The Warsaw Confederation

Karolina — Wed, 11 May 2022 10:06:45 +0000

The declaration of the Warsaw Confederation was approved on January 28, 1573, at the Convocation Sejm held in Warsaw after the heirless death of King Zygmunt II August (Sigismund II Augustus) and prior to the first free election of a monarch. The Sejm was convoked in order to lay down the principles for electing the monarch, to carry out a review of the Rzeczpospolita’s constitutional arrangements, and to determine the bases for their possible amendment.

The signatories of the ceremonious document – affixed, as seen below, with numerous seals – regulated the most urgent matters. One of them is dealt with in points 3 and 4 – namely, the guarantee to uphold peace between the adherents of the diverse confessions then practised in the Rzeczpospolita (Commonwealth) The signatories mutually swore to oppose any and all attempts to initiate persecutions for reasons of religion. At the same time it was stressed that religious matters could not be used as a pretext for undermining the social order.

Of surpassing significance for the origins of the provisions upholding religious freedom was the fact that among the leading candidates to the vacant throne was the son of the French king, Henry (de Valois) who had been charged with having directly participated in the slaughter of French Protestants (Huguenots) during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of August 23-24, 1572 in Paris. In accordance with the stipulations of the Warsaw Confederation, when Henry indeed was elected to the throne of the Rzeczpospolita (in May, 1573), the Polish delegation that traveled to France demanded of the king-elect that he swear an oath to uphold the principles of the Warsaw Confederation. Henry did so in Notre Dame Cathedral in September that year.

The fact that freedom of religion was made part of the Henrician Articles attests that the provisions of the Warsaw Confederation were to remain binding indefinitely, rather than only during the interregnum and Henry’s reign.

Document from the collection of the Central Archives of Historical Records

Union of Mielnik (the Privilege of Aleksander, Grand Duke of Lithuania)

Karolina — Wed, 11 May 2022 10:00:16 +0000

This document on Polish-Lithuanian union was drawn up in the city of Piotrków on October 3, 1501, and was then confirmed on October 30, 1501, in the eastern city of Mielnik, by Aleksander Jagiellończyk (Alexander Jagiellon), Grand Duke of Lithuania, in connection with his election to the throne of Poland. Aleksander sought the Polish crown following the death of his elder brother, Jan I Olbracht (John I Albert), with the intent of re-establishing the personal union between Poland and Lithuania. The Lithuanians were eager to obtain military support in their war with Muscovy – however, they did not wish to deepen the union beyond its personal framework, fearing that the Grand Duchy’s autonomy might be curtailed. The Polish party, in turn, endeavoured to transform the bond into a real union.

The central provision of the document was its consent to a thorough-going alliance between the Crown and the Grand Duchy. The joint election of the monarch – the king of Poland, to be sure – was envisioned, this implying that the Jagiellons would lose their right to inherit power in Lithuania. At his coronation, every subsequent king was to re-affirm all the existing rights of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A jointly appointed council was meant to deliberate on the state’s affairs.

In the end, the Lithuanian side never ratified the Union of Mielnik. Nonetheless, the Privilege is regarded as the first step towards the union that was finally forged between Poland and Lithuania in 1569.

Alexander Jagiellon corroborate the act of polish-lituanian union on 30th of October 1501 in Mielnik, document from the collection of the Central Archives of Historical Records

election – Polish Freedom

The Warsaw Confederation

Union of Mielnik (the Privilege of Aleksander, Grand Duke of Lithuania)