"Magnates" doby saskiej w świetle gazet pisanych Andrzeja Cichockiego - obraz malowany ciemnymi barwami

Abstract

The article was created in result of editorial work on the publication of the collection of newspapers written and edited by Andrzej Franciszek Cichocki between 1732 and 1734. They contain information on political activities and everyday life of a large group of magnates who were mainly staying at the royal court and actively participated in public life. Based on the information included in Andrzej Cichocki's newspapers, it is possible to determine a lot of features characteristic of the Saxon Era magnates. It will be a simpIified picture, possibly exaggerated and not covering all elements of the then magnates' everyday life. At the same time, it should be remembered that sensational events were of the utmost importance for the editor, sometimes also confidential information that could arise readers' interest. In these newspapers, we can find information about magnates participating in the life of a royal court, attending Regional Council and Sejm sessions, their preference for the French fashion, their family celebrations and weddings (almost always accompanied by the information about dowries) but also divorces as well as mutual animosities and sometimes excessive temper of some magnates. The most interesting and, at the same time, probably the most critical, is Cichocki's information on the individual magnates' conduct and attitude to the law and courts. In the light of Cichocki's reports, the violation of the law by magnates was very common. The newspapers devoted a special place to numerous misdemeanors and offences committed with impunity by Starost of Kaniów, Mikołaj Potocki, one of the richest magnates. According to the press reports, Polish nobility, who cherished freedom so much, did not have to fear that the monarch could send them to prison. Yet they did not realize that virtually every magnate could arbitrarily lock a nobleman in a basement of his palace without suffering any consequences for it.