Editing Voivode (section)

==== Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ====
In 16th-century Poland and Lithuania, the ''wojewoda'' was a civic role of senatorial rank and neither heritable nor a [[title of nobility]]. His powers and duties depended on his location. The least onerous role was in [[Ruthenian Voivodeship|Ruthenia]] while the most powerful ''wojewoda'' was in [[Royal Prussia]]. The role began in the [[crown land]]s as that of an administrative overseer, but his powers were largely ceremonial. Over time he became a representative in the local and national assemblies, the [[Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Sejm]]. His military functions were entirely reduced to supervising a [[mass mobilization]] and in practice he ended up as little more than overseer of weights and measures.

Appointments to the role were usually made until 1775 by the king. The exceptions were the voivodes of [[Polock Voivodeship|Polock]] and [[Vitebsk]] who were elected by a local poll of male electors for confirmation by the monarch. In 1791, it was decided to adopt the procedure throughout the country but the 18th-century [[Partitions of Poland]] put a stop to it.<ref>[[Volumina Legum]], [http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=66193 vol. 9, p. 251], art. 4.3.</ref> Polish voivodes were subject to the ''[[Incompatibilitas|Law of Incompatibility]]'' (1569) which prevented them from simultaneously holding ministerial or other civic offices in their area.<ref>{{cite book|title=Wojewoda – Elektroniczny słownik języka polskiego XVII i XVIII wieku|url=http://xvii-wiek.ijp-pan.krakow.pl/pan_klient/index.php?strona=haslo&id_hasla=13443|publisher=[[Polska Akademia Nauk]]|language=pl|access-date=5 April 2019|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714223042/http://xvii-wiek.ijp-pan.krakow.pl/pan_klient/index.php?strona=haslo&id_hasla=13443|url-status=dead}} Polish Online Dictionary of the Academy of Science</ref>