Między patriotyzmem a zdradą : polemika wokół postawy biskupa poznańskiego Stanisława Józefa Hozjusz w bezkrólewiu 1733 r.

This article surveys the reactions of the upper sections of the Polish society (the nobility and magnates) to the political stance of Stanislaw Józef Hozjusz, Bishop of Poznań. He was one of the few members of the Polish episcopate who in the electoral battle for the Polish crown between Stanislaw Leszczyński and August III Saxon gave his support to the latter candidate. The article does not explore the actual motives of Hozjusz's decision but concentrates instead on the allegations made by his usually anonymous critics, sympathizers of Stanislaw Leszczyński. In their vitriolic pamphlets and satires, written both in prose and in verse, as well as other polemical writings they accuse him of treason and a list of other sins. The article's summaries and extracts from the original texts are intended to give the reader an insight into the polemical writings of Hozjusz's detractors and defenders (though the latter were certainly less numerous). The argument, driven by strong emotion and laced with various kinds of allegations and accusations, provides an excellent introduction into the highly charged climate of the 18th-century political debates, while the material itself reflects with astonishing accuracy the balance of power in the controversy between the 'Sas' and 'Las' parties. It is hoped that this study, based on sources gleaned from rare 18th-century collections and archives, is going to be a significant contribution to our understanding of the last but one interregnum in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.