Sejmiki województw Małopolski właściwej 1572–1648 – stan badań, organizacja, specyfika sejmikowa, propozycje badawcze

Abstract

Sejmiks in the First Polish Republic were the first and primary forum for the political education of every nobleman. It was during those assemblies that problems of the local community were solved, tax collection was controlled, military troops were organized, elections of candidates for land offices were held, and finally, deputies to the Sejm, deputies to the Crown Tribunal and delegates to important persons in the state were elected. They were usually convened by the king or local representative of the state government. During the interregnum, they were convened by the interrex primate. Their importance increased especially after the death of the last of the male representatives of the Jagiellonian royal family to sit on the Polish-Lithuanian throne in 1572. By the middle of the 17th century, they controlled almost all aspects of political life in the country, remaining an important factor shaping the consciousness of the inhabitants of the Republic and influencing decisions made by the Sejm until 1717. All decisions made at the sejmiks were recorded in special files, known as lauds. Together with parliamentary instructions, these documents constitute the primary source for studying their history, including the members of these institutions: secular and clerical dignitaries, officials, nobles and other participants in the proceeds. The source basis of the article is the records produced by the three sejmiks of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, assembled in Kraków, Sandomierz and Lublin. With reference to the most recent literature and source publications, it presents their organization, analyses the links that bind them together, and portrays their participants.