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Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth
Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodow (
Polish
)
Res Publica Utriusque Nationis (
Latin
)
|
---|
|
|
Motto:
|
Anthem:
Gaude Mater Polonia
"Rejoice, oh Mother Poland"
|
The Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth (green) with vassal states (light green) at their peak in 1619
|
Capital
|
(
de jure
)
- Krakow (1569?1596)
- Warsaw
[b]
(1596?1795)
(
de facto
)
|
---|
Common languages
| Official:
Polish
and
Latin
|
---|
Religion
| Official:
Roman Catholicism
|
---|
Government
| |
---|
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
|
---|
| 5 August 1772
|
---|
| 3 May 1791
|
---|
| 23 January 1793
[1]
|
---|
| 24 October 1795
[1]
|
---|
|
|
1582
| 815,000
[6]
km
2
(315,000 sq mi)
|
---|
1618
| 1,000,000
[7]
[8]
km
2
(390,000 sq mi)
|
---|
|
|
? 1582
| ~8,000,000
[6]
|
---|
? 1618
| ~12,000,000
|
---|
|
|
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
state
of
Poland
and
Lithuania
that was ruled by a common
monarch
. The Commonwealth was an extension of the
Polish-Lithuanian Union
, a
personal union
between those two states that had existed from 1386. It was one of the largest
[9]
countries of 16th- and 17th-century
Europe
and had one of the largest populations. The Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth covered more than the present lands of
Poland
and
Lithuania
since it also had all of present-day
Belarus
, a large part of present-day
Ukraine
and
Latvia
, and the western part of present-day
Russia
.
The Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth had high levels of ethnic diversity and
religious tolerance
.
[10]
However, the amount of religious freedom varied over time.
[11]
After several decades of prosperity,
[12]
it entered a period of political,
[13]
military and economic
[14]
decline. The Commonwealth ended with the final
Partitions of Poland
in 1795. Its growing weakness led to it being
invaded
and divided by its more powerful neighbours:
Austria
,
Prussia
and the
Russian Empire
.
- In Poland, the official languages were Polish and Latin. In Lithuania, the official languages were Old
Belarusian
,
Latin
, and
Lithuanian
.
- The Commonwealth was one of largest countries of its time. It had a large population. At one time, the Commonwealth covered about 400,000 square miles. Population was around 11 million. People of different ethnicities lived in the Commonwealth.
- For about 200 years, the Commonwealth fought wars with other powers of Europe of that time:
Muscovy
Russians, the
Ottoman Empire
, and the
Swedish Empire
.
- The Commonwealth developed a system of laws and legislature that reduced the power of the monarch. Some concepts of democracy also developed in the Commonwealth like
constitutional monarchy
.
- In theory, the two countries of the Commonwealth were equal, but Poland had a leading role.
- The Commonwealth had a major influence of the
Catholic Church
. However, the government allowed peoples of different religions to follow their religions. Thus, peoples of many religions lived in the Commonwealth.
- The Commonwealth also produced a national constitution, the first in Europe.
- Agriculture was the main economic activity in the Commonwealth.
- ↑
1.0
1.1
Partitions of Poland
at the
Encyclopædia Britannica
- ↑
2.0
2.1
Janusz Sykała:
Od Polan mieszkaj?cych w lasach ? historia Polski ? a? do krola Stasia
, Gdansk, 2010.
- ↑
3.0
3.1
Georg Ziaja:
Lexikon des polnischen Adels im Goldenen Zeitalter 1500?1600
, p. 9.
- ↑
"Artykuły henrykowskie - szlachecka prekonstytucja"
.
- ↑
"Poland - the First Partition | Britannica"
.
- ↑
6.0
6.1
Panstwowe Przedsiebiorstwo Wydawnictw Kartograficznych:
Atlas Historyczny Polski
, wydanie X, 1990, p. 14,
ISBN 83-7000-016-9
.
- ↑
Bertram Benedict (1919):
A history of the great war. Bureau of national literature
, inc. p. 21.
- ↑
According to Panstwowe Przedsiebiorstwo Wydawnictw Kartograficznych:
Atlas Historyczny Polski
, wydanie X, 1990, p. 16, ~ 990.000 km
2
- ↑
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
- ↑
Halina Stephan,
Living in Translation: Polish Writers in America
, Rodopi, 2003,
ISBN
90-420-1016-9
,
Google Print p373
- ↑
Feliks Gross
,
Citizenship and Ethnicity: The Growth and Development of a Democratic Multiethnic Institution
, Greenwood Press, 1999,
ISBN
0-313-30932-9
,
Google Print, p122 (notes)
- ↑
"In the mid-1500s, united Poland was the largest state in Europe and perhaps the continent’s most powerful nation".
"Poland". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Retrieved 26 June 2009
- ↑
Martin Van Gelderen,
Quentin Skinner
,
Republicanism: A Shared European Heritage
, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
ISBN
0-521-80756-5
Google Print: p54
- ↑
The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis
Archived
2007-12-15 at the
Wayback Machine
, discussion and full online text of
Evsey Domar
(1970) "The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis",
Economic History Review
30
:1 (March), pp18?32
Notes
- ↑
Pro Fide, Lege et Rege
was the motto since the 18th century.
50°03′N
19°56′E
/
50.050°N 19.933°E
/
50.050; 19.933