Francuskie opisy audiencji posłów cudzoziemskich w Rzeczypospolitej w 2. połowie XVII w.
French descriptions of the audiences of foreign envoys in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the second half of seventeenth century.

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses how the French perceived diplomatic ceremonies in the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth both at the royal court and during the interregnum period and at the time of the election of the new king, when the interrex received foreign envoys in the company of senators. The eighteenth- century publication which was the source of the article was based on the accounts of diplomats and visitors who travelled to Poland, however its contents were compared with selected accounts of not only French envoys, but also those from other European countries. Therefore, we have an interesting picture of the principles on which audiences of foreign representatives were organized in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, both by monarchs and also in the interregnum period, for they gathered together a large group of representatives of the magnates and szlachta who graced these meetings with their presence, whereas the actual protocol for receiving diplomatic missions at the court and the electoral field seem to follow similar principles throughout the whole of the seventeenth century.

• Details
• Contents