Election Sejm of 1632
Encyclopedia
The Election Sejm of 1632 (September 27 – November 8, 1632, extended to November 13, 1632) was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's election sejm that elevated Władysław IV Waza
to the Polish throne. Władysław had won the support of most of the political factions; and in the absence of any other serious contenders, he was elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
.
tried to ensure Władysław's election during Sigismund's lifetime, the option of premature succession was not popular with the nobility; the Vasas' repeated attempts failed, up to and including at the sejm of 1631. The question of succession was resolved soon enough however, upon Sigismund's sudden heart attack
on 23 April 1632 and death in the morning hours of 30 April.
Every Polish-Lithuanian election sejm was preceded by a convocation sejm. In accordance with the dictates of the law, the Primate of Poland, Jan Wężyk
, acting as Interrex
, summoned a convocation sejm for June 22, 1632, which lasted through August 17. Krzysztof Radziwiłł was selected as Marshal of the Sejm. Non-Catholic
s, led by Marshal Radziwiłł and the magnate
Bogusław Leszczyński, demanded increased rights; they were opposed by Voivode Tomasz Zamoyski
and the future Bishop Aleksander Trzebiński, but managed to gather enough support that this question dominated the ensuing election sejm.
There was little doubt Władysław would succeed his father Sigismund.
Some of the Commonwealth's magnates and Catholic clergy did favor Władysław's brother, Jan Kazimierz, in the royal election. However, he had less support than Władysław and his candidacy was never officially put forward, since he was additionally disadvantaged as a younger son in the royal chain of succession and by Sigismund's deathbed blessing of Władysław as his successor.
Foreign courts did not avail themselves of the opportunity to promote their own candidates for the Polish throne. Austria
's Habsburgs were well disposed toward the Polish Vasas
and did not put forward a contender. Fears that King Gustavus II Adolphus
, of the Swedish Vasas, would put forward his own candidacy proved unfounded, though his envoy Steno Belke did argue that Władysław should renounce his claim to the Swedish throne (Władysław declined.) Foreign envoys such as Papal Nuncio
Honorat Visconti and the Holy Roman Emperor
's envoy Count Julius Mosberg declared their support for Władysław. The Duke of Prussia, George William, Elector of Brandenburg
, asked to be permitted to participate in the election sejm but this request was turned down. Muscovy
was just then preparing for war with the Commonwealth
and failed to put forward a candidate—indeed, it attacked while the election sejm was subsequently in session.
Consequently, Władysław's was the first uncontested election in nearly sixty years.
near Warsaw
to consider both the royal election and legislative items, with Marshal of the Sejm Jakub Sobieski
presiding.
The indecisiveness of the Catholic faction allowed Władysław to campaign for increased rights for Protestant
s and Eastern Orthodox
Christians, and thus he obtained their support. At the same time, his evident religious tolerance
did not lose him the support of his Catholic backers. Nor did Władysław's breaking custom to go to Warsaw during the election generate noticeable disapproval.
A commission headed by Władysław drafted "Measures for the Appeasement of the Ruthenian People of the Greek Faith that Live in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania," by which Ukrainian Greek Catholic
and Orthodox
metropolitans
were granted legal jurisdiction. Władysław, lobbied by Peter Mogila, also granted the Orthodox Church the right to its own hierarchs, subject to the candidates' confirmation by the government. Many differences regarding the Orthodox Church and the Union of Brest
were thus settled. The religious freedoms that had been established in 1573 by the Warsaw Confederation
were reaffirmed, and a new tax was adopted, the kwarta, which sent 40% of starostwos' incomes to the Royal Treasury. It was decided to fortify Puck
and to create there a port for the Commonwealth Navy
. The Cossack
delegation's proposal for increased funding and a Cossack register was turned down; similarly, requests from the Royal Army
were rejected. Some of the Sejm's proposals were vetoed by the Senate
.
The decision on who would be the Commonwealth's next king was reached on November 8, but as the pacta conventa
were not yet ready, the official announcement was delayed until November 13. In the pacta conventa, Władysław pledged himself to fund a military school and equipment; to find a way to fund a naval fleet; to maintain current alliances; not to raise armies, give offices or military ranks to foreigners, negotiate peace treaties or declare war without the Sejm's approval; not to take a wife without the Senate's approval; to convince his brothers to take an oath to the Commonwealth; and to transfer the profits from the Royal Mint to the Royal Treasury rather than to a private treasury.
At least 3,543 votes were cast for Władysław. When the election result were announced by the Crown Grand Marshal, Łukasz Opaliński, the nobility
(szlachta) who had taken part in the election began festivities in honor of the new king, which lasted three hours.
This election sejm was the third sejm of 1632. It had been preceded by an ordinary general sejm
(March 11 – April 2, 1632) and by the convocation sejm (June - August 1632) .
and the Henrician Articles
that had been required of new Polish kings since the 1573 election of France
's Henri de Valois to the Polish throne.
Władysław was crowned king on February 5, 1633, the proceedings continuing into the next day.
The coronation sejm, presided over by Marshal of the Sejm Mikołaj Ostroróg, took place from February 8 to March 17, 1633. It confirmed the Orthodox rights that had been pledged by Władysław, but did not support Władysław's proposal to create a Kawaleria, an honorary brotherhood for his supporters. This would be one of many setbacks that Władysław would suffer at the hands of the Sejm
.
The 1633 Sejm would also take more direct control of the royal mint
, deepen the sway of serfdom
, and accept the petition of Polish Jews to forbid the printing of antisemitic literature, its importation from Western Europe
, and its distribution in the Commonwealth. The Sejm also declared war on Muscovy, which had invaded the Commonwealth the previous fall
.
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
to the Polish throne. Władysław had won the support of most of the political factions; and in the absence of any other serious contenders, he was elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
.
Prelude
While Władysław and his father Sigismund III VasaSigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
tried to ensure Władysław's election during Sigismund's lifetime, the option of premature succession was not popular with the nobility; the Vasas' repeated attempts failed, up to and including at the sejm of 1631. The question of succession was resolved soon enough however, upon Sigismund's sudden heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on 23 April 1632 and death in the morning hours of 30 April.
Every Polish-Lithuanian election sejm was preceded by a convocation sejm. In accordance with the dictates of the law, the Primate of Poland, Jan Wężyk
Jan Wezyk
Jan Wężyk , of Wąż Coat of Arms, was the bishop of Przemyśl and archbishop of Gniezno, , Primate of Poland and interrex after the death of king Sigismund III Vasa in 1632, before the royal election of Władysław IV Waza.As the interrerx he supported improving the procedures of the royal elections...
, acting as Interrex
Interrex (Poland)
The institution of interrex existed in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, whose ruling classes liked to view their Republic or Commonwealth as an heir to Roman republican traditions...
, summoned a convocation sejm for June 22, 1632, which lasted through August 17. Krzysztof Radziwiłł was selected as Marshal of the Sejm. Non-Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s, led by Marshal Radziwiłł and the magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
Bogusław Leszczyński, demanded increased rights; they were opposed by Voivode Tomasz Zamoyski
Tomasz Zamoyski
Tomasz Zamoyski was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman and magnate.Tomasz was the 2nd Ordynat of the Zamość estates. He was voivode of Podole Voivodeship in 1618, voivode of Kijów Voivodeship in 1619, starost of Kraków in 1628, Deputy Chancellor of the Crown in 1635, as well as starost of Knyszyn,...
and the future Bishop Aleksander Trzebiński, but managed to gather enough support that this question dominated the ensuing election sejm.
Candidates
Some of the Commonwealth's magnates and Catholic clergy did favor Władysław's brother, Jan Kazimierz, in the royal election. However, he had less support than Władysław and his candidacy was never officially put forward, since he was additionally disadvantaged as a younger son in the royal chain of succession and by Sigismund's deathbed blessing of Władysław as his successor.
Foreign courts did not avail themselves of the opportunity to promote their own candidates for the Polish throne. Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
's Habsburgs were well disposed toward the Polish Vasas
House of Vasa
The House of Vasa was the Royal House of Sweden 1523-1654 and of Poland 1587-1668. It originated from a noble family in Uppland of which several members had high offices during the 15th century....
and did not put forward a contender. Fears that King Gustavus II Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
, of the Swedish Vasas, would put forward his own candidacy proved unfounded, though his envoy Steno Belke did argue that Władysław should renounce his claim to the Swedish throne (Władysław declined.) Foreign envoys such as Papal Nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
Honorat Visconti and the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
's envoy Count Julius Mosberg declared their support for Władysław. The Duke of Prussia, George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William of Brandenburg , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was margrave and elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War...
, asked to be permitted to participate in the election sejm but this request was turned down. Muscovy
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
was just then preparing for war with the Commonwealth
Smolensk War
The Smolensk War was a conflict fought between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia.Hostilities began in October 1632 when Tsar forces tried to recapture the city of Smolensk, a former Russian possession. Small military engagements produced mixed results for both sides, but the surrender...
and failed to put forward a candidate—indeed, it attacked while the election sejm was subsequently in session.
Consequently, Władysław's was the first uncontested election in nearly sixty years.
Election
The Election Sejm of 1632 convened on 27 September at its traditional site at WolaWola
Wola is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it is slowly changing into an office and residential district...
near Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
to consider both the royal election and legislative items, with Marshal of the Sejm Jakub Sobieski
Jakub Sobieski
Jakub Sobieski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble, parliamentarian, diarist, political activist, military leader and father of King Jan III Sobieski. Son of castellan and voivode Marek Sobieski and Jadwiga Snopkowska.- Life :...
presiding.
The indecisiveness of the Catholic faction allowed Władysław to campaign for increased rights for Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
s and Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Christians, and thus he obtained their support. At the same time, his evident religious tolerance
Toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
did not lose him the support of his Catholic backers. Nor did Władysław's breaking custom to go to Warsaw during the election generate noticeable disapproval.
A commission headed by Władysław drafted "Measures for the Appeasement of the Ruthenian People of the Greek Faith that Live in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania," by which Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
and Orthodox
Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Ukrainian Orthodox Church may refer to:*Ukrainian Orthodox Church , established in 1990*Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, established in 1992*Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, established in 1921...
metropolitans
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
were granted legal jurisdiction. Władysław, lobbied by Peter Mogila, also granted the Orthodox Church the right to its own hierarchs, subject to the candidates' confirmation by the government. Many differences regarding the Orthodox Church and the Union of Brest
Union of Brest
Union of Brest or Union of Brześć refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the Pope of Rome. At the time, this church included most Ukrainians and...
were thus settled. The religious freedoms that had been established in 1573 by the Warsaw Confederation
Warsaw Confederation
The Warsaw Confederation , an important development in the history of Poland and Lithuania that extended religious tolerance to nobility and free persons within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. , is considered the formal beginning of religious freedom in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and...
were reaffirmed, and a new tax was adopted, the kwarta, which sent 40% of starostwos' incomes to the Royal Treasury. It was decided to fortify Puck
Puck, Poland
Puck is a town in northwestern Poland with 11,350 inhabitants. It is in Gdańsk Pomerania on the south coast of the Baltic Sea . Previously in the Gdańsk Voivodeship , Puck has been the capital of Puck County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999.-History:The settlement became a marketplace...
and to create there a port for the Commonwealth Navy
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy was the navy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.- Battle of Oliva :During the time of Polish–Swedish War in 1627, the Commonwealth fleet under command of Admiral Arend Dickmann achieved it most famous victory, breaking the Swedish blockade at the Battle of...
. The Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
delegation's proposal for increased funding and a Cossack register was turned down; similarly, requests from the Royal Army
Wojsko kwarciane
Wojsko kwarciane was the term used for regular army units of Poland . The term was used from 1562.Wojsko kwarciane was formed from earlier obrona potoczna units....
were rejected. Some of the Sejm's proposals were vetoed by the Senate
Senate of Poland
The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the 'Sejm'. The history of the Polish Senate is rich in tradition and stretches back over 500 years, it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the...
.
The decision on who would be the Commonwealth's next king was reached on November 8, but as the pacta conventa
Pacta conventa
Pacta conventa may mean:*Pacta conventa , a contractual agreement between the Polish nobility and king, in force from 1573 to 1764*Pacta conventa , a contractual agreement between the Croatian nobility and the Hungarian king, in force from 1102 to 1918...
were not yet ready, the official announcement was delayed until November 13. In the pacta conventa, Władysław pledged himself to fund a military school and equipment; to find a way to fund a naval fleet; to maintain current alliances; not to raise armies, give offices or military ranks to foreigners, negotiate peace treaties or declare war without the Sejm's approval; not to take a wife without the Senate's approval; to convince his brothers to take an oath to the Commonwealth; and to transfer the profits from the Royal Mint to the Royal Treasury rather than to a private treasury.
At least 3,543 votes were cast for Władysław. When the election result were announced by the Crown Grand Marshal, Łukasz Opaliński, the nobility
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
(szlachta) who had taken part in the election began festivities in honor of the new king, which lasted three hours.
This election sejm was the third sejm of 1632. It had been preceded by an ordinary general sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
(March 11 – April 2, 1632) and by the convocation sejm (June - August 1632) .
Aftermath
The next day, November 14, 1632, Władysław signed his pacta conventaPacta conventa
Pacta conventa may mean:*Pacta conventa , a contractual agreement between the Polish nobility and king, in force from 1573 to 1764*Pacta conventa , a contractual agreement between the Croatian nobility and the Hungarian king, in force from 1102 to 1918...
and the Henrician Articles
Henrician Articles
The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles were a permanent contract that stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the form of 21 Articles written and adopted by the nobility in 1573 at the town of Kamień, near Warsaw,...
that had been required of new Polish kings since the 1573 election of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's Henri de Valois to the Polish throne.
Władysław was crowned king on February 5, 1633, the proceedings continuing into the next day.
The coronation sejm, presided over by Marshal of the Sejm Mikołaj Ostroróg, took place from February 8 to March 17, 1633. It confirmed the Orthodox rights that had been pledged by Władysław, but did not support Władysław's proposal to create a Kawaleria, an honorary brotherhood for his supporters. This would be one of many setbacks that Władysław would suffer at the hands of the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
.
The 1633 Sejm would also take more direct control of the royal mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
, deepen the sway of serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
, and accept the petition of Polish Jews to forbid the printing of antisemitic literature, its importation from Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, and its distribution in the Commonwealth. The Sejm also declared war on Muscovy, which had invaded the Commonwealth the previous fall
Smolensk War
The Smolensk War was a conflict fought between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia.Hostilities began in October 1632 when Tsar forces tried to recapture the city of Smolensk, a former Russian possession. Small military engagements produced mixed results for both sides, but the surrender...
.
Further reading
- Koronowicz, Walerian (1858) Słowo Dziejów Polskich 2 (Text from Polish History) Wolfgang Gerhard, Lipsk, Poland,Google Print, full text