Synoden im politischen System Polen-Litauens. Kontinuität und Wandel an der Schwelle vom Spätmittelalter zur Frühen Neuzeit
Synods in the Political System of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the Threshold of Early Modern Times

Summary/Abstract: The late Middle Ages saw the development of an early parliamentary system in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth—a system in which the clergy seems somewhat underrepresented at first sight, not forming a parliamentary chamber of its own. The synods of the archbishop of Gniezno, Primate of Poland, however filled in the gap and worked as representatives of the clerical order in the political system. From the second half of the 15th to the middle of the 16th century these synods developed into primatial synods, attended by both the clergy of the Gniezno and of the Lviv province. At these assemblies the clergy made political decisions and conceded its most important financial contributions to the state. Synods fulfilled these functions continually from the late Middle Ages to the end of the synods in the middle of the 17th century, though emphases shifted. During the 16th century, the rising influence of the Sejm in the political system caused the synods to shift their attention from the monarch to the parliament. Around the same time synods changed their attitude toward the nobility: rather than searching for conflict, they looked for allies among the nobles. Church-internal reasons interrupted synodal activity after the Council of Trent and led to a transfer of the political functions of synods to unofficial assemblies of the clergy on the sidelines of the Sejm. When synods were held again from 1577 onward, they reassumed their political functions. However, it seems quite possible that the alternative forum that the unofficial assemblies supplied contributed to the end of synodal activity in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1643. Other reasons may have been the reorganization of the tax system, which brought an end to synodal contributions, and the rise of the magnate oligarchy, which diminished the importance of parliamentary processes in general and weakened the political position of the clergy’s most eminent opponent, the nobility, who was now consumed in internal conflicts.

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