e. the
titled nobility, and the principal ministers of the king. It was thus
in some measure the organ of the government and of the clergy, in
opposition to the national representatives or the mass of the
nobility. This body was not established until towards the close of the
fifteenth century. Before 1466-70, every nobleman who chose, made his
personal appearance in the senate at the summons of the king; but
Casimir, the son of Jagello, in his frequent want of money and men,
repeated these summons so often, that the nobility found personal
appearance inconvenient, and selected in their provincial conventions
_nuntii_, to represent the nation, or rather the nobility; without
however giving up the right of personal attendance. The _nuntii_,
whose number was not fixed, were bound to appear, had the right to
grant or to refuse duties, and to act as the advisers of the king. In
1505 the law was passed, that without their consent the constitution
could not be changed. At the diet in A.D. 1652 it occurred for the
first time, that a single _nuntius_ opposed and annulled by his
_liberum veto_ the united resolutions of the whole convention. On this
example a regular right was very soon founded and acknowledged.
Deputies of cities were occasionally invited to the diet, but only in
extraordinary cases.
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