Elective Monarchy in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1569-1587

Description

This book is an examination of why and how the elective principle, already established in Transylvanian and Polish political culture in the late medieval period, was transformed in the early elections of the 1570s. In this period, the two polities adopted constitutional arrangements different in depth and scope but based on the same fundamental principles: elective thrones, state-sanctioned religious pluralism, and constitutional guarantees for the right of disobedience. There were important variations in their regulation and application, but Transylvania and the newly created Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had one essential thing in common: they were the only two polities in early modern Europe whose political systems secured the succession of their rulers through large-scale elections in which the dynastic principle, although still important, was not binding. Cover Elective Monarchy in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1569–1587 Copyright Dedication Acknowledgements Contents List of Maps and Illustrations List of Abbreviations Archival Material Printed Sources Personal and Place Names Introduction 1: Choosing to Elect ‘A Fre Prince’ ‘Fre Election’ 2: Campaigning The Candidates Voter Preferences Natives and Foreigners The Jagiellons A Weak King Powerful Neighbours and the Fear Factor Religion Manliness Campaigning Tools Men and Words Bribes Factions Deception 3: Voting Gyulafehérvár 1571 Warsaw 1575 Consensus and the Weight of Numbers 4: Contract The Transylvanian Contract The Székely Dilemma Religious Peace The Bathorian Articles Matrimony Religious Peace Heredity 5: Authority The Transylvanian Ruler Enthronement Rebellion Royal Authority in Poland-Lithuania After the Election After the Coronation Conclusions Glossary Poland-Lithuania Transylvania Bibliography Archival Sources Printed Sources Secondary Literature Index