Specyfika działalności sejmikowej województwa połockiego

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Collection:
Mokslo publikacijos / Scientific publications
Document Type:
Straipsnis / Article
Language:
Lenkų kalba / Polish
Title:
Specyfika działalności sejmikowej województwa połockiego
Alternative Title:
Specifics of the sejmik activity of the Polotsk voivodeship
Authors:
Łopatecki, Karol
In the Journal:
Miscellanea Historico-Iuridica [MHI]. 2022, t. 21, z. 1, p. 117-152
Subject Category:
LT
1569-1795. Lietuva ATR laikotarpiu; 13 amžius - 1569. Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė. LDK; Parlamentas. Seimas / Parliament; Bajorai. Didikai. Valdovai / Gentry. Nobles. Kings; Baltarusija (Belarus).
Summary / Abstract:

ENThe article presents the beginning of the project to publish the sejmik records of the Polotsk voivodeship against the background of other analogous initiatives. The conception of the work is shown, the preliminary assumptions and the source basis are presented. In order to clarify the difficulties of the planned edition, the Polotsk region in the 16th-18th centuries was characterised in terms of its government. The territory was approximated and its importance against the background of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was emphasised. To this end, existing knowledge about the province and the noble assemblies was collected in order to show the specificity of the region. In particular, the origins of the modern sejmiks in the Polotsk region are presented, including the existence of the „small sejm” before the reforms of 1565–1566. The consequences of the peripheral sejmik, which covered lands long threatened by military aggression, are indicated. Finally, the characteristics of sejmik life in the Polotsk region are shown. The main feature of the Polotsk voivodeship was its peripherality. Firstly, this was due to its insignificance in terms of the functioning of the General Sejm or the Lithuanian Tribunal. Secondly, it was an area constantly threatened by military conflicts. This was manifested by a high variability of borders, which translated into an exceptionally interesting geography of this sejm district. Officially, we can distinguish as many as nine sejmik capitals (Lepel – 1579 – Polotsk – 1659 – Kobrin – 1661 – Miadziol – 1667 – Polotsk – 1773 – Novi Lepel – 1775 – Ushach – 1791 – Chasniki – 1792 – Ushach – 1793), besides, at least six other locations are known. Even in the relatively stable period of 1579–1772, there were periods when the assembly could not meet in Polotsk (1654–1667 and 1705–1710).Thus, the Polotsk voivodeship appears as a training ground for observing the adaptation of the nobility to extraordinary situations, in which it had an exculpatory or semi-exculpatory character. A probing attempt to assess the occurrence of Polotsk sejmiks made for the 17th century indicates that there should have been more than three hundred, and this is without taking into account sejmiks convened out of ‘limits’. The activity of the nobility in these areas is high – which is, of course, due to the sejmiks of deputation, pre-sejm and relational sejmiks and the relatively frequent electoral sejmiks. The Lithuanian specifics were the preconvocation and pre-election sejmiks. Characteristic features of sejmik life are the election of the voivode of Polotsk, the participation of the archbishop of Polotsk in the deliberations, and the egalitarian nature of the sejmik, which as a rule was not as dominated by the magnates as in other areas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Key words: sejmiks, parliamentarism, Polotsk voivodship, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, sejmik geography, editions of sejmik records, Small Sejm of the Duchy of Polotsk, Polotsk voivods. [From the publication]

DOI:
10.15290/mhi.2022.21.01.04
ISSN:
1732-9132; 2719-9991
Subject:
Istorija / History
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https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/107610
Updated:
2024-11-29 20:42:48
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