Tradition of the Union of Horodło as a political argument in the Polish-Lithuanian relations during the time of the Vasas. Contribution to research
The subject of the deliberations is an anonymous publicist text entitled “Fundamenta catholicae religionis”. The text from the manuscript of the Czartoryski Library refers directly to the Union of Horodło. On the basis of an analysis of its content, the authoress of the article has dated it to the year 1632 – that is to the beginning of the period of interregnum after the death of Sigismund III Vasa; it was a time of persistent political struggle between on the one hand, the royalist faction which grouped supporters of hereditary monarchy and Catholic confessionalization, and on the other hand, the Protestant-Orthodox opposition under the leadership of Krzysztof II Radziwill. The most important feature of the above text, from the point of view of taking advantage of the tradition of the Union of Horodło in the political argumentation, is emphasizing the contractual character of the union and refusing Lithuanians (and particularly Catholics) an equal share in the public and civil rights, on a par with the Poles. It is worth noting that according to the conception of a strong Catholic monarchy, propagated by the supporters of Catholic confessionalization (above all by Jesuits), it is suggested, albeit in a concealed way, that the decisions concerning issues of key importance to the state, should be made by the monarch himself as well as the senators (particularly the clergy), whereas the public rights of the gentry, including the Catholic one, are limited to the defense of the state.
The basis of the historical-legal argumentation at the times of the Vasas was not a historical factography in the present-day understanding of this term, but rather historiosophy whereas the interpretation of the Polish-Lithuanian relations and the status of the Great Lithuanian Duchy in the Polish-Lithuanian federation depended on the political option and the religion of the authors. This concerns also the resolutions and the tradition of the Union of Horodło which contrary to the intentions of its initiators and participants was often used in an instrumental way.
