Sejmik: Encyclopedia II - Sejmik - Features

Sejmik - Features

Sejmiks were held usually on an large, open field. There were three kinds of sejmik:

• general (Polish: generalny, latin conventiones generales), held in western Poland (Greater Poland, Polish: Wielkopolska) at Kolo, in southern Poland (Little Poland, Polish: Małopolska) at Nowe Miasto Korczyn, in Mazovia (Polish: Mazowswze) at Warsaw, in Red Ruthenia at Sadowa Wisznia, and in Lithuania at Volkovysk. The general sejmiks were composed of delegates elected at the provincial sejmiks. Their goal was to agree on position for the Sejm Walny and issue instructions for the deputies on how they were supposed to vote during the Sejm Walny.
• provincial or territorial (Polish: ziemski, latin conventiones particulares, conventiones terrestrae) (in every voivodship). Their importance was highest in the 15th century, and has diminished with the formation of Sejm Walny. Since then they had been relegated to dealing with local matters, and electing deputies for sejmik generalny and sejm walny.
• county (powiat) (Polish: powiatowy).

They could meet for special purposes:

• Pre-sejm (Polish: przedsejmowe) sejmiks elected 1 to 6 deputies (poslowie) (depending on the size and importance of the given sejmik's territory) to the ordinary General Sejm (Polish: Sejm Walny) that was held every two years for six weeks, and to any extraordinary General Sejm that might be called at any time in an emergency, to sit for two weeks. Sometimes pre-sejm sejmiks are referred to as electoral. In some cases, a sejmik could be colled for two viovodship - in that case it could elect more then 6 deputies.
• Electoral (Polish: elekcyjne) sejmiks elected higher voivodship officials.
• Relational (Polish: relacyjne) sejmiks heard the relations of deputies returned from the General Sejm, usually presenting the law (konstytucje sejmowe) decreed by the Sejm.
• Deputational (Polish: deputackie) sejmiks elected deputies (deputaci) to tribunals (Crown Tribunal and Lithuanian Tribunal) since the times of king Stefan Batory.
• Administrative (or economic, Polish: gospodarcze) sejmiks oversaw voivodship self-government.

Sejmiks were called by the king or the governor (voivod) of the province (voivodship). King or his representative decreed the important matters sejmiks should debate in the letter, so called King Legation (Polish legacja królewska). All the nobility (szlachta) residing in a voivodship were eligible to participate in sejmiks (and only the nobility from the given territory, this was confirmed by the nihil novi constitution); other estates sent only delegations with an advisory voice. Each sejmik elected a sejmik marshal ( marszalek sejmiku: presiding officer of the sejmik, similar to the marshal of the sejm at national Sejms). A sejmik could be disrupted with liberum veto, which eventuality was guarded against by the formation (as at sejms) of a confederation, which obliged majority voting.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Features", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki