The Polish Senate and the abdication of King Jan Kazimierz

Strona wydawcy: https://www.wuj.pl

This article attempts to offer a new assessment of the attitudes and reactions of the Polish Senate in connection with the abdication of King Jan Kazimierz in 1668. A thorough examination of relevant data indicates that nearly half of the senators did not want to give their backing to any of the royal candidates. The Neuburg faction, which united the French, the Neuburg and the Brandenburg parties, could rely on the support of a little more than one third of the active Senate politicians. Those numbers demonstrate that the "grand" Neuburg faction was by no means as strong as it was claimed to be; and it was further weakened by disagreements and disloyalty of its leaders. A shortening of the interregnum or the royal election of Philip Wilhelm Wittelsbach was made even more unlikely by the extraordinarily high level of political activity at that time and the nobility’s extreme distrust of the Senate. The inauspicious circumstances prompted the leaders of the Neuburg faction to delay the abdication proceedings during the second Sejm of 1668. As other factions seemed to be also interested in winning more time the situation threatened to drift out of control. It was the determination of Jan Kazimierz that put an end to procrastination and squabbling. The influence of Muscovy faction in the 1668 Sejms rose like a meteor and faded as fast after Jan Kazimierz’s abdication. Any hopes that the Tsarevich would convert to Catholicism and that Russia would bring in money or return the lands occupied in the wake of the Chmielnicki Rebellion were of course illusory. Consequently, the vocal support given to the Russian candidate by a group of senators and Poland’s Primate Mikołaj Prażmowski must be seen as nothing but a ploy to distract attention from the Duke of Neuburg. Furthermore, it is necessary to look again at the role of Mikołaj Prażmowski who emerged at the head of a party championing the candidature of Prince de Conde. Prazmowski’s consistent engagement as well as Jan Sobieski’s throwing in his weight behind Conde at the height of the abdication crisis re-established the French prince as one of the top contenders. Encouraged by his good prospects, France decided to back him for the rest in the race. Finally, the evidence I was able to examine suggests that Andrzej Olszowski, the Crown Vice Chancellor, was canvassing for the increasingly popular idea of electing "a Piast" because he hoped that under a monarch born and bred in Poland he would become the premier minislre.