The Polish Revolution and the Catholic Church, 1788-1792: A Political History

392 Pages·2012·3.2 MB·English

by  Richard Butterwick

THE POLISH REVOLUTION AND THE
–
CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1788 1792
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The Polish Revolution
and the Catholic Church,
–
1788 1792
A Political History
RICHARD BUTTERWICK
1
3
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Preface
This book aims to explain why certain decisions were taken by a parliamentary
assemblyinarepublicanpoliticalsystem,andwhyothers,whichatthetimeseemed
equally plausible, were not. The assembly was the penultimate parliament of the
Polish-LithuanianCommonwealth.ThedecisionsconcernedtheCatholicChurch.
TheyweretakenatatimewhenmanyofthereformsofJosephIIintheHabsburg
Monarchywereunravelling,andtheFrenchRevolutionwasembarkingonitspath
todechristianizationandterror.
ThePolishRevolutionof1788–92loomslargeinPolishnationalmyth.Ihope
to show its pivotal role in the long relationship between Roman Catholicism and
thePolishnation.However,thisworkisprimarilyintendedforthosewhoarenot
specialists in Polish or Polish-Lithuanian history. Rather, it seeks to place that
historyinwidercontexts.Fordiplomatichistorians,thereisanepiscopaldimension
to the strained relationship between Russia and Prussia at the turn of the 1780s.
Ecclesiasticalhistoriansmaybeinterestedtodiscoverjusthowclosethepapacyand
the Commonwealth came to schism, shortly before the Catholic Church experi-
encedfargreatertrials.Socialhistoriansofreligionwillfindlateeighteenth-century
expectationsoftheclergy; thereisevidence, too,ofhowreformsintheHabsburg
Monarchy and Revolutionary France, and the wider question of the ‘enlightened
eighteenthcentury’werediscussedinapartofEuropethatremainsunderexplored
by Anglophone historians. Above all, this is a political history that probes both
‘highpolitics’andapoliticalculture.Theintroductionproposesamethodforthe
analysisofpoliticaldecisionsinrepublicanandparliamentarypolities.
ThoseabletoreadPolishmaywishtoconsultthePolishedition,Polskarewolucja
a Kościół katolicki, 1788–1792 (Cracow: Arcana, 2011), which contains more
materialontheconditionoftheCatholicclergy,religiousculture,otherChristian
confessions, Jews, education, and the Enlightenment and its critics. I have pub-
lishedinEnglishonsomeofthesesubjectselsewhere.Thepriorityherehasbeento
explain policies towards the Catholic Church, and in the process to reintegrate
religiousfactorsintothestoryofthePolishRevolution.
IbegantheresearchthatledtothisbookwhileaBritishAcademyPostdoctoral
Fellowin theUniversity ofOxford. Mostof the bookwasresearched andwritten
duringsevenyearsatTheQueen’sUniversityofBelfast,whileitscompletionand
reductiontoamorereasonablesizehastakenplacesincemymovetotheSchoolof
SlavonicandEastEuropeanStudiesatUniversityCollegeLondon.Iamgratefulto
my colleagues for their encouragement, and for enabling me to take sabbatical
leave in 2002/3 and 2010/11. Generous support from the British Academy, the
Preface vii
PolishAcademy ofSciences, the Lithuanian Academy ofSciences, the RoyalIrish
Academy,theArtsandHumanitiesResearchBoard,WolfsonCollege,Oxford,The
Queen’s University of Belfast, the School of Slavonic and East European Studies,
UniversityCollegeLondon,andtheUniversityofLondonenabledmetospendthe
necessarytimeinarchivesandlibrariesoverseas.
For access to documents, and permission to quote them, I am grateful to His
HolinesstheBlessedJohnPaulIIandtoallthearchivesandlibrarieslistedinthe
bibliography.Ithankthe archivistsandlibrarians whohave,kindlyandpatiently,
providedmewithmuchassistanceovertheyears.
RuthParrhadthecouragetocommissionthisbookforOxfordUniversityPress,
and Stephanie Ireland has seen it through to publication. To them, all the
commissioning editors in between, who showed much forbearance, my copy-
editor, Joe Soave, my proof-reader, Ela Kotkowska, and my production editor,
Emma Barber, warm thanks. I have profited from the feedback I have received in
presenting my ideas at many seminars andconferences. I have incurred too many
individualdebtsofgratitudetonamethemall,butsomemustbesingledout.
Since enjoying the benefits of his supervision, I have been encouraged and
inspired, especially in questions of confession, nation, and language in Central
Europe, by Robert Evans. I owe much of my interest in the Enlightenment,
Catholicism, and Joseph II to Derek Beales, who commented on an earlier draft
of the introduction, to its advantage. Conversations with David Hayton, Séan
Connolly, and especially the late Peter Jupp helped me to work out the method-
ologyforpoliticalhistory.IsabeldeMadariagaandSimonDixonhaveunstintingly
shared their knowledge of Catherine the Great and her empire. Jerzy Lukowski,
who has generously encouraged and advised me for over two decades, heroically
read the original typescript, and made many invaluable observations and sug-
gestions as to how it might be improved and shortened. Thanks, too, to other
membersoftheconfraternityofhistoriansofPoland-LithuaniainGreatBritain—
especially Karin Friedrich, Robert Frost, Natalia Nowakowska, and Hubert
Zawadzki—for thought-provoking discussions. I have also benefited from the
insightsofmanyofmystudents.
My debts to scholars in the lands of the former Commonwealth are still more
numerous.IparticularlywishtothankUrszulaAugustyniak,AlmutBues,Jarosław
Czubaty, Martyna Deszczyńska, Dorota Dukwicz, Barbara Grochulska, Robertas
Jurgaitis, the late Łukasz Kądziela, Zigmantas Kiaupa, Jūratė Kiaupienė, Teresa
Kostkiewiczowa, Wojciech Kriegseisen, Stanisława and Krzysztof Link-Len-
czowscy, the late Stanisław Litak, Mariusz Markiewicz, the late Jerzy Michalski,
Kamil Paździor, Przemysław Romaniuk, Magdalena Ślusarska, Ramunė Šmigels-
kytė-Stukienė, Angela Sołtys, Piotr Ugniewski, Andrzej B. Zakrzewski, and Ewa
Zielińska. I am especially grateful to Anna Grześkowiak-Krwawicz and Zofia
Zielińska. I could not have completed this book without their encouragement,
knowledge, notes, inspiration, and comments, or without the challenge of the
viii Preface
highest standards of scholarship, which they maintain and expect. While all the
aforementioned scholars, and many others, have greatly contributed to whatever
maybeofvalueinthiswork,Iamsolelyresponsibleforitsremainingfaults.
Finally, I have the pleasure of thanking those who have helped me most
personally. Lynda and Ian have been the best of friends through times rough and
smooth.WiolettahasmademehappierthanIcouldpossiblyimagine.Iofferthis
book to my parents, without whose unfailing love and support I could not have
enjoyedtheprivilegeofresearchingandwritinghistory.
Poznań,11June2011.
Contents
Listoftables xii
Abbreviations xiii
Pronunciationguide xv
Anoteonterminologyandmeasures xvi
Maps xviii
Genealogicaltable xxii
Introduction 1
1 ThePolish-LithuanianCommonwealth 2
2 ThePolishRevolution,theCatholicChurch,andthehistorians 6
3 Decision-makinginarepublicanpolity 14
PARTI PLUNDER
1. TheCommonwealthandtheCatholicChurchin1788 27
1 ThebishopandbishopricofCracow 27
2 ThesejmiksofAugust1788 35
3 Theinstructionsof1788 41
4 Acomparisonwiththecahiersdedoléances 46
5 ‘Anillhumouragainsttheclergy’ 49
2. Therepublicanrevolution 52
1 Theinaugurationandconfederationofthesejm 52
2 ThearmyandtheMilitaryDepartment:13October–3
November1788 53
3 The‘public’inrevolutionaryWarsaw 57
4 CastingofftheRussianguarantee:5November1788–19
January1789 60
5 TheimplicationsfortheCatholicChurch 63
3. Thefirstwaveofecclesiasticalpolemics(tothesummerof1789) 65
1 Staszic,Nax,Kołłątaj 65
2 Ecclesiasticaltemporalitiesandpublicutility 70
3 Thepatrioticparadigm 77
4. Taxoroffering? 79
1 Theepiscopalresponsetothethreat 79
2 ‘WhoispoorerthantheFatherland?’12–16March1789 82
3 Disputesovertaxreductionsandexemptions:17–20March1789 90
4 Baitingtheprimate:19,23,and24March1789 92