The article focuses on vocabulary related to political identity of the Polish Crown’s nobility in sejmik acts. These sources often mention identities related to particular territories, the larger whole (the Commonwealth, ojczyzna – “fatherland”, korona – “the Crown”) and one’s legal estate, while religious and ethnic identities are fairly rarely referenced. The linguistic changes are presented through consecutive 40-year divisions of the time frame under study. In the period until 1611 the word korona, as well as terms related to abstract political ideals, appear more often compared to subsequent decades. With time, references to local identities increasingly dominate mentions of the larger ones. The period 1612–1651 is a time of increased attention to the ojczyzna and signs of civic mobilization. The period after 1651 confirms the domination of the word rzeczpospolita over ojczyzna and korona, as well as a focus on bureaucratic functions and military survival of the polity. Word collocations serve as evidence to criticize anachronistic understanding of terms related to country identity in modern times (kraj, państwo, naród – “nation”, which contrary to popular depictions of the period signifies person’s descent more than any sovereign whole). The study shows the array of identity-related terms of the Commonwealth as a system of interrelated concepts, coalescing around the vision of political gathering of palatinates (at the sejm) and the citizens-brethren.
