. The state structure was relatively persistent and affected the situation o Lithuania during the existence of a common state with the Polisa Crown - the Commonwealth. These families (the Radziwiłł Chodkiewicz, Sapieha, Pac, Ogiński, Wiśniowiecki, Massalski and Czartoryski) were, at different times, fighting, sometimes ruthlessly, for dominance in Lithuania, subordinating the remaining families and actually ruling the country with the support of the royal court or in opposition to it. Except the Pac family, domination of these families was almost always based on the power of wealth (their estates embraced from a few to several tens of thousands ofhouseholds) and taking the most important central offices. In principie, these families can be consiaered as magnate families. Except the Radziwiłł and Sapieha families of the so-called Czerejska (Różanska) line who were permanent players on the Lithuanian scene during the existence of the Commonwealth, other families mentioned above can be classified as magnates onły at certain time intervals, when they gained importance as independent players who could significantly influence the policy of the country and the state. Even then, however, not all representatives of these families (this also applies to the Sapieha and, to a lesser extent, the Radziwiłł) were magnates because they did not have adequate property and influence and did not hold leading offices to actually influence the public life of the country and the Commonwealth by themselves or through their clients (members offactions, friends, and supporters). On the other hand, from time to time individuals that could accumulate huge estates and hold the highest offices stood out, so they certainly became magnates, but due to the lack of male offspring, they did not give rise to the magnate family. This was the case with, for example, Wincenty Gosiewski (died in 1662), Jerzy Karol Hłebowicz (died in 1669), Aleksander Hilary Połubiński (died in 1679) , Jan Karol Dolski (died in 1695), and Józef Bogusław Słuszka (died in 1701). At the same time, even large property and senatorial honors did not guarantee the position of an independent political player on the Lithuanian scene. Hence, such persons (families) were somehow magnates of the second category, as they served Lithuanian leaders or the royal court. Therefore, Lithuanian magnates were distinguished primarily bywealth (real estate) and a mass of servants and political independence assuring real influence on public life.