poljski sejm,skupstina

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General sejmFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchThe First Sejm (held at Leczyca). Painting by Jan Matejko.

The general sejm (Polish: sejm walny, also translated as the full or ordinary sejm) was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the 15th until the late18th century. It had evolved from the earlier institution of wiec. It was one of the primary elements of the democratic governance in the Kingdom of Poland andthe Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The sejm was a powerful political institution, and from early 16th century, the Polish king could not pass laws without theapproval of that body.

Duration and frequencies of the sejms changed over time, with the six week sejmsession convened every two years being most common. Sejm locations changed throughout history, eventually with 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 32sejms were vetoed with the infamous liberum veto, particularly in the first half of the 18th century. This vetoing procedure has been credited with significantly paralyzing the Commonwealth governance.

In addition to the regular sessions of the general sejm, in the era of electablekings, beginning in 1573, three special types of sejms handled the process of the royal election in the interregnum period. It is estimated that between 1493 and 1793 sejms were held about 240 times.Contents

1 Etymology2 Genesis3 Duration and frequency4 Political influence5 Proceedings

5.1 Voting6 Location

7 Composition and electoral ordinance8 Special sessions9 See also10 References

Etymology

The word sejm and sejmik are derived from old Czech sejmovat, which means "to bring together" or "to summon".[1] In English, the terms general,[2] full[3] or ordinary[4] sejm are used for the sejm walny.GenesisA wiec in the reign of King Kazimierz the Great (14th-century Poland)

There is no obvious date for the first sejm. Public participation in policy making in Poland can be traced to the Slavic assembly known as the wiec.[5] Anotherform of public decision making 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.[6] There are legends of a 9th-century election of the legendary founder ofthe Piast dynasty, Piast the Wheelwright, and a similar election of his son, Siemowit (this would place a Polish ruler's election a century before an Icelandicone's by the Althing), but sources for that time come from the later centuries and their validity is disputed by scholars.[7][8] The election privilege was usually limited to the most powerful nobles (magnates) or officials, and was heavily


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influenced by local traditions and strength of the ruler.[6] By the 12th or 13th centuries, the wiec institution likewise limited its participation to high ranking nobles and officials.[9] The nationwide gatherings of wiec officials in 1306 and 1310 can be seen as precursors of the general sejm.[9]

The traditions of local wiec's or sejmiks survived the period of Poland's fragmentation (11461295), and continued in the restored Kingdom of Poland.[10][11] Sejmiks proper date to the late 14th century when they arose from gatherings of nobility, formed for military and consultative purposes.[1] Sejmiks were legally recognized by the 1454 Nieszawa Statutes, in a privilege granted to the szlachta (Polish nobility) by King Casimir IV Jagiellon, when the King agreed to consult certain decisions with the nobility.[1][12][13] Such local gatherings were preferred by the kings, as national assemblies would try to claim more power than the regional ones.[10][14] Nonetheless, with time the power of such assemblies grew,entrenched with milestone privileges obtained by the szlachta particularly during periods of transition from one dynasty or royal succession system to another (such as the Privilege of Koszyce of 1374).[14]

According to some older historians, such as Zygmunt Gloger or Tadeusz Czacki,[15][16][17] the first sejm took place in 1180, the date of the gathering of notables (zjazd, translated as an assembly,[18] congress[19] or synod[20]) at Leczyca,shown on a painting of Jan Matejko entitled "The First Sejm".[21] More modern works however do not refer to the Leczyca gathering as a sejm and instead focus on the more regular national gatherings that became known as sejm walny or sejm w

ielki and date to the 15th century.[10][22] Whereas Bardach in discussing the beginning of sejm walny points to the national assemblies of the early 15th century, Jedruch prefers, as "a convenient time marker", the sejm of 1493, the first recorded bicameral session of the Polish parliament (although as noted by Sedlar,1493 is simply the first time such a session was clearly recorded in sources, and the first bicameral session might have taken place earlier).[10][14][22][23]

The PolishLithuanian union also spread the institution of a sejm to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After a period in which Lithuanian delegations participated inthe sejm of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, the first sejm in the Grand Duchy took place in Vilnius in 1528.[24]Duration and frequencyThe first Polish royal election, of Henryk Walezy, took place in 1573

In the mid-15th century the general sejm met about once per year.[10] There wasno set time span to elapse before the next session was to be called by the king.[23] If the general sejm did not happen, local sejmiks would debate on current issues instead.[10] 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 was to last two weeks were also set down in this act.[25][26] Extraordinarysejms 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 aninvasion. The sejm could be extended if all the deputies agreed.[26]

No set time of a year was defined, but customarily sejms were called for a time

that would not interfere with the supervision of agriculture, which formed the livelihood of most nobility; thus most sejms took place in late fall or early winter.[25]

After the Constitution of May 3, 1791, sejms were to be held every two years andlast 70 days, with a provision for an extension to 100 days.[27] Provisions forextraordinary sejms were made, as well as for a special constitutional sejm, which was to meet and discuss whether any revisions to the constitution were needed (that one was to deliberate every 25 years).[27]


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It is estimated that between 1493 and 1793 sejms were held 240 times.[28] Jedruch gives a higher number of 245, and notes that 192 of those were successfully completed, passing legislation.[25] 32 sejms were vetoed with the infamous liberumveto, particularly in the first half of the 18th century.[25] The last two sejms of the Commonwealth were the irregular four year Great Sejm (1788-1792), whichpassed the Constitution of the 3 May, and the infamous Grodno Sejm (1793), whose 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.[29][30]Political influence

Sejms, including their senate (the upper chamber), and sejmiks severely limitedthe king's powers. The king could not pass laws himself without the approval ofthe sejm, this being forbidden by szlachta privilege laws like nihil novi from 1505.[31] According to the nihil novi constitution, a law passed by the sejm hadto be agreed by the three estates (stany sejmujace; the king, the senate and deputies from the sejm proper - the lower chamber).[31] 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.[31] The three estatesof the sejm had the final decision in legislation on taxation, budget and treasury matters (including military funding), foreign affairs (including hearing foreign envoys and sending diplomatic missions) and ennoblement.[10][31] The sejm received fiscal reports from deputy treasurers, and debated on most important court cases (the sejm court), with the right of amnesty.[31] The sejm could also leg

islate in the absence of the king, although such legislation would have to be accepted by the king ex post.[10]

Following the Constitution of May 3, 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.[27] Legislative power was limited to the deputies of the sejm (not senators voting separately, except on the senate's privilegeof 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 theexecutive government, over which he also presided (the newly created Straz Prawor the Guardianship of Laws).[27] The sejm also had the supervisory role, as government ministers and other officials were to be responsible to it.[27]

ProceedingsSejm session at the Royal Castle, Warsaw, 1622

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).[32][33] (The positionof the Marshal of the Sejm (and sejmik) who presided over the proceedings and was elected from the body of deputies evolved in the 17th century.[10]) Next, thekanclerz (chancellor) declared the king's intentions to both chambers, who would then debate separately till the ending ceremonies.[33]

After 1543 the resolutions were written in Polish rather than Latin.[34] All legislation adopted by a given sejm formed a whole and was published as a "constitution" of the sejm, e.g. the constitution of 1667. From the end of the 16th centu

ry, the constitutions were printed, stamped with the royal seal, and sent to thechancelleries of the municipal councils of all voivodeships of the Crown and also to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[35][36] 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.[35]Voting

Until the end of the 16th century, unanimity was not required and majority voting predominated.[25][35] Later, with the rise of the magnates' power, the unanimity principle was enforced with the szlachta privilege of liberum veto (from the


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Latin: "I freely forbid").[37] From the second half of the 17th century, the liberum veto was used to paralyze sejm proceedings and brought the Commonwealth tothe brink of collapse.[35][38] The growing power of sejmiks also contributed tothe inefficiency of the sejm, as binding instructions from sejmiks could preventsome deputies from being able to support certain provisions.[35][39] The pro-majority-voting party almost disappeared in the 17th century, and majority votingwas preserved only at confederated sejms (sejm rokoszowy, konny, konfederacyjny).[25] The liberum veto was finally abolished by the Constitution of May 3, 1791.[40]

Reforms of 1764-1766 improved the proceedings the sejm.[41] They introduced majority voting for items declared as "non crucial" (most economic and tax matters)and outlawed binding instructions from sejmiks.[41] Reforms of 1767 and 1773-1775 transferred some competences of the sejm to the commissions of elected delegates.[41] From 1768, hetmans were included among the senate members, and from 1775also the Court Deputy Treasurer.[41]

In the senate there was no voting; after all the senators who wished had spokenon a given matter, the king or the chancellor formed a general opinion based onthe majority.[35] Prior to the May 3 Constitution, in Poland the term "constitution" (Polish: konstytucja) had denoted all the legislation, of whatever character, that had been passed at a sejm.[42] Only with the adoption of the May 3 Constitution did konstytucja assume its modern sense of a fundamental document of governance.[43]

The Constitution of May 3, 1791 finally abolished the liberum veto, replacing itby majority voting, in most important matters requiring 75% of the votes.[27]Location

Old Chamber of Deputies at the Royal Castle, Warsaw, 16th century

New Chamber of Deputies at the Royal Castle, Warsaw, late 17th century

Seating arrangement in the Senate Chamber at the Royal Castle, Warsaw, during a regular sejm; and that chamber during the 1732 Convocation Sejm

Plan of the elective camp of Polish kings in Wola near Warsaw

Until the Union of Lublin (1569), sejms were held in Piotrkw Trybunalski Castle,located in Piotrkw, a town chosen for its proximity to the two major provinces ofPoland, Greater Poland and Lesser Poland.[10][44][45] From 1493, other locations would also host the sejms, most prominently Krakw, where 29 sessions were held.[29][45] Other locations included Brest (1653), Bydgoszcz (1520), Jedrzejw (1576), Kamien (1573), Kolo (1577), Korczyn (1511), Lublin (1506, 1554, 1566, 1569), Poznan (1513), Sandomierz (1500, 1519), Torun (1519, 1577), and Warsaw (1556, 1563, and numerous times after 1568).[29]

After the Union, majority of the sejms where held at the Warsaw's Royal Castle.[46] A few were held elsewhere, particularly in the first years of the Commonwealth (see preceding list), and from 1673, every third sejm was to take place at Gr

odno in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (first hosted in the Old Hrodna Castle, later in the New Hrodna Castle).[26] In practice, most of the sejms were still heldin Warsaw, which hosted 148 sejms, compared to 11 sejms hosted in Grodno.[45]

Sejms in Krakw were held in the Wawel Castle, within the Hall of the Deputies (Hall under the Heads) and the Senate Chamber.[45] The sejms in Warsaw were held inthe Warsaw Castle, within the Chamber of Deputies (Hall of Three Pillars), withthe upper Senate Chamber located literally above it.[45] In 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.[45] The new Sen


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ate Chamber was the larger of the two, as it was intended to host both chambersduring the opening and closing ceremonies.

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