Reformation and Counterreformation Era of Liberty, 1652-1788






Poland : The Nobles' Republic



A.) The Noble's Republic

In 1493 King Jan Albrecht needed revenue for his planned expedition against the Turks. He called on a diet to assemble at Petrikau. consisting of noblemen, bishops, local administrators, royal counselors and castellans. The assembly, called SEJM, was to become an institution, Poland's parliament. It consisted of the country's nobility on one side and of the senate (the king's counselors, including bishops etc.). In contrast to other contemporary diets, Poland had no estates of the clergy and of the 3rd estate (= the cities).
In 1505, the DIET OF RADOM decided on the principle that laws relating to Poland's nobility could only be passed by the diet. Thus, the Rzescpospolita Polska, the NOBLE'S REPUBLIC OF POLAND, was established.
Under Kings Sigismund I (1506-1548) and Sigismund II. (1548-1572) Poland enjoyed decades of peace and prosperity. The country was Europe's leading exporter of grain. Some call it Poland's GOLDEN AGE.
The last Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Albrecht of Brandenburg, in 1525 transferred the Order's remaining territory into a Duchy and accepted it as a fief from King Sigismund I. In 1561, the Estates of Livonia asked for Polish protection (against Russian incursions). Both territories, the Duchy in Prussia and Livonia (as well as the Duchy of Courland, which separated from Livonia) were nominally part of Poland, but continued to enjoy a high degree of autonomy.


B.) The Union of Lublin

In 1569 both the diets of POLAND and of LITHUANIA met at Lublin. The diet established the UNION OF LUBLIN, merging both diets into one. However, separate administrations, finances, armies and laws were maintained. As a result of intermarriage, Lithuania's nobility over the decades was Polonized. Poland-Lithuania's nobility regarded it's GOLDEN LIBERTY, i.e. it's accumulated privileges, as it's highest good. The Jagiellonian dynasty ended with Sigismund II.; Poland turned into an ELECTIVE KINGDOM. The Sejm demanded the king, before his coronation, to guarantee their inherited privileges. Further conditions were Catholic confession and residence in Poland's capital, Cracow.


C.) Foreign Policy, 1580-1617

Over the 15th and 16th century, Poland had extended it's territory toward the Baltic sea. The Estates of (West) Prussia had accepted Polish sovereignty in 1454, the Duchy in Prussia in 1525, the Estates of Livonia in 1561, the Duchy of Courland in 1561, the city of Riga in 1582. West Prussia was integrated into Poland within a century, providing the crucial link to the sea. The other areas, including the cities of Danzig, Thorn and Elbing (Parts of West Prussia) remained autonomous and essentially German in character, and turned protestant while Poland after the counterreformation was staunchly catholic. They had become Polish because the prospects of preserving their autonomy and identity had been best under a Polish king.
Estonia, for centuries part of Livonia, had opted for the King of Sweden as their protector; stretches of western Estonia had become Danish. In Livonia there was a desire for reuniting Estonia with Livonia and Poland's new King, Sigismund III. Wasa, designated successor to Sweden's throne, on the occasion of his coronation (1587) promised to reunify (Swedish) Estonia with Livonia and place it under Polish sovereignty. In 1592 his father died, and Sigismund was also crowned King of Sweden. He delivered on his promise, ceding Estonia to Poland in 1600. Sigismund's position as King of Sweden was everything but secure. He was a Catholic King of a Lutheran country, and the Swedes, fearing that he might call in the Jesuits, deposed him the same year (1600). The cession of Estonia was never realized. The Swedes elected another Wasa king, a Lutheran, of course. But Sigismund, who continued to rule in Poland, never gave up his claim on Sweden's throne. From now on, Poland and Sweden were archenemies.
In Russia, Czar IVAN THE TERRIBLE had died in 1584. Russia under him had been a threat to it's neighbours; now it was in a state of confusion. There were those pretending to be Ivan's (deceased) son Demetrius, and Russia's BOJARS (nobility) formed factions supporting various candidates. The two false Demetrii called in Polish noblemen for help; another candidate for the throne, WASSILY SHUISKY, called the Swedes in for help. Now a faction of the Bojars offered the crown to Wladislav, son of King Sigismund III. The Polish army defeated the Swedes and their allies, and entered Moscow in triumph (1610). However, Sigismund claimed the Czar's crown for himself. Russia's Bojars demanded him to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church and to move his residence to Moscow. Sigismund, a staunch Catholic, did not want to givbe in on these points. In 1612, the Poles were expelled by a national Russian revolt; the Russians crowned Michael Romanow Czar. In 1619, Russia and Poland signed the PEACE OF DEULINO, in which Poland recognized the new Russian dynasty, Russia ceded the territories of Smolensk, Severia, Chernigov and other stretches previously Lithuanian. In 1634, Wladislav renounced his claim to Russia's throne.

Between 1592 and 1600 there had been a DYNASTIC UNION between Poland and Sweden. Between 1610 and 1612 there had been an even shorter opportunity to establish another Dynastic Union uniting Poland-Lithuania and Russia. Both failed because the question of confession could not be resolved. If Poland had stuck to it's pre-Counterreformation policy of TOLERANCE, history might have followed a different path.
Late in the 16th century, VODKA was produced in large quantities (from rye), and it would become a major export item.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Censorship in Poland : From the Beginning to the Enlightenment, excerpt from Derek Jones, Censorship : A World Encyclopedia
Polish Socinians, by Marian Hillar
DOCUMENTS Medal of King Sigismund III. Vasa and the Battle of Smolensk, from KHM 1611
Sigismund August, King of Poland, Privilege, 1563, from Treasures from Europe's National Libraris
Le Traite de paix polono-ukrainien de Zboriv, 18 aout 1649, from cliotexte, in French
Polish Coins, from Athina S.A., a commercial site, many illustrations of Polish coins 1506ff
History of Vodka, its origin, name and distilling in Poland, from Polish Vdkas
REFERENCE Enno Meyer, Grundzüge der Geschichte Polens (Main Features of Polish History), Darmstadt : Wissenschaftliche Buchgemeinschaft 1977


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on July 27th 2006

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