Deputy Dietines Prior to the Convocation of 1764

At the time of the death of Augustus III, the Commonwealth witnessed a confrontation of two political groups: the 'Familia', i.e. the party supporting the princes Czartoryski, and the Saxon-republican camp composed of the former royal court camp and the conservative magnate opposition. Both sides were determined to assume power in the state so as to hold an election according to its own plans. The presented article discusses the events associated with the dietines, whose tasks entailed electing deputies to the convocation Seym intent on defining the principles of choosing the new monarch. Many of the deitines split, thus resulting in the election of a double number of deputies, and testifying to the immense rise in tension and the fervour of the waged political struggle. The most important postulates and the ills of the society of the gentry were reflected in the instructions written for the deputies; their contents are also studied by the author of the article.