Provoking a War: Polish Fake Documents in Warsaw’s 17th century Eastern Policy

Abstract

This paper addresses the use of fake documents in Rzeczpospolita’s 17th -century political discourse. The author discusses a variety of fake documents used at the time, including the following: the Sultan’s letters to the King of Rzeczpospolita, fake correspondence between the monarchs, the Sultan’s letters to the Polish gentry, and a set of false agreements related to the creation of a European Christian anti-Turkish coalition. Whomever they may have been addressed to, these documents must have had an impact on political life in the Polish-Lithuanian state and must have served to push Warsaw into war with the Ottoman Empire.