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

Tür:

Kitap

Yazar:

Felicia Roșu

Yayın yılı:

2018

Yayıncı:

Oxford University Press

This book examines the transformation of elective monarchy in Transylvania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 1570s. It does so by focusing on the foundational and experimental character of the first elections of 1571 (Transylvania) and 1573 and 1575–6 (Poland-Lithuania). In this period, the two polities adopted constitutions based on the same fundamental principles: elective thrones, state-sanctioned religious pluralism, and legal guarantees for the right of disobedience. Despite the important differences between them, Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania had one essential thing in common: they were the only two polities in early modern Europe that secured the succession of their rulers through large-scale elections in which the dynastic principle, although still important, was not binding. Apart from chapter 1, which has a chronological approach, the rest of the book thematically follows the development of an election: from voter inclinations and campaigning strategies, to voting procedures, to the contracts between voters and their chosen candidates, to the authority of the newly elected rulers. The conclusion examines the two elective systems from a more theoretical perspective. It argues that mixed government was accompanied by a mixed language that combined attachment to virtue, liberty, and self-government with a pragmatism that became particularly visible during interregna and elections. The constituents of Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania acted, talked, a…

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