Election of Stanisław Leszczyński in 1704

In 1703, King Charles XII of Sweden, who controlled most of Poland, decided to use the Wielkopolska Confederation, which was submissive to him, to dethrone king August II and later to elect a monarch that would be fully dependent on Sweden. To this end, Primate Michał Stefan Radziejowski convened the confederation meeting in Warsaw on 14 January 1704. The noblemen (from Wielkopolska and Masovia) attending the meeting, forced by the Swedish army and in exchange for the promise of being exempted from contributions paid to Sweden, refused obedience to August II, declared his dethronement and obliged the Primate to declare interregnum and set a date for elections.

The election meeting that began on 19 June 1704 was attended by members of the Parliament from all the voivodships and lands within the Wielkopolska province. It is not certain whether the deputies from the Nur Land arrived at the meeting. Małopolska was represented only by deputies from Podlasie voivodship, and Lithuania - by a few members of the Sapieha family and two deputies from Vilnius. The electors certainly did not represent the political beliefs of all their fellow citizens from their respective voivodships and lands. One could even claim that they represented minority groups in their respective lands. For example, the nobility of the North-East Masovia actively combated the Swedes and successfully attacked their garrisons. Aware of the risk that his plans could fail, Charles XII deployed additional troops in Masovia and the commanders were ordered to prevent any attempts to hinder the election. The election field was surrounded by the Swedish army and every day, the number of Swedes in Warsaw increased.

Among the candidates to the crown were the Krakow Castellan Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski, the Sieradz Voivode Jan Odrowąż Pieniążek and the Poznań Voivode Stanisław Leszczyński. However, when it became evident that the King of Sweden was determined to push through the candidacy of Leszczyński, the Primate and other confederation leaders quickly lost their eagerness and decided to delay the date of election for as long as possible. On the session on the 1 July, the Primate said that "a king or prior could not be pulled out of a sleeve, but the elect should be so industrious as to be able to make his own living and not bring the Commonwealth to ruin." It was mainly the Wielkopolska nobility who insisted on commencing the election, as they hoped that the Swedish would then withdraw from Poland. The Krakow Castellan Lubomirski observed that Małopolska and Lithuania representatives had not arrived yet and suggested delaying the election for a number of months. In response, he heard: "We managed to dethrone one king without the Małopolska and Lithuania provinces, so why shouldn't we be able to elect another?" They also claimed that, after all, deputies from Podlasie voivodship, a part of Małopolska province, and the Sapieha family from Lithuania were present.

Nonetheless, the Primate managed to hinder setting the date of election for almost two weeks. The King of Sweden and Stanisław Leszczński's supporters understood that the election had to be effected in another way. On 12 July, 400 Swedish infantry soldiers and 250 reiters as well as two cornetters of Poznań Voivode's reiters arrived near the trenches (within a musket shooting distance), and 100 grand musketeers approached the trenches. The number of soldiers probably exceeded the number of nobility gathered in the trench. The Primate and most Senators were suddenly struck down with serious illnesses that prevented them from arriving at the election field. Only the Poznań Bishop Mikołaj Święcicki and Castellans: Franciszek Grzybowski of Inowrocław, Kazimierz Nieborski of Sierpc and Stanisław Grzybowski of Czersk arrived. King Charles XII stood at the trenches to watch the election. Gen. Arvid Horn and other Swedish officers entered the trenches and persuaded the noblemen to elect the Poznań Voivode. Most noblemen started insisting on the Poznań Bishop to join the election. At that moment, Podlasie representatives, the Bielsk Chorąży (standard-bearer) Wacław Jeruzalski and the Bielsk Stolnik (court officer) Aleksander Gąsowski strongly protested. A heated discussion ensued, during which the Podlasie noblemen were threatened. At one moment, the Kalisz miecznik (sword-bearer, court officer) Władysław Bronikowski stood up and exclaimed: "I nominate the Poznań Voivode as the King and name him His Majesty Stanisław the First, King of Poland!" The Podlasie deputies once again protested but they were outshouted, and the Poznań Bishop Święcicki nominated Stanisław Leszczyński.

All the participants and observers of the event were perfectly aware that the king's election violated all the applicable rules and procedures and that it was invalid. Most citizens of the Commonwealth knew that, too, which is why Stanisław I had virtually no social support and his reign was based mainly on Swedish rapiers. When that support finished, he had to leave the Commonwealth and wait more than two decades for another chance.

Translation: Lingua Lab