"co dnia czynią mi nowe propozycje" : korespondencja Franciszka Ludwika, księcia Conti z okresu jego wyprawy do Polski jesienią 1697 roku

Abstract

François Louis de Bourbon, the Prince of Conti, was appointed as the French candidate for the Polish throne after Jan III Sobieski’s death. The long interregnum which lasted one year eventually brought about a bifurcation during the election and two electors were chosen — the Prince of Conti and the Saxon elector, Friedrich August. Although such an outcome was expected right from the beginning, when the two kings were announced, a great confusion arose. The Wettin made vigorous attempts to gain the crown, whereas in France people waited to see how things would develop. The nobility who favoured the election of the Frenchman claimed that it was the latter who was supposed to solve the problem, by arriving with the army and the money which were previously promised by the French ambassador to François Louis’s supporters. In the summer of 1697 the Prince of Conti attempted to receive information about the events in Poland, but the news that reached him were not clear. The letters which he wrote to his wife in that period present the attempts to explain the situation in Poland. His attitude toward the pieces of information which reached him was balanced and detached. Heretofore this was interpreted as the Prince’s ill disposition toward a journey to the Rzeczpospolita, but it is impossible to establish what his attitude toward these events was on the basis of the correspondence, for the letters do not contain any opinions of the sender who was very careful not to reveal such opinions on this subject. The elector was careful not to reveal his attitude in order not to fall into Louis XIV’s disfavour.