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

Abstract

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