Rzeczpospolita Wazów. [1], Czasy Zygmunta III i Władysława IV

Wisner, Henryk (1936– )

doi:83-88973-35-5

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Rzeczpospolita Wazów. [1], Czasy Zygmunta III i Władysława IV

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Title: Rzeczpospolita Wazów. [1], Czasy Zygmunta III i Władysława IV

Abstract:

The election of Sigismund Vasa took place on 19 August, 1587, his coronation on 27 December, and one month later, on 27 January 1588, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which did not participate in the election, recognised him as its ruler. When he ascended the throne, the process of shaping the Commonwealth was drawing to a close. There was a principle of election established partly, as became obvious who is entitled to attend, but the ways of election was not fully decided on. There was the relationship between the king and his subject defined, as well as internal relations between the Polish nobility of different faith. The frequency of session of the Sejm was known and there was a partial reform of the judicature carried out through establishment of the Tribunals. In that case the change was different, as the former ones confined in the frames of noble society of one Republic, and now there were two Tribunals: the Crown and Lithuanian. It should be stressed that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was not created from the beginnings, but only by the changes and complementation to what needed a change. The inferences were avoided where the practices were defined by custom, as it was in the case of the Sejm sessions. Some of the solutions were forced by the need arisen, so – as it was thought – they were to be used only once and was not given the written form. This was the case of the royal election and the rules were never to be changed. During the reign of Sigismund Vasa (1587–1632) there were the changes made in the legal and treasury systems of the Republic. In the times of his son and successor Ladislaus IV (1632–1648) the changes were made in the army. Over sixty years of their rule witnessed the most glorious victories of the Commonwealth: at Kircholm (1605) and at Kłuszyn (1610). Its units led by Grand hetman of Lithuania Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, and after his death, by Crown Cupbearer Stanisław Lubomirski, put up resistance to the main Turkish and Tatar forces at Chocim (1621). Twice, in 1609–1618 and 1632–1634 they led victorious war with Moscow. As a result of the first, the territory of the Republic was expanded to the extend that Poland had neither before nor later. The latter war was crowned by a treaty which in principle confirmed former successes. But at this same time Poland, in the first place, was not able to defeat Sweden, then retreated under its pressure, losing thousands of square kilometres of the territory of Livonia and, temporarily, Prussia. In 1618 the Truce was signed at Dyvilino, that is the foreground of Muscovian capital, and in 1656 at one of our own, namely Niemieża, then the village, nowadays a part of Vilnius. In the first there was a problem of the claim of prince Ladislaus to Tsardom, in the latter there was an assent to renounce the Polish throne to the Tsar. The State of the Vasas does not offer a direct answer to the question how the Polish Republic made the way from Dyvilino to Niemieża. It is rather an attempt to show how then, that is from the accession to the throne of Sigismundus Vasa till the death of Ladislaus IV, the Republic was functioning.