Kazimierz Karwowski (c. 1670 – 12 May 1746) of Pniejnia was a Polish noble and politician. He was

marshal of the Sejm The Marshal of the Sejm (, ) is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th century. In modern Poland, the full title is Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (). ...

in 1740, a deputy to the

Crown Tribunal The Crown Tribunal (, ) was the highest appellate court in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland for most cases. Exceptions were if a noble landowner was threatened with loss of life and/or property, when he could appeal to the Sejm court (Parliament ...

cześnik A cup-bearer was historically an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty was to pour and serve the drinks at the royal table. On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues (such as poisoning), a person had to be regarded as thor ...

Wizna Wizna is a village in Łomża County of Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, situated on the Narew River. Wizna is known for the battle of Wizna which took place in its vicinity during the 1939 Invasion of Poland at the start of World ...

from 1703,

stolnik Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term wikt:pantler, "pantler". S ...

, łowczy and pisarz of Bielsk, podstarości, podstoli and sędzia grodzki (judge) of

Brańsk Brańsk (Podlachian language: ''Бранськ, Branśk'', , ) is a town in eastern Poland. It is situated within Podlaskie Voivodeship (province). Etymology The name of the town comes from the river Bronka, a nearby tributary of the Nurzec River ...

. He is best known as an advocate of reform, and as a deputy elected to the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

(parliament) of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

a record number of times over his four decades as a Sejm deputy.

Biography

He was the firth son of Wojciech Karwowski and Aleksandra Ciszewska. He was married to Regina Sopockowna. They had three sons, Paweł Karwowski. He was well educated and versed in law, history and languages. Combined with his renowned command of the

Latin language Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, he was known as ''Civis et consul Polonus''. He was first elected as a

deputy in 1701. During the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

he was loyal to

Augustus II of Poland Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

, and was member of the negotiations in

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

(November 1702) and

Malbork Malbork (German: ''Marienburg'') is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has a population of 36,709 people as of 2024. The town is located on the Nogat river, in the historical region of Pomerelia. Fo ...

(March–May 1703). In the subsequent years he was elected as a deputy to

at least 27 times, which is a record number in the history of the

. He was known as a good speaker and debater. In 1710 he participated in the General Council of Warsaw and joined the

Sandomierz Confederation The Sandomierz Confederation was an anti- Swedish confederation, formed on 20 May 1704 in defense of the King of Poland, August II the Strong. It was formed in reaction to the Warsaw Confederation, and its marshal was Stanisław Ernest Denhoff. T ...

. In 1714 he was elected as one of the judges in the

. The following year, he received the judge office in

. On the political scene, he was aligned with the magnate family of

Sapieha The House of Sapieha (; ; ; ) is a Polish-Lithuanian noble and magnate family of Ruthenian origin,Энцыклапедыя ВКЛ. Т.2, арт. "Сапегі" descending from the medieval boyars of Smolensk and Polotsk. Vernadsky, George. ...

s as well as with

Jan Klemens Branicki Count Jan Klemens Branicki (also known as Jan Kazimierz Branicki; 21 September 1689 – 9 October 1771) was a Polish nobleman, magnate and Hetman, Field Crown Hetman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1735 and 1752, and Great Cro ...

. He was involved in numerous legislation attempts, and repeatedly advocated reforms of Sejm procedures. Most notably, he advocated limitations of the use of the procedure of

liberum veto The ''liberum veto'' (Latin for "free veto") was a parliamentary device in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a form of unanimity voting rule that allowed any member of the Sejm (legislature) to force an immediate end to the current s ...

: the right for parliament members to veto the entire legislative session, which is now seen as disastrous, but in his era was a nearly sacrosanct part of the

Golden Freedom Golden Liberty (; , ), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a political system in the Kingdom of Poland and, after the Union of Lublin (1569), in the Polish ...

of the Commonwealth nobility. To bypass the Sejms dissolved in 1729, 1730 and 1732 he argued that a

confederated sejm Confederated sejm () was a form of sejm in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century. After 1764, sejms were frequently ''confederated''. Under rules of confederation, decisions were made by the majority of deputy votes cast, and s ...

should be convened. He was also involved in the legislation forming the first permanent salaries for the Sejm deputies, reforming taxation, army's budget, and fleshing out the legislation of the Crown Tribunal. During his last Sejm of 1740 he was elected the

Sejm Marshal The Marshal of the Sejm (, ) is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th century. In modern Poland, the full title is Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (). ...

; that sejm was one of many that was eventually disrupted by the liberum veto.

Notes

* Jędruch is not consistent with regards to the number of times Karwowski was elected. On p. 154, he states "no less than 26 times", yet on p. 194, he states "no less than 27 times". Niesiecki and Bobrowicz cite 27 times.

References

External links

*
Kazimierz Karwowski z Karwowa h. Pniejnia (Cwaliny)
M.J. Minakowski, Wielka Genealogia Minakowskiego {{DEFAULTSORT:Karwowski, Kazimierz 1670s births 1746 deaths Polish nobility Polish politicians