Diplomacy of the Commonwealth, Diplomacy of the King: the Peculiarity of Foreign Policy Making in the Seventeenth-Century Poland- Lithuania

Abstract

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth clearly stood out from the European institutional and legal systems of the early modern era. One of the elements of its ‘uniqueness’ was the way of conducting foreign policy and, consequently, the organisation of diplomatic service. The western European historiography does not address the peculiar structure of the Polish-Lithuanian diplomacy against early modern interstate relations. The only commonly noted characteristic of the diplomatic practice of the Commonwealth seems to be the lack of official permanent representations at European courts, as well as the reluctance to accept foreign embassies within the borders of the state. The Polish historiography does undertake the topic, but the existing works are dated and often overcame, requiring to be complemented. The purpose of this article is to systematise and determine the specifics of the diplomatic activity of Poland-Lithuania from the institutional and juridical point of view, with particular attention paid to the nature of the iuris legationis which operated in the Polish-Lithuanian state. Its two potential entities are confronted: the king and the Senate along with the Seym. The analysis is based primarily on the parliamentary constitutions, the supreme source of law for the Polish-Lithuanian state. Another goal of the presented study is to highlight the role of political practice in shaping foreign policy, which often stood in opposition to the formal legal structure of the Commonwealth. Finally, the article constitutes a discussion with the voices present in the historiography and an invitation for the scholars to furtherly launch the topic.