The last but one sejm under the rule of king Sigismund II Augustus. Sejm in Warsaw 1570.

This sejm was convened on 8 February 1570, at first to 16 April 1570. The pre-sejm sejmiks were held in March and April of 1570. Although the sejm began its session not until 29 April 1570. Stanisław Szarfaniec, castellan of Biecz, was elected the marshal. Despite emphasising in the king’s writs the problems of the Tatar raids, necessity to defend Livonia and dealing with issues, that were not finished at the previous sejm in Lublin in 1569, the proceedings were mainly dominated by religious matters, in relation to the agreement of various churches, signed before the sejm in Sandomierz. The people of various faiths, represented in sejm, tried to enforce the agreement conditions in a fomr of a sejm resolution, what was supposed to grant a religious peace. The king merely guaranteed that the people of other faith (other than Catholic) would not be brought to the court because of their beliefs. There was also a debate over king’s intent to divorce queen Catherine, because of the lack of descendants. Sejm did not agree to this idea, rejecting the proposal of a divorce in order for the king to enter a new marriage and give the nation a descendant. While it’s true that no resolutions were adopted, the set of laws being in force in Gdańsk (Danzig), later called after the bishop of Kujawy, who carried through registering them, the Karnkowski’s Statutes, was ratified. Moreover, the conscription universals were passed and the king was authorized to send wici [“wici”: in Polish tradition it was a medieval way of calling to arms]. The sejm finished proceedings on 11 July 1570.

See: J. Szujski, Diarjusze sejmów koronnych 1548, 1553 i 1570 [General sejm diaries in years 1548, 1553 and 1570] Kraków 1872, s. 113-160 J. Pirożyński, Sejm warszawski roku 1570 [Sejm in Warsaw in 1570], Kraków 1972; O. Halecki, Zgoda sandomierska 1570 r. Jej geneza i znaczenie w dziejach reformacyi polskiej za Zygmunta Augusta [Sandomierz agreement in 1570. Its origin, importance in the history of Polish reformation under the rule of Sigismund II Augustus], Warszawa 1915. Ustawodawstwo zob. Volumina Constitutionum, T. 2, cz. 1, Design and layout prepared by S. Grodziski, I. Dwornicka, W. Uruszczak, Warszawa 2005, s. 271-299.