«Res publica» Redefined?

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• About the author
• About the book
• This eBook can be cited
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of tables
• Chronology of events
• 1. Introduction: the alleged outsider of European developments
• 1.1 Previous research
• Noble privileges and the structure of the political system
• Res publica and (Polish) ‘republicanism’
• Religion and political thought
• Transition period and royal elections
• 1.2 Research objective and documentary sources
• 1.3 Language and terminology
• 2. Early modern state formation – in theory and practice?
• 2.1 Theories on state formation
• 2.2 New transnational history and the early modern period
• 2.3 Social functions in an early modern state
• 2.4 Early modern state formation in action: the political decision-making process
• 3. Identification of the forthcoming change
• 3.1 Understanding the Polish (-Lithuanian) state and its structure
• Ideas on hierarchy and authority
• Ideas on equality and legislation
• 3.2 The complex concept of libertas
• Freedom understood as ‘rule by law’
• Religious freedom – a threat or a possibility?
• Kings and tyrants
• Freedom as independence of the state
• 3.3 Royal presence as continuation of statehood
• King at the Sejm
• Royal marriage and the question of heirs
• The evaluation of the last Jagiellon’s reign
• 3.4 Conclusions
• 4. Preparations for the transition
• 4.1 Domestic politics in the 1560s: from Piotrków to Lublin
• Early developments of the Polish-Lithuanian state
• The ‘execution of laws’ in the 1560s
• The Union of Lublin
• ‘Restoration’ of the Ruthenian lands to the Kingdom of Poland
• 4.2 The foreign policy of King Sigismund August
• Friends and enemies: the Livonian war
• Balancing with the Habsburgs
• South and South-East: the Ottomans and their vassals
• Through war or diplomacy?
• 4.3 The poor state of the royal treasury
• 4.4 Before an election
• 4.5 Conclusions
• 5. Between alternatives: the royal elections of 1573 and 1575
• 5.1 The ‘rational election’ of Henry Valois
• The evaluation of the royal candidates
• Rejected candidates
• Negotiations in Paris
• The runaway king
• 5.2 The ‘scandalous election’ of Stefan Batory
• Towards another election
• The nomination of candidates, part two
• The double election of 1575 and the problem of legality
• The aftermath
• 5.3 International polemics concerning the second election
• 5.4 Conclusions
• 6. The confirmation of Polish-Lithuanian statehood
• 6.1 A deal with a dynasty
• The Henrician articles
• The pacta conventa of Maximilian II
• 6.2 The ‘simple constitution’ of Stefan Batory
• 6.3 Separation of powers rearranged
• The rocky start to King Stefan’s reign
• Battle over religion and jurisdiction
• Continuity in foreign relations
• 6.4 Conclusions
• 7. The Polish-Lithuanian transition period of the 1560s–1570s in the context of European state formation processes
• Bibliography