Akta sejmikowe jako źródła do historii staropolskiej wojskowości

Abstract

In recent years, many publications presenting the records of sejmiks (regional assemblies in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) from the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries have appeared on the publishing market, and teams of historians from several research centres are working on new ones. Instructions for deputies to the Sejm and other resolutions of sejmiks are the fundamental sources for studying many aspects of the social and political life of the noble Commonwealth. Also, military historians use this type of source. However, the question arises whether the publishers of such sources include all the material related to the activity of the sejmik that would be of interest to researchers of martial history. On the other hand, a question can be asked whether they reach for sejmik records and can use them in their research into Old-Polish military science. In this case, the aim is to present the value of published sejmik records in studies of various aspects of the functioning of the Crown and Lithuanian armies and soldier life. Their fundamental importance for showing the mechanisms of the functioning of the noble levy (Polish. pospolite ruszenie, i.e. mass national conscription) seems obvious, but is it worth using them when researching problems related to the functioning of the so-called quarter army (Polish: wojsko kwarciane) or the comput army (Polish: wojsko komputowe)? The author also tries to analyse the scope of the material contained in published collections of sejmiks records. The purpose is to assess whether the sources related to the sejmiks’ activities in military matters are complete or whether the researchers compiling and editing these publications omit certain materials which may be important to historians of Old-Polish military science.