Radom Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja radomska, lt, Radomo konfederacija) was a konfederacja of nobility (''

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...

'') in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

formed in

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...

on 23 June 1767 to prevent reforms and defend the ''

Golden Liberties Golden Liberty ( la, Aurea Libertas; pl, Złota Wolność, lt, Auksinė laisvė), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( pl, Rzeczpospolita szlachta, Szlachecka or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') w ...

''. It was formed by Russian envoy to Poland

Nicholas Repnin Prince Nikolai Vasilyevich Repnin (russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич Репни́н; – ) was an Imperial Russian statesman and general from the Repnin princely family who played a key role in the dissolution of the Polish–Lit ...

and backed by the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian A ...

Aleksander Kraushar, Książę Repnin i Polska, Warsaw 1900 t. I , p. 288-317. as a response of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

nobility to the earlier

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

confederations of

Slutzk Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population is ...

and

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

, approximately 74,000 nobles declared their support for Radom Confederation. The marshal of the confederation was Karol Stanisław "Panie Kochanku" Radziwiłł, another leader was the

primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Gabriel Podoski Gabriel Podoski was one of the Polish nobles in Russian service and supported their position. He was one of the leaders of the Radom Confederation, a supporter of the cardinal laws and a supporter of August III of Poland, opponent of king Stanis� ...

, but in fact the real leader was Russian ambassador

, who was also responsible for forming the Protestant and Orthodox confederations. On his insistence the Confederates had to make peace with

Polish king Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

, pro-Russian

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...

, and send an envoy to the Russian

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the te ...

ina, Catherine the Great, asking her to protect the freedoms of the

Rzeczpospolita () is the official name of Poland and a traditional name for some of its predecessor states. It is a compound of "thing, matter" and "common", a calque of Latin ''rés pública'' ( "thing" + "public, common"), i.e. '' republic'', in Engl ...

(Commonwealth). He stirred the internat unrest in Poland in order to increase Russian control over Poland. After the 1767

Repnin Sejm The Repnin Sejm ( pl, Sejm Repninowski) was a General sejm, Sejm (session of the parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1767 and 1768 in Warsaw. This session followed the Convocation Sejm (1764), Sejms of 1764 ...

, where Repnin ''de facto'' dictated the legislation (

Cardinal Laws The Cardinal Laws ( pl, Prawa kardynalne) were a quasi-constitution enacted in Warsaw, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, by the Repnin Sejm of 1767–68. Enshrining most of the conservative laws responsible for the inefficient functioning of the Com ...

) the Polish parliament (Sejm), Russian control over Poland became much stronger.

References

1767 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish confederations Poland–Russia relations {{Lithuania-hist-stub

See also

References