Royal Elections in Poland - Evolution

Evolution

The tradition of electing the ruler of the country, which occurred when there was no clear heir to the throne, or confirming the heir's appointment, dates to the very beginning of Polish statehood. There are legends of a 9th-century election of the legendary founder of the first Polish royal family, Piast the Wheelwright of the Piast dynasty, and a similar election of his son, Siemowit (this would place a Polish ruler's election a century before an Icelandic one's by the Althing), but sources for that time are very sparse, and it is hard to estimate to whether those elections were more than a formality. The election privilege, exercised during the gatherings know as wiec, was usually limited to the most powerful nobles (magnates) or officials, and was heavily influenced by local traditions and strength of the ruler.

Those traditions diverged between different regions of Poland during the period of fragmentation of Poland. In the Duchy of Masovia, the hereditary principle was dominant, whereas in the Seniorate Province, elections became increasingly important; in the other provinces both elements where mixed. By the 12th or 13th centuries, the wiec institution likewise limited its participation to high ranking nobles and officials. The nation-wide wiec's gathering officials in 1306 and 1310 can be seen as a precursor of the general sejm (Polish parliament).

The elections also set way for the empowerment of the electorate (the nobility), as the contender to the throne would increasingly consider issuing promises to be fulfilled after the successful election. The first of those (the Litomyšl Privilige) occurred in 1291, and was issued by Wenceslaus II of Bohemia. Nonetheless, for most of the Piast Dynasty period, it was customary to elect rulers from that dynasty that would have inherited the throne. This came to an end with the heirless death of the last of the Polish Piasts of the main line, Casimir the Great, in 1370. In another milestone for the process of the free elections he was succeeded by his nephew, Louis I of Hungary, after the sejm offered him the crown, thus creating a precedent of offering the crown to another dynasty, imitated by the sejm. Louis' only children were daughters, and this created another dilemma for the succession of the Polish throne. In an attempt to secure the throne of Poland for his line, he gathered the nobles and sought their approval to have one of his daughters be retained as the Queen of Poland in exchange for the Privilege of Koszyce (1374).

The next election of a Polish king had occurred in 1386, with the selection of Władysław Jagiełło (Jogaila), Grand Duke of Lithuania, to be the first king of Poland's second dynasty. Władysław Jagiełło was elected as king, marrying Louis I daughter, Jadwiga of Poland, but without any promise that his dynasty would be retained; he would need to issue more privileges to the nobility to secure the guarantee that upon his death, one of his sons would inherit the throne. The candidates were chosen by the royal council, confirmed by the delegates of nobility and towns during the sejm. The principle of election continued in effect throughout the nearly two centuries of the Jagiellon Dynasty, although just like in the Piast times, it actually amounted to mere confirmation of the incoming heir. The type of monarchy of Poland at that time could be described as "the hereditary monarchy with a elective legislature." A major reason for that was the desire on the part of Polish nobility to retain the Polish-Lithuanian union, and the Jagiellon dynasty were the hereditary rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Nonetheless, the pretense of having a choice through elections was important for the nobility, and when in 1530 Sigismund I the Old attempted to secure the hereditary throne for his 10-year old son, this provoked a political crisis, and the Polish parliament, the sejm, ruled that a new king cannot be chosen during the life of his predecessor (this issue became known in the Polish politics as the vivente rege).

In 1572 Poland's Jagiellon dynasty became extinct upon the death, without a successor, of King Zygmunt II August. During the ensuing interregnum, anxiety for the safety of the Commonwealth eventually led to agreements among the political classes that, pending election of a new king, supreme authority would be exercised by the Roman Catholic Primate of Poland, acting as interrex (from the Latin); and that special "hooded" confederations (Polish: konfederacje kapturowe, named after the hoods traditionally worn by their members) of nobility would assume power in the country's respective regions. The most important decision, however, was that the next king would be chosen by election, whose terms were finally established at a convocation sejm (sejm konwokacyjny) in 1573. On the initiative of southern-Polish nobles, supported by the future Great Crown Chancellor and hetman Jan Zamoyski, the election would be by all male szlachta (nobles) who assembled for the purpose. Any Catholic nobleman could stand for election, through in practice only rich and powerful members of the foreign dynasties or Commonwealth magnates stood serious chance for a consideration. With the election of the first king of the "free election" period, the elections have assumed their final form that would remain stable for the next two centuries.

Particularly in the late 17th and 18th centuries, the political instability wrought by the elections have led numerous political writers to suggest major changes to the system; most notably, to restrict the elections to the Polish candidates only (this became known as the "election of a Piast".). None of those reform projects came to be realized, however, till the elimination of the elections by the Constitution of May 3, 1791.