Free choice (1669)

1648 ←

May 1, 1669 - June 19, 1669

→ 1674

Elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania

candidate

Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki

Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Condé

Political party

piastic faction

French faction

be right

11,271

Before the election of
Johann II Casimir

Elected
Michael I.

Election of Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki.

The election held.

The free election of 1669 was the sixth of its kind to determine the king and grand prince of the Royal Republic of the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by the nobility as a whole.

history

On September 16, 1668, King John II abdicated Casimir and traveled to France, where he joined the Jesuits and became abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés . He died in 1672. Because of his decision, Poland-Lithuania had remained without a ruler and free elections were therefore essential.

Although the pro-France faction, with the support of the Primate Mikołaj Prażmowski and the hetman Johann III. Sobieski was very strong, during the Sejm meeting held from November to December 1668, several members of the Szlachta urged the election of a local, so-called "Piast king".

Rumors had spread that the supporters of a foreign candidate had been bribed, so that under the circumstances the Bishop of Chełmża Andrzej Olszowski had suggested choosing a Poland instead. He supported the candidacy of Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki , son of the legendary Ruthenian magnate Jeremi Wiśniowiecki . Michael Korybut himself was an insignificant person. However, the Szlachta decided to support him out of fear of growing French influences. The local Sejmiks urged the nobility to come to Warsaw in the form of a noble consortium ( Pospolite ruszenie ).

The free election took place in May and June 1669 in Wola near Warsaw . It has been seen as the epitome of the Szlachta's lack of domination (see Golden Freedom ). After a never-ending argument on June 6, 1669, the senators were forced by a broad mass of nobility voters to dissolve the candidacy of Louis II. De Bourbon, prince de Condé . Some senators tried to reject this, but the majority gave in to the threats and finally supported the bishop of Włocławek Kazimierz Florian Czartoryski , who said: "The voice of people is the voice of God".

In the days that followed, the emotions hit even higher. On June 17th of the same year, several districts of Warsaw went up in flames. Rumors spread that this was not an accident. The szlachta was surrounded by wooden sheds where the senators were gathered. They accused them of treason and conspiracy with a foreign envoy . Shots were fired, which was later recorded by Jan Chryzostom Pasek in his memoirs as follows: "Bishops and senators hid under chairs and only wanted to come out after the situation had been resolved".

Two days later, on June 19, Wiśniowiecki was elected the new king. The Polish Szlachcic Jan Antoni Chrapowicki who took part in the election later wrote that “there were different factions: some wanted Philipp Wilhelm , others supported Louis II. De Bourbon, prince de Condé . Since neither side wanted to give up their candidate, we decided to choose a Piast, embodied by Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki , in order to avoid a commotion . Primate Mikołaj Prażmowski was initially hesitant after our decision, but was later forced to sing the hymn Te Deum . "

Although Wiśniowiecki won the majority support, his opponents, led by Prażmowski and Sobieski, did not agree on it. The Sejm meeting held in Krakow was canceled, with the coronation itself taking place. The confederation that had suffered attacks by the Crimean Tatars was on the brink of civil war. The outbreak of the Ottoman-Polish War (1672–1676) changed the situation by ending international conflicts.

swell

U. Augustyniak, Historia Polski 1572–1795 , Warszawa 2008
M. Markiewicz, Historia Polski 1494–1795 , Kraków 2002