Lithuanian Commonwealth Research Articles

The Reaction of the Sejmiks of Kyiv, Bratslav, and Chernihiv Voivodeships to the Pacification Initiatives of August II (1698–1699)

The article reveals an aspect of the history of the sejmiks of Kyiv, Bratslav, and Chernihiv voivodeships in exile during the early reign of August II in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years of 1698–1699. This was when two pacification Sejms were convened when the new king tried to calm the civil confrontation in the country after the split election in the time of the Interregnum after Jan III Sobieski died. In 1698–1699, all three exile sejmiks were held in Volodymyr in the Volyn Voivodeship. Based on the sejmik acts study, it was found that the moderate royalist political position characterized all three exile sejmiks. The sejmiks of the Kyiv and Bratslav voivodeships were driven to do so by problems in their domains with the Cossacks of the Right Bank Ukraine, as well as by the opportunity to join the royal benefits at the time of the king's efforts to gain the favor of the nobility. The sejmik of the Chernihiv Voivodeship, which was non-territorial, demonstrated symmetrical political activity for the benefits achieving, generally focusing on compensation for their estate losses. The last one sejmik also implemented support to the Lithuanian republican nobility's efforts of granting the Coaequatio Iurium approval by the Sejm. The study also reveals that the Kyiv and Bratslav sejmiks were partly encouraged by the king's initiative to wage war against the Ottomans in 1698, but they completely joyfully welcomed the news of the signing of peace with Porta in 1699 and the return of previously lost lands to the Commonwealth. The loyalty of the exile sejmiks to the king did not prevent them from criticizing the royal authorities and making proposals for governance and improvement of treasury and military affairs. One of the main objects of criticism of the sejmiks was the foreign Saxon army that the king brought with him to the country on the eve of his coronation. They also criticized the king's methods of governance, which the nobility considered inconsistent with the established political regionalism and autonomy of local rights and law.

Difficult alliance. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia against Sweden during the Great Northern War (1700–1721) – an introduction to the problematic

Abstract With the outbreak of the Great Northern War (1700–1721), the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was officially outside the fighting parties (Denmark, Saxony and Russia against Sweden), despite the fact that the main burden of hostilities was on its territory. It was only in 1704 that its representatives concluded an agreement with Russia and in the following years they undertook a joint fight against the Swedish king Charles XII and the Polish and Lithuanian nobility cooperating with him. Soon the alliance turned out to be “difficult” for both sides. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth obtained military and financial aid from Russia for the expansion of its army. Poland and Lithuania also counted on Russia’s help in regaining the Baltic lands occupied by Sweden, which were also sought by the Polish king and the Saxon elector Augustus II. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth also counted on support in the event that Turkey tried to take back Ukrainian lands from it. On the other hand, Tsar Peter I was successful at the front over the years (including the Battle of Poltava) and strengthened his political and military position in Europe. The tsar also began to interfere in the matters of the internally quarrelsome the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, trying to be an arbiter deciding its fate. Additionally, the prolonged stay of Russian troops there was a heavy burden for the Crown and Lithuania. The common paths of the Commonwealth and August II with Peter I slowly diverged. With the end of the war between Russia and Sweden in 1721, former allies were already enemies. Due to the very wide range of political, military, economic and religious issues, this article is only an introduction to the indicated issues. The author’s intention is to inspire researchers to undertake a new, or revive an already started, historical discourse on the Polish–Russian alliance during the Great Northern War (1700–1721).

The Fasting of Others

As cultural historians have shown, various discourses about food and eating are correlated with processes of religious identity construction within European pre-modern societies. This article focuses on such a relationship between bodily and structural contexts during the transformative phase of the late sixteenth century in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. A selection of exemplary polemical sources of Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians illuminates the significance of fasting for the semantical constructions of religious collectives in times of societal upheaval. Regarding the increasingly uncertain circumstances due to the union of the Church, this paper argues that religious elites revolved around norms of fasting, which represented a semantic means of defining and defending their respective collective selves, their political claims, and legitimation in relation to a collective Other. Considering bodily practices such as fasting to be a methodological lens, the paper attempts to develop a novel perspective on the study and understanding of religious ordering in early modern European contexts.

The Polemical Impetus of a Far-Reaching Act

The aim of this article is to trace the influence of the polemical works of the Jesuit priest Piotr Skarga (1536–1612) on the religious life of Ukraine and on the Ukrainian culture of his era. The writings of Piotr Skarga, Stanislaw Orzechowski, Benedict Herbest, Herasym Smotrytsky, Ivan Vyshensky, and Hypatius Potius are the sources examined in the author’s scholarly study. Works about Skarga and his era by Józef Tretiak, Ludowik Piechnik, Janusz Tazbir, and Stanisław Cieślak, writings about interfaith polemics concern- ing the Union of Brest by Volodymyr Antonovych, Nikolaj Skabalanovich, Stepan Golubev, Vladimir Zavitnevich, Ivan Franko, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Kyrylo Studynskyi, Porfyriy Yaremenko, Ihor Mytsko, Borys Gudziak, Vitalii Shevchenko, Leonid Tymoshenko, and Ruslan Tkachuk, as well as courses in the history of Ukrainian literature are analyzed to comprehensively present Skarga’s impact on Ukrainian culture. A comparative methodol- ogy is applied. Skarga’s writing talent was brought out during his stay in Vilnius – one of the centers of Reformation movements in the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth, the residence of Kyiv Orthodox Metropolitans (1416–1795). The multi-confessionalism of Vilnius challenged Skarga. He wrote O jedności Kościoła Bożego (1577) – a book in which he expounds Tridentine ecclesiology, enumerating from his point of view heresies and schisms characteristic of the Orthodox East. He outlines the prospects of returning the Church of Kyiv to unity with the Apostolic See of Rome. In 1596 the Synod of Brest proclaimed union with the Catholic Church. Skarga was present at the synod as an observer and adviser. He pub- lished a documentary description of the synod’s proceedings – the book Synod Brzeski with an appendix – Obrona Synodu Brzeskiego (1597), which defends the canonical validity of the synod, adding a historical retrospec- tive to justify the need to overcome schism. These works became important catalysts in the development of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which proved its viability during the period of persecution and entered the post-communist era as a most creative spiritual force, combining the careful nurturing of local church tradition with the universality of the apostolic mission.

Військові дії під Ковелем за свідченнями джерел УПА (січень–березень 1944 р.)

The armed confrontation in early 1944 in the proximity of Kovel within the context of the Soviet-German war is primarily known for the local victory of three incomplete German divisions over the army corps of the first Belarusian Front of the Red Army. Main role in this episode of the World War II was played by the coordinated actions of Wehrmacht and SS units – in particular, attempts to break through of the SS panzer company under the commander of Carl Nicollusi-Lek in the surrounded Kovel, and attack of the 4thWehrmacht panzer division by Dietrich von Sauken in the city, blocked by the Red Army. The actions, which took place in January-March 1944 didn’t change the balance of power at the Eastern front. But for some time they shifted the frontline in northwestern Volyn in the advantage of the German side. Also, to some extent, this victory helped German propaganda to maintain the fighting spirit of the army (which melted uncontrollably), just like a bit later, near Warsaw in August 1944. At the same time, since the formation of the German occupation, Volhynia has become a battlefield for a number of underground organization – primarily Ukrainian and Polish. This was caused by the polyethnic nature of the former Eastern Lands of the Second Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the specifics of the administrative management of Ukrainian territories by the Third Reich, German actions to "pacify" the local population. German side was actively promoting the incitement of ethnic hatred between Poles and Ukrainians. The latter resulted in a series of armed actions by units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), directed against Polish and Ukrainian civil populace, respectively, in 1943. Active phase of this fight hadn’t stopped at the beginning of the following year. At that time, there were departments of UPA-North working in this region, reorganized after the Conference of military officers in 1942: from the Polish side in confrontation were involved 27th division of the Home Army and “Khlopsky’s batallions”. With the shifts of Soviet-German front line, Soviet partisans had begun to come to Volhynia, and they had an experience in confrontation both with German troops, UPA and AK.

From Lugano to Krakow: The Career of Giovanni Battista Trevano as a Royal Architect at the Vasa Court in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, many builders, artists, and architects living on the shores of Italian lakes decided to settle in Poland. Upon arrival, they pursued brilliant careers in various areas of life. Over time, they became Polonized. This was also the case for Giovanni Battista Trevano, who was active in Krakow in the first half of the 17th century and whose lifetime achievement was to become the royal architect of the Vasa kings. This article presents Trevano’s artistic oeuvre and provides insight into his social, economic, and intellectual status in the new community, including the architect’s offspring, who pursued successful careers in army, church, and state offices throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. These new findings are based on manuscripts that have recently been discovered by the author of the article in both Polish and Swiss archives. They allow for expanding the knowledge of the Trevano family’s genealogy and biography, and correcting some unjustified views in the discourse. On the basis of research on new archival sources, one can conclude that Giovanni Battista Trevano was a prominent architect, who is credited with introducing in Poland the early Baroque style, which soon became dominant in northern European art.

Eastern Europe: The ‘other’ geographies in the colonial global economy

AbstractThis article engages with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and its entanglement with the maintenance of the transatlantic colonial economy established by its powerful imperial neighbours. In doing so, the article signals an argument that the processes of the colonial global economy cannot be reduced to the West, but are also essential in the development of ‘other’ European geographies that have been thought of as detached, non‐complicit and irrelevant to transatlantic narratives of slavery and empires. The focus here is directed towards the benefits of ‘associated trades’ that, when viewed through Charles Mills's ‘racial contract’ framework, offer an alternative longue durée of connected geographies that makes visible Eastern Europe's links to the benefits of the colonial global economy.

The First Partition of Poland and the Issue of the European Balance of Power in Contemporary English Media (1772–1774)

Prussia, Russia, and Austria gradually divided the territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in three stages between 1772 and 1795. In their partition policy, Prussia and Russia managed to make Austria take sides with them on the first, as well as the third occasion, and during these partitions, the Western powers such as France or Great Britain – although fully opposing such violent breach of Polish–Lithuanian statehood – did not act against them. A new kind of balancing policy and partition diplomacy materialized in these partitions of Poland (rozbiory Polski) and the loss of Polish sovereignty. The present paper seeks to explore the roots of this peculiarly balancing constellation of great powers, analysing the political environment that led to the first division of Poland in 1772, while investigating the opinion of Great Britain on the partition. The first part of the study places the 18th-century European political scene in an ideohistorical contéxt, présénting thé concépts of ‘réason of staté’ and ‘balancé of powér’ that motivated the dynamics of diplomatic negotiations. In light of this, the second part describes the motivations and key events of Polish (domestic) and European (great power) politics in the 18th century up to the time of the first partition, while the main part analyses the English press reaction to the division, its visual sources and the relevant pamphlet literature of 1772–1774.

Beyond the Standards of the Epoch – The Phenomenon of Elżbieta Sieniawska Née Lubomirska and Anna Katarzyna Radziwiłł née Sanguszko based on Selected Aspects of Their Economic Activities in Times of Political Unrest in the Saxon Era

Abstract At the turn of the eighteenth century, the political and economic situation in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was difficult and unstable. This period was brimming with military conflicts, the most important of which was the Great Northern War, and contributed to devastation and impoverishment in many areas of the country. The post-war damage in cities and villages could be felt among civilians for many years. While women did not take part in military operations directly, they were interested in the reports from the war front, they caught up on political news, and sometimes personally experienced the toll of the war since Saxon, Swedish, and Russian troops, which were marching across the country, plundered their lands and homes, instilling fear and terror among the residents. And yet there was something that played an important role in the fight against the destructive enemy – a possibility to gain influential patrons and use their authority as a “shield” protecting one’s property from the troops and aggressive neighbours. Respect for some people from the ruling spheres or local elites as well as fear for their revenge built a barricade of sorts, strong enough to protect their clients from adverse actions of the destroyer.

The Art of Interpretation or the Art of Construction? The Case of Gestorum—A Constitutional Treatise by Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro

Abstract Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro was a seventeenth-century Polish statesman whose works on Polish legal theory and history are generally underappreciated. Whenever he is mentioned, it is generally as a defender of the institution liberum veto, which is nearly universally blamed for the decline and eventually collapse of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. This article is part of a contemporary attempt to reignite academic interest in Fredro by bring his work to the attention of comparative constitutional scholars and legal historians, as well as to rehabilitate his reputation. More concretely, it examines the Gestorum, his first major work and a historical treatise, in order to recreate Fredro’s theories of constitutional interpretation in contemporary theoretical parlance: his theory of casus qui facit leges as a constitutional moment, interpretatio/ratio legislatoris vs verbis legis as legislators’ intentionalism vs textualism, and his interpretation vs explication as interpretation vs construction. These latter two sets of distinctions are particularly relevant to ongoing debates about originalistic approaches within comparative constitutional theory and legal history.

Calvinism in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth 1548–1648: The Churches and the Faithful. Kazimierz Bem. St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Leiden: Brill, 2020. liii + 322 pp. €125.

Calvinism in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth 1548–1648: The Churches and the Faithful. Kazimierz Bem. St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Leiden: Brill, 2020. liii + 322 pp. €125. - Volume 75 Issue 3

Традиция дневниковых записей в Украинском гетманстве

The article deals with the issue of the existence of a tradition of keeping diary entries in the Ukrainian Hetmanate (17th – early 18th centuries), similar to those diaries that were kept at that time in Western Europe. In order to understand the origins of the diary tradition among the Cossack elite, born, brought up and educated in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the author turns to the analysis of traditional for the Polish handwritten culture “diariushs” and characterizes the most famous examples. The article discusses the “diariushs” of representatives of the military elite that have survived to this day, namely of Dmitry Tuptala (Rostovsky), Philip Orlik, Ya. Markovich and others. The author suggests the existence of earlier “diariushs” (in particular, by the participant of the Khotyn war S. Zorko), the full texts of which have not survived to this day. This conclusion is confirmed by the “diariush” of the clerk Ivan Bykhovets, introduced into scientific circulation by the Ukrainian historian L. Okinshevich in 1930, but for objective reasons remained practically unknown in historiography. It is noted that this “diariush” is fully consistent with the Polish counterparts and contains a number of unique descriptions.

The Plans of the Kamieniec Podolski Fortress Until 1793

From the 15th to the 18th century Kamieniec Podolski was one of the most important fortresses, not only of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (it constituted a key location for the defense of its southern border) but also of entire Central Europe. The fortress repelled the invaders' attacks many times. Its international fame increased in the period of fights between the Holy League, and the Ottoman Empire. Holy League was composed of the Holy Roman Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Venice and Russia after the battle of Vienna in 1863 r. This is confirmed by the printed publishing of twenty-four different plans of this fortress and twelve different figures in the second half of the 17th century and in the first half of the 18th century. The collection of manuscript plans is equally extensive. Until 1793, i.e. until the fortress was taken over by the Russian Empire, at least 46 of them were created. The majority of the preserved cartographic monuments come from the 18th century and are kept not only in Polish libraries and archives, but also in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, Paris and even the distant London and Madrid. The present article presents the state of current knowledge regarding the cartography of the Kamieniec Podolski fortress.

Polish Question in Russia in the Assessment of A.S. Budilovich

The article discusses the main viewpoints of the Russian historian and philologist Anton S. Budilovich on the Polish question in Russia. Budilovich was a dynamic personality and, at the same time, a prominent philologist, historian, publicist, and above all, an excellent administrator of science and education. The name Budilovich was widely known in the educated circles of contemporary society. He spent his entire life working in educational institutions in St. Petersburg, Nezhin, Warsaw, and Yuryev. Budilovich acquired work in the Russifi cation of Warsaw and Yuryev universities. The scholar’s views are considered against the background of the position generally inherent in Russian historiography. The topics studied by Budilovich were closely connected with the history of the Orthodox lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Western Russian (Belarusian and Ukrainian) issue. The scientific and socio-political views of Budilovich were infl uenced by both the nature of his education and the socio-political environment of what was then Western Russia. In general, Budilovich’s historical polonistics fully corresponded to the fundamental ideas of Russian historical polonistics of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: conservative and Slavophile in nature, and mostly anti-Western. The most important attribute of Slavic unity for Budilovich was the religious community of the Slavs and their common language. Orthodoxy seemed to him the foundation on which the Slavs exclusively could preserve their own identity. He explained Russia’s mission in Poland to be motivated by its desire to save the Poles from the Germanization that threatened them and to “bring to life” Polish moral and intellectual forces. The scholar was one of the last adherents of the Slavophile approach to history and a supporter of pan-Slavic ideas.

The Russian guarantee of the statehood of the szlachta-controlled Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian policy in Poland at the beginning of the uprising of the Bar Confederation (1768)

The article deals with the policy of Russia in Poland in the 18th century, aimed at establishing the dependence of the szlachta republic on St. Petersburg. This policy was also implemented in the initial period of the uprising of the Bar Confederation, which broke out after the ratification by the Sejm in February 1768 of the Russian-Polish treatise on the guarantee of the statehood of the gentry republic and the equalization of the class and political rights of the Catholic and the dissident (Protestant and Orthodox) szlachta. Based on the materials of the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, the author considers the attempts of the Russian ambassador in Warsaw N. V. Repnin to enlist the support of the Polish king and magnate groups (primarily of the “family” of the Czartoryskis) to convene a new Sejm, which was supposed to declare the confederation illegal. The failure of attempts to convene the Sejm and the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768–1774 predetermined the failure of the policy of St. Petersburg to achieve a solution to the crisis that had arisen through a compromise with the magnate tops. At the same time, the political efforts of Russia during the preparation of the Sejm in the autumn of 1768 objectively contributed to the stabilization of the Polish statehood and, to a certain extent, its political modernization.

Henriko Valua išrinkimo Abiejų Tautų Respublikos valdovu vaizdavimas lotyniškoje prancūzų poezijoje: „J. de La Gessée“ Henriada ir jos autorius

In 1573, Henry de Valois, Duke of Anjou, was elected as the king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and some literary works were published to familiarize the French public with the history of Poland and Lithuania, the geographical and economic situation of the country. Some Polish historical works were translated into French (e.g. the chronicle of Jan Herburt of Felsztin), many poets wrote occasional poems, dedicated to the future king, in French, Polish, and Latin. This article aims to discuss the poem Henrias, dedicated to Henry de Valois, written in Latin by a French poet under the pseudonym Jean de La Gessée, – a rare and completely unexplored work until today. Henrias was addressed not only to the future king but also to the court, the French diplomats and ambassadors of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Henry de Valois is portrayed here according to the tradition of Renaissance epic poetry by using an ethical model of the ruler’s “virtues” and by discussing the ruler’s place in history, linking him both to the mythological origins of the French nation (to the myth of Trojan ancestry), and to the former rulers of Poland and Lithuania (the ruler is depicted here as the successor of their policy). The poet also presented a description of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – the future reign of Henry de Valois – in accordance with the literary tradition of 16th-century representations of Poland–Lithuania. To be noted, this is the first description of Poland–Lithuania in French poetry in Latin and one of the first in all French poetry. The author also wrote an unpublished larger-scale heroic epic Poloniade in French, dedicated to Henry de Valois, but it has not survived. This article also serves as an introduction to the biography and works of this not-well-known poet and discusses the problem of the authorship of his works. It is highly probable that the authorship was so far misattributed and that the author’s name is just a pseudonym of another court poet – talented and highly educated courtier Louis d’Amboise, as shown by the many details, hidden in his poems, including biographical facts (in all his works) and the anagrams of his name (in his Latin poems). Henrias and other Latin poems of this author (e.g. Epigrammatôn … libri duo) show the direct and close contact of the author with the royal entourage, top politicians, and foreign diplomats. It is unlikely that the author was a newcomer protestant Gascon, looking for success in Paris because Henrias was undoubtedly written at the king’s request and was very well paid (as well as the Poloniade). It shows that the author was a Catholic and he was quite familiar with the history and political realities of Poland–Lithuania. Keywords: 16th century; Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; Henri III, Henri de Valois; 1573 ruler election; Latin Lituanica; neo-Latin literature; 16th-century occasional poetry; 16th-century French literature; Henrias; Jean de La Gessée; Louis d’Amboise.

Ukrainian chronicles, diaries-chronicles of the 17th–18th centuries about the economy and money circulation of the Cossack Hetmanate

In the article the authors consider Cossack chronicles and diaries of the 17th–18th centuries. from the point of view of covering the issue of economy and money circulation of the Cossack Hetmanate. The source value of each of them is not the same, but they are united by a common idea such as the formation and strengthening of the Cossack Hetmanate of Ukraine, the establishment of economic independence and the struggle of the Ukrainian Hetmans to preserve their autonomy in the conditions of the “Ruin” and the attack on the rights of the Hetmanateby the Russian tsars in XVIII century. It has been investigated that during the reign of the Polish king Sigismund III (1587–1632), the expansion of trade relations led to the spread of gold and coarse silver coins (ducats and thalers) in Ukrainian lands from the countries of Western Europe. Permanent wars waged in the 17th century between Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Turkey exhausted the Polish and Ukrainian economies, the prices of grain and other food products rose, and the value of the thaler and ducat gradually increased. Describing the period of the Russian orders spreading in the Hetmanate under Hetman Ivan Briukhovetskyi (1663–1668), HryhoriyHrabianka clarifies the newly introduced monetary and in-kind taxes introduced in the 60s of the 17th century. There are facts about the use of gold coins in the currency of the Hetmanship and their rate against the Russian ruble and Western European money in the Cossack annals. Another stable unit on the money market was the gold ducat, which was called “red gold” in Ukraine during the period. Chronicles of the beginning of the 18th century are increasingly called Russian small (denga and kopeck) and heavy silver coins and rubles which were introduced into monetary circulation by Peter I. But as M. Kotlyar testifies, were found and investigated 67 Ukrainian finds of this period which contained not only Russian coins but also Western European coins, mainly of the 17th century. Thus, we can make sure that S. Velychko exaggerated the rate of displacement of Western European coins by Russian from the Ukrainian market after the Battle of Poltava in 1709. The monetary figure of the Left Bank of the first third of the 18th century, as evidenced by the above-mentioned diaries, is rather complex: they counted both in the Lithuanian and Polish ways. Copies, gold coins, thalers and Russian kopecks and rubles were used as units of account. This reflected the state of the money market at the time, in which foreign coins and numerals were more common than Russian ones. In the written sources of Left Bank Ukraine, the largest number of references to the сzechs (one-and-a-half pennies) refers to the first quarter of the 18th century. This coincides with evidence of numismatic material regarding the greatest spread of сzechs in the circulation of the Left Bank of the mentioned period. However, in the next two or three decades сzechs remained one of the popular coins of the Ukrainian market.

Potrzebne nowe pytania i… większa staranność. W związku z pracą Piotra Pilarczyka o sądownictwie litewskiej komisji skarbowej

In Need of New Questions… and Greater Diligence. Apropos Piotr Pilarczyk’s Monograph on the Judiciary of the Lithuanian Treasury Commission Contemporary Polish legal historians’ writings rarely concern the political system of the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth, and even less often any substantial or procedural law thereof. Matters relating to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are becoming less and less popular in Polish academia as well. Actually, such a phenomenon is quite understandable, when one takes into account the expanding scholarly activities among Lithuanian and Belorussian researchers, and the archives abundant in source materials in these countries. Having that in mind, anyone interested should pay particular attention to Dr. Piotr Miłosz Pilarczyk’s monograph that deals with the topic of the Lithuanian Treasury Commission in the years 1765–1794. The strongest point of the above-mentioned book is undeniably the fact, that the author conducted extensive archival enquiry and based his work on collected primary source materials – mainly records of the judiciary activities of the Commission. Unfortunately, the author’s failure to include materials from other sources (for instance correspondence) resulted in an unsatisfactory presentation of the social background of the activity of the Commission’s court, and, consequently, the motives behind its decisions are not always discernible. Although Pilarczyk correctly describes investigated data, he nevertheless rarely enriches his analysis with his own questions. The reviewed monograph contains numerous examples of judiciary praxis, which varied from the model as regulated in the Third Lithuanian Statute (1588). Regrettably, despite the homogeneous character of sources cited in the study, no quantitative methods were applied, which would presumably have resulted in a more detailed image of new trends in the praxis of administration of justice, including possible new or unconventional grounds (motives) behind court decisions. Although Pilarczyk’s work does provide many meaningful findings, he could have produced more interesting results.

The ‘Obstacle of Sex’. Christina of Sweden and Her Aspirations to the Polish–Lithuanian Throne

ABSTRACTAn important field of research related to early modern sovereignty is the topic of female political authority. This article aims to utilise the category of gender to analyse potential obstacles that Queen Christina of Sweden had to overcome in order to obtain royal dignity in an elective monarchy, the early modern Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Could the election of a female monarch constitute an acceptable and functional alternative for the Catholic and conservative noble society of this vast composite state? Former examples of Jadwiga of Anjou (1384) and Anna Jagiellon (1576) elected and crowned Kings of Poland seemed to suggest as much. The case of Christina's aspirations is all the more interesting, as her prominent supporter during the royal election of 1669 was the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Clement IX. It is, in fact, the diplomatic correspondence created by the papal Secretariat of State that constitutes the historical basis for the research presented here.

Polityka rosyjskiej Cerkwi prawosławnej wobec cudownych obrazów katolickiej proweniencji na wschodnich terenach dawnej Rzeczypospolitej w XIX w. na kilku przykładach

Due to the liquidation of the Union in 1839 and the transfer of Catholic churches to the Orthodox Church after the rebellions of 1830–1831 and 1863–1864 in the territories of the former Polish -Lithuanian Commonwealth which were incorporated into the Russian Empire, a great deal of sacred art pieces of western -Christian art became property of the Orthodox Church. As per directions of the Church authorities, the images of Jesus Christ, Our Lady and the Saints of the Undivided Church could remain in Orthodox churches, while those of Catholic and Greek -Catholic Saints were to be given back to Catholics. The images that were left in Orthodox churches were to be changed to meet the Orthodox rules. That usually meant addition of an inscription or repainting of the image partially or fully.
 The situation was different in relation to miraculous images. After being transferred to the Orthodox churches they remained unchanged, even in the cases when their iconography was unacceptable for the Orthodox Church or when they represented Catholic Saints, such as Ignatius Loyola or Anthony of Padua. This was related to the effect miraculous images had on local communities. The cult of miraculous images was above -confessional; believers of different Christian confessions went on pilgrimages to them. Leaving these images as is they were aimed at converting Catholics to Orthodoxy to strengthen the position of the Russian Empire on the land of the former Polish - -Lithuanian Commonwealth. To justify the functioning of western -Christian images in the Orthodox Church, both new legends were developed stating the images had Orthodox origins and were taken by Catholics, and attempts of theological rationale were made. These activities were successful: the images that survived through the disasters of the 20th century are still in the cult of the Orthodox Church along with the legends of their Orthodox origin developed in the 19th century.