The Fate of Polish Soldiers During the Napoleonic Era in Light of Sermons and Speeches from the Period of the Duchy of Warsaw and the Kingdom of Poland

Abstract

In the years 1696-1700, the nuncio in the Commonwealth was Giovanni Antonio Davia, later a cardinal. During his mission there were a number of complicated internal and external problems that plagued the Commonwealth: Turkish wars, relations between Catholics and infidels in Poland, and the political conflicts in Lithuania that ended in civil war. One of the most interesting topics is that of the possible participation of Giovanni Antonio Davia in the election of King Frederic Augustus Wettyn of Poland, whose reign had such terrible consequences for the Commonwealth. Davia was accused of supporting the Saxon candidacy by French diplomats and their supporters in Poland, because he owed the Saxon elector for the release of his nephew Giovanni Battista from Turkish captivity, which the Davia family sought. There is no direct evidence of the nuncio breaking the neutrality of the election, and only the accusations of Wettyn's opponents remain.