Stanowisko posłów podlaskich w sprawie unii polsko-litewskiej na sejmie brzeskim w 1566 r.

Abstract

The article contains an edition of the historical source from 1566 connected with old Polish parliamentarism, so far barely known in historiography, with comprehensive periphrasis of its historical background and its content. It contains a joint position of six envoys elected at the sejmiks of Podlasie to the Sejm of Brześć-on-the-Bug in 1566, expressed on behalf of the nobility remaining in their homes, on the issue of the union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Kingdom of Poland. The research was based on the broadest possible source base, which included both materials published in print in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, as well as archival ones, including the preserved files of castle offices from Podlasie: in Drohiczyn, Mielnik and Brańsk and excerpts from them by Ignacy Kapica. The biographies of the authors of the writing are also presented: Adam Kosiński and Jan Buyno from Drohiczyn Land, Kasper Irzykowicz and Piotr Padkowski from Mielnik Land, Tomasz Owsiany and Wojciech Wyszkowski from Bielsk Land. They were prominent representatives of the local noble elite, almost all of them associated with the judiciary, which in Podlasie was based on Polish law. The source presented here is an interesting draft in many respects, showing the moods and aspirations of the Podlasian nobility several years before the memorable events of 1569: the incorporation of its voivodeship into Poland and the conclusion of the Polish-Lithuanian real union. Placing it in the context of existing knowledge and new findings about the then political situation in Podlasie completes this picture.