Bobicescu, C. A.Preliminary considerations on the negotiation between Jan Potocki and Sigismund III in 1601–1602. A standpoint in the debate regarding Jan Zamoyski’s affinity and multiple fidelities, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture, 2019. Vol. 5 (2). P. 58–81.
Cristian Antim Bobicescu, PhD student, Doctoral School of the Romanian Academy, Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest (10565, Romania, Bucuresti, Bulevardul aviatorilor 1)
cbobicescu@yahoo.com
Language: Russian
The article tries to shed a new light on the problem of surviving of the affinity of the Great Chancellor and Hatman of the Crown Jan Zamoyski during the last part of his life, which also corresponds to the conflict between him and the Polish-Lithuanian monarch Sigismund III. We have chosen as a case study the Potocki family, which in Polish historiography occupies a central place in this debate. The analysis of the correspondence between Jan Potocki – the eldest of the four brothers — and King Sigismund III during 1601–1602 highlights a communicative substrate that underline Jan Potocki’s desire to establish a personal connection/bond with the Polish monarch. The result of this semi-clandestine correspondence is the reward of two of the four brothers by the king, and the appearance of a double fidelity, the one owed to the Polish-Lithuanian monarch doubling the one due to Zamoyski. The factors that facilitated the orientation of the four brothers to the monarch were, their dissatisfaction with the prizes they had obtained so far due to Zamoyski, his advanced age and the king’s youth, as well as the loss of the Swedish throne by Sigismund in 1599, which thus, in the eyes of the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, made him a more secure partner with whom they could negotiate their careers, wealth and prestige. Taking this into consideration, their intention to initiate a liaison with Sigismund IIIrd, is significant for the debate of Polish historiography on the survival or the crisis of Zamoyski’s entourage.
Key Words: Affinity, Sigismund III, Jan Potocki, Jan Zamoyski, cour virtuelle, multiple fidelities