Senat w czasie panowania Wazów – jego miejsce w systemie parlamentarnym Rzeczypospolitej

The article analyses selected problems pertaining to the Senate – the upper chamber in the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Two Nations during the reign of the Vasa dynasty (1587–1668). The author characterises the Senate by discussing nominations, numbers, and precedence of the senators. Moreover, he presents certain aspects associated with the role and activity of the senators in the course of the pre-Sejm campaign and during Sejm debates. While describing the work carried out by the Polish-Lithuanian Parliament the author draws attention to the less than imposing attendance, the significance of senatorial wota (opinions and commentaries of senators), and the positive impact exerted by the Senate in the final phase of the Sejm – the conclusion. Upon the basis of the conducted analyses it becomes obvious that the Senate performed, not only in the course of the debates held by the Sejm, several roles – that of a parliamentary estate, an ‘intermediary estate’, and a guardian of law.