Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth


This article discusses the organizational and administrative structure of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a confederative mixed monarchy of the period 1569–1795, comprising the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and their fiefs. The Commonwealth was governed by the Parliament consisting of the King, the King-appointed Senate and the rest of hereditary nobility either in person or through the Sejm proper. The nobility's constitutional domination of the state made the King very weak and the commoners almost entirely unrepresented in the Commonwealth's political system.

Central offices

State offices

The division between public and court offices in the realities of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is unclear, as all central offices originated from court positions. Some of them gained full autonomy, while others continued to perform service functions for the ruler. The state and court hierarchies overlapped, and the officials' competencies were not clearly defined. After 1565, the principle of "incompatibilitas" forbade Voivodes and Castellans to hold a second title as a Minister, except for the post of Hetman.
The system of offices in the Commonwealth was the result of equalizing the administrative hierarchies of both constituent parts of the state: the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Lithuania had its own separate court tradition, but after drawing closer to Poland at the end of the 14th century, there was a trend of copying Polish models and creating offices analogous to those existing in Poland. This process culminated in the acts of the Union of Lublin, but it continued in practice until the 18th century as part of the so-called coequation of laws. However, the direction of influence was sometimes reversed, such as in the case of the office of the court huntsman, which appeared in Poland later than in Lithuania.
Essentially, almost every central office was dual, one for Poland and the other for Lithuania. This was reflected in the title, to which an appropriate adjective was added: Crown or Lithuanian. Thus, in the Commonwealth, there were two Grand Marshals: the Crown Grand Marshal and the Lithuanian Grand Marshal.
Both the Chancellor and the Sub-Chancellor stood at the head of the chancelleries, which were headed by Regents. Each chancellery employed a number of professionals: secretaries, scribes and clerks. Outside the chancellery were the Metricants, in charge of keeping the Metrics, i.e. the books in which all the documents arriving and departing from each chancellery were entered. There were four chancelleries, four Metricants and two Metrics in the whole of the Commonwealth. The Treasurers were also supported by a number of professional officials, the most important of whom were Treasury Scribes. He was assisted in matters of coinage issuance by a Mincer. In addition, a number of other functionaries: dispensers, superintendents, tax collectors, customs officers and toll collectors.

Court offices

Originally, all central offices were simultaneously court offices. However, in the Kingdom of Poland, the concept of the Crown, representing the state itself, was distinguished relatively early from the person of the mortal monarch. Consequently, some offices lost their direct association with the monarch and his court, becoming state offices primarily responsible for state administration. This division was never complete, but there was a group of offices whose roles were essentially limited to serving the court and the monarch. Among them, we distinguish between offices of the court and the court offices. The court offices attended to the king's service, while the offices of the court managed and administered the court as an institution. The court offices were further divided into the offices of the royal table and the representatives of royal majesty.
Most of these offices were of a purely honorary nature, their holders did not perform the functions associated with them, or if they did, they did so very rarely, mainly during rare grand royal ceremonies. Apart from the aforementioned offices, the court included a significantly larger group of people, both honorary courtiers and servants.

Military offices

The highest military officials were the Hetmans, they could not be removed. Until the beginning of the 18th century, hetmans were not paid for their services.
With the emergence of a standing army in the Crown in the early 16th century and the office of Hetman, a staff of military officials formed around him to assist him in his tasks. The most important among them was the Field Scribe, closely followed by the Grand Warden. Over time, the offices began to lose their professional character and became purely dignitaries, the earliest of which was the office of the Grand Oboźny, whose tasks were actually carried out by the Field Oboźny. Other offices were still truly military in the 17th century, only becoming solely dignitaries in the 18th century. The following list covers only military offices, apart from these there were a number of other posts which were not dignitaries and were usually filled by professionals, there was also a separate cadre of officers.

Provincial offices

Voivodes and castellans

Of secular Senators, the foremost was the Castellan of Kraków. Other Castellans, however, were considered to be lesser dignitaries than the Voivodes.
The power of the Voivodes had declined since that title had been introduced about the 12th century; in the 17th century, however, they were still the highest regional dignitaries. They were the highest representatives of their Voivodeships to the Senat. They were the leaders of the Land Parliaments. They were in charge of assembling local nobility's military forces in the event of a pospolite ruszenie. Each chose a Deputy Voivode, who was responsible for setting local prices and measures. Voivodes were chosen by the King, except for those of Połock Voivode and Vilnius Voivode, who were elected by the local nobility.
Except for the Castellan of Kraków Land, Castellans were often considered subordinate to Voivodes. A Castellan was in charge of part of a Voivodeship.

Land offices

A 1611 Constitution prescribed many officials. Exceptions to the rule, however, were the rule; Sejm rules were treated as mere recommendations. Thus Bełz Voivodeship had only 4 of the 15 prescribed dignitaries; most northern voivodeships had about 5; and in Wołyń and Bracław Voivodeships the hierarchical order was almost reversed. Each province or district had its own set of officials—a list of provinces may be found in the article on provinces and geography of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
District officials were appointed by the King, with a few exceptions. Chamberlains, except for the name, had nothing in common with the Court officials of the same name. They administered a court of law which had jurisdiction over property disputes. The District Judge headed the District Court, which had jurisdiction over civil and some criminal matters involving local nobility.
The Starosta generalny was the official in charge of a specific territory. The Starosta grodowy was in charge of cities, while the Starosta niegrodowy was responsible for administration of the Crown lands. These were to be kept in good financial and military order. While in time these administrative responsibilities became smaller, the Starosta remained in charge of the City Courts, which dealt with most criminal matters and had jurisdiction over all local and visiting nobility. They dealt with the most severe cases and were quite harsh, which generally made Poland a safer country than its neighbors. The Starostas also held the "power of the sword", which meant that they enforced the verdicts of all other courts. Non-City Starostas had no juridical powers.
Standard-bearers carried the local banner during Royal ceremonies, and in war when local troops served in the Army. During war, Wojskis maintained order and security in their territories. In Lithuania, the responsibilities of Ciwuns were similar to those of non-city starostas. District marshals presided over local parliaments.

Crown

  • Podkomorzy – Chamberlain
  • Starosta grodowy – Mayor
  • Chorąży – Standard-bearer
  • Sędzia ziemski – District Judge
  • Stolnik – Pantler
  • Podczaszy – Royal Cupbearer
  • Podsędek – Deputy District Judge
  • Podstoli – Steward
  • Cześnik – Cupbearer
  • Łowczy – Master of the Hunt
  • Wojski większy – Major Wojski
  • Pisarz ziemski – District Clerk
  • Miecznik – Sword-bearer
  • Wojski mniejszy – Minor Wojski
  • Skarbnik – Treasurer

    Lithuania

  • Marszałek ziemski – District Marshal
  • Ciwun – Bailiff
  • Podkomorzy – Chamberlain
  • Starosta grodzki – Mayor
  • Chorąży – Standard-bearer
  • Sędzia ziemski – District judge
  • Wojski większy – Major Wojski
  • Stolnik – Pantler
  • Podstoli – Steward
  • Pisarz ziemski – District Clerk
  • Podwojewódzki, Podstarosta – Deputy Voivod, Deputy Starosta
  • Sędzia grodzki – City Judge
  • Pisarz grodzki – City Clerk
  • Podczaszy – Royal Cupbearer
  • Cześnik – Cupbearer
  • Horodniczy – Castellan
  • Skarbnik – Treasurer
  • Łowczy – Master of the Hunt
  • Miecznik – Sword-bearer
  • Koniuszy – Equerry
  • Oboźny – Quartermaster
  • Strażnik – Guard
  • Krajczy – Carver
  • Leśniczy – Forester
  • Mostowniczy – Custodian of Bridges
  • Budowniczy – Architect