During the campaigns in sejm during the reign of King Jan III Sobieski, many propaganda pamphlets were published, with the main goal of convincing the noblemen to support one of the two main factions – the royal faction or the opposition. Some of them were published officially, some of them were not. The royal court had more opportunities to use the official circulation of letters, sent out by the hundreds throughout the entire country. The opposition, however, compensated this by, as the contemporaries described, flooding the country with unofficial pamphlets, often handwritten and slanderous in nature, describing anonymous accounts, faked letters and thoughts of concerned patriots. These pamphlets appeared in the greatest numbers before the sejms and sejmiks in order to influence the opinions and decisions of the nobility on a regular basis. Apart from that, the politicians of both factions were rallying their supporters, campaigned among the nobility, gave ardent speeches during the sejms and the sejmiks, and wrote letters, memoranda and manifestos. It could be said that from the beginning of the sejm campaign to the very end they conducted constant propaganda efforts and did not miss a chance to gather new supporters for their cause.
The fight for their support began before the sejm campaign officially started, when the royal chancellery sent out the letters to the senators, known as deliberatoria, with the date of meeting and proposed topics. One could think that those were only courtesy letters, because the responses of the senators were not binding, however thanks to them the monarch could gauge the attitudes of the noblemen. Formal responses were dominant; however, some critical voices could also be heard. For example, before the Grodno Sejm in 1688 the Voivode of Sieradz, Jan Odrowąż Pieniążek harshly criticised the King for the unlawful departure of Chancellor Wielopolski to France and revealed the secret correspondence of Marysieńka with Louis XIV. It was a clear signal for the court faction that they should prepare for the opposition attacks concerning the dynastic policy of the Sobieski family before the Sejm.
Then the royal chancellery sent out over 300 letters to all the lands and voivodeships of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth informing their residents about the place, date and the reasons of convocation of the Sejm and the sejmiks. Even on that stage, and despite the fact that it was limited by the fixed form of the letters, the King could point the nobility in the direction of issues that were important to him, while keeping silence about others, those that were problematic and uncomfortable to deal with. This happened in 1684 when after suffering a defeat in the failed Hungarian campaign the King instead focused on his military victories (the Battle of Vienna), and omitting all the sensitive matters, because all he cared about was a resolution that allowed him to collect new taxes for war.
At the same time the royal chancellery sent out hundreds of letters to the representatives of local elites who could influence the election of “their” marshal and loyal delegates to the Sejm, as well as voting in favour of the lauda and instructions compliant with the political goals of the court. The court expected that a personalised letter from the monarch would flatter the nobleman to whom it was addressed, and therefore will convince them to support the King’s agenda. For the same reason Jan III delegated to the Sejm some popular dignitaries and senators who had famous names, who were firmly embedded in the local systems. A similar propaganda activities were conducted by the opposition who believed in the word of mouth and direct contact, preparing the noblemen for the participation in the sejmiks.
One of the most important points during the proceedings of the sejmiks was reading the instructions by the King’s delegate, often selected from the group of secretaries or courtiers strongly connected to a given constituency. The instructions were a direct extension of the aforementioned letters, which is evidenced by the Sejm campaign of 1684. The court continued the propaganda of a wartime success, constantly trying to convince the nobility to pass the resolutions establishing new taxes for a new military campaign against the Turks. This time, however, they did not stop at praising the victories of the Polish army and the Thunder of the East, but referred directly to the highest authorities – God and the Church – saying that defeating the Turks is important not only for the Commonwealth, but also for the entire Christian world. At the same time Jan III promised the nobility to fulfil the promise from the pacta conventa, namely the recapture of the stronghold in Kamieniec Podolski.
After reading the King’s legation, the letters of magnates were read – both those supporting and opposing the King. The politicians send them in great amounts, imitating the King’s legation itself. Apart from that, the dignitaries who could not arrive to the gathering place sent their speeches to be read. Every politician worth his salt tried to influence the opinions of the nobility, by referring to the political, economic and historical arguments. The fragments of speeches which were well received by the listeners were used in order to create a sejmik instruction – which proved the power of persuasion of their authors. However, before it happened, the delegates who gathered gave their speeches which sparked the discussions during the sejmiks. Sadly, during the reign of Jan III, the discussions often got turbulent, even to the point of brawls between the delegates, which caused the sejmik to dissolve. In 1688 the opposition caused over 20 dissolutions of the sejmiks, in order to prevent the King from seizing the properties of Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłłówna.
After the sejmik campaign, the King had a complete overview of the political situation in the country. He knew the balance of powers, he knew the opinions of the nobility and he knew which inflammatory topics could be used by the opposition during the Sejm. The King’s delegates to the sejmiks reported the details of the discussions, the nobility sent him letters from their voivodeships and poviats, as well as the protest letters and manifestations of the confederations. The opposition disseminated pamphlets with the aim to escalate the political tension.
Then, in the atmosphere of concern and commotion, the propaganda campaign moved to the Sejm. The proceedings were written down in the Sejm journals, reports, as well as in the letters about the behind-the-scenes activities of the politicians. From the propaganda point of view, the royal proposals, presented by the royal chancellor, were the most important. They expanded upon the topics from the letters and the legations in the sejmiks, and provided new arguments. During the aforementioned campaign of 1684–85 the military successes of King Jan III were often reminded, and the subject of new war taxes was often discussed. The royal Chancellor Ogiński, however, had more time to describe the victory in Vienna suggestively and cite the flattering opinions of the European rulers. He also reassured the nobility that Sobieski was still going to fight alongside the Emperor’s forces, responding to the accusations of the opposition that the court secretly cooperated with France. It was enough to achieve a spectacular propaganda success. Its consistency in promoting a simple programme in the letters, legation and proposal of the Throne resulted in a resolution which allowed the King to form a force of 45,000 men.
Thankfully the nobility was also interested in ending the war with Turkey, and as such the goals of the court converged with the public interest. However, it also happened that the royal proposal contained some elements of the programme which were not published beforehand, or were announced very carefully. They often concerned some sensitive issues, such as the dynastic policy, which would result in a disagreement of the nobility after being exaggerated by the King’s opposition. This was the reason why the court often tried to discuss those issues by surprise, in order to prevent the opposition from preparing good counterarguments. The campaign of 1687–88 serves as the best example: the King wanted to enthrone his son, Jacob. That intention was not mentioned in the deliberatoria nor in the universal letters, however, the legation to the sejmiks mentioned the merits of the prince during the siege of Kamieniec Podolski. The court wanted to expand upon the issue in the proposal of the Throne, but the Grodno Sejm was dissolved before the marshal could present his speech.
In the next point the senators expressed their opinions on given issues, and the noblemen presented their speeches, which were later copied or reprinted and circulated among the nobility. The speeches approved by the listeners often ended up in the silvae rerum, providing the arguments for future discussions. What is more, in their speeches the senators often addressed not only to the delegates to the Sejm, but also to the general nobility.
These speeches, often populist in nature were clearly written to appease the masses in order to both increase the prestige of their author, as well as to present the faction’s opinions on a given subject. Although the names of the orators were known, some of them did not hesitate to address the King with harsh words. They often presented their speeches as a defence of the golden freedom of the nobility, and themselves as avid patriots who were concerned with the situation in the country – which was supposed to serve as an excuse for using such harsh words and critical tone.
It is also important to mention that some of the senators – especially those belonging to the opposition – avoided taking part in the discussions on sensitive issues by purposefully arriving late to the proceedings. Some of them tried to keep up appearances and fake the loyalty to the King, others waited to see how the situation would play out, because they did not want to reveal their convictions prematurely. Before the Sejm of 1688, both representatives of Sapieha family, Primate Radziejowski and Bishop Załuski appeared late, and the Crown Hetmans Jabłonowski and Potocki did not arrive at all, and excused themselves saying that the defence of the borderlands did not allow them to arrive.
After the proceedings, no matter their results, the Senate Councils (so-called senatus consulta) took place, during which the King and the senators summed up the proceedings. It often served as another opportunity to further influence the opinions of the nobility. The copies of the protocols from the councils circulated among the nobility, and were often used as examples of speech. Among the notable speeches, the dramatic speech of Jan III Sobieski addressing the nobility in 1695 is especially worth noting. In the speech the monarch responded to his adversaries’ concerns and solemnly declared to the nobles that for him honesty and the well-being of the country is the most important in all his actions. The speech impressed the nobility and was recorded in many copies.
After some of the most tumultuous Sejms, especially those which were prematurely dissolved, the discussions continued via the pamphlets and other publications, initiated mostly by the opposition who wanted to influence the resolutions adopted by the sejmiks. After 1688, after the failed enthronement the opposition started a storm in the publications, accusing the court of breaking the law and trying to introduce vivente rege election. Sobieski avoided the unofficial discussions, as he did not want to stoop to the level of discussion unworthy of the King, but sometimes he emotionally responded to some of the most unjustified accusations.
At this point the long sejm campaigns came to an end – they were concluded by sejmiks, announced by the royal universal letters. The politicians from both sides did not rest, though, because some of the issues mentioned during the Sejms were later discussed on the sejmiks, where the local nobility could make their decision. It often happened that Sobieski condemned the opposition in the universal letters, blaming them for premature dissolution of the Sejm. He gave excuses for the unfulfilled plans and asked the nobility to support his cause. The opposition did not remain silent, they were sending out letters and memoranda to the sejmiks, asking the nobility to choose their side in the resolutions. The propaganda fight therefore lasted to the final moments of the sejm campaigns, only to erupt again with the beginning of another one.
Translation: Lingua Lab
