Military Wiki
in: Pages containing cite templates with deprecated parameters, All articles with dead external links, Articles with dead external links from December 2017,
and 46 more

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Sign in to edit
Not to be confused with Second Polish Republic.

Coordinates: 50°03′N 19°56′E / 50.05°N 19.933°E / 50.05; 19.933

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

1569–1795[1]
Flag of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Royal Banner (c. 1605)
Royal Coat of arms of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Royal Coat of arms
Motto: 
  • "Si Deus nobiscum quis contra nos"
    "If God is with us, then who is against us"
  • "Pro Fide, Lege et Rege"[note 1]
    "For Faith, Law and King"
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (green) with vassal states (light green) at their peak in 1619
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (green) with vassal states (light green) at their peak in 1619
Capital
  • Kraków[2] (1569–1793)
  • Warsaw[2][b] (1793–1795)

(de jure)

  • Kraków[2] (1569–1596)
  • Warsaw[2][b] (1596–1795)
(de facto)
Common languages

Official:
Polish and Latin

Religion

Official:
Roman Catholicism

Government
  • Parliamentary monarchy[3][4] with hereditary monarch at the top of the state
    (1569–1572)
  • Parliamentary monarchy[3][4] with elective monarch at the top of the state[5]
    (1573–1791; 1792–1795)
  • Constitutional-parliamentary monarchy[6]
    (1791–1792)
King / Grand Duke  
• 1569–1572
Sigismund II Augustus (first)
• 1764–1795
Stanisław August Poniatowski (last)
Legislature General sejm
• Privy council
 Senate
Historical era Early modern period
1 July 1569
• 1st Partition
5 August 1772
3 May 1791
• 2nd Partition
23 January 1793[1]
• 3rd Partition
24 October 1795[1]
Area
1582 815,000[7] km2 (315,000 sq mi)
1618 1,000,000[8][9] km2 (390,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1582
~8,000,000[7]
• 1618
~12,000,000
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Kingdom of Poland
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Russian Empire
Kingdom of Prussia

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, after 1791, the Commonwealth of Poland, was a country and bi-federation[10] of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was one of the largest[11][12] and most populous countries of 16th to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost 1,000,000 square kilometres (400,000 sq mi)[13][14] and as of 1618 sustained a multi-ethnic population of almost 12 million.[15][16] Polish and Latin were the two co-official languages.

The Commonwealth was established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569, but the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had been in a de facto personal union since 1386 with the marriage of the Polish queen Hedwig and Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila, who was crowned King jure uxoris Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland. The First Partition in 1772 and the Second Partition in 1793 greatly reduced the state's size and the Commonwealth was partitioned out of existence with the Third Partition in 1795.

The Union possessed many features unique among contemporary states. Its political system was characterized by strict checks upon monarchical power. These checks were enacted by a legislature (sejm) controlled by the nobility (szlachta). This idiosyncratic system was a precursor to modern concepts of democracy,[17] as of 1791 constitutional monarchy,[18][19][20] and federation.[21] Although the two component states of the Commonwealth were formally equal, Poland was the dominant partner in the union.[22]

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was marked by high levels of ethnic diversity and by relative religious tolerance, guaranteed by the Warsaw Confederation Act 1573;[23][24][lower-alpha 1] however, the degree of religious freedom varied over time.[25] The Constitution of 1791 acknowledged Catholicism as the "dominant religion", unlike the Warsaw Confederation, but freedom of religion was still granted with it.[20]

After several decades of prosperity,[26][27][28] it entered a period of protracted political,[20][29] military and economic[30] decline. Its growing weakness led to its partitioning among its neighbors (Austria, Prussia and Russia) during the late 18th century. Shortly before its demise, the Commonwealth adopted a massive reform effort and enacted the 3 May Constitution – the first codified constitution in modern European history and the second in modern world history (after the United States Constitution).[31][32][33][34][35]

Name[]

The official name of the state was the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Polish language: Królestwo Polskie i Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie , Lithuanian language: Lenkijos Karalystė ir Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė , Latin language: Regnum Poloniae Magnusque Ducatus Lithuaniae) and the Latin term was usually used in international treaties and diplomacy.[36]

In the 17th century and later it was also known as the 'Most Serene Commonwealth of Poland' (Polish language: Najjaśniejsza Rzeczpospolita Polska , Latin language: Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae),[37] the Commonwealth of the Polish Kingdom,[38] or the Commonwealth of Poland.[39]

Western Europeans often simplified the name to 'Poland' and in most past and modern sources it is referred to as the Kingdom of Poland, or just Poland.[36][40][41] The terms 'Commonwealth of Poland' and 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' (Polish language: Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów , Latin language: Res Publica Utriusque Nationis) were used in the Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations.[42] The English term Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and German Polen-Litauen are seen as renderings of the 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' variant.[36]

Other informal names include the 'Republic of Nobles' (Polish language: Rzeczpospolita szlachecka ) and the 'First Commonwealth' (Polish language: I Rzeczpospolita ), the latter relatively common in historiography to distinguish it from the Second Polish Republic.

History[]

Main articles: History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648), (1648–1764), and (1764–1795)
Unia Lubelska 1569 r.

The Union of Lublin joined the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569.

Poland and Lithuania underwent an alternating series of wars and alliances during the 14th century and early 15th century. Several agreements between the two (the Union of Kraków and Vilna, the Union of Krewo, the Union of Wilno and Radom, the Union of Grodno, and the Union of Horodło) were struck before the permanent 1569 Union of Lublin. This agreement was one of the signal achievements of Sigismund II Augustus, the last monarch of the Jagiellon dynasty. Sigismund believed he could preserve his dynasty by adopting elective monarchy. His death in 1572 was followed by a three-year interregnum during which adjustments were made to the constitutional system; these adjustments significantly increased the power of the Polish nobility and established a truly elective monarchy.[43]

The Commonwealth reached its Golden Age in the early 17th century. Its powerful parliament was dominated by nobles (Pic. 2) who were reluctant to get involved in the Thirty Years' War; this neutrality spared the country from the ravages of a political-religious conflict that devastated most of contemporary Europe. The Commonwealth was able to hold its own against Sweden, the Tsardom of Russia, and vassals of the Ottoman Empire, and even launched successful expansionist offensives against its neighbors. In several invasions during the Time of Troubles, Commonwealth troops entered Russia and managed to take Moscow and hold it from 27 September 1610 to 4 November 1612, when they were driven out after a siege.[citation needed]

<div class="thumb tright" style="width: Expression error: Unexpected < operator.px; ">

The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1526
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1582

Commonwealth power began waning after a series of blows during the following decades. A major rebellion of Ukrainian Cossacks in the southeastern portion of the Commonwealth (the Khmelnytskyi Uprising in modern-day Ukraine) began in 1648. It resulted in a Ukrainian request, under the terms of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, for protection by the Russian Tsar.[44] Russian annexation of part of Ukraine gradually supplanted Polish influence. The other blow to the Commonwealth was a Swedish invasion in 1655, known as the Deluge, which was supported by troops of Transylvanian Duke George II Rákóczi and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. The Tatars of the Crimean Khanate and the Nogai Horde conducted almost annual slave-raids in the eastern territories controlled by the Commonwealth.[45][46]

In the late 17th century, the king of the weakened Commonwealth, John III Sobieski, allied with Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I to deal crushing defeats to the Ottoman Empire. In 1683, the Battle of Vienna marked the final turning point in the 250-year struggle between the forces of Christian Europe and the Islamic Ottomans. For its centuries-long opposition to Muslim advances, the Commonwealth would gain the name of Antemurale Christianitatis (bulwark of Christianity).[21][47] During the next 16 years, the Great Turkish War would drive the Turks permanently south of the Danube River, never again to threaten central Europe.[48]

By the 18th century, destabilization of its political system brought Poland to the brink of civil war. The Commonwealth was facing many internal problems and was vulnerable to foreign influences. An outright war between the King and the nobility broke out in 1715, and Tsar Peter the Great's mediation put him in a position to further weaken the state.[49] The Russian army was present at the Silent Sejm of 1717, which limited the size of the armed forces to 24,000 and specified its funding, reaffirmed the destabilizing practice of liberum veto, and banished the king's Saxon army; the Tsar was to serve as guarantor of the agreement.[49] Western Europe's increasing exploitation of resources in the Americas rendered the Commonwealth's supplies less crucial.[50]

In 1764, nobleman Stanisław August Poniatowski was elected monarch with the connivance and support of his former lover Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia.[51] By 1768, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth started to be considered by Russians as the protectorate of the Russian Empire (despite the fact that it was officially still an independent state).[52][53] A majority of control over Poland was central to Catherine's diplomatic and military strategies.[54] Attempts at reform, such as the Four-Year Sejm's May Constitution, came too late. The country was partitioned in three stages by the neighbouring Russian Empire, the German Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Monarchy. By 1795, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania were not re-established as independent countries until 1918.[55]

State organization and politics[]

See also: Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Golden Liberty[]

Main article: Golden Liberty
Potęga Rzeczypospolitej u zenitu. Złota wolność. Elekcja R.P. 1573

The Republic at the Zenith of Its Power, the Royal Election of 1573

The political doctrine of the Commonwealth was our state is a republic under the presidency of the King. Chancellor Jan Zamoyski summed up this doctrine when he said that Rex regnat et non-gubernat ("The King reigns but [lit. 'and'] does not govern").[56] The Commonwealth had a parliament, the Sejm, as well as a Senat and an elected king (Pic. 1). The king was obliged to respect citizens' rights specified in King Henry's Articles as well as in pacta conventa, negotiated at the time of his election.[citation needed]

The monarch's power was limited in favor of a sizable noble class. Each new king had to pledge to uphold the Henrician Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included near-unprecedented guarantees of religious tolerance). Over time, the Henrician Articles were merged with the pacta conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect. From that point onwards, the king was effectively a partner with the noble class and was constantly supervised by a group of senators. The Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones).[citation needed]

The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the "Golden Liberty" (Latin language: Aurea Libertas or Polish language: Złota Wolność , a term used from 1573 on), included:

  • election of the king by all nobles wishing to participate, known as wolna elekcja (free election);
  • Sejm, the Commonwealth parliament which the king was required to hold every two years;
  • pacta conventa (Latin), "agreed-to agreements" negotiated with the king-elect, including a bill of rights, binding on the king, derived from the earlier Henrician Articles.
  • religious freedom guaranteed by Warsaw Confederation Act 1573,[23][page needed]
  • rokosz (insurrection), the right of szlachta to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated their guaranteed freedoms;
  • liberum veto (Latin), the right of an individual Sejm deputy to oppose a decision by the majority in a Sejm session; the voicing of such a "free veto" nullified all the legislation that had been passed at that session; during the crisis of the second half of the 17th century, Polish nobles could also use the liberum veto in provincial sejmiks;
  • konfederacja (from the Latin confederatio), the right to form an organization to force through a common political aim.

The three regions (see below) of the Commonwealth enjoyed a degree of autonomy.[57][page needed] Each voivodship had its own parliament (sejmik), which exercised serious political power, including choice of poseł (deputy) to the national Sejm and charging of the deputy with specific voting instructions. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had its own separate army, treasury and most other official institutions.[58][page needed]

Golden Liberty created a state that was unusual for its time, although somewhat similar political systems existed in the contemporary city-states like the Republic of Venice.[59][page needed] Both states were styled "Serenissima Respublica" or the "Most Serene Republic".[60] At a time when most European countries were headed toward centralization, absolute monarchy and religious and dynastic warfare, the Commonwealth experimented with decentralization,[21] confederation and federation, democracy and religious tolerance.[61]

This political system unusual for its time stemmed from the ascendance of the szlachta noble class over other social classes and over the political system of monarchy. In time, the szlachta accumulated enough privileges (such as those established by the Nihil novi Act of 1505) that no monarch could hope to break the szlachta's grip on power. The Commonwealth's political system is difficult to fit into a simple category, but it can be tentatively described as a mixture of:

  • confederation and federation, with regard to the broad autonomy of its regions. It is, however, difficult to decisively call the Commonwealth either confederation or federation, as it had some qualities of both;
  • oligarchy,[21] as only the szlachta (nobility) – around 15% of the population – had political rights;
  • democracy, since all the szlachta were equal in rights and privileges, and the Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones). Also, the 15% of Commonwealth population who enjoyed those political rights (the szlachta)[62] was a substantially larger percentage than in majority European countries even in the nineteenth century;[63] note that in 1820 in France only about 1.5% of the male adult population had the right to vote, and in 1840 in Belgium, only about 5%.[62][63]
  • elective monarchy, since the monarch, elected by the szlachta, was Head of State;
  • constitutional monarchy, since the monarch was bound by pacta conventa and other laws, and the szlachta could disobey any king's decrees they deemed illegal.

Shortcomings[]

Allegory of the 1st partition of Poland

The Troelfth Cake, an allegory of the First Partition of Poland. Contemporary drawing by Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune

The end of the Jagiellonian dynasty in 1572 – after nearly two centuries – disrupted the fragile equilibrium of the Commonwealth's government. Power increasingly slipped away from the central government to the nobility.[citation needed]

When presented with periodic opportunities to fill the throne, the szlachta exhibited a preference for foreign candidates who would not establish a strong and long-lasting dynasty. This policy often produced monarchs who were either totally ineffective or in constant debilitating conflict with the nobility.[citation needed] Furthermore, aside from notable exceptions such as the able Stefan Batory from Transylvania (1576–86), the kings of foreign origin were inclined to subordinate the interests of the Commonwealth to those of their own country and ruling house. This was especially visible in the policies and actions of the first two elected kings from the Swedish House of Vasa, whose politics brought the Commonwealth into conflict with Sweden, culminating in the war known as the Deluge (1655), one of the events that mark the end of the Commonwealth's Golden Age and the beginning of the Commonwealth's decline.[64]

The Zebrzydowski Rebellion (1606–1607) marked a substantial increase in the power of the Polish magnates, and the transformation of szlachta democracy into magnate oligarchy. The Commonwealth's political system was vulnerable to outside interference, as Sejm deputies bribed[65][66] by foreign powers might use their liberum veto to block attempted reforms. This sapped the Commonwealth and plunged it into political paralysis and anarchy for over a century, from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th, while its neighbours stabilized their internal affairs and increased their military might.[citation needed]

Late reforms[]

Manuscript of the Constitution of the 3rd May 1791

The Constitution of 3 May adopted in 1791 was the first modern constitution in Europe.

The Commonwealth did eventually make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which historian Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe.[35] The revolutionary Constitution recast the erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Polish–Lithuanian federal state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system.

The new constitution:

  • abolished the liberum veto and banned the szlachta's confederations;
  • provided for a separation of powers among legislative, executive and judicial branches of government;
  • established "popular sovereignty" and extended political rights to include not only the nobility but the bourgeoisie;
  • increased the rights of the peasantry;
  • preserved religious tolerance (but with a condemnation of apostasy from the Catholic faith).

These reforms came too late, however, as the Commonwealth was immediately invaded from all sides by its neighbors, which had been content to leave the Commonwealth alone as a weak buffer state, but reacted strongly to attempts by king Stanislaus Augustus and other reformers to strengthen the country.[57][page needed] Russia feared the revolutionary implications of the 3 May Constitution's political reforms and the prospect of the Commonwealth regaining its position as a European power. Catherine the Great regarded the May constitution as fatal to her influence[67] and declared the Polish constitution Jacobinical.[68] Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin drafted the act for the Targowica Confederation, referring to the constitution as the "contagion of democratic ideas".[69] Meanwhile, Prussia and Austria used it as a pretext for further territorial expansion.[68] Prussian minister Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg called the constitution "a blow to the Prussian monarchy",[70] fearing that a strengthened Poland would once again dominate Prussia.[67][71] In the end, the 3 May Constitution was never fully implemented, and the Commonwealth entirely ceased to exist only four years after its adoption.[72]

Economy[]

<div class="thumb tright" style="width: Expression error: Unexpected < operator.px; ">

Gdańsk (Danzig), the Commonwealth's chief seaport and trading centre from which goods would be transported along the Vistula River to Warsaw, Kraków and other towns in the country.
Cereals export through Gdańsk 1619-1799

Cereals exports in the years 1619–1799. Agriculture, once extremely profitable to the nobility, became much less so after the mid-17th century.

The economy of the Commonwealth was predominantly based on agricultural output and trade, tough there was an abundance of artisan workshops and manufactories — notably paper mills, leather tanneries, ironworks, glassworks and brickyards.[73] Some major cities were home to craftsmen, jewellers and clockmakers.[73] The majority of industries and trades were concentrated in the Kingdom of Poland; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was more rural and its economy was driven by farming and clothmaking.[73] Mining developed in the south-west region of Poland which was rich in natural resources such as lead, coal, copper and salt.[74] The currency used in Poland–Lithuania was the złoty (meaning "the golden") and its subunit, the grosz. Foreign coins in the form of ducats, thalers and shillings were widely accepted and exchanged.[75] The city of Gdańsk (Danzig) had the privilege of minting its own coinage.[76] In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko began issuing the first Polish banknotes.[77]

The country played a significant role in the supply of Western Europe by the export of grain (rye), cattle (oxen), furs, timber, linen, cannabis, ash, tar, carminic acid and amber.[78][79][80][81] Cereals, cattle and fur amounted to nearly 90% of the country's exports to European markets by overland and maritime trade in the 16th century.[80] From Gdańsk, ships carried cargo to the major ports of the Low Countries, such as Antwerp and Amsterdam.[82][83] The land routes, mostly to the German provinces of the Holy Roman Empire such as the cities of Leipzig and Nuremberg, were used for the export of live cattle (herds of around 50,000 head) hides, salt, tobacco, hemp and cotton from the Greater Poland region.[84][85] In turn, the Commonwealth imported wine, beer, fruit, exotic spices, luxury goods (e.g. tapestries, Pic. 5), furniture, fabrics as well as industrial products like steel and tools.[86]

The agricultural sector was dominated by feudalism based on the plantation system (serfs).[30] Slavery was forbidden in Poland in the 15th century, and formally abolished in Lithuania in 1588,[87] replaced by the second enserfment. Typically a nobleman's landholding comprised a folwark, a large farmstead worked by serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. This economic arrangement worked well for the ruling classes and nobles in the early years of the Commonwealth, which was one of the most prosperous eras of the grain trade.[88] The economic strength of Commonwealth grain trade waned from the late 17th century on. Trade relationships were disrupted by the wars, and the Commonwealth proved unable to improve its transport infrastructure or its agricultural practices.[89] Serfs in the region were increasingly tempted to flee.[90] The Commonwealth's major attempts at countering this problem and improving productivity consisted of increasing serfs' workload and further restricting their freedoms in a process known as export-led serfdom.[89][90]

The owner of a folwark usually signed a contract with merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that seaport on the Baltic Sea.[91] Countless rivers and waterways in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes, including the Vistula, Pilica, Bug, San, Nida, Wieprz, Neman. The rivers had relatively developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries. Most of the river shipping moved north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. Grodno become an important site after formation of a customs post at Augustów in 1569, which became a checkpoint for merchants travelling to the Crown lands from the Grand Duchy.[92]

Ducat
Coat of arms of the Commonwealth on a 15 ducat coin featuring Sigismund III, 1617
Banknote
5-złoty banknote issued in 1794

Urban population of the Commonwealth was low compared to Western Europe. Exact numbers depend on calculation methods. According to one source, the urban population of the Commonwealth was about 20% of the total in the 17th century, compared to approximately 50% in the Netherlands and Italy (Pic. 7).[81] Another source suggests much lower figures: 4–8% urban population in Poland, 34–39% in the Netherlands and 22–23% in Italy.[93] The Commonwealth's preoccupation with agriculture, coupled with the nobles' privileged position when compared to the bourgeoisie, resulted in a fairly slow process of urbanization and thus a rather slow development of industries.[81] The nobility could also regulate the price of grain for their advantage, thus acquiring much wealth. Some of the largest trade fairs in the Commonwealth were held at Lublin.[94]

Several ancient trading routes such as the Amber Road (Pic. 4)[95] extended across Poland–Lithuania, which was situated in the heart of Europe and attracted foreign merchants or settlers.[96] Countless goods and cultural artefacts continued to pass from one region to another via the Commonwealth, particularly that the country was a link between the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe.[97] For instance, Isfahan rugs imported from Persia to the Commonwealth were incorrectly known as "Polish rugs" (French) in Western Europe.[98]

Military[]

Main articles: Military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Royal Guards (Poland)

<div class="thumb tright" style="width: Expression error: Unexpected < operator.px; ">

Winged Hussars were a heavy cavalry formation serving the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.
Krakow Militia, a local guard formation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 16th and 17th centuries

The military in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth evolved from the merger of the armies from the Polish Kingdom and from the Grand Lithuanian Duchy, though each state maintained its own division.[99] The united armed forces comprised the Crown Army (armia koronna), recruited in Poland, and the Lithuanian Army (armia litewska) in the Grand Duchy.[99] The military was headed by the Hetman, a rank equivalent to that of a general or supreme commander in other countries. Monarchs could not declare war or summon an army without the consent of the Sejm parliament or the Senate.[100] The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy never played a major role in the military structure from the mid-17th century onwards.[101]

The most prestigious formation of the Polish army was its 16th- and 17th-century heavy cavalry in the form of Winged Hussars (husaria), whereas the Royal Foot Guards (Regiment Gwardii Pieszej Koronnej) were the elite of the infantry; the regiment supervised the king and his family.[102] In 1788, the Great Sejm approved landslide reforms and defined future structures of the military; the Crown Army was to be split into four divisions, with seventeen field infantry regiments and eight cavalry brigades excluding special units; the Lithuanian Army was to be subdivided into two divisions, eight field regiments and two cavalry brigades excluding special units.[103] If implemented, the reform predicted an army of almost 100,000 men.[104]

The armies of those states differed from the organization common in other parts of Europe; according to Bardach, the mercenary formations (wojsko najemne), common in Western Europe, never gained widespread popularity in Poland.[105] Brzezinski, however, notes that foreign mercenaries did form a significant portion of the more elite infantry units, at least until the early 17th century.[106] In 16th-century Poland, several other formations formed the core of the military.[107] There was a small standing army, obrona potoczna ("continuous defense") about 1,500–3,000 strong, paid for by the king, and primarily stationed at the troubled southern and eastern borders.[107][108] It was supplemented by two formations mobilized in case of war — the pospolite ruszenie (Polish for levée en masse – feudal levy of mostly noble knights-landholders), and the wojsko zaciężne, recruited by the Polish commanders for the conflict. It differed from other European mercenary formations in that it was commanded by Polish officers, and dissolved after the conflict has ended.[107]

Dragon królewskiej chorągwi (wiek XVII) (76563347)

A Polish dragoon, 17th century

Several years before the Union of Lublin, the Polish obrona potoczna was reformed, as the Sejm (national parliament of Poland) legislated in 1562–1563 the creation of wojsko kwarciane, named after kwarta tax levied on the royal lands for the purpose of maintaining this formation.[107] This formation was also paid for by the king, and in the peacetime, numbered about 3,500–4,000 men according to Bardach;[107] Brzezinski gives the range of 3,000–5,000.[108] It was composed mostly of the light cavalry units manned by nobility (szlachta) and commanded by hetmans.[107][109] Often, in wartime, the Sejm would legislate a temporary increase in the size of the wojsko kwarciane.[107]

Following the end of the Commonwealth, Polish military tradition would be continued by the Napoleonic Polish Legions and the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw.[110]

Culture[]

Further information: Renaissance in Poland, Baroque in Poland, Enlightenment in Poland

Science and literature[]

Siemenowicz rocket

Multi-stage rocket from Artis Magnæ Artilleriæ pars prima by Casimir Siemienowicz

The Commonwealth was an important European center for the development of modern social and political ideas. It was famous for its rare quasi-democratic political system, praised by philosophers, and during the Counter-Reformation was known for near-unparalleled religious tolerance, with peacefully coexisting Roman Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox Christian, Protestant and (Sufi) communities. In the 18th century, the French Catholic Rulhiere wrote of 16th century Poland: "This country, which in our day we have seen divided on the pretext of religion, is the first state in Europe that exemplified tolerance. In this state, mosques arose between churches and synagogues."[31] The Commonwealth gave rise to the famous Christian sect of the Polish Brethren, antecedents of British and American Unitarianism.[111]

With its political system, the Commonwealth gave birth to political philosophers such as Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (1503–1572) (Pic. 9), Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki (1530–1607) and Piotr Skarga (1536–1612). Later, works by Stanisław Staszic (1755–1826) and Hugo Kołłątaj (1750–1812) helped pave the way for the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe.[35]

Counsellor, Goslicki

Commonwealth referred to as 'Polonian Empyre' in the title page of Goślicki's The Counsellor published in England in 1598

Kraków's Jagiellonian University is one of the oldest universities in the world (established in 1364),[112] together with the Jesuit Academy of Wilno (established in 1579) they were the major scholarly and scientific centers in the Commonwealth. The Komisja Edukacji Narodowej, Polish for Commission for National Education, formed in 1773, was the world's first national Ministry of Education.[113] Commonwealth scientists included: Martin Kromer (1512–1589), historian and cartographer; Michael Sendivogius (1566–1636), alchemist and chemist; Jan Brożek (Ioannes Broscius in Latin) (1585–1652), polymath: a mathematician, physician and astronomer; Krzysztof Arciszewski (Crestofle d'Artischau Arciszewski in Portuguese) (1592–1656), engineer, ethnographer, general and admiral of the Dutch West Indies Company army in the war with the Spanish Empire for control of Brazil;[114] Kazimierz Siemienowicz (1600–1651), military engineer, artillery specialist and a founder of rocketry; Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687), astronomer, founder of topography; Michał Boym (1612–1659), orientalist, cartographer, naturalist and diplomat in Ming Dynasty's service (Pic. 11); Adam Adamandy Kochański (1631–1700), mathematician and engineer; Baal Shem Tov (הבעל שם טוב in Hebrew) (1698–1760), considered to be the founder of Hasidic Judaism; Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt (1728–1810), astronomer and mathematician (Pic. 12); Jan Krzysztof Kluk (1739–1796), naturalist, agronomist and entomologist, John Jonston (1603–1675) scholar and physician, descended from Scottish nobility. In 1628 the Czech teacher, scientist, educator, and writer John Amos Comenius took refuge in the Commonwealth, when the Protestants were persecuted under the Counter Reformation.[111][115]

The works of many Commonwealth authors are considered classics, including those of Jan Kochanowski (Pic. 10), Wacław Potocki, Ignacy Krasicki, and Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz. Many szlachta members wrote memoirs and diaries. Perhaps the most famous are the Memoirs of Polish History by Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł (1595–1656) and the Memoirs of Jan Chryzostom Pasek (ca. 1636–ca. 1701). Jakub Sobieski (1590–1646) (father of John III Sobieski) wrote notable diaries. During the Khotyn expedition in 1621 he wrote a diary called Commentariorum chotinensis belli libri tres (Diary of the Chocim War), which was published in 1646 in Gdańsk. It was used by Wacław Potocki as a basis for his epic poem, Transakcja wojny chocimskiej (The Progress of the War of Chocim). He also authored instructions for the journey of his sons to Kraków (1640) and France (1645), a good example of liberal education of the era.[citation needed]

Art and music[]

Coffin portrait of an unknown woman

An example of a coffin portrait, mid-17th century

The art and music of the Commonwealth was largely shaped by prevailing European trends, though the country's minorities, foreigners as well as native folk cultures also contributed to its versatile nature. A common art form of the Sarmatian period were coffin portraits (portrety trumienne) used in funerals and other important ceremonies.[116] As a rule, such portraits were nailed to sheet metal, six- or eight- sided in shape, fixed to the front of a coffin placed on a high, ornate catafalque.[117] These were a unique and distinguishable feature of the Commonwealth's high culture, not found elsewhere in Europe.[118] A similar tradition was only practiced in Roman Egypt.[118] Polish monarchs and nobles frequently invited and sponsored foreign painters and artisans, notably from the Low Countries (the Netherlands, Flanders and Belgium), Germany or Italy.[119] The interiors of upper-class residences, palaces and manors were adorned by wall tapestries (arrasy or tapiseria) imported from Western Europe; the most renowned collection are the Jagiellonian tapestries exhibited at Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków.[120]

Polonaise dress
Polonaise bed
Polonaise dress (left) and the Polish bed (right), both from the 18th century

The economic, cultural and political ties between France and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth gave rise to the term à la polonaise, French for "Polish-styled".[121] With the marriage of Marie Leszczyńska to Louis XV of France in 1725, Polish culture began to flourish at the Palace of Versailles.[122] Polish beds (lit à la polonaise) draped with baldachins became a centrepiece of Louis XV furniture in French chateaus.[123] Folk flower motifs as well as Polish fashion were popularized in the form of a back-draped polonaise dress (robe à la polonaise) worn by aristocrats at Versailles.[124]

The religious cultures of Poland–Lithuania coexisted and penetrated each other for the entirety of the Commonwealth's history – the Jews adopted elements of the national dress,[125] loanwords and calques became commonplace and Roman Catholic churches in regions with significant Protestant populations were much simpler in décor than those in other parts of Poland–Lithuania.[126] Mutual influence was further reflected in the great popularity of Byzantine icons (Pic. 13) and the icons resembling effigies of Mary in the predominantly Latin territories of today's Poland (Black Madonna) and Lithuania (Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn).[127] Conversely, Latin infiltration into Ruthenian Orthodox and Protestant art was also conventional (Pic. 3).[128]

Music was a common feature of religious and secular events. To that end many noblemen founded church and school choirs, and employed their own ensembles of musicians. Some, like Stanisław Lubomirski built their own opera houses (in Nowy Wiśnicz). Others, like Janusz Skumin Tyszkiewicz and Krzysztof Radziwiłł were known for their sponsorship of arts which manifested itself in their permanently retained orchestras, at their courts in Wilno (Vilnius).[129] Musical life further flourished under the House of Vasa. Both foreign and domestic composers were active in the Commonwealth. Sigismund III brought in Italian composers and conductors, such as Luca Marenzio, Annibale Stabile, Asprilio Pacelli, Marco Scacchi and Diomedes Cato for the royal orchestra. Notable home grown musicians, who also composed and played for the King's court, included Bartłomiej Pękiel, Jacek Różycki, Adam Jarzębski, Marcin Mielczewski, Stanisław Sylwester Szarzyński, Damian Stachowicz, Mikołaj Zieleński and Grzegorz Gorczycki.[129]

Architecture[]

Main article: Baroque in Poland–Lithuania|Baroque in Poland|Baroque in Poland–Lithuania
Wilanow palace - panoramio (2)

Wilanów Palace, completed in 1696, exemplifies the opulence of royal and noble residences in the Commonwealth.

The architecture of the cities in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth reflected a combination of Polish, German and Italian trends. Italian Mannerism or the Late Renaissance had a profound impact on traditional burgher architecture which can be observed to this day – castles and tenements were fitted with central Italianate courtyards composed of arched loggias, colonnades, bay windows, balconies, portals and ornamental balustrades.[130] Ceiling frescos, sgraffito, plafonds and coffering (patterned ceilings; Polish kaseton; from Italian cassettone) were widespread.[131] Rooftops were generally covered with terracotta rooftiles. The most distinguishable feature of Polish Mannerism are decorative "attics" above the cornice on the façade.[132] Cities in northern Poland–Lithuania and in Livonia adopted the Hanseatic (or "Dutch") style as their primary form of architectural expression, comparable to that of the Netherlands, Belgium, northern Germany and Scandinavia.[133]

Krasiczyn - kaplica 1

Influence of Italian styles is evident in Polish architecture. The "attics" and sharp pinnacles along the cornice are a distinct feature.

The introduction of Baroque architecture was marked by construction of several Jesuit and Roman Catholic churches across Poland and Lithuania, notably the Peter and Paul Church in Kraków, the Corpus Christi Church in Nesvizh, Lublin Cathedral and UNESCO-enlisted sanctuary at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. Fine examples of decorative Baroque and Rococo include Saint Anne's in Kraków and the Fara Church in Poznań. Another characteristic is the common usage of black marble.[134] Altars, fonts, portals, balustrades, columns, monuments, tombstones, headstones and whole rooms (e.g. Marble Room at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, St. Casimir Chapel of the Vilnius Cathedral and Vasa Chapel at Wawel Cathedral) were extensively decorated with black marble, which became popular after the mid-17th century.[135]

Magnates often undertook construction projects as monuments to themselves: churches, cathedrals, monasteries (Pic. 14), and palaces like the present-day Presidential Palace in Warsaw and Pidhirtsi Castle built by Grand Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. The largest projects involved entire towns, although in time many of them would lapse into obscurity or were abandoned. These towns were generally named after the sponsoring magnate. Among the most prominent is Zamość, founded by Jan Zamoyski and designed by the Italian architect Bernardo Morando as an ideal city. The magnates throughout Poland competed with the kings. The monumental castle Krzyżtopór, built in the style palazzo in fortezza between 1627 and 1644, had several courtyards surrounded by fortifications. Similar fortified complexes include castles in Łańcut and Krasiczyn.

The fascination with the culture and art of the Orient in the late Baroque period is reflected by Queen Marie's Chinese Palace in Zolochiv (Złoczów).[136] 18th-century magnate palaces represents the characteristic type of Baroque suburban residence built entre cour et jardin (between the entrance court and the garden). Its architecture – a merger of European art with old Commonwealth building traditions are visible in Wilanów Palace in Warsaw (Pic. 15), Branicki Palace in Białystok, Potocki Palace in Radzyń Podlaski, Raczyński Palace in Rogalin, Nieborów Palace and Kozłówka Palace near Lubartów. Lesser nobility resided in country manor houses known as dworek. Neoclassicism replaced Baroque by the second-half of the 18th century – the last ruler of the Poland–Lithuania, Stanislaus II Augustus, greatly admired the classical architecture of Ancient Rome and promoted it as a symbol of the Polish Enlightenment.[137] The Palace on the Isle and the exterior of St. Anne's Church in Warsaw are part of the neoclassical legacy of the former Commonwealth.

Szlachta and Sarmatism[]

Main articles: Szlachta and Sarmatism
Sarmatian woman
The First Lady of the Republic[138] – Elżbieta Sieniawska portrayed in Sarmata pose and in a male coat called delia
Sarmatian man
Sarmatian style for men; moustache, red kontusz coat, gold-silk pas with blue sash of the Order of the White Eagle

The prevalent ideology of the szlachta became "Sarmatism", named after the Sarmatians, alleged ancestors of the Poles.[71] This belief system was an important part of szlachta culture, penetrating all aspects of its life. Sarmatism enshrined equality among szlachta, horseback riding, tradition, provincial quaint life in manor houses, peace and pacifism; championed oriental-inspired souvenirs or attire for men (żupan, kontusz, sukmana, pas kontuszowy, delia, szabla); favoured European Baroque architecture; endorsed Latin as a language of thought or expression; and served to integrate the multi-ethnic nobility by creating an almost nationalistic sense of unity and of pride in Golden Liberty.[71]

In its early, idealistic form, Sarmatism represented a positive cultural movement: it supported religious belief, honesty, national pride, courage, equality and freedom. In time, however, it became distorted. Late extreme Sarmatism turned belief into bigotry, honesty into political naïveté, pride into arrogance, courage into stubbornness and freedom into anarchy.[139] The faults of Sarmatism were blamed for the demise of the country from the late 18th century onwards. Criticism, often one-sided and exaggerated, was used by the Polish reformists to push for radical changes. This self-deprecation was accompanied by works of German, Russian and Austrian historians, who tried to prove that it was Poland itself that was to blame for its fall.[140]

Demographics[]

Further information: Historical demographics of Poland
Lamentation over the dead credit

Social strata in the Commonwealth's society in 1655. From left: Jew, barber surgeon, painter, butcher, musician, tailor, barmaid, pharmacist, shoemaker, goldsmith, merchant and Armenian

The density of the urban network per voivodeship of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ca. 1650 (Eng)

Density of urban network per each voivodeship (province) in 1650

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was immensely multicultural throughout its existence — it comprised countless religious identities and ethnic minorities inhabiting the country's vast territory.[141] The precise number of minority groups and their populations can only be hypothesized.[142] Statistically, the most prominent groups were the Poles, Lithuanians, Germans, Ruthenians and Jews.[143] There were also considerable numbers of Czechs, Hungarians, Livonians, Romanis, Vlachs, Armenians, Italians, Scots and the Dutch (Olędrzy), who were either categorized as merchants, settlers or refugees fleeing religious persecution.[143]

Prior to the union with Lithuania, the Kingdom of Poland was much more homogenous; approximately 70% of the population was Polish and Roman Catholic.[144] With the creation of the Commonwealth, the number of Poles in comparison to the total population decreased to 50%.[145] In 1569, the population stood at 7 million, with roughly 4.5 million Poles, 750,000 Lithuanians, 700,000 Jews and 2 million Ruthenians.[146] Historians Michał Kopczyński and Wojciech Tygielski suggest that with the territorial expansion after the Truce of Deulino in 1618, the Commonwealth's population reached 12 million people, of which Poles constituted only 40%.[15][145] At that time the nobility made up 10% of the entire population and the burghers around 15%.[15] The average population density per square kilometer was: 24 in Mazovia, 23 in Lesser Poland, 19 in Greater Poland, 12 in Lublin palatinate, 10 in the Lwów area, 7 in Podolia and Volhynia, and 3 in the Kiev Voivodeship. There was a tendency for the people from the more densely inhabited western territories to migrate eastwards.[147]

A sudden change in the country's demographics occurred in the mid-17th century.[15] The Second Northern War and the Deluge followed by famine in the period from 1648 to 1657 were accountable for at least 4 million deaths.[15] Coupled with further territorial losses, by 1717 the population had fallen to 9 million.[15] The population slowly recovered throughout the 18th century; just before the first partition of Poland in 1772, the Commonwealth's population was 14 million, including around 1 million nobles.[148] In 1792, the population of Poland was around 11 million and included 750,000 nobles.[148]

The most multicultural and robust city in the country was Gdańsk (Danzig), a major Hanseatic seaport on the Baltic and Poland's wealthiest region. Gdańsk at the time was inhabited by a German-speaking majority[149] and further hosted large numbers of foreign merchants, particularly of Scottish, Dutch or Scandinavian extraction.[150] Historically, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was more diverse than the Kingdom of Poland, and was deemed a melting pot of many cultures and religions.[151] Hence, the inhabitants of the Grand Duchy were collectively known as Litvins regardless of their nationality, with the exception of Jews residing in Lithuania who were called Litvaks.

Despite guaranteed religious tolerance, gradual Polonization and Counter-Reformation sought to minimize the Commonwealth's diversity; the aim was to root out some minorities by imposing the Polish language, Latin, Polish culture and the Roman Catholic religion where possible.[152] By the late 18th century, the Lithuanian language, culture and identity became vulnerable;[152] the country's name was changed to "Commonwealth of Poland" in 1791.

Religion[]

Main article: Warsaw Confederation

The Warsaw Confederation signed on 28 January 1573 secured the rights of minorities and religions;[153] it allowed all persons to worship any faith freely, though religious tolerance varied at times. As outlined by Norman Davies, "the wording and substance of the declaration of the Confederation of Warsaw of were extraordinary with regards to prevailing conditions elsewhere in Europe; and they governed the principles of religious life in the Republic for over two hundred years."[154]

Poland retained religious freedom laws during an era when religious persecution was an everyday occurrence in the rest of Europe.[155] The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a place where the most radical religious sects, trying to escape persecution in other countries of the Christian world, sought refuge.[156] In 1561 Giovanni Bernardino Bonifacio d’Oria, a religious exile living in Poland, wrote of his adopted country's virtues to a colleague back in Italy: "You could live here in accordance with your ideas and preferences, in great, even the greatest freedoms, including writing and publishing. No one is a censor here."[31] Others, particularly the leaders of the Roman Catholic church, the Jesuits and papal legates, were less optimistic about Poland's religious frivolity.

"This country became a place of shelter for heretics" – Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius, papal legate to Poland.[156]

Konfederacja Warszawska

Original act of the Warsaw Confederation in 1573, the first act of religious freedom in Europe

To be Polish, in remote and multi-ethnic parts of the Commonwealth, was then much less an index of ethnicity than of religion and rank; it was a designation largely reserved for the landed noble class (szlachta), which included Poles, but also many members of non-Polish origin who converted to Catholicism in increasing numbers with each following generation. For the non-Polish noble such conversion meant a final step of Polonization that followed the adoption of the Polish language and culture.[157] Poland, as the culturally most advanced part of the Commonwealth, with the royal court, the capital, the largest cities, the second-oldest university in Central Europe (after Prague), and the more liberal and democratic social institutions had proven an irresistible magnet for the non-Polish nobility in the Commonwealth.[21] Many referred to themselves as "gente Ruthenus, natione Polonus" (Ruthenian by blood, Polish by nationality) since the 16th century onwards.[158]

The Greek-Catholic St. George's Cathedral in Lwów was constructed between 1746 and 1762 following the Act of Unification of the Lwów archeparchy with the Holy See.[159]
The church in Kamieniec Podolski was converted into a mosque during the Turkish occupation between 1672 and 1699, with the 33-meter minaret being added at that time.[160]

As a result, in the eastern territories a Polish (or Polonized) aristocracy dominated a peasantry whose great majority was neither Polish nor Catholic. Moreover, the decades of peace brought huge colonization efforts to the eastern territories (nowadays roughly western and central Ukraine),[161] heightening the tensions among nobles, Jews, Cossacks (traditionally Orthodox), Polish and Ruthenian peasants. The latter, deprived of their native protectors among the Ruthenian nobility, turned for protection to cossacks that facilitated violence that in the end broke the Commonwealth. The tensions were aggravated by conflicts between Eastern Orthodoxy and the Greek Catholic Church following the Union of Brest, overall discrimination of Orthodox religions by dominant Catholicism,[162] and several Cossack uprisings. In the west and north, many cities had sizable German minorities, often belonging to Lutheran or Reformed churches. The Commonwealth had also one of the largest Jewish diasporas in the world – by the mid-16th century 80% of the world's Jews lived in Poland (Pic. 16).[163]

Until the Reformation, the szlachta were mostly Catholics (Pic. 13). However, many noble families quickly adopted the Reformed religion. After the Counter-Reformation, when the Catholic Church regained power in Poland, the szlachta became almost exclusively Catholic.[164]

The Crown had about double the population of Lithuania and five times the income of the latter's treasury. As with other countries, the borders, area and population of the Commonwealth varied over time. After the Peace of Jam Zapolski (1582), the Commonwealth had approximately 815,000 km2 area and a population of 7.5 million.[165] After the Truce of Deulino (1618), the Commonwealth had an area of some 990,000 km2 and a population of 11–12 million (including some 4 million Poles and close to a million Lithuanians).[166]

Languages[]

Anniversary anthem of Constitution of May 3 1791

First anniversary anthem of the Constitution of 3 May 1791 (1792) in Hebrew, Polish, German and French

  • Polish – officially recognized;[167] dominant language, used by most of the Commonwealth's nobility[167][168][169][170] and by the peasantry in the Crown province;[171] official language in the Crown chancellery and since 1697 in the Grand Duchy chancellery.[172] Dominant language in the towns.[171]
  • Latin – off. recog.;[167][173] commonly used in foreign relations[172] and popular as a second language among some of the nobility.[174]
  • French – not officially recognized; replaced Latin at the royal court in Warsaw in the beginning of the 18th century as a language used in foreign relations and as genuine spoken language.[175][176] It was commonly used as a language of science and literature and as a second language among some of the nobility.[177]
  • Ruthenian – also known as Chancellery Slavonic;[172] off. recog.;[167] official language in the Grand Duchy chancellery until 1697 (when replaced by Polish) and in Bratslav, Chernihiv, Kiev and Volhynian voivodeships until 1673;[178][179] used in some foreign relations[172][173][180] its dialects (modern Belarusian and Ukrainian) were widely used in the Grand Duchy and eastern parts of the Crown as spoken language.
  • Lithuanian – not officially recognized;[167][181] but used in some official documents in the Grand Duchy[182][183][184] and, mostly, used as a spoken language in the northernmost part of the country (in Lithuania Proper)[185] and the northern part of Ducal Prussia (Polish fief).
  • German – off. recog.;[167] used in some foreign relations,[172] in Ducal Prussia and by minorities in the cities especially in the Royal Prussia.[171][186]
  • Hebrew – off. recog.;[167] and Aramaic used by Jews for religious, scholarly, and legal matters.
  • Yiddish – not officially recognized;[187][188] used by Jews in their daily life[171]
  • Italian – not officially recognized; used in some foreign relations and by Italian minorities in cities.[189]
  • Armenian – off. recog.[167] used by the Armenian minority.[188][190]
  • Arabic – not officially recognized; used in some foreign relations[191] and by Tatars in their religious matters, they also wrote Ruthenian in the Arabic script.[192]

Legacy[]

Main article: Intermarium

The Duchy of Warsaw, established in 1807 by Napoleon Bonaparte, traced its origins to the Commonwealth. Other revival movements appeared during the November Uprising (1830–31), the January Uprising (1863–64) and in the 1920s, with Józef Piłsudski's failed attempt to create a Polish-led Intermarium (Międzymorze) federation that, at its largest extent, would span from Finland in the north to the Balkans in the south.[193] The contemporary Republic of Poland considers itself a successor to the Commonwealth,[194] whereas the Republic of Lithuania, re-established at the end of World War I, saw the participation of the Lithuanian state in the old Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth mostly in a negative light at the early stages of regaining its independence,[195] although this attitude has been changing in recent years.[196]

Administrative divisions[]

Main article: Administrative division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
See also: Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Template:Rzeczpospolita 1618

While the term "Poland" was also commonly used to denote this whole polity, Poland was in fact only part of a greater whole – the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which comprised primarily two parts:

  • the Crown of the Polish Kingdom (Poland proper), colloquially "the Crown"
  • the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, colloquially "Lithuania"

The Commonwealth was further divided into smaller administrative units known as voivodeships (województwa). Each voivodeship was governed by a Voivode (wojewoda, governor). Voivodeships were further divided into starostwa, each starostwo being governed by a starosta. Cities were governed by castellans. There were frequent exceptions to these rules, often involving the ziemia subunit of administration.[citation needed]

The lands that once belonged to the Commonwealth are now largely distributed among several Central and East European countries: Poland, Ukraine, Moldova (Transnistria), Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.[197][198] Also some small towns in Upper Hungary (today mostly Slovakia), became a part of Poland in the Treaty of Lubowla (Spiš towns).

Other notable parts of the Commonwealth, without respect to region or voivodeship divisions, include:

  • Lesser Poland Province (Polish language: Małopolska

), southern Poland, with two largest cities, its capital at Kraków and Lublin in the north-east;

  • Greater Poland Province (Polish language: Wielkopolska

), west–central Poland around Poznań and the Warta River system;

  • Mazovia (Polish language: Mazowsze

), central Poland, with its capital at Warsaw;

  • Lithuania Proper (Lithuanian language: Didžioji Lietuva

), northwest Grand Duchy, its most Catholic and ethnically Lithuanian part, capital Vilnius;

  • Duchy of Samogitia (Lithuanian language: Žemaitija
Polish language
Żmudź

), westernmost and most autonomous part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, also the western part of Lithuania Proper, capital Raseiniai;

  • Royal Prussia (Polish language: Prusy Królewskie

), at the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, was an autonomous area since the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), incorporated into the Crown in 1569 with the Commonwealth's formation;

    • Pomerelia (Polish language: Pomorze Gdańskie

), Pomerania around Gdańsk (Danzig), western part of Royal Prussia;

  • Ruthenia (Polish language: Ruś

), the eastern Commonwealth, adjoining Russia;

  • Duchy of Livonia (Inflanty), a joint domain of the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Parts lost to Sweden in the 1620s and in 1660;
  • Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Lithuanian language: Kuršas ir Žiemgala
Polish language
Kurlandii i Semigalii

), a northern fief of the Commonwealth. It established a colony in Tobago in 1637 and on St. Andrews Island at the Gambia River in 1651 (see Couronian colonization);

  • Silesia (Polish language: Śląsk

) was not within the Commonwealth, but small parts belonged to various Commonwealth kings; in particular, the Vasa kings were dukes of Opole (Oppeln) and Racibórz (Ratibor) from 1645 to 1666.[199]

Commonwealth borders shifted with wars and treaties, sometimes several times in a decade, especially in the eastern and southern parts. After the Peace of Jam Zapolski (1582), the Commonwealth had approximately 815,000 km2 area and a population of 7.5 million.[165] After the Truce of Deulino (1618), the Commonwealth had an area of some 1 million km2 (990,000 km2) and a population of about 11 million.[166]

Geography[]

Poland1764physical

Topographical map of the Commonwealth in 1764

In the 16th century, the Polish bishop and cartographer Martin Kromer published a Latin atlas, entitled Poland: about Its Location, People, Culture, Offices and the Polish Commonwealth, which was regarded as the most comprehensive guide to the country.[citation needed]

Kromer's works and other contemporary maps, such as those of Gerardus Mercator, show the Commonwealth as mostly plains. The Commonwealth's southeastern part, the Kresy, was famous for its steppes. The Carpathian Mountains formed part of the southern border, with the Tatra Mountain chain the highest, and the Baltic Sea formed the Commonwealth's northern border. As with most European countries at the time, the Commonwealth had extensive forest cover, especially in the east. Today, what remains of the Białowieża Forest constitutes the last largely intact primeval forest in Europe.[200]

Image gallery[]

Template:Pictures PLC

See also[]

Template:History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

  • History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648)
  • History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1648–1764)
  • History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1764–1795)
  • List of medieval great powers
  • Armorial of Polish nobility
  • List of szlachta
  • Polish heraldry
  • Lithuanian nobility
  • History of the Germans in Poland
  • History of the Jews in Poland
  • History of Poland
  • History of Lithuania

Notes[]

  1. ↑ Pro Fide, Lege et Rege was the motto since the 18th century.

a. ^ Name in native and official languages:

  • Latin language: Regnum Poloniae Magnusque Ducatus Lithuaniae / Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae[37]
  • French
  • Polish language: Królestwo Polskie i Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie
  • Lithuanian language: Lenkijos Karalystė ir Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė
  • Belarusian language: Каралеўства Польскае і Вялікае Княства Літоўскае (Karaleŭstva Polskaje і Vialikaje Kniastva Litoŭskaje)
  • Ukrainian: Королівство Польське і Велике князівство Литовське
  • German: Königreich Polen und Großfürstentum Litauen

b. ^ Some historians date the change of the Polish capital from Kraków to Warsaw between 1595 and 1611, although Warsaw was not officially designated capital until 1793.[201] The Commonwealth Sejm began meeting in Warsaw soon after the Union of Lublin and its rulers generally maintained their courts there, although coronations continued to take place in Kraków.[201] The modern concept of a single capital city was to some extent inapplicable in the feudal and decentralized Commonwealth.[201] Warsaw is described by some historians as the capital of the entire Commonwealth.[202][203] Wilno, the capital of the Grand Duchy,[49][204][205] is sometimes called the second capital of the entity.[206][207]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ This quality of the Commonwealth was recognized by its contemporaries. Robert Burton, in his The Anatomy of Melancholy, first published in 1621, writes of Poland: "Poland is a receptacle of all religions, where Samosetans, Socinians, Photinians ..., Arians, Anabaptists are to be found"; "In Europe, Poland and Amsterdam are the common sanctuaries [for Jews]".

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Partitions of Poland at Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jagiellonian University Centre for European studies, "A Very Short History of Kraków", see: "1596 administrative capital, the tiny village of Warsaw". http://www.ces.uj.edu.pl/european/krakow/krakow_history.htm. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Janusz Sykała: Od Polan mieszkających w lasach – historia Polski – aż do króla Stasia, Gdansk, 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Georg Ziaja: Lexikon des polnischen Adels im Goldenen Zeitalter 1500–1600, p. 9.
  5. ↑ https://www.polskieradio24.pl/39/156/Artykul/1444613,Artykuly-henrykowskie-szlachecka-prekonstytucja
  6. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland/The-First-Partition
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Panstwowe Przedsiebiorstwo Wydawnictw Kartograficznych: Atlas Historyczny Polski, wydanie X, 1990, p. 14, ISBN 83-7000-016-9.
  8. ↑ Bertram Benedict (1919): A history of the great war. Bureau of national literature, inc. p. 21.
  9. ↑ According to Panstwowe Przedsiebiorstwo Wydawnictw Kartograficznych: Atlas Historyczny Polski, wydanie X, 1990, p. 16, ~ 990.000 km2
  10. ↑ Zbigniew Pucek: Państwo i społeczeństwo 2012/1, Krakow, 2012, p. 17.
  11. ↑ Norman Davies, Europe: A History, Pimlico 1997, p. 554: "Poland–Lithuania was another country which experienced its 'Golden Age' during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The realm of the last Jagiellons was absolutely the largest state in Europe"
  12. ↑ Piotr Wandycz (2001). The price of freedom (p.66). p. 66. ISBN 978-0-415-25491-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=m5plR3x6jLAC&pg=PA66. Retrieved 13 August 2011. 
  13. ↑ Bertram Benedict (1919). A history of the great war. Bureau of national literature, inc.. p. 21. https://archive.org/details/ahistorygreatwa02benegoog. Retrieved 13 August 2011. 
  14. ↑ According to Panstwowe Przedsiebiorstwo Wydawnictw Kartograficznych: Atlas Historyczny Polski, wydanie X, 1990, p. 16, 990.000 km2
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Based on 1618 population map Archived 17 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine. (p. 115), 1618 languages map (p119), 1657–67 losses map (p. 128) and 1717 map Archived 17 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine. (p. 141) from Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski, Poland a Historical Atlas, Hippocrene Books, 1987, ISBN 0-88029-394-2
  16. ↑ According to Panstwowe Przedsiebiorstwo Wydawnictw Kartograficznych: Atlas Historyczny Polski, wydanie X, 1990, p. 16, just over 9 million in 1618.
  17. ↑ Maciej Janowski, Polish Liberal Thought, Central European University Press, 2001, ISBN 963-9241-18-0, Google Print: p. 3, p. 12
  18. ↑ Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848, Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-19-820654-2, Google print p. 84
  19. ↑ Rett R. Ludwikowski, Constitution-Making in the Region of Former Soviet Dominance, Duke University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8223-1802-4, Google Print, p. 34
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 George Sanford, Democratic Government in Poland: Constitutional Politics Since 1989, Palgrave, 2002, ISBN 0-333-77475-2, Google print p. 11 – constitutional monarchy, p. 3 – anarchy
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 Aleksander Gella, Development of Class Structure in Eastern Europe: Poland and Her Southern Neighbors, SUNY Press, 1998, ISBN 0-88706-833-2, Google Print, p. 13
  22. ↑ "Formally, Poland and Lithuania were to be distinct, equal components of the federation ... But Poland, which retained possession of the Lithuanian lands it had seized, had greater representation in the diet and became the dominant partner.""Lublin, Union of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9049222. [1]
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 # Norman Davies, God's Playground. A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795, Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-925339-0 / ISBN 0-19-925340-4
  24. ↑ Halina Stephan, Living in Translation: Polish Writers in America, Rodopi, 2003, ISBN 90-420-1016-9, Google Print p. 373. Quoting from Sarmatian Review academic journal mission statement: "Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was ... characterized by religious tolerance unusual in premodern Europe"
  25. ↑ Feliks Gross, https://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0313309329&id=I6wM4X9UQ8QC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=Polish-Lithuanian+Commonwealth+religious+tolerance Citizenship and Ethnicity: The Growth and Development of a Democratic Multiethnic Institution, Greenwood Press, 1999, ISBN 0-313-30932-9, p. 122 (notes)
  26. ↑ "In the mid-1500s, united Poland was the largest state in Europe and perhaps the continent's most powerful state politically and militarily". "Poland". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  27. ↑ Francis Dvornik (1992). The Slavs in European History and Civilization. Rutgers University Press. p. 300. ISBN 0-8135-0799-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=LACpYP-g1y8C. 
  28. ↑ Salo Wittmayer Baron (1976). A social and religious history of the Jews. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08853-1. 
  29. ↑ Martin Van Gelderen, Quentin Skinner, Republicanism: A Shared European Heritage, Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-521-80756-5 p. 54.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis" Archived 15 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine. (discussion and full online text) of Evsey Domar (1970). Economic History Review 30:1 (March), pp. 18–32.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Poland's 1997 Constitution in Its Historical Context; Daniel H. Cole, Indiana University School of Law, 22 September 1998 http://indylaw.indiana.edu/instructors/cole/web%20page/polconst.pdf
  32. ↑ Blaustein, Albert (1993). Constitutions of the World. Fred B. Rothman & Company. ISBN 9780837703626. https://books.google.com/books?id=2xCMVAFyGi8C&q=May+second+constitution+1791&pg=PA15. 
  33. ↑ Isaac Kramnick, Introduction, Madison, James (1987). The Federalist Papers. Penguin Classics. p. 13. ISBN 0-14-044495-5. https://archive.org/details/federalistpapers00madi. "May second oldest constitution." 
  34. ↑ John Markoff describes the advent of modern codified national constitutions as one of the milestones of democracy, and states that "The first European country to follow the U.S. example was Poland in 1791." John Markoff, Waves of Democracy, 1996, ISBN 0-8039-9019-7, p. 121.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 699. ISBN 0-19-820171-0. https://archive.org/details/europehistory00davi_0. 
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 "Regnum Poloniae Magnusque Ducatus Lithuaniae – definicja, synonimy, przykłady użycia". http://sjp.pwn.pl/slowniki/Regnum%20Poloniae%20Magnusque%20Ducatus%20Lithuaniae.html. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Ex quo serenissima respublica Poloniae in corpore ad exempluin omnium aliarnm potentiarum, lilulum regiuin Borussiae recognoscere decrevit (...)
    Antoine-François-Claude Ferrand (1820). "Volume 1" (in fr). Histoire des trois démembremens de la Pologne: pour faire suite à l'histoire de l'Anarchie de Pologne par Rulhière. Deterville. p. 182. https://archive.org/details/histoiredestroi00ferrgoog. 
  38. ↑ the name given by Marcin Kromer in his work Polonia sive de situ, populis, moribus, magistratibus et re publica regni Polonici libri duo, 1577.
  39. ↑ the therm used for instance in Zbior Deklaracyi, Not I Czynnosci Głownieyszych, Ktore Poprzedziły I Zaszły Pod Czas Seymu Pod Węzłem Konfederacyi Odprawuiącego Się Od Dnia 18. Wrzesnia 1772. Do 14 Maia 1773
  40. ↑ Name used for the common state, Henryk Rutkowski, Terytorium, w: Encyklopedia historii gospodarczej Polski do 1945 roku, t. II, Warszawa 1981, s. 398.
  41. ↑ Richard Buterwick. The Polish Revolution and the Catholic Church, 1788–1792: A Political History. Oxford University Press. 2012. pp. 5, xvii.
  42. ↑ 1791 document signed by the King Stanislaw August "Zareczenie wzaiemne Oboyga Narodow" pp. 1, 5 [2]
  43. ↑ The death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572 was followed by a three-year Interregnum during which adjustments were made in the constitutional system. The lower nobility was now included in the selection process, and the power of the monarch was further circumscribed in favor of the expanded noble class. From that point, the king was effectively a partner with the noble class and constantly supervised by a group of senators.
    "The Elective Monarchy". Poland – The Historical Setting. Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. 1992. http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/longhist3.html. 
  44. ↑ . In 1651, in the face of a growing threat from Poland, and forsaken by his Tatar allies, Khmelnytsky asked the Tsar to incorporate Ukraine as an autonomous duchy under Russian protection."Pereyaslav Agreement". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9059219. [3]
  45. ↑ Subtelny, Orest (2009). Ukraine: A History (4th ed.). University of Toronto Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-4426-4016-0. "The Tatar raids, usually directed against the provinces of Kiev and Bratslav (although Galicia, Volhynia, and Podilia were also not spared), were particularly devastating in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.(...) In Podilia alone, about one-third of all the villages were devastated or abandoned between 1578 and 1583." 
  46. ↑ Yermolenko, Galina (2010). Roxolana in European Literature, History and Culture. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. p. 111. ISBN 978-1409403746. https://books.google.com/books?id=iRE-ybv0SLkC&pg=PA111. 
  47. ↑ Poland, the knight among nations, Louis Edwin Van Norman, New York: 1907, p. 18.
  48. ↑ William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel (2006). The Essential World History: Volume II: Since 1500. Cengage Learning. p. 336. ISBN 0-495-09766-7. 
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 Norman Davies (1998). Europe: A History. HarperCollins. pp. 657–660. ISBN 978-0-06-097468-8. https://archive.org/details/europehistory00norm. "vilnius capital grand duchy." 
  50. ↑ Rey Koslowski (2000). Migrants and citizens: demographic change in the European state system. Cornell University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-8014-3714-4. https://archive.org/details/migrantscitizens00kosl. "polish lithuanian commonwealth americas western europe." 
  51. ↑ Bartłomiej Szyndler (2009). Racławice 1794. Bellona Publishing. pp. 64–65. ISBN 9788311116061. https://books.google.com/books?id=-KpBxHzAB1gC&pg=PA64. Retrieved 26 September 2014. 
  52. ↑ Sužiedėlis 2011, p. xxv.
  53. ↑ Andrzej Jezierski, Cecylia Leszczyńska, Historia gospodarcza Polski, 2003, s. 68.
  54. ↑ Russia's Rise as a European Power, 1650–1750, Jeremy Black, History Today, Vol. 36 Issue: 8, August 1986.
  55. ↑ Roman, Wanda Krystyna (2003). Działalność niepodległościowa żołnierzy polskich na Litwie i Wileńszczyźnie. Polska: Naukowe Wydawn. Piotrkowskie. p. 23. ISBN 9788388865084. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Dzia%C5%82alno%C5%9B%C4%87_niepodleg%C5%82o%C5%9Bciowa_%C5%BCo%C5%82/K9cWAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=polska%20litwa%20niepodleg%C5%82o%C5%9B%C4%87%201918. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  56. ↑ Jan Zamoyski's speech in the Parliament, 1605 Harbottle Thomas Benfield (2009). Dictionary of Quotations (Classical). BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 254. ISBN 978-1-113-14791-2. 
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 Pacy, James S.; James T. McHugh (2001). Diplomats without a Country: Baltic Diplomacy, International Law, and the Cold War (1st ed.). Post Road West, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. Digital object identifier:10.1336/0313318786. ISBN 0-313-31878-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=wRbdAwtxVIAC&q=Union+of+Lublin&pg=PA18. Retrieved 3 September 2006. 
  58. ↑ Bardach, Juliusz (1998). O Rzeczpospolitą Obojga Narodów. Warszawa. 
  59. ↑ Joanna Olkiewicz, Najaśniejsza Republika Wenecka (Most Serene Republic of Venice), Książka i Wiedza, 1972, Warszawa
  60. ↑ Joseph Conrad, Notes on Life and Letters: Notes on Life and Letters, Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-521-56163-9, Google Print, p. 422 (notes)
  61. ↑ Frost, Robert I.. The Northern Wars: War, State and Society in northeastern Europe, 1558–1721. Harlow, England; New York: Longman's.  2000. Especially pp. 9–11, 114, 181, 323.
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 David Sneath (2007). The headless state: aristocratic orders, kinship society, & misrepresentations of nomadic inner Asia. Columbia University Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-231-14054-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=OR14qaApQbgC. 
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 M. L. Bush (1988). Rich noble, poor noble. Manchester University Press ND. pp. 8–9. ISBN 0-7190-2381-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=TIG7AAAAIAAJ. 
  64. ↑ Frost, Robert I. (2004). After the Deluge; Poland-Lithuania and the Second Northern War, 1655-1660. Cambridge: University Press. ISBN 9780521544023. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/After_the_Deluge/IfIbP8sfC0wC?hl=en&gbpv=0. 
  65. ↑ William Christian Bullitt, Jr., The Great Globe Itself: A Preface to World Affairs, Transaction Publishers, 2005, ISBN 1-4128-0490-6, Google Print, pp. 42–43
  66. ↑ John Adams, The Political Writings of John Adams, Regnery Gateway, 2001, ISBN 0-89526-292-4, Google Print, p. 242
  67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 Henry Eldridge Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe 1763 to 1815, Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4179-3418-2, Google Print p. 161
  68. ↑ 68.0 68.1 Wolfgang Menzel, Germany from the Earliest Period Vol. 4, Kessinger Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1-4191-2171-5, Google Print, p. 33
  69. ↑ Isabel de Madariaga, Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2002, ISBN 1-84212-511-7, Google Print p. 431
  70. ↑ Carl L. Bucki, The Constitution of May 3, 1791 Archived 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine., Text of a presentation made at the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo on the occasion of the celebrations of Poland's Constitution Day on 3 May 1996. Retrieved 20 March 2006.
  71. ↑ 71.0 71.1 71.2 Piotr Stefan Wandycz. The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present, Routledge (UK), 2001, ISBN 0-415-25491-4, Google Print p. 131.
  72. ↑ Niepodległość. 6. Polska: Fundacja "Polonia Restituta,". 1991. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Niepodleg%C5%82o%C5%9B%C4%87/HhBpAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=konstytucja%203%20maja%20nie%20zosta%C5%82a%20w%20pe%C5%82ni%20wprowadzona. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  73. ↑ 73.0 73.1 73.2 Sobiech, Marcin (2018). "Jak powstawała i co zawiera mapa Rzeczpospolitej Obojga Narodów" (in Polish). Marcin Sobiech. http://www.exgeo.pl/blog/jak-powstawala-i-co-zawiera-mapa-rzeczpospolitej-obojga-narodow-ron. 
  74. ↑ Kucharczuk 2011, p. 64
  75. ↑ "shillings - Polish translation – Linguee". http://www.linguee.com/english-polish/translation/shillings.html. 
  76. ↑ Flisowski, Zbigniew (1985). Bastion u wrót Gdańska. Polska: Nasza Księgarnia. p. 11. ISBN 9788310087799. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Bastion_u_wr%C3%B3t_Gda%C5%84ska/-7pBAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=gda%C5%84sk%20prawo%20do%20bicia%20monet. 
  77. ↑ "Pierwsze polskie banknoty" (in Polish). https://www.skarbnicanarodowa.pl/kroniki-numizmatyczne/292-pierwsze-polskie-banknoty#:~:text=Zupe%C5%82n%C4%85%20nowo%C5%9Bci%C4%85%20w%20polskim%20systemie,kt%C3%B3re%20r%C3%B3%C5%BCni%C5%82y%20si%C4%99%20odcieniem%20papieru.. 
  78. ↑ Gdańskie Towarzystwo Naukowe (1991) (in Polish). Seria popularno-naukowa "Pomorze Gdańskie". 19. Gdańsk: Towarzystwo Naukowe. p. 149. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Seria_popularno_naukowa_Pomorze_Gda%C5%84ski/6TloAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Seria%20popularno-naukowa%20%22Pomorze%20Gda%C5%84skie%22. Retrieved 16 February 2021. 
  79. ↑ Kucharczuk, Katarzyna (2011). Polska samorządna; ilustrowane dzieje administracji i samorządu terytorialnego na tle historii Polski. Carta Blanca. p. 66. ISBN 9788377051207. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Polska_samorz%C4%85dna/ZelNAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=konopii%20rzeczpospolita%20obojga%20narodow. Retrieved 16 February 2021. 
  80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 Zsigmond Pál Pach, Zs. P. Pach (1970). The role of East-Central Europe in international trade, 16th and 17th centuries. Akadémiai Kiadó. p. 220. https://books.google.com/books?id=xFZ9AAAAMAAJ. 
  81. ↑ 81.0 81.1 81.2 Institute of History (Polish Academy of Sciences) (1991). "Volumes 63–66". Acta Poloniae historica. National Ossoliński Institute. p. 42. ISBN 0-88033-186-0. 
  82. ↑ Krzysztof Olszewski (2007). The Rise and Decline of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth due to Grain Trade. pp. 6–7. 
  83. ↑ Maciej Kobyliński. "Rzeczpospolita spichlerzem Europy" (in pl). www.polinow.pl. http://www.polinow.pl/przelom_bugu-bugiem_do_gdanska. 
  84. ↑ Nicholas L. Chirovsky (1984). The Lithuanian-Rus'commonwealth, the Polish domination, and the Cossack-Hetman state. Philosophical Library. p. 367. ISBN 0-8022-2407-5. 
  85. ↑ Sven-Olof Lindquist, Birgitta Radhe (1989). Economy and culture in the Baltic, 1650–1700: papers of the VIIIth Visby Symposium held at Gotland's Historical Museum, Visby, August 18th–22th [sic], 1986. Gotlands Fornsal. p. 367. ISBN 91-971048-8-4. 
  86. ↑ Sowa, Jan (2015) (in Polish). Inna Rzeczpospolita jest możliwa! Widma przeszłości, wizje przyszłości. Polska: WAB. ISBN 9788328022034. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Inna_Rzeczpospolita_jest_mo%C5%BCliwa_Widma/QRtGCQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0. Retrieved 16 February 2021. 
  87. ↑ "Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to History". Britannica.com. 31 January 1910. http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24160. 
  88. ↑ PPerry Anderson (1979). Lineages of the absolutist state. Verso. p. 285. ISBN 0-86091-710-X. 
  89. ↑ 89.0 89.1 Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries (2007). A history of Eastern Europe: crisis and change. Taylor & Francis. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-415-36627-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=PTB0gn_qwTcC&q=polish+lithuania+commonwealth+grain+exports&pg=PA189. 
  90. ↑ 90.0 90.1 Yves-Marie Bercé (1987). Revolt and revolution in early modern Europe: an essay on the history of political violence. Manchester University Press. p. 151. 
  91. ↑ Krzysztof Olszewski (2007). The Rise and Decline of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth due to Grain Trade. p. 7. http://venus.unive.it/olszewski/Polish%20Grain%20Trade%20-%20Krzysztof%20Olszewski.pdf. Retrieved 22 April 2009. [dead link]
  92. ↑ Jarmo Kotilaine (2005). Russia's foreign trade and economic expansion in the seventeenth century: windows on the world. BRILL. p. 47. ISBN 90-04-13896-X. https://books.google.com/books?id=57LnE5DO2rQC. 
  93. ↑ Allen, Robert. "Economic Structure and agricultural productivity in Europe, 1300–1800". http://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/users/allen/ecstrucagprod.pdf. 
  94. ↑ kurkowski, Jan (2010). "Jarmarki w województwie lubelskim w XVI w.". Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie. https://www.wilanow-palac.pl/jarmarki_w_wojewodztwie_lubelskim_w_xvi_w.html. 
  95. ↑ Billock, Jennifer (2019). "Follow the Ancient Amber Road". Smithsonian. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/follow-ancient-amber-road-180970609/. 
  96. ↑ "Drogi handlowe w dawnej Polsce". Encyklopedia PWN. https://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/drogi-handlowe-w-dawnej-Polsce;3894324.html#:~:text=drogi%20handlowe%20w%20dawnej%20Polsce%2C,%2C%20przeprawy%20i%20brody%2C%20groble.. 
  97. ↑ Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne (1989). Kwartalnik historyczny. 3-4. Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne. p. 214. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Kwartalnik_historyczny/cN5BAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=szlaki%20handlowe%20imperium%20osma%C5%84skie%20polska. Retrieved 16 February 2021. 
  98. ↑ ""Polonaise" carpet". www.museu.gulbenkian.pt. http://www.museu.gulbenkian.pt/obra.asp?num=t71&nuc=a4&lang=en. 
  99. ↑ 99.0 99.1 Stachowicz 1894, p. 279
  100. ↑ Tomaszewska, A.. "Wolna elekcja i zasady jej funkcjonowania". Tomaszewska. http://www.tomaszewska.com.pl/elekcja.pdf. 
  101. ↑ Juliusz Bardach, Zdzisław Kaczmarczyk, Bogusław Leśnodorski (1957) (in Polish). Historia państwa i prawa Polski do roku 1795. 2. Polska: Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe. pp. 306–308. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Historia_pa%C5%84stwa_i_prawa_Polski/Aj2uk1wJJD4C?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=polska%20flota%20w%2017%20wieku%20przesta%C5%82a%20istnie%C4%87%20ju%C5%BC%20w%20r%2016. Retrieved 16 February 2021. 
  102. ↑ Richard Brzezinski (1988). Polish Armies 1569-1696 (2). Osprey Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-85045-744-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=6KrUDhbGDVcC&pg=PA11. 
  103. ↑ Stachowicz, Michał (1894) (in Polish). Wojsko polskie Kościuszki w roku 1794. Poznań: Księgarnia Katolicka. pp. 23–25. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Wojsko_polskie_Ko%C5%9Bciuszki_w_roku_1794/42QPIMh8s8wC?hl=en&gbpv=0. Retrieved 14 February 2021. 
  104. ↑ Stachowicz 1894, pp. 23–25
  105. ↑ Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe), 1987, p. 229.
  106. ↑ Brzezinski (1988), p. 6.
  107. ↑ 107.0 107.1 107.2 107.3 107.4 107.5 107.6 Bardach et al. (1987), pp. 229–230.
  108. ↑ 108.0 108.1 Brzezinski (1987), p. 10.
  109. ↑ Bardach et al. (1987), pp. 227–228.
  110. ↑ Zwoliński, Stefan (1995) (in Polish). Naczelni wodzowie i wyżsi dowódcy Polskich Sił Zbrojnych na Zachodzie. Polska: Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny. p. 12. ISBN 9788386268276. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Naczelni_wodzowie_i_wy%C5%BCsi_dow%C3%B3dcy_Pols/1oC1AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=kontynuowali%20tradycje%20rzeczypospolitej%20armia%20ksi%C4%99stwa%20warszawskiego. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  111. ↑ 111.0 111.1 J. K. Fedorowicz; Maria Bogucka; Henryk Samsonowicz (1982). A Republic of nobles: studies in Polish history to 1864. CUP Archive. p. 209. ISBN 0-521-24093-X. https://books.google.com/books?id=p7U8AAAAIAAJ. 
  112. ↑ Jacek F. Gieras (1994). "Volume 30 of Monographs in electrical and electronic engineering, Oxford science publications". Linear induction drives. Oxford University Press. p. V. ISBN 0-19-859381-3. 
  113. ↑ Norman Davies (2005). God's Playground: A History of Poland. Columbia University Press. p. 167. ISBN 0-231-12819-3. https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0. 
  114. ↑ "Setting Sail". www.warsawvoice.pl. 29 May 2003. http://www.warsawvoice.pl/view/2437/. 
  115. ↑ Paul Peucker. "Jan Amos Comenius (1592–1670)". www.moravian.org. http://www.moravian.org/news/2007/550_resources/Jan_Amos_Comenius_Bulletin_Insert.pdf. 
  116. ↑ "Portraits collection". www.muzeum.leszno.pl. http://www.muzeum.leszno.pl/new/_index.php?wer=en&op=zbiory. 
  117. ↑ Mariusz Karpowicz (1991). Baroque in Poland. Arkady. p. 68. ISBN 83-213-3412-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=A3lZAAAAIAAJ. 
  118. ↑ 118.0 118.1 Łyczak, Bartłomiej (1 January 2011). "The Coffin Portrait and Celebration of Death in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Modern Period". pp. 233–242. Digital object identifier:10.1484/J.IKON.5.100699. 
  119. ↑ Szablowski, Jerzy (1975) (in Polish). Arrasy flamandzkie w zamku królewskim na Wawelu. Polska: Arkady. p. 15. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Arrasy_flamandzkie_w_zamku_kr%C3%B3lewskim_n/JDswAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=sztuka%20flamandzka%20w%20polsce. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  120. ↑ Szablowski, Jerzy (1975) (in Polish). Arrasy flamandzkie w zamku królewskim na Wawelu. Polska: Arkady. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Arrasy_flamandzkie_w_zamku_kr%C3%B3lewskim_n/JDswAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=sztuka%20flamandzka%20w%20polsce. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  121. ↑ Orlińska-Mianowska, Ewa (2008). Fashion world of the 18th and early 19th century. Polska: Bosz. ISBN 9788387730727. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Fashion_world_of_the_18th_and_early_19th/bMkSAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=a%20la%20polonaise%20styl%20francja. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  122. ↑ Singleton, Esther (December 12, 2019). "French and English furniture distinctive styles and periods described and illustrated". Good Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=-SDEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT117&dq=lit+a+la+polonaise+marie+leszczynska#q=lit+a+la+polonaise+marie+leszczynska. 
  123. ↑ Dialog. Miesiȩcznik poświȩcony dramaturgii współczesnej, teatralnej, filmowej, radiowej, telewizyjnej.. 11. Polska: RSW "Prasa". 1966. p. 6. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Dialog/dl43AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=lit%20a%20la%20polonaise%20%C5%82o%C5%BCe. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  124. ↑ Waugh, Norah (1968). The Cut of Women's Clothes. London: Routledge. pp. 72–73. ISBN 0-87830-026-0. 
  125. ↑ Lubliner, Ludwig (1858). Obrona Żydów zamieszkałych w krajach polskich od niesłusznych zarzutów i fałszywych oskarzeń. Brussels: C. Vanderauwer. p. 7. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Obrona_%C5%BByd%C3%B3w_zamieszka%C5%82ych_w_krajach/qeoMxoe84RYC?hl=en&gbpv=0. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  126. ↑ Muthesius, Stefan (1994). Polska; art, architecture, design 966-1990. Langewiesche Köster. p. 34. ISBN 9783784576121. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Polska/G4D4swu4Z7wC?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=koscioly%20protestanckie%20polskie%20bia%C5%82e%20wystr%C3%B3j. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  127. ↑ Państwowy Instytut Badania Sztuki Ludowej (1974). "Volumes 28–29". Polska sztuka ludowa (Polish Folk Art). Państwowy Instytut Sztuki. p. 259. 
  128. ↑ Paul Robert Magocsi (1996). A history of Ukraine. University of Toronto Press. pp. 286–287. ISBN 0-8020-7820-6. 
  129. ↑ 129.0 129.1 Michael J. Mikoś. "Baroque". www.staropolska.pl. http://www.staropolska.pl/ang/baroque/Mikos_baroque/Cultural_b.html. 
  130. ↑ Rolska-Boruch, Irena (2003). "Domy pańskie" na Lubelszczyźnie od późnego gotyku do wczesnego baroku. Polska: Wydawnictwo KUL. ISBN 9788373630291. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Domy_pa%C5%84skie_na_Lubelszczy%C5%BAnie_od_p%C3%B3/PhEWAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=architektura%20polska%20w%C5%82oskie%20loggie. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  131. ↑ Kowalczyk, Jerzy (1973). Sebastiano Serlio a sztuka polska. Polska: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. p. 119. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Sebastiano_Serlio_a_sztuka_polska/0aefAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=kasetony%20w%C5%82oska%20polska. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  132. ↑ Miłobędzki, Adam (1994). The architecture of Poland: a chapter of the European heritage. Kraków: International Cultural Centre. p. 110. ISBN 9788385739142. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Architektura_Ziem_Polski/QAMtAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=architektura%20polska%20attyki. 
  133. ↑ Zdzisław Klimczuk, Józef Garliński (1996) (in Polish). Most Holandia - Polska. Polska: Bis Press. p. 32. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Most_Holandia_Polska/YdmAAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=architektura%20gda%C5%84ska%20holandia. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  134. ↑ Karpowicz, Mariusz (1994) (in Polish). Sztuki polskiej drogi dziwne. Excalibur. p. 47. ISBN 9788390015286. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Sztuki_polskiej_drogi_dziwne/jQgvAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=czarny+marmur+rzeczpospolita+obojga+narodow&dq=czarny+marmur+rzeczpospolita+obojga+narodow&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  135. ↑ Feliks Gryglewicz, Romuald Łukaszyk, Wincenty Granat, Zygmunt Sułowski (1973). Encyklopedia katolicka: Kinszasa-Krzymuska. Lublin: Tow. Nauk. Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego. p. 1189. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Kinszasa_Krzymuska/2ssPAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=czarny%20marmur%20kaplica%20waz%C3%B3w%20zamek%20warszawa. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  136. ↑ "Palaces and Castles in a Lion Country". www.lvivtoday.com.ua. 2 June 2008. http://www.lvivtoday.com.ua/exploring-lviv/336. 
  137. ↑ Snopek, Jerzy (1999). Oświecenie. Polska: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. p. 134. ISBN 9788301129170. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/O%C5%9Bwiecenie/AYxMAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=klasycyzm%20poniatowski. Retrieved 13 February 2021. 
  138. ↑ Kazimierz Maliszewski (1990) (in pl). Obraz świata i Rzeczypospolitej w polskich gazetach rękopiśmiennych z okresu późnego baroku: studium z dziejów kształtowania się i rozpowszechniania sarmackich stereotypów wiedzy i informacji o "theatrum mundi". Schr. p. 79. ISBN 83-231-0239-2.  W każdym razie "królowa bez korony i pierwsza dama Rzeczypospolitej", jak współcześni określali Sieniawską, zasługuje na biografię naukową.
  139. ↑ Andrzej Wasko, Sarmatism or the Enlightenment: <space>The Dilemma of Polish Culture, Sarmatian Review XVII:2, online
  140. ↑ Dziejochciejstwo, dziejokrętactwo, Janusz Tazbir, Polityka 6 (2591) 10 February 2007 (in Polish)
  141. ↑ Paradowski, Ryszard (2005) (in Polish). Unia Europejska a społeczeństwo obywatelskie. Poznań: Wydawn. Nauk. Instytutu Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza. p. 168. ISBN 9788387704940. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Unia_Europejska_a_spo%C5%82ecze%C5%84stwo_obywat/G6MVAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=rzeczypospolitej%20obojga%20narod%C3%B3w%20wielokulturowa. 
  142. ↑ Kopczyński, Michał; Tygielski, Wojciech (2010) (in Polish). Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Warszawa: Bellona. ISBN 9788311117242. 
  143. ↑ 143.0 143.1 Kopczyński & Tygielski 2010
  144. ↑ Kopczyński & Tygielski 2010, p. 236
  145. ↑ 145.0 145.1 Kopczyński & Tygielski 2010, p. 237
  146. ↑ Total and Jewish population based on Frazee; others are estimations from Pogonowski (see the following reference). Charles A. Frazee, World History the Easy Way, Barron's Educational Series, ISBN 0-8120-9766-1, Google Print, 50
  147. ↑ R. B. Wernham, The new Cambridge modern history: The Counter-Reformation and price revolution, 1559–1610, 1968, Cambridge University Press, Google print p. 377
  148. ↑ 148.0 148.1 Matthew P. Romaniello, Charles Lipp. Contested Spaces of Nobility in Early Modern Europe. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. 2011. p. 233.
  149. ↑ (in Polish) Polish Sociological Review. Polish Sociological Association. 2007. p. 96. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Polish_Sociological_Review/iJYhAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=german%20speaking%20majority%20gdansk%2017th%20century. 
  150. ↑ Kopczyński & Tygielski 2010, p. 201
  151. ↑ Kopczyński & Tygielski 2010, pp. 25–83
  152. ↑ 152.0 152.1 Kopczyński & Tygielski 2010, pp. 29–38
  153. ↑ Stone, Daniel, The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386–1795, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2001.
  154. ↑ Norman Davies, God's Playground. A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795, Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Page 126. ISBN 0-19-925339-0 / ISBN 0-19-925340-4
  155. ↑ Piekarski, Adam (1979). Freedom of Conscience and Religion in Poland. Interpress Publishers. p. 31. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Freedom_of_Conscience_and_Religion_in_Po/Dp1JAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=persecution%20religious%20in%20Europe%20poland%20freedom. 
  156. ↑ 156.0 156.1 "Memory of the World Register Nomination Form". portal.unesco.org. http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=23126&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. 
  157. ↑ Linda Gordon, Cossack Rebellions: Social Turmoil in the Sixteenth Century Ukraine, SUNY Press, 1983, ISBN 0-87395-654-0, Google Print, p. 51
  158. ↑ Serhii Plokhy (2006). The origins of the Slavic nations: premodern identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Cambridge University Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-521-86403-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=pCdUmCWxwJ8C. 
  159. ↑ "Lemberg". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09144a.htm. 
  160. ↑ Peter Kardash, Brett Lockwood (1988). Ukraine and Ukrainians. Fortuna. p. 134. https://books.google.com/books?id=Pl1pAAAAMAAJ. 
  161. ↑ Magocsi, Paul R. (2010). A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples. University of Toronto Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-1442610217. https://books.google.com/books?id=TA1zVKTTsXUC&pg=PA190. 
  162. ↑ "Poland, history of", Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. [4]. Retrieved 10 February 2006 [dead link] and "Ukraine", Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. [5]. Retrieved 14 February 2006.[dead link]
  163. ↑ "European Jewish Congress – Poland". Eurojewcong.org. http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=107. 
  164. ↑ Thus, at the time of the first partition in 1772, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth consisted of 43 per cent Latin Catholics, 33 per cent Greek Catholics, 10 per cent Christian Orthodox, 9 per cent Jews and 4 per cent Protestant Willfried Spohn, Anna Triandafyllidou (2003). Europeanisation, national identities, and migration: changes in boundary constructions between Western and Eastern Europe. Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 0-415-29667-6. 
  165. ↑ 165.0 165.1 Artūras Tereškinas (2005). Imperfect communities: identity, discourse and nation in the seventeenth-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas. p. 31. ISBN 9955-475-94-3. 
  166. ↑ 166.0 166.1 Aleksander Gieysztor, ed (1988). Rzeczpospolita w dobie Jana III (Commonwealth during the reign of John III). Royal Castle in Warsaw. p. 45. https://books.google.com/books?id=a8BBAAAAYAAJ. 
  167. ↑ 167.0 167.1 167.2 167.3 167.4 167.5 167.6 167.7 Anatol Lieven, The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Path to Independence, Yale University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-300-06078-5, Google Print, p. 48
  168. ↑ Stephen Barbour, Cathie Carmichael, Language and Nationalism in Europe, Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-19-925085-5, Google Print p. 184
  169. ↑ Östen Dahl, Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm, The Circum-Baltic Languages: Typology and Contact, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2001, ISBN 90-272-3057-9, Google Print, p. 45
  170. ↑ Glanville Price, Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe, Blackwell Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-631-22039-9, Google Print, p. 30
  171. ↑ 171.0 171.1 171.2 171.3 Mikulas Teich & Roy Porter, The National Question in Europe in Historical Context, Cambridge University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-521-36713-1, Google Print, p. 295
  172. ↑ 172.0 172.1 172.2 172.3 172.4 Kevin O'Connor, Culture And Customs of the Baltic States, Greenwood Press, 2006, ISBN 0-313-33125-1, Google Print, p. 115
  173. ↑ 173.0 173.1 Daniel. Z Stone, A History of East Central Europe, p. 46.
  174. ↑ Karin Friedrich et al., The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569–1772, Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-521-58335-7, Google Print, p. 88
  175. ↑ Tomasz Kamusella (2008). The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-230-55070-4. 
  176. ↑ L'union personnelle polono-saxonne contribua davantage à faire connaître en Pologne le français que l'allemand. Cette fonction de la langue française, devenue l'instrument de communication entre les groupes dirigeants des deux pays. Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of History (1970). "Volume 22" (in fr). Acta Poloniae historica. National Ossoliński Institute. p. 79. https://books.google.com/books?id=5ffUAAAAMAAJ. 
  177. ↑ They were the first Catholic schools in which one of the main languages of instruction was Polish. [...] Although he followed Locke in attaching weight to the native language, in general Latin lost ground to French rather than Polish. Richard Butterwick (1998). Poland's last king and English culture: Stanisław August Poniatowski, 1732–1798. Oxford University Press. p. 70. ISBN 0-19-820701-8. 
  178. ↑ Руська (Волинська) метрика
  179. ↑ Although still sometimes in use by the end of the XVII century and lack of official decree like one for Grand Duchy chancellery, there was no separate Ruthenian Metrica since 1673.
  180. ↑ Piotr Eberhardt, Jan Owsinski, Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, Analysis, M.E. Sharpe, 2003, ISBN 0-7656-0665-8, Google Print, p. 177
  181. ↑ Östen Dahl, Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm, The Circum-Baltic Languages: Typology and Contact, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2001, ISBN 90-272-3057-9, Google Print, p. 41
  182. ↑ Zinkevičius, Z. (1993). Rytų Lietuva praeityje ir dabar. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla. p. 70. ISBN 5-420-01085-2. "Official usage of Lithuanian language in the 16th century Lithuania's cities proves magistrate's decree of Wilno city, which was sealed by Žygimantas Augustas' in 1552...//Courts juratory were written in Lithuanian language. In fact, such [courts juratory written in Lithuanian] survived from the 17th century..." 
  183. ↑ ""Mes Wladislaus..." a letter from Wladyslaw Vasa issued in 1639 written in Lithuanian language". http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d101/no_name_2/Edt1458.jpg. 
  184. ↑ Ališauskas, V.Expression error: Unrecognized word "etal". (2001). Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštijos kultūra. Tyrinėjimai ir vaizdai. Vilnius. p. 500. ISBN 9955-445-26-2. "In 1794 Government's declarations were carried out and in Lithuanian." 
  185. ↑ Daniel. Z Stone, A History of East Central Europe, p. 4.
  186. ↑ Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, University of California Press, 1983, ISBN 0-520-04477-0, Google Print, p. 108
  187. ↑ Jan K. Ostrowski, Land of the Winged Horsemen: Art in Poland, 1572–1764, Yale University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-300-07918-4, Google Print, p. 27
  188. ↑ 188.0 188.1 Joanna B. Michlic (2006). Poland's threatening other: the image of the Jew from 1880 to the present. U of Nebraska Press. p. 42. ISBN 0-8032-3240-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=t6h2pI7o_zQC. 
  189. ↑ Karol Zierhoffer, Zofia Zierhoffer (2000) (in pl). Nazwy zachodnioeuropejskie w języku polskim a związki Polski z kulturą Europy. Wydawnictwo Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk. p. 79. ISBN 83-7063-286-6.  Podobną opinię przekazał nieco późnej, w 1577 r. Marcin Kromer "Za naszej pamięci weszli [...] do głównych miast Polski kupcy i rzemieślnicy włoscy, a język ich jest także częściowo w użyciu, mianowicie wśród wytworniejszych Polaków, którzy chętnie podróżują do Włoch".
  190. ↑ Rosemary A. Chorzempa (1993). Polish roots. Genealogical Pub.. ISBN 0-8063-1378-1. https://archive.org/details/polishrootskorze00chor. 
  191. ↑ Jan K. Ostrowski, ed (1999). Art in Poland, 1572–1764: land of the winged horsemen. Art Services International. p. 32. ISBN 0-88397-131-3.  In 1600 the son of the chancellor of Poland was learning four languages: Latin, Greek, Turkish, and Polish. By the time he had completed his studies, he was fluent not only in Turkish but also in Tatar and Arabic.
  192. ↑ Lola Romanucci-Ross; George A. De Vos; Takeyuki Tsuda (2006). Ethnic identity: problems and prospects for the twenty-first century. Rowman Altamira. p. 84. ISBN 0-7591-0973-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=AajCaf34k3oC&q=arabic+Tatars+Polish+Lithuanian+Commonwealth&pg=PA84. 
  193. ↑ Barile, Davide (2019). Historic Power Europe; A Post-Hegelian Interpretation of European Integration. New York: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000731132. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Historic_Power_Europe/kXu9DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0. 
  194. ↑ A. stated, for instance by the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997.
  195. ↑ Alfonsas Eidintas, Vytautas Zalys, Lithuania in European Politics: The Years of the First Republic, 1918–1940, Palgrave, 1999, ISBN 0-312-22458-3. Print, p. 78
  196. ↑ ""Zobaczyć Kresy". Grzegorz Górny. Rzeczpospolita 23 August 2008 (in Polish)" (in pl). Rp.pl. 23 August 2008. http://www.rp.pl/artykul/180354.html. 
  197. ↑ Sarah Johnstone (2008). Ukraine. Lonely Planet. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-74104-481-2. https://archive.org/details/ukraine00john/page/27. 
  198. ↑ Stephen K. Batalden, Sandra L. Batalden (1997). The newly independent states of Eurasia: handbook of former Soviet republics. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 45. ISBN 0-89774-940-5. https://archive.org/details/newlyindependent00bata/page/45. 
  199. ↑ Richard M. Golden (2006). "Volume 4". Encyclopedia of witchcraft: the Western tradition. ABC-CLIO. p. 1039. ISBN 1-57607-243-6. 
  200. ↑ Daniel H. Cole (2002). Pollution and property: comparing ownership institutions for environmental protection. Cambridge University Press. p. 106. ISBN 0-521-00109-9. 
  201. ↑ 201.0 201.1 201.2 Francis W. Carter (1994). Trade and urban development in Poland: an economic geography of Cracow, from its origins to 1795 – Volume 20 of Cambridge studies in historical geography. Cambridge University Press. pp. 186, 187. ISBN 978-0-521-41239-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=-XdByzq85zMC&q=warsaw+capital+1611&pg=PA187. 
  202. ↑ Daniel Stone (2001). The Polish–Lithuanian state, 1386–1795. University of Washington Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-295-98093-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=LFgB_l4SdHAC&q=warsaw+real+capital+commonwealth&pg=PA221. 
  203. ↑ Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries (1998). A history of eastern Europe: crisis and change. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-415-16111-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=6Eh9KQTrOckC&q=warsaw+became+capital+new+union&pg=PA126. 
  204. ↑ Politics and reformations: communities, polities, nations, and empires. 2007 p. 206.
  205. ↑ Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung. 2006, Vol. 55; p. 2.
  206. ↑ Thomas A. Brady, Christopher Ocker; entry by David Frick (2007). Politics and reformations: communities, polities, nations, and empires : essays in honor of Thomas A. Brady, Jr. Brill Publishers. p. 206. ISBN 978-90-04-16173-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=_bU1jKS2ETkC&q=vilnius+second+capital+commonwelath&pg=PT232. 
  207. ↑ Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer; essay by Tomas Venclova (2004). History of the literary cultures of East-Central Europe: junctures and disjunctures in the 19th and 20th centuries (Volume 2). John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 11. ISBN 978-90-272-3453-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=5pAwqsSyTlsC&q=vilnius+capital+commonwealth+venclova&pg=PA11. 
Cite error: <ref> tag with name "Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire du XVIIIe siècle, contenant les négociations, traitez, résolutions et autres documents authentiques concernant les affaires d'état: avec le supplément aux années MDCXCVI-MDCCIII" defined in <references> is not used in prior text.

Sources[]

  • Bardach, Juliusz; Lesnodorski, Boguslaw; Pietrzak, Michal (1987). Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego. Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. 
  • Brzezinski, Richard (1987). Polish Armies (1): 1569–1696. Men-At-Arms Series. 184. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-736-X. 
  • Brzezinski, Richard (1988). Polish Armies (2): 1569–1696. Men-At-Arms Series. 188. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-744-0. 
  • Frost, Robert (2015). The Oxford History of Poland–Lithuania. I: The Making of the Polish–Lithuanian Union, 1385–1569. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198208693. 
  • Litwin, Henryk (October 2016). "Central European Superpower". https://www.msz.gov.pl/resource/49da65c5-9917-40de-b542-5c89751cacf6:JCR. 
  • Norkus, Zenonas (2017). An Unproclaimed Empire: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania: From the Viewpoint of Comparative Historical Sociology of Empires. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138281547. 
  • Rowell, S. C. (2014). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107658769. 
  • Rowell, S. C.; Baronas, Darius (2015). The Conversion of Lithuania. From Pagan Barbarians to Late Medieval Christians. Vilnius: Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore. ISBN 978-6094251528. 
  • Stone, Daniel Z. (2014). The Polish–Lithuanian State, 1386–1795. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0295803623. 
  • Sužiedėlis, Saulius A. (2011). Historical Dictionary of Lithuania (2 ed.). Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810875364. 

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the edit history here.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.