Prowincjonalna elita litewska w XVIII wieku : działalność polityczna rodziny Zabiełłów w latach, 1733-1795

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); 18 amžius; Bajorai; Giminės; The Great Duchy of Lithuania; Lithuanian XVIII c. history; Noblemen; Families.

ENIn the political system of the 18th-century Commonwealth an important role was played by local activists. They organised sessions of local assemblies (sejmiks) and cooperated with the leaders of magnate factions, without neglecting their own careers. An example of such a local elite is the Zabiello family who in the 18th century played a dominant part in the district of Kowno (Kaunas), and also sought to increase their influence to include the neighbouring lands. Despite their importance, the Zabiellos have not yet been the subject of a thorough analysis or study. For this reason, it was necessary to compile a genealogy of the family before taking on the subject of their political activity. The Zabiellos acquired their importance in the 18th century, mainly from activities of the representatives of their two lines: of masters of the royal hunt and of the Łabunów estate. This was reflected in holding the office of marshal of Kaunas in 1730-1795 by members of this family, including probably the most actively politically Antoni Zabiello. Less significant role was played by the line of Medeksze estate, possibly because of their Evangelical Reformed faith. Political importance of individual lines of the Zabiello family and their representatives was mirrored in their material situation. With the growth of their political presence the Zabiellos sought to build their own party. In the times of King Augustus III we are justified in speaking only about their cooperation with individual persons, but it was rarely permanent, and occasionally was of opportunistic character. But the sources from the period after the first partition (1772) that present struggles between various political parties indicate that the Zabiellos' faction had already been in the process of developing.It was headed by, apart from the Zabiellos themselves, the nephews and pupils of Antoni Zabiello, to wit Michał, Antoni, Józef and Szymon Kossakowskis as well as related to the Zabiellos Dominik Medeksza. The faction included, besides its leaders, several more or less permanent supporters. They were related by family ties, often cooperated with the Zabiellos in judicial or economic matters. On occasions of sejmiks the faction used hundreds of petty noblemen, often illiterate, who by their mere number were to facilitate the victory over the adversaries. The greatest achievement of Mikołaj, and mainly of Antoni Zabiello and his main adversary Szymon Siruć, was that for at least seventy years they were able to prevent the breaking off of the Kaunas sejmiks, in the times when in other districts the right to liberum veto was constantly abused. This resulted in special interest of magnate leaders in the Kaunas sejmik, to where the most important candidates for deputies or representatives were sent, often including the candidates to the office of marshal. Although the sejmik became an important arena of political fight, the Zabiellos usually were able to conclude a compromise by distributing seats between the competing parties, and in case of a manifest againts the sejmik, were able to prevent its results. Zabiellos themselves spread their influences around not only by performing functions of directors of sejmiks, or deputies to the Sejm sessions, but also by gaining favours of the magnates they were, working with. At the same time they tried to maintain the balance of magnate influences in the district and reap profits from various parties. What made it possible for them to remain in favour of competing magnate groups was splitting up of the family members between the two camps.Usually, however, they were inclined towards that party which currently enjoyed greater influence, especially if it was allied with the royal court. This offered the Zabiellos the possibility to be in good graces of the court, and the offices of starosts and other dignities they were holding suggest that they effectively profited from this possibility. The times of the last king brought about the change in conditions of political activity of the middle nobility, for King Stanislaw Augustus Poniatowski sought to make them the basis for his own party. Especially strong was the court party in Lithuania, headed by Antoni Tyzenhauz, and then by Joachim Chreptowicz. The Zabiellos, not wanting to lose their influences either in the Kaunas district or neighbouring ones, fought fiercely against the supporters of the court. Initially, they had to make concessions, but soon enough the fight between the opposing parties led to splits of Kaunas sejmiks which until that time had been unbreakable. The intensification of rivalry between the two camps resulted from an attack of the opposition against Tyzenhauz. After his fall, the situation calmed down, but soon afterwards a new conflict exploded related to the rivalry for the office of Kaunus subchamberlain. [...] An analysis undertaken indicates that the provincial elites of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were able to effectively use the struggles at sejmiks for their own promotions. By manoeuvring between competing magnate factions, leaders of the nobility were acquiring political importance, influences among the nobility and material gains. All that contributed to their social advancement to such a degree that they were able to build their own political faction, struggling with the court party on the provincial scale. To draw more broad conclusions, however, further study is required into provincial elites. [From the publication]