Szlachta Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego wobec unii: schyłek wieku XVI - lata dwudzieste XVII

ENAn analysis of the attitude of the Lithuanian gentry towards the Commonwealth of Two Nations and the Crown. The examined period spans from the 1570s1580s, when Lithuania witnessed a change of generations, evidenced by the death of the leading signatories of the Act of Lublin (i.a. two Lithuanian bishops: the bishop of Wilno Walery Protasewicz and of Samogitia — Jerzy Pietkiewicz, the castellan of Wilno Hrehory Chodkiewicz, the voivode of Troki Stefan Zbaraski, the castellan of Troki Ostafi Wołłowicz, and the starosta of Samogitia Jan Chodkiewicz), as well as the voivode of Wilno Mikołaj Radziwiłł Rudy and the voivode of Troki Jan Hlebowicz. The closing caesura coincides wuth the 1720s, when Lithuanian opinions about the Commonwealth of Two Nations no longer contained any new elements. The criteria that served as a basis for the concluding view about the attitude of the Lithuanian gentry towards the Union and, more exactly, to the ensuing Commonwealth of Two Nations as well as its second state, i.e. the Polish Crown, include the language, the applied terminology, the postulates recorded in the resolutions of dietines and, more generally, conventions, and, finally, the approach towards joint institutions.The author ended his reflections by concluding that, firstly, the Lithuanian gentry regarded the duration of the Commonwealth of Two Nations as obvious. Secondly, the system of the Commonwealth, which it envisaged, did not differ from the existing one. Thirdly, the attitude towards the Crown as a state and society remained complex. It reflected a discernible fear of the Crown dominating not only the Commonwealth as a whole but also Lithuania. The gentry in question opposed the occupation of all the higher offices in the Grand Duchy. At the same time, the Lithuanian magnates, and the gentry in general, maintained friendly personal contacts with the Poles. Suffice to mention that in a testament designating the guardians of his children Janusz Radziwiłł appointed his brother together with thre e Lithuanians and four citizens of the Crown. On the other hand, incomers from Poland who settled down in Lithuania easily merged with the local society and even, contrary to the resolutions of the Statute, were elected parliamentary and tribunal deputies and local officials.