Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s victorious campaign against Prussia and Russia in 1806-1807 ended with the Treaties of Tilsit, which laid the foundations for the revival of the Polish state as a rump Duchy of Warsaw, ruled by Saxon king Fryderyk August (Frederick August I), grandson of the Polish king August III and a descendant of Jan… Continue reading Constitution of the Duchy of Warsaw
The first years of the reign of Stanisław II Augustus, who was elected king in September 1764, abounded in events that polarized the political life of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Close to the king, the reformatory political faction called Familia was centered on representatives of the magnate families of Czartoryski and Poniatowski. The direction of the… Continue reading Bar Confederation Establishment Act
The year 1655 was one of the most tragic moments in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The civil war with the Cossacks had been waged for seven years with changing fortune, and beginning with 1654 it was also waged against Russia, which was on the Cossacks’ side. The war ruined the eastern provinces of… Continue reading Act of the Tyszowce Confederation
The Nihil novi Constitution was adopted by the General Sejm (parliament) convened in the city of Radom in 1505. Its passage entailed one of the stages in the conflict between the magnates of the royal council and the representation of the szlachta (gentry) gathered in the Chamber of Deputies – i.e., the lower house of… Continue reading Nihil novi constitution
The privilege was granted in 1430 by King Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) in order to ensure the succession to the throne to his son Władysław. Jagiełło’s earlier endeavours toward this end had been resisted by some of the magnates. The privilege of Jedlnia confirmed the bestowals received earlier by the nobility (szlachta) and the clergy… Continue reading Privilege of Jedlnia and Krakow
This act of union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was concluded on October 2, 1413 in the eastern city of Horodło, as a result of the compromise achieved between the incorporative strivings of the Polish side and the separatist policies of Lithuania. The act defined the… Continue reading Union of Horodło
Casimir the Great, the last Polish ruler from the Piast dynasty, died on 5 November 1370. His death and the end of the dynasty opened the possibility of starting a dynamic process which, after 16 years, finally led to the election of Władysław Jagiełło to the Polish throne. Before that, however, Louis I of Hungary,… Continue reading Privilege of Koszyce
