Special Issue:

Royal free elections in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (16th-18th centuries). Political games, social communication, diplomacy

Special Issue Editor: Dr. Ph.D. Aleksandra Ziober (University of Wroclaw – Poland)

Deadlines: 30 September 2023 (abstracts. Max: 250 words) / 31 March 2024 (full text. Max: 35,000 characters, including spaces and notes)

During the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a method of selecting a ruler called free election developed, which was unique on a European scale. Undoubtedly, an interregnum was the most unstable period in the state’s history, which remained without a king, but also one of the most interesting and activating political activities of the nobility and European diplomacy. Many saw the possibility of assuming the Polish throne as a chance to increase their political influence on the Old Continent, which was extremely important during the struggle for supremacy between the Habsburgs and France. From 16th to 18th centuries, various personalities with greater and lesser influence in Europe competed against each other. This resulted in an intensification of political game also in Poland-Lithuanian, and, consequently, in the need to win the votes of the nobility during the elections. Candidates for the throne tried to win over voters in various ways, promising them financial gratification, official promotion or landed goods, and the disseminated propaganda papers described the advantages and disadvantages of people applying for the crown. The complexity of the free election phenomenon makes it an issue that can be considered in many aspects that will be interesting for historians, art historians, sociologists, political scientists, literary scholars and many others. The production of this issue of the journal should help to develop the research on the issues of the election of the new ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian state in the European context. Proposals for papers to be included in the volume could deal with (but are not limited to):
-profiles of candidates for the Polish-Lithuanian throne and their activities during the interregnum
-the activity of European diplomacy towards the election of a new ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian state
-attitudes of Polish and Lithuanian elites towards candidates for the throne and their political camps
-social communication as a tool for gaining political influence; political persuasion

– techniques used to communicate and build attitudes used in political action
-the course of parliamentary debates and local conventions during the interregnum period
-analysis of propaganda papers of the interregnum period

Languages: English.

E-mail for Submission: eehreview@unitus.it