Execution movement

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The Execution(ist) Movement (Polish language: "Ruch egzekucyjny"; also "egzekucja praw," "execution of the laws," "egzekucja dóbr," "execution of lands," "popularyści," "popularists," "zamoyszczycy," "Zamoyskiites") was a 16th-century political movement of lesser and middle nobility (szlachta) in the Kingdom of Poland and, later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The movement's goal was to reform the country, increasing the power of the lesser and middle nobility so as to dominate the parliament (Sejm) at the expense of the higher nobility (the magnates), the priesthood and to a lesser extent, the monarch. The Executionist Movement succeeded in implementing some of its demands. However, in the early 17th century it declined and lost power before having attained most of its goals. The latter are largely viewed by modern historians as having been potentially salutary, had they been implemented.

The movement's leaders were Chancellor Jan Zamoyski and Sejm politicians Rafał Leszczyński, Hieronim Ossoliński, Jakub Ostroróg, Jan Ponętowski and Mikołaj Sienicki. Parts of the movement's program received the support of philisophers such as Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski and Jan Łaski or writers like Augustinus Rotundus.

The Execution Movement's demands included:

respect for sejmik constitutions (legal acts), and codification of the laws (hence, "execution of the laws");
return of crown lands ("królewszczyzny"), often illegally held by magnates, to the king (hence, "execution of lands");
respect for the Incompatibilitas law (1504), specifying that some Offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth might not be held together by one person; and for the residence rule, which stipulated that certain district offices might be held only by a person who maintained a residence in that district (territory, county);
increasing the power of the Sejm (parliament); thus, the law of Nihil novi