THE HIGHEST TERRESTRIAL OFFICIALS OF CHERNIHIV VOIVODESHIP (1696-1733s)

Abstract

The article is based on academic biographical and genealogical literature with involvement of published legislative sources of the Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth Diet (Sejm). The researching instruments are represented by the method of the prosopography and ruled by principles of objectivity, chronology and historicism. This paper reveals the history of a nobleman group which occupied highest posts (voivode and castellan) in Chernihiv Voivodeship terrestrial office hierarchy during the reign of the king August II (1696-1733). It has been studied out that highest terrestrial officials were represented by people that came from rich magnate nobleman families from the different parts of the country. This group of noblemen were related to the different centers of political power and their careers were built on dependence not only on the land possession of their families but also on the great role of their political relationships with the king and various opposing political forces. Chernihiv Voivodeship can be named as “titular”or “exulant” due to absence of lands in its possession in contradistinction to real voivodeships of the Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth. This circumstance reduces the role of a highest terrestrial official of an “exulant” voivodeship only to the senator’s mission in a republican Diet. It has been found that terrestrial official’s titles can be characterized as “sinecurial” and they also were the instruments for a power increasing of large political fractions in the Diet. The narrower relationships between Chernihiv’s highest officials (senators) and Chernihiv Voivodeship exulants nobleman community grouped over Volodymyr dietine (sejmik) can be found on a wider material of different historical archival sources hiding a various data of political and parliamentarian processes.

Keywords

• senior zemstvo officials
• chernihiv voivodeship
• rich pospolyta
• senators
• “exiles”