The official career of Chodecki’s brothers in the Ruthenian lands of the Crown of the Kingdom Poland in the middle of 15th — the first third of the 16th centuries

Abstract

The article is devoted to the members of the family of Chodecki and their official career in the Ruthenian lands of the Kingdom of Poland (the Ruthenian and the Podolian voivodeships) in the second half of the 15th till the first third of the 16th centuries. Since the crown law was spread in the 30s of the 14th century on to the Rus’ lands as an equal part of the Polish Crown, the local noble communities were getting adapted to the succeeding legal norms. According to the new-created administrative-territorial units as an Ruthenian and Podolian voivodeships in 1434, the process of implementing the local political elites into the structure of the official hierarchy, which was different from the structure in the Greater or Lesser Poland, has been increasingly commenced. In this case, the analysis of the official career of the nobles, the Chodecki brothers, in particular, give us a whole view of the number of their offices, what position they had in all hierarchy and how much it was highly respected among the nobility. The article presents the factors which determined the election for the brother’s offices of Voivode of Ruthenian voivodeship and Grand Marshal of the Crown and the issue which was connected with the advancement of their official careers. It also shows the social position and financial status of Chodecki’s family as well as their affiliation with a particular group of the nobles. Additionally, attention was drawn to the significant differences between the analyzed years of centuries regarding the course of brother’s official careers which they have held during the reign of the following Kings.