In the shadow of the union : what Ruthenian voivodeships of the Polish Crown received at the Lublin sejm of 1569

The Lublin Sejm of 1569 was the first Sejm for the Ruthenian voivodeships, when after the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth six voivodeships sat together. After July 1, the first Sejm of the Commonwealth adopted several constitutions, eight of which related to the Ruthenian voivodeships. These constitutions regulated the elimination of the tax on the Ruthenian salt; scheduling of the court sessions in the Chełm Land of the Ruthenian and the Kyiv Voivodeships. They introduced the Banner Office and regulated honey harvesting cases in the Bratslav Voivodeship, as well as passed the decision to landscape the banks of the Vepr River (pol. Wieprz). The last of the constitution concerned the regulation and provision of the alloy on the Vepr River, which confirms availability of one more transport corridor for the export of goods, because the existing one on the Bug River was probably unable to handle the scope of supply. Two persons from the Ruthenian voivodeship — Walenty Orzechowski and Mikołaj Sienicki — worked in special committees. Among all the constitutions related to the Ruthenian provinces of the Polish Crown, the two regarding the elimination of the salt tax on Ruthenian lands were the most difficult to pass. The authors of the two diaries of the Sejm after July 1 paid the most attention to that issue. Paradoxically, the problem united six voivodships — the Rutheinan, Podolian, Belz, Volhynian, Kyiv, and the Bratslav. While the first three usually acted together in the Sejms, the joining of the newly incorporated voivodeships as allies is an interesting testimony of the common interests shared among the Ruthenian provinces, which before the Sejm had been divided by the state border. It seems that the economic ties that had linked these voivodeships until 1569 served as a connector enabling them to continue searching for a common ground

Envoys of the Ruthenian voivodeships of the Crown to the Lublin Sejm in January and February 1569

The present study focuses on the attitudes of the noble envoys from the Ruthenian voivodeships of the Polish Crown (Ruthenian, Podolian, and Belz voivodeships) to the 1569 Sejm session that went down to history under the name of the Union Sejm of Lublin. Th e article completes the list of the noble representatives to the Sejm from the Ruthenian voivodeship. An analysis of preserved Sejm proceedings reveals the stances adopted by the envoys towards the union during the sessions in February 1569, before the incorporation of the provinces of Podlasie and Volhynia. Th e quoted statements of the representatives of these provinces made during the sessions of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower chamber of the Sejm) and joint sessions with the senators and the king demonstrate the diff erence of opinions on the union. Th e reference point for the majority was the stance of the representatives of the so-called upper voivodeships, especially the Cracow voivodeship. Worthy of special notice are the speeches of seasoned noblemen from the Ruthenian voivodeship, such as Mikołaj Sienicki and Walenty Orzechowski, showing diff erent visions of the union and emphasising some aspects of the noble political culture in the Ruthenian provinces of the Polish Crown