Polish-Lithuanian Sejm
ANNA KALINOWSKA: So far, yet so close. English newsbooks and the Polish-Lithuanian Sejm
Chair: Aled Gruffydd Jones
The emergence of the periodical press in England was closely linked to Parliament, as the first newsbooks in the early 1640s focused on reporting events in Westminster when Parliament became a key institution in the country’s political life. When the editors expanded the scope of coverage to include foreign news, Poland-Lithuania and its Sejm became regular subjects of reports and comments for newsbook readers. In my presentation, I will discuss the most important elements of the coverage of the Polish-Lithuanian parliamentary system, with a particular focus on the legal aspects of its functioning and the manner in which news about the Sejm was contextualised within the domestic political landscape. Despite the geographical distance and the multitude of differences between the two countries, it is clear that the Polish-Lithuanian reality was well known to both the newsbook editors and their readership, and constituted a point of reference in the domestic political discourse that was so prominent at the time.
Anna Kalinowska
Anna Kalinowska is a Senior Researcher in the Institute of History at the Polish Academy of Sciences and Head of Publications at the Polish History Museum, as well as former Head of Historical Research at the Royal Castle, all in Warsaw. Her research interests are centred on the area of early modern diplomacy and news in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and in Western Europe, with a particular emphasis on newspapers. She is one of the organisers of the ‘Splendid Encounters’ conference series and a grantee of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the US State Department (Fulbright Program). Most recently, she was also a Fernand Braudel Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence.