State Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

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The State Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Polish: Secretary wielki litewski , Lat .: maior secretarius Ducatus Lithuaniae ) was State Secretary and the highest government member in the ministry in the Real Union of Poland-Lithuania (Polish: I Rzeczpospolita , Lat .: res publica ). He was appointed by King Sigismund II August . It was modeled on the secretary wielki koronny (lat .: secretarius maior Regni), which was created in 1504 during the reign of Alexander the Jagiellonian . From 1764 this could only take place through the Catholic clergy.

The competences of the State Secretary were placed close to the competencies of the Chancellor, whom the Secretary could even replace. However, the secretary did not have the right to use the marks and seals that represented the state. In exceptional cases the secretary could use the chancellor's signet ring. The most important tasks of his office were the implementation of a secret state police , to read through the decisions of the Sejm regarding the Real Union and to write the royal letters. If the Sejm had chosen the king, he had to read the Pacta conventa aloud. The secretary also served ex officio as a paralegal.