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56-521: The tradition of electing the country's ruler, which occurred either when there was no clear heir to the throne, or to confirm the heir's appointment, dates to the very beginning of Polish statehood. Legends survive of the 9th-century election of the legendary founder of the first Polish royal family, Piast the Wheelwright of the Piast dynasty , and similar voting of his son, Siemowit (that would place

112-479: A Polish ruler's vote a century before the earliest Icelandic ones by the Althing ). Still, sources for that time are very sparse, and it is hard to estimate whether those elections were more than a formality. The election privilege, exercised during the gatherings known as wiec , was usually limited to the most powerful nobles ( magnates ) or officials, and was heavily influenced by local traditions and strength of

168-409: A daughter of Louis I, Jadwiga of Poland , but had no promise that his dynasty would continue on the throne. He would need to issue more privileges to the nobility to secure the guarantee that upon his death, one of his sons would inherit. The royal council chose the candidates, and the delegates of nobility and towns confirmed them during the sejm. The principle of election continued in effect throughout

224-662: A precursor of the general sejm (Polish parliament). The elections reinforced the empowerment of the electorate (the nobility), as the contender to the throne would increasingly consider issuing promises that he undertook to fulfil in the event of a successful election. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia made the first of such undertakings (the Litomyšl Privilege ) in 1291. Nonetheless, for most of the Piast dynasty, electors customarily endorsed rulers from that dynasty, in accordance with hereditary descent. The Piast dynasty came to an end with

280-548: A strong executive, in the Commonwealth. Most tellingly, one of the provisions of the pacta conventa included the right of revolution ( rokosz ) for the nobility if it considered the king not to be adhering to the laws of the state. While seemingly introducing a very democratic procedure, free elections, in practice, contributed to the inefficiency of the Commonwealth's government. The elections, open to all nobility, meant that magnates, who could exert significant control on

336-808: Is derived from old Czech sejmovat , which means to bring together or to summon . In English, the terms general, full, or ordinary sejm are used for the sejm walny . The Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 and merged the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Both countries had centuries-long tradition of public participation in policy making, traced to

392-607: Is simply the first time such a session was clearly recorded in sources, and the first bicameral session might have taken place earlier. The first traces of large nobility meetings in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania can be found in the Treaty of Salynas of 1398 and the Union of Horodło of 1413. It is considered that the first Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania met in Hrodna in 1445 during talks between Casimir IV Jagiellon and

448-494: The vivente rege ). In 1572, Poland's Jagiellon dynasty became extinct upon the death, without a successor, of King Sigismund II Augustus . During the ensuing interregnum , anxiety for the safety of the Commonwealth eventually led to agreements among the political classes that pending election of a new king, the Roman Catholic Primate of Poland would exercise supreme authority, acting as interrex (from

504-760: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (first hosted in the Old Hrodna Castle , later in the New Hrodna Castle ). In practice, most of the sejms were still held in Warsaw, which hosted 148 sejms, compared to 11 sejms hosted in Grodno. The sejms in Warsaw were held in the Warsaw Castle, within the Chamber of Deputies (Hall of Three Pillars), with the upper Senate Chamber located literally above it. In

560-463: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Such constitutions were often subjected to some final tweaking by the royal court before being printed, although that could lead to protests among the nobility. The majority of the sejms were held at the Warsaw's Royal Castle . A few were held elsewhere, particularly in the first years of the Commonwealth, and from 1673, every third sejm was to take place at Grodno in

616-521: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Nonetheless, the pretense of having a choice by elections remained important for the nobility, and when in 1530 Sigismund I the Old attempted to secure the hereditary throne for his 10-year-old son, there was a political crisis, and the Polish parliament, the sejm , ruled that a new king could be chosen during the life of his predecessor (that became known in the Polish politics as

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672-522: The Latin ); and that special "hooded" confederations (Polish: konfederacje kapturowe , named after the hoods traditionally worn by their members) of nobility would assume power in each the country's regions. Most importantly, however, the Poles decided that they would choose the next king by election, and they finally established the terms of such election at a convocation sejm ( sejm konwokacyjny ) in 1573. On

728-726: The Lithuanian Council of Lords . As the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars raged the country almost continuously between 1492 and 1582, the Grand Duke needed more tax revenues to finance the army and had to call the Seimas more frequently. In exchange for cooperation, the nobility demanded various privileges, including strengthening of the Seimas. At first the Seimas did not have the legislative power. It would debate on foreign and domestic affairs, taxes, wars, state budget. At

784-579: The Slavic assembly known as the wiec . The sejmik "little sejm" was a regional or local assembly, among whose later tasks were sending delegates and instructions to the "general sejm". Another form of public decision making in Poland was that of royal election , which occurred when there was no clear heir to the throne, or the heir's appointment had to be confirmed. With time the power of such assemblies grew, entrenched with milestone privileges obtained by

840-500: The 17th century. ) Next, the kanclerz (chancellor) declared the king's intentions to both chambers, who would then debate separately till the ending ceremonies. After 1543 the resolutions were written in Polish rather than Latin . All legislation adopted by a given sejm formed a whole and was published as a "constitution" of the sejm. Prior to the May 3 Constitution, in Poland the term "constitution" (Polish: konstytucja ) had denoted all

896-447: The Commonwealth capital of Warsaw emerging as the primary location. The number of sejm deputies and senators grew over time, from about 70 senators and 50 deputies in the 15th century to about 150 senators and 200 deputies in the 18th century. Early sejms have seen mostly majority voting , but beginning in the 17th century, unanimous voting became more common, and 32 sejms were vetoed with the liberum veto provision, particularly in

952-536: The Guardianship of Laws). The sejm also had the supervisory role, as government ministers and other officials were to be responsible to it. Until the end of the 16th century, unanimity was not required and majority voting predominated. Later, with the rise of the magnates ' power, the unanimity principle was enforced with the szlachta privilege of liberum veto (from the Latin: "I freely forbid"). From

1008-705: The Wheelwright ( c. 740/741? – 861 AD; Polish : Piast Kołodziej [ˈpʲast kɔˈwɔd͡ʑɛj] , Piast Oracz , i.e. Piast the Plower, or Piast ; Piast Chościskowic , Latin : Past Ckosisconis , Pazt filius Chosisconisu ) was a legendary figure in medieval Poland (9th century AD), the progenitor of the Piast dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Poland . Piast makes an appearance in the Polish Chronicle of Gallus Anonymus , along with his father, Chościsko , and Piast's wife, Rzepicha . The chronicle tells

1064-402: The beginning of the 16th century, the Seimas acquired some legislative powers. The Seimas could petition the Grand Duke to pass certain laws. Sejms, including their senate (the upper chamber), and sejmiks severely limited the king's powers. Already the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland has a great impact on the king's powers. From 1505 the king could not pass laws himself without the approval of

1120-416: The constitution were needed (that one was to deliberate every 25 years). It is estimated that between 1493 and 1793 sejms were held 240 times. Jędruch gives a higher number of 245, and notes that 192 of those were successfully completed, passing legislation. 32 sejms were vetoed with the infamous liberum veto , particularly in the first half of the 18th century. The last two sejms of the Commonwealth were

1176-551: The death without an heir of the last of the Polish Piasts of the main line, Casimir III the Great , in 1370. In a milestone for the process of the free elections, Casimir's nephew, Louis I of Hungary , became king after the agreement between him, Casimir III the Great and the Polish nobility ( Privilege of Buda ). Louis had no sons, which created another dilemma for the succession of the Polish throne. In an attempt to secure

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1232-584: The deputies were elected for two years, and did not require reelection in that period if any extraordinary sejms were to be called. Senators, for the most part, were selected by the king from a number of candidates presented by the sejmiks. Due to population size differences between Lithuania and Poland, the Grand Duchy had three times less representatives than the Crown. Usually larger voivodeships could send 6 deputies, smaller 2; ziemias , depending on their sizes, would send 2 or 1. Numbers of deputies elected to

1288-645: The development of the early medieval Frankish dynasties, when the Mayors of the Palace of the Merovingian kings gradually usurped political control. General sejm The General Sejm ( Polish : sejm walny , Latin : comitia generalia ) was the bicameral legislature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . It was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 following the merger of

1344-462: The first half of the 18th century. This vetoing device has been credited with significantly paralyzing the Commonwealth governance. In addition to the regular sessions of the general sejm, in the era of electable kings, beginning in 1573, three special types of sejms (convocation, election, and coronation sejms) handled the process of the royal election in the interregnum period. In total, 173 sejms met between 1569 and 1793. The Polish word sejm

1400-481: The first king of the "free election" period, the elections assumed their final form, which would remain stable for the next two centuries. These elections would be solidified in the Henrician Articles , passed by the first elected king, Henry of Valois . Particularly in the late 17th and 18th centuries, the political instability from the elections led numerous political writers to suggest major changes to

1456-438: The general sejm, three special types of sejms handled the process of the royal election in the interregnum period. Those were: Confederated sejm ( Sejm skonfederowany ) first appeared in 1573 (all convocation and election sejms were confederated), and became more popular in the 18th century as a counter to the disruption of liberum veto. Seen as emergency or extraordinary sessions, they relied on majority voting to speed up

1512-585: The great-great-grandfather of Prince Mieszko I (c. 930–92), the first historic ruler of Poland, and the great-great-great-grandfather of Bolesław I the Brave (967–1025), the first Polish king . The legendary Piasts were native of Gniezno , a well-fortified castle town founded between the eighth and ninth century, within the tribal territory of the Polans . According to legend, he died in 861 aged 120 years. In over 1,000 years of Polish history no one else bore

1568-413: The initiative of nobles from Southern Poland, supported by the future Great Crown Chancellor and hetman Jan Zamoyski , all male szlachta ( nobles ) who assembled for the purpose would become electors. Any Catholic nobleman could stand for election, but in practice, only rich and powerful members of foreign dynasties or Commonwealth magnates had a serious chance for consideration. With the election of

1624-688: The irregular four-year Great Sejm (1788–92), which passed the Constitution of the 3 May , and the infamous Grodno Sejm (1793) where deputies, bribed or coerced by the Russian Empire following the Commonwealth defeat in the War in Defense of the Constitution , annulled the short-lived Constitution and passed the act of Second Partition of Poland . In addition to the regular sessions of

1680-475: The last years of the Commonwealth, royal elections grew to be seen as a source of conflicts and instability; Lerski describes them as having "become a symbol of anarchy ". In the period of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , 10 elections (composed of the convocation, election and coronation sejmik) were held in Poland, resulting in the elevation of 11 kings. Piast the Wheelwright Piast

1736-401: The late 17th century, new quarters were constructed for the Chamber of Deputies, and were joined on the same level by the senate quarters in the mid-18th century. The new Senate Chamber was the larger of the two, as it was intended to host both chambers during the opening and closing ceremonies. In the mid-15th century the general sejm of the Kingdom of Poland met about once per year. There

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1792-409: The legislation, of whatever character, that had been passed at a sejm. Only with the adoption of the May 3 Constitution did konstytucja assume its modern sense of a fundamental document of governance. From the end of the 16th century, the constitutions were printed, stamped with the royal seal , and sent to the chancelleries of the municipal councils of all voivodeships of the Crown and also to

1848-497: The legislatures of the two states, the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . It was one of the primary elements of the democratic governance in the Commonwealth (see Golden Liberty ). The sejm was a powerful political institution. The king could not pass laws without its approval. The two chambers of a sejm were the Senate ( senat ) consisting of high ecclesiastical and secular officials, and

1904-512: The lower house, Chamber of Deputies  [ pl ] ( izba poselska ), the sejm proper, of lower ranking officials and the representatives of all szlachta . Together with the king, the three were known as the sejming estates , or estates of the sejm ( stany sejmujące , literally, "deliberating estates"). Duration and frequencies of the sejms changed over time, with the six-week sejm session convened every two years being most common. Sejm locations changed throughout history, eventually with

1960-547: The masses of poorer nobility, could exert much influence over the elections. The elections also encouraged foreign dynasties' meddling in Polish internal politics. On several occasions, if the magnates could not come to an agreement, two candidates would proclaim themselves the king and civil wars erupted (most notably, the War of the Polish Succession of 1733–1738 , and the War of the Polish Succession of 1587–1588 , with smaller scale conflicts in 1576 and 1697). By

2016-477: The name Piast. Two theories explain the etymology of the word Piast . The first gives the root as piasta ("[wheel] hub" in Polish), a reference to his profession. The second relates Piast to piastun ("custodian" or "keeper"). This could hint at Piast's initial position as a majordomo , or a "steward of the house", in the court of another ruler, and the subsequent takeover of power by Piast. This would parallel

2072-603: The nearly two centuries of the Jagiellon Dynasty , but just as in Piast times, it actually amounted to mere confirmation of the incoming heir. One could describe the monarchy of Poland at that time as "the hereditary monarchy with a[n] elective legislature." A major reason was the desire on the part of Polish nobility to retain the Polish–Lithuanian union , and the Jagiellon dynasty were the hereditary rulers of

2128-557: The nobility ( szlachta ) particularly during periods of transition from one dynasty or royal succession system to another (such as the Privilege of Koszyce of 1374). Tracing the history of the Sejm of Poland, Bardach points to the national assemblies of the early 15th century, Jędruch prefers, as "a convenient time marker", the sejm of 1493, the first recorded bicameral session of the Polish parliament. Sedlar, however, noted that 1493

2184-425: The projects at reforming the Polish election came into force, however. The Constitution of 3 May 1791 eliminated the practice of electing individuals to the monarchy. Three special sejms handled the process of the royal election in the interregnum period: The elections played a major role in curtailing the power of the monarch and so were a significant factor in preventing the rise of an absolute monarchy , with

2240-402: The right of amnesty . The sejm could also legislate in the absence of the king, although such legislation would have to be accepted by the king ex post . Following the Constitution of 3 May 1791, the senate's competences were altered; in most cases, the senators could only vote together with the sejm, and the senate's veto powers were limited. Legislative power was limited to the deputies of

2296-610: The ruler. Traditions diverged in different regions of Poland during the period of fragmentation of Poland . In the Duchy of Masovia , the hereditary principle dominated, but in the Seniorate Province , elections became increasingly important. In the other provinces both elements mixed together. By the 12th or 13th century, the wiec institution limited participation to high-ranking nobles and officials. The nationwide wiec gatherings of officials in 1306 and 1310 can be seen as

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2352-435: The second half of the 17th century, the liberum veto was used to paralyze sejm proceedings and brought the Commonwealth to the brink of collapse. The growing power of sejmiks also contributed to the inefficiency of the sejm, as binding instructions from sejmiks could prevent some deputies from being able to support certain provisions. The pro-majority-voting party almost disappeared in the 17th century, and majority voting

2408-399: The sejm (not senators voting separately, except on the senate's privilege of veto, a suspension of a given legislation until the sejm votes on it again during the next session). The king, who nominated senators, ministers and other officials, presided over the senate, and could propose new laws together with the executive government, over which he also presided (the newly created Straż Praw or

2464-585: The sejm by sejmiks from particular localities, in the order of precedence , based on a 1569 decree, were as follows: A sejm began with a solemn mass , a verification of deputies mandates, and election of the Marshal of the Sejm (also known as the Speaker). (The position of the Marshal of the Sejm (and sejmik) who presided over the proceedings and was elected from the body of deputies evolved in

2520-429: The sejm had the final decision in legislation on taxation , budget and treasury matters (including military funding), foreign policy (including hearing foreign envoys and sending diplomatic missions ) and ennoblement . The sejm received fiscal reports from podskarbi s (treasurers; they were ministers of the Commonwealth  [ pl ] ), and debated on most important court cases (the sejm court ), with

2576-558: The sejm to the commissions of elected delegates. From 1768, hetmans were included among the senate members, and from 1775 also the Court Deputy Treasurer. In the senate there was no voting; after all the senators who wished had spoken on a given matter, the king or the chancellor formed a general opinion based on the majority. The Constitution of 3 May 1791 finally abolished the liberum veto , replacing it by majority voting, in most important matters requiring 75% of

2632-402: The sejm, this being forbidden by Polish szlachta privilege laws like nihil novi . According to the nihil novi constitution, a law passed by the sejm had to be agreed by the three estates of the sejm. There were only few areas in which the king could pass legislation without consulting the sejm: on royal cities , peasants in royal lands , Jews, fiefs and on mining. The three estates of

2688-448: The story of an unexpected visit paid to Piast by two strangers. They ask to join Piast's family in celebration of the 7th birthday (a pagan rite of passage for young boys) of Piast's son, Siemowit . In return for the hospitality, the guests cast a spell making Piast's cellar ever full of plenty . Seeing this, Piast's compatriots declare him their new prince, to replace the late Prince Popiel . If Piast really existed, he would have been

2744-428: The supervision of agriculture, which formed the livelihood of most nobility; thus most sejms took place in late fall or early winter. After the Constitution of 3 May 1791 , sejms were to be held every two years and last 70 days, with a provision for an extension to 100 days. Provisions for extraordinary sejms were made, as well as for a special constitutional sejm, which was to meet and discuss whether any revisions to

2800-413: The system: most notably, to restrict the elections to Polish candidates only (that became known as the "election of a Piast"), as many kings were from foreign nations, meaning the Polish election became a multi-national struggle. The elections also often saw the Polish nobility attempt to elect a weak and controllable monarch, and there were large amounts of corruption, particularly related to bribes. None of

2856-459: The throne of Poland for his line, he gathered the nobles and sought their approval to have one of his daughters retained as the queen regnant of Poland in exchange for the Privilege of Koszyce (1374). The next election of a Polish king had occurred in 1386, with the selection of Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), Grand Duke of Lithuania , as the first king of Poland's second dynasty. The electors chose Władysław II Jagiełło as king, and he married

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2912-407: The votes. The sejm comprised two chambers, with varying numbers of deputies. After the 1569 Union of Lublin, the Kingdom of Poland was transformed into the federation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the numbers of sejm participants were significantly increased with the inclusion of the deputies from Lithuanian sejmiks. The deputies had no set term of office , although in practice it

2968-401: Was about four months long, from their election at a regional sejmik, to their report on the next sejmik dedicated to hearing and discussing the previous sejm's proceedings (those sejmiks were known as relational or debriefing). Deputies had parliamentary immunity and any crimes against them were classified as lèse-majesté . The two chambers were: The Constitution of May 3 specified that

3024-408: Was no set time span to elapse before the next session was to be called by the king. If the general sejm did not happen, local sejmiks would debate on current issues instead. King Henry's Articles , signed by each king since 1573, required the king to call a general sejm (lasting six weeks) every two years, and provisions for an extraordinary sejm (Polish: sejm ekstraordynaryjny, nadzwyczajny ) that

3080-429: Was preserved only at confederated sejms ( sejm rokoszowy, konny, konfederacyjny ). The liberum veto was finally abolished by the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Reforms of 1764–66 improved the proceedings the sejm. They introduced majority voting for items declared as "non crucial" (most economic and tax matters) and outlawed binding instructions from sejmiks. Reforms of 1767 and 1773–75 transferred some competences of

3136-407: Was to last two weeks were also set down in this act. Extraordinary sejms could be called in times of national emergency, for example a sejm deciding whether to call pospolite ruszenie (a general call to arms) in response to an invasion. The sejm could be extended if all the deputies agreed. No set time of a year was defined, but customarily sejms were called for a time that would not interfere with

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