Suchergebnisse

Special Issue: Diplomats and diplomacy in the early modern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (XVII Century) / ed. by Dorota Gregorowicz , Alessandro Boccolini. ; Melchior de Polignac was a French ambassador in Poland whose task was to carry out a few political aims, including the most important one – starting cooperation with the royal couple, especially with Marie Casimire de la Grange d'Arquien, in order to prepare the election for one of her sons. Louis XIV wanted to see one of John III Sobieski's sons on the throne, assuming that this would maintain good relations between Poland and France without spending money on a costly election fight. Initially, the ambassador pursued a lively cooperation with the court and he enjoyed the queen's trust, but towards the end of John III's life, he began cooperating with the magnates who convinced him that none of the princes would win the throne. From then on, Polignac started efforts for the election of a French prince. Louis XIV gave in to his arguments and put forward the candidature of Francis Louis, Prince de Conti, but he announced that he would not get financially involved in the election fight, he would not pay any gratifications until his cousin was enthroned. Polignac did not pass this information to his followers and tried to encourage them to take action by promising the payments. This was ongoing until the election when the bifurcated sympathies and strong support given to the Saxon, Frederick Augustus, triggered concerns of French supporters whether the payments would take place; at that moment, fantasies that Polignac used to feed his party were exposed. As a consequence, the party fell apart and Prince de Conti's chances were lost. The aim of this article is not only to present the activities of Melchior the Polignac in Poland, but also to draw attention to the fact that the magnates did not betray the French candidate, but fell victim to the false assurances of the ambassador who took advantage of both the king's trust as well as the French supporters in Poland.

The article presents the efforts of Krzysztof Zawisza the warden of Minsk to receive the money promised to him by August II. It was a gift from the king to reward the loyalty and service that Zawisza gave to the monarch. It took over 20 years to get the money because Michal Kociell the Lithuanian treasurer was the personal enemy of Zawisza. Nevertheless some part of the promised sum went to his hands. The purpose of the article is to show the conflict over the payment of money, and in this example to show the specificity of political relations in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The article is based on archival materials and raises an important topic for the history of the former lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Aleksandra Skrzypietz | Introduction -- Agnieszka Januszek-Sieradzka | Queen Barbara Radziwiłł in a Web of Contradictory Expectations -- Agnieszka Pawłowska-Kubik | Anna Jagiellon's Networks. Concerns for Maintaining the Family Position and the Jagiellonian Dynasty Heritage -- Aleksandra Barwicka-Makula | Queen Anne of Austria (1592-1598) in a Motherly Net -- Damien Mallet | The Queen's Long Reach: Louise-Marie and France, 1661-1668 -- Dominika Rychel-Mantur | Queen Marie Casimire Forming a Network of Affinities - an Attempt to Pursue Dynastic Politics -- Aleksandra Skrzypietz | Maria Clementina Sobieska in a Web of Court Intrigues -- Katarzyna Kuras | Networking Traps. Marie Leszczyńska in the Polish and French Dynastic Arrangements -- Contributors -- Index of persons -- Body.