Familia ("The Family", from the Roman
familia) was the name of a
PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
political partyA political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns...
led by the
CzartoryskiCzartoryski is the surname of a Polish-Lithuanian magnate family also known as the Familia. They used the Czartoryski Coat of arms and were the leading noble family of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century....
magnates and families allied with them, and formed toward the end of the reign of King August II (reigned 1697–1706, 1709–1733). The Familia's principal leaders were Michał Fryderyk Czartoryski, Great Chancellor of
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
, his brother
August Aleksander CzartoryskiPrince August Aleksander Czartoryski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble , magnate, and founder of the family fortune.August became Major-General of the Polish Army in 1729, voivode of the Ruthenian Voivodship in 1731, General Starost of Podolia in 1750–1758, and a Knight of Malta...
, voivode of
RutheniaRuthenia is a geographic and culturo-ethnic name applied to the parts of Eastern Europe populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to the past various states that existed in these territories. Essentially, the word is a Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
(
RusThe Rus' were the historic population of the medieval Rus' Khaganate and Kievan Rus'.One of the earliest written sources mentioning the people called Rus in the form of Rhos dates back to year 839 AD in a Royal Frankish chronicle Annales Bertiniani, identified as a Germanic tribe called Swedes...
), and their brother-in-law (from 1720), Stanisław Poniatowski,
CastellanA castellan was the governor or caretaker of a castle or keep. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle".-Duties:...
of
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
.
During the 1733
interregnumAn interregnum is a period of discontinuity of a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next , and the concepts of interregnum and regency therefore overlap...
, the Familia supported Stanisław Leszczyński for king, then reconciled with August III (reigned 1733–1763) and became a party of the royal court.
Familia ("The Family", from the Roman
familia) was the name of a
PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
political partyA political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns...
led by the
CzartoryskiCzartoryski is the surname of a Polish-Lithuanian magnate family also known as the Familia. They used the Czartoryski Coat of arms and were the leading noble family of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century....
magnates and families allied with them, and formed toward the end of the reign of King August II (reigned 1697–1706, 1709–1733). The Familia's principal leaders were Michał Fryderyk Czartoryski, Great Chancellor of
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
, his brother
August Aleksander CzartoryskiPrince August Aleksander Czartoryski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble , magnate, and founder of the family fortune.August became Major-General of the Polish Army in 1729, voivode of the Ruthenian Voivodship in 1731, General Starost of Podolia in 1750–1758, and a Knight of Malta...
, voivode of
RutheniaRuthenia is a geographic and culturo-ethnic name applied to the parts of Eastern Europe populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to the past various states that existed in these territories. Essentially, the word is a Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
(
RusThe Rus' were the historic population of the medieval Rus' Khaganate and Kievan Rus'.One of the earliest written sources mentioning the people called Rus in the form of Rhos dates back to year 839 AD in a Royal Frankish chronicle Annales Bertiniani, identified as a Germanic tribe called Swedes...
), and their brother-in-law (from 1720), Stanisław Poniatowski,
CastellanA castellan was the governor or caretaker of a castle or keep. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle".-Duties:...
of
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
.
During the 1733
interregnumAn interregnum is a period of discontinuity of a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next , and the concepts of interregnum and regency therefore overlap...
, the Familia supported Stanisław Leszczyński for king, then reconciled with August III (reigned 1733–1763) and became a party of the royal court. Following unsuccessful attempts at reforming the
Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
undertaken at
sejmThe Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. Each member of Sejm is called Poseł.Before the 20th century, the term "Sejm" referred to the entire three-chamber Polish parliament, comprising the lower house , the upper house and the King. It was commonly termed a three-estate parliament...
s between 1744 and 1750, the Familia distanced itself from the royal court. In foreign affairs, they represented a pro-Russian orientation.
During the 1763–1764 interregnum, armed Russian intervention allowed the Familia to overcome their opponents. When in 1764
Adam Kazimierz CzartoryskiPrince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble, writer, literary and theater critic, and statesman.-Life:He was the son of Prince August Aleksander Czartoryski, voivode of the Ruthenian Voivodship, and Maria Zofia Sieniawska...
declined to seek the throne, the Czartoryskis agreed to the election, as king, of their kinsman, Stanisław August Poniatowski, one-time lover of Russian Empress Catherine II (the Great). In this period the Familia partially enacted their program of reforms, including the creation of treasury and military commissions limiting the power of treasurers and
hetmanHetman was the title of the second highest military commander used in 15th to 18th century Poland, Ukraine and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, known from 1569 to 1795 as the Rzeczpospolita....
s. Also, the
liberum vetoLiberum veto was a parliamentary device in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It allowed any member of the Sejm to force an immediate end to the current session and nullify all legislation already passed at it by shouting Nie pozwalam! .From the mid-sixteenth to the late eighteenth century, the...
was suspended. Further reforms, however, were blocked by Russia and Prussia; and conservative opponents of the Familia and the King, backed by Russia's Catherine II, in 1767 formed the
Radom ConfederationRadom Confederation was a konfederacja of nobility in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth formed in Radom on 23 June 1767 to prevent reforms and defend the Golden Liberties...
and at the infamous
Repnin SejmThe Repnin Sejm was a Sejm that took place from 1767 to 1768 in Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This Sejm was a response to the Sejms of 1764 to 1766, where the newly elected king of Poland, Stanislaw II Poniatowski, attempted with some successes to push through reforms to strengthen the...
abolished part of the recently introduced reforms.
After the
First Partition of PolandThe First Partition of Poland or First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. Growth in the Russian Empire's power, threatening the Kingdom of Prussia and the...
(February 17, 1772), the Familia became the core of magnate opposition to the King and the
Permanent CouncilThe Permanent Council was the highest administrative authority in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1775 and 1789 and the first modern government in Europe...
, while seeking support in Austria, only to shift in 1788 to a pro-Prussian stance. At the Four-Year Sejm (1788–1792), it was only in 1790 that Familia representatives, including Ignacy Potocki, effected a rapprochement with the King and his party, and together with him and the
Patriotic PartyPatriotic Party was a Polish political movement during the Four-Year Sejm of 1788-1792 that sought reforms aimed at bolstering Poland's independence from Russia. The Patriotic Party worked to abolish the magnate- and Russian-dominated Permanent Council and enlarge the Polish Army...
worked for enactment of the May 3rd Constitution adopted in 1791.