Familia was the name of a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe 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 party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 led by the Czartoryski

Czartoryski

Czartoryski is the surname of a Polish-Ukrainian-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.-History:The Czartoryski is a family of a Grand Ducal...

 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 Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, his brother August Aleksander Czartoryski

August Aleksander Czartoryski

Prince 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 Ruthenia

Ruthenia

Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...

 (Rus

Rus' (people)

The Rus' were a group of Varangians . According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region , first to Northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik...

), and their brother-in-law (from 1720), Stanisław Poniatowski, Castellan

Castellan

A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...

 of Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

.

During the 1733 interregnum

Interregnum

An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...

, 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 Commonwealth

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

 undertaken at sejm

Sejm

The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....

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 Czartoryski 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 hetman

Hetman

Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....

s. Also, the liberum veto

Liberum veto

The liberum 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 any legislation that had already been passed at the session by shouting Nie pozwalam! .From the mid-16th to the late 18th...

 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 Confederation

Radom Confederation

Radom 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 Sejm

Repnin Sejm

The Repnin Sejm was a Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1767 and 1768 in Warsaw. This session followed the Sejms of 1764 to 1766, where the newly elected King of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, attempted with some successes to push through reforms to...

 abolished part of the recently introduced reforms.

After the First Partition of Poland

First Partition of Poland

The 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 Council

Permanent Council

The 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 Party

Patriotic Party

The Patriotic Party , also known as the Patriot Party or, in English, as the Reform Party, was a political movement in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the period of the Four-Year Sejm of 1788–92, whose chief achievement was the Constitution of 3 May 1791...

 worked for enactment of the May 3rd Constitution adopted in 1791.