1 €67 *) that although the king had convened the sejm, but with divergent minds it is uncertain whether it will take place, so to sum up the last laudum regarding the popular movement and displays, they are convening the sejmik for April 4. The Wisze sejmik of October 6, 1671 was also composed of the previous sejmik 2). It is not by revolution but by revolution that, under strangely favorable circumstances, the sejmik grows into a sejm, taking on its prerogatives. An outstanding example of such a replacement of the sejm by the sejmik can be found in the resolution of the above-mentioned May sejmik of 1668 near Lviv, held at a parade9), where due to the breakup of the sejm, levies were adopted. Similarly, taxes were passed at the sejmik in Wiśnia in 1668 because there could be dangers during the king's abdication.
The assembly grew as a result of the multiplication of various matters, such as taxation, the administration of provincial taxes, and accounts from these taxes, and further as a result of the consideration of the multiplying matters of land defense that could not be resolved at one assembly or which required immediate resolutions - it is slowly turning into a kind of land assembly, deciding on almost all the most important matters. Of course, such an enormous increase in the size of the sejmik had an impact on the sejmik's attitude towards the sejm, as well as on the sejmik's relations with the king. As we will see here, there was a significant departure from the old practice, under which the sejmik, as a younger institution, was subordinated to these two authorities and completely dependent on them.
Even in the previous period, the sejmik convened by the king or the sejm felt that it derived power of attorney from these authorities within the scope of activity entrusted to it, that without their authorization there was no sejmik meeting, or that such a meeting was illegal. All important matters, the sejmik knew, were to be dealt with at the sejm. Even during the interregnum, when the primate was convening assemblies, the Wisła sejmik, which met in December 1575, considered itself incompetent to adopt a conscription resolution - because it did not want to constitute anything particulatim for the voivodeship and postponed important matters until the meeting of the entire crown at Jędrzejów4). The sejmik goes to the Sejm, as the highest instance in the matter of interpretation of laws 5), wants the pacts concluded with outsiders and tributaries, as well as the particular sejmik resolutions on land security, to be approved by the Sejm 6) There is a rule that in general all private laudas of lands and voivodeships, whether in matters of taxation or land defense, were to be approved by the Sejm approved by the Sejm so that they become legally valid 7).
When several sejms were disrupted during the reign of Władysław IV, the nobility felt the lack of a body they had elevated to the first and foremost place in the republic. The king ruled without the Sejm, with the help of the Senate, so without the participation of the nobility whenever the Sejm was broken. We can see from several examples how the nobility managed not to let go of power
») No. 266 art. 2. ') No. 290 art. 2. ») No. 241. *) Lauda T. I. No. 27 art. 7. •) Ibidem No. 149. •) Ibid. No. 223. art. 46 and No. 299 art. 8. 7) No. 2 Article 8
XXI
resolutions of local councils. And so, on September 13, 1646, at the sejmik in Wiśnia, due to the disrupted sejm, it was resolved that even if the sejm did not stand, the regional sejmiks would still take place four weeks after the disrupted or unbroken sejm. The following year, a sejmik was adopted only in the event of a breakup of the Sejm, and this was to ensure public security, for which the Sejm had already obtained permission, and if the Sejm was successful, there would be no sejmik 2). This resolution, in line with the resolution of the Sejm, was intended, as the resolution states, to prevent the terrible inconvenients spreading across the lands in the absence of the Sejm. It is true that the sejmik here interfered with the Sejm's duties, but it was the result of the Sejm's authorization, and its subsequent resolutions were to gain the approval of the Sejm. The nobility tries to replace the broken sejm with a sejmik, but on the other hand it also tries not to let the falling sejm fall. This last attempt can be traced back to the sejmik instructions given to the deputies at the sejmik in Wiśnia on December 15, 16513). The deputies were to make sure that there were no public convocation sessions [of senators] without the participation of the nobility, and that matters that belonged to the Sejm were not corrected in the Senate. There was even a demand that deputies from the nobility be appointed to the war council during war.