History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648)
Encyclopedia
History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648) covers a period in the history of Poland
and Lithuania
, before their joint state was subjected to devastating wars in the middle of the 17th century. The Union of Lublin
of 1569 established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a more closely unified
federal state, replacing the previously existing personal union
of the two countries. The Union was largely run by the Polish and Polonized
Lithuanian and Ruthenia
n nobility
, through the system of the central parliament
and local assemblies
, but from 1573 led by elected kings
.
The beginning of the Commonwealth coincided with the period of Poland's great power, civilizational advancement and prosperity. The Polish–Lithuanian Union had become an influential player in Europe and a vital cultural entity, spreading the Western culture
eastward. In the second half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a huge state in central-eastern Europe, with an area approaching one million square kilometers.
Following the Reformation
gains (the Warsaw Confederation
of 1573 was the culmination of the unique in Europe religious toleration
processes), the Catholic Church embarked on an ideological counter-offensive and Counter-Reformation
claimed many converts from Protestant
circles. The disagreements over and the difficulties with the assimilation of the eastern Ruthenian populations of the Commonwealth had become clearly discernible. At an earlier stage (from the late 16th century), they manifested themselves in the religious Union of Brest
, which split the Eastern Christians
of the Commonwealth, and on the military front, in a series of Cossack uprisings
.
The Commonwealth, assertive militarily under King Stephen Báthory, suffered from dynastic distractions during the reigns of the Vasa
kings Sigismund III
and Władysław IV
. It had also become a playground of internal conflicts, in which the kings, powerful magnates and factions of nobility were the main actors. The Commonwealth fought wars with Russia
, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire
. At the Commonwealth's height, some of its powerful neighbors experienced difficulties of their own and the Polish-Lithuanian state sought domination in Eastern Europe, in particular over Russia
. Allied with the Habsburg Monarchy
, it did not directly participate in the Thirty Years' War
.
Tsar Ivan IV of Russia undertook in 1577 hostilities in the Livonia
n region, which resulted in his takeover of most of the area and caused the Polish-Lithuanian involvement in the Livonian War
. The successful counter-offensive led by King Báthory and Jan Zamoyski
resulted in the peace of 1582 and the retaking of much of the territory contested with Russia, with the Swedish forces establishing themselves in the far north (Estonia
). Estonia was declared a part of the Commonwealth by Sigismund III in 1600, which gave rise to a war with Sweden
over Livonia; the war lasted until 1611 without producing a definite outcome.
In 1600, as Russia was entering a period of instability
, the Commonwealth proposed a union with the Russian state. This failed move was followed by many other similarly unsuccessful, often adventurous attempts, some involving military invasions, other dynastic and diplomatic manipulations and scheming. While the differences between the two societies and empires proved in the end too formidable to overcome, the Polish-Lithuanian state ended up in 1619, after the Truce of Deulino
, with the greatest ever expansion of its territory. At the same time it was weakened by the huge military effort made.
In 1620 the Ottoman Empire under Sultan
Osman II
declared a war against the Commonwealth. At the disastrous Battle of Ţuţora
Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski was killed and the Commonwealth's situation in respect to the Turkish-Tatar
invasion forces became very precarious. A mobilization in Poland-Lithuania followed and when Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
's army withstood fierce enemy assaults at the Battle of Khotyn (1621)
, the situation improved on the southeastern front. More warfare with the Ottomans followed in 1633–1634 and vast expanses of the Commonwealth had been subjected to Tatar incursions and slave-taking expeditions throughout the period.
War with Sweden, now under Gustavus Adolphus
, resumed in 1621 with his attack on Riga
, followed by the Swedish occupation of much of Livonia, control of Baltic Sea
coast up to Puck
and the blockade of Danzig. The Commonwealth, exhausted by the warfare that had taken place elsewhere, in 1626–1627 mustered a response
, utilizing the military talents of Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski and help from Austria
. Under pressure from several European powers, the campaign was stopped and ended in the Truce of Altmark
, leaving in Swedish hands much of what Gustavus Adolphus had conquered.
Another war with Russia
followed in 1632 and was concluded without much change in the status quo. King Władysław IV
then proceeded to recover the lands lost to Sweden. At the conclusion of the hostilities, Sweden evacuated the cities and ports of Royal Prussia
but kept most of Livonia. Courland
, which had remained with the Commonwealth, assumed the servicing of Lithuania's Baltic trade. After Frederick William's last Prussian homage
before the Polish king
in 1641, the Commonwealth's position in regard to Prussia and its Hohenzollern
rulers kept getting weaker.
At the outset of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in the second half of the 16th century, Poland-Lithuania became an elective monarchy
, in which the king was elected by the hereditary nobility
. This king would serve as the monarch until he died, at which time the country would have another election.
In 1572, Sigismund II Augustus
, the last king of the Jagiellon dynasty
, died without any heirs. The political system was not prepared for this eventuality, as there was no method of choosing a new king. After much debate it was determined that the entire nobility of Poland and Lithuania would decide who the king was to be. The nobility were to gather at Wola, near Warsaw, to vote in the royal election.
The election of Polish kings lasted until the Partitions of Poland
. The elected kings in chronological order were: Henry of Valois
, Anna Jagiellon
, Stephen Báthory, Sigismund III Vasa
, Władysław IV
, John II Casimir
, Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki, John III Sobieski
, Augustus II the Strong
, Stanisław Leszczyński, Augustus III
and Stanisław August Poniatowski.
The first Polish royal election was held in 1573. The four men running for the office were Henry of Valois
, who was the brother of King Charles IX of France
, Tsar
Ivan IV of Russia
, Archduke Ernest of Austria
, and King John III of Sweden
. Henry of Valois ended up a winner. But after serving as the Polish king for only four months, he received the news that his brother, the King of France, had died. Henry of Valois then abandoned his Polish post and went back to France, where he succeeded to the throne as Henry III of France
.
A few of the elected kings left a lasting mark in the Commonwealth. Stephen Báthory was determined to reassert the deteriorated royal prerogative, at the cost of alienating the powerful noble families. Sigismund III, Władysław IV and John Casimir were all of the Swedish
House of Vasa
; preoccupation with foreign and dynastic affairs prevented them from making a major contribution to the stability of Poland-Lithuania. John III Sobieski
commanded the allied Relief of Vienna
operation in 1683, which turned out to be the last great victory of the "Republic of Both Nations". Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last of the Polish kings, was a controversial figure. On the one hand he was a driving force behind the substantial and constructive reforms belatedly undertaken by the Commonwealth. On the other, by his weakness and lack of resolve, especially in dealing with imperial Russia
, he doomed the reforms together with the country they were supposed to help.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, following the Union of Lublin
, became a counterpoint to the absolute monarchies
gaining power in Europe. Its quasi-democratic political system of Golden Liberty
, albeit limited to nobility, was mostly unprecedented in the history of Europe
. In itself, it constituted a fundamental precedent for the later development of European constitutional monarchies.
However the series of power struggles between the lesser nobility (szlachta
), the higher nobility (magnate
s), and elected kings, undermined citizenship values and gradually eroded the government's authority, ability to function and provide for national defense. The infamous liberum veto
procedure was used to paralyze parliamentary proceedings beginning in the second half of the 17th century. After the series of devastating wars in the middle of the 17th century (most notably the Chmielnicki Uprising and the Deluge), Poland-Lithuania stopped being an influential player in the politics of Europe. During the wars the Commonwealth lost an estimated 1/3 of its population (higher losses than during World War II). Its economy and growth were further damaged by the nobility's reliance on agriculture
and serfdom
, which, combined with the weakness of the urban burgher
class, delayed the industrialization of the country.
By the beginning of the 18th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous European states, was little more than a pawn of its neighbors (the Russian Empire
, Prussia
and Austria
), who interfered in its domestic politics almost at will. In the second half of the 18th century, the Commonwealth was repeatedly partitioned
by the neighboring powers and ceased to exist.
, initially present in Western Europe. The negative consequences of this process on folwark
economies of the East
had reached its culmination in the second half of the 17th century. Further economic aggravation resulted from Europe-wide devaluation
of the currency around 1620, caused by the influx of silver from the Western Hemisphere
. At that time however massive amounts of Polish grain were still exported through Danzig (Gdańsk)
. The Commonwealth nobility took a variety of steps to combat the crisis and keep up high production levels, burdening in particular the serfs
with further heavy obligations. The nobles were also forcibly buying or taking over properties of the more affluent thus far peasant categories, a phenomenon especially pronounced from the mid 17th century.
Capital
and energy of urban enterprisers
affected the development of mining and metallurgy during the earlier Commonwealth period. There were several hundred hammersmith
shops at the turn of the 17th century. Great ironworks
furnaces were built in the first half of that century. Mining and metallurgy of silver, copper and lead had also been developed. Expansion of salt production was taking place in Wieliczka
, Bochnia
and elsewhere. After about 1700 some of the industrial enterprises were increasingly being taken over by land owners who used serf labor, which led to their neglect and decline in the second half of the 17th century.
Danzig had remained practically autonomous and adamant about protecting its status and foreign trade monopoly. The Karnkowski Statutes of 1570 gave Polish kings the control over maritime commerce, but not even Stephen Báthory, who resorted to an armed intervention against the city, was able to enforce them. Other Polish cities held steady and prosperous through the first half of the 17th century. War disasters in the middle of that century devastated the urban classes.
A rigid social separation legal system, intended to prevent any inter-class mobility, matured around the first half of the 17th century. But the nobility's goal of becoming self-contained and impermeable to newcomers had never been fully realized, as in practice even peasants on occasions acquired the noble status. Later numerous Polish szlachta
clans had had such "illegitimate" beginnings. Szlachta found justification for their self-appointed dominant role in a peculiar set of attitudes, known as sarmatism
, that they had adopted.
The Union of Lublin
accelerated the process of massive Polonization
of Lithuanian and Rus'
elites and general nobility in Lithuania and the eastern borderlands, the process that retarded national development of local populations there. In 1563 Sigismund Augustus
belatedly allowed the Eastern Orthodox
Lithuanian nobility access to highest offices in the Duchy
, but by that time the act was of little practical consequence, as there were few Orthodox nobles of any standing left and the encroaching Catholic Counter-Reformation
would soon nullify the gains. Many magnate families of the East were of Ruthenia
n origin; their inclusion in the enlarged Crown made the magnate class much stronger politically and economically. Regular szlachta, increasingly dominated by the great land owners, lacked the will to align themselves with Cossack settlers in Ukraine
to counterbalance the magnate power, and in the area of Cossack acceptance, integration and rights resorted to delayed and ineffective half-measures. The peasantry was being subjected to heavier burdens and more oppression. For those reasons, the way in which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth expansion took place and developed had caused an aggravation of both the social and national tensions, introduced a fundamental instability into the system, and ultimately resulted in the future crises of the "Republic of Nobles".
minorities
) szlachta
of the Commonwealth for the most part returned to the Roman Catholic religion, or if already Catholic remained Catholic, in the course of the 17th century.
Already the Sandomierz Agreement
of 1570, which was an early expression of Protestant
irenicism
later prominent in Europe and Poland, had a self-defensive character, because of the intensification of Counter-Reformation
pressure at that time. The agreement strengthened the Protestant position and made the Warsaw Confederation
religious freedom guarantees in 1573 possible.
At the heyday of Reformation in the Commonwealth, at the end of the 16th century, there were about one thousand Protestant congregations
, nearly half of them Calvinist
. A half century later only 50% of them had survived, with the burgher Lutheranism
suffering lesser losses, the szlachta dominated Calvinism and Nontrinitarianism
(Polish Brethren
) the greatest. The closing of the Brethren Racovian Academy
and a printing facility in Raków on charges of blasphemy
in 1638 forewarned of more trouble to come.
This Counter-Reformation offensive happened somewhat mysteriously in a country, where there were no religious wars and the state had not cooperated with the Catholic Church in eradicating or limiting competing denominations. Among the factors responsible, the low Protestant involvement among the masses, especially of peasantry, the pro-Catholic position of the kings, the low level of involvement of the nobility once the religious emancipation had been accomplished, the internal divisions of the Protestant movement, and the rising intensity of the Catholic Church propaganda, have been listed.
The ideological war between the Protestant and Catholic camps at first enriched the intellectual life of the Commonwealth. The Catholic Church responded to the challenges with internal reform, following the directions of the Council of Trent
, officially accepted by the Polish Church in 1577, but implemented not until after 1589 and throughout the 17th century. There were earlier efforts of reform, originating from the lower clergy, and from about 1551 by Bishop Stanisław Hozjusz
of Warmia
, a lone at that time among the Church hierarchy, but ardent reformer. At the turn of the 17th century a number of Rome educated bishops took over the Church administration at the diocese
level, clergy discipline was implemented and rapid intensification of Counter-Reformation activities took place.
Hozjusz brought to Poland the Jesuits
and founded for them a college
in Braniewo
in 1564. Numerous Jesuit educational institutions and residencies were established in the following decades, most often in the vicinity of centers of Protestant activity. Jesuit priests were carefully selected, well educated, of both noble and urban origins. They had soon become highly influential with the royal court, while working hard within all segments of the society. The Jesuit educational programs and Counter-Reformation propaganda utilized many innovative media techniques, often custom-tailored for a particular audience on hand, as well as time-tried methods of humanist
instruction. Preacher Piotr Skarga
and Bible translator Jakub Wujek
count among prominent Jesuit personalities.
Catholic efforts to win the population countered the Protestant idea of a national church with Polonization, or nationalization of the Catholic Church in the Commonwealth, introducing a variety of native elements to make it more accessible and attractive to the masses. The Church hierarchy went along with the notion. The changes that took place during the 17th century defined the character of Polish Catholicism for centuries to come.
The apex of the Counter-Reformation activity had fallen on the turn of the 17th century, the earlier years of the reign of Sigismund III Vasa
(Zygmunt III Waza), who in cooperation with the Jesuits and some other Church circles attempted to strengthen the power of his monarchy. The King tried to limit access to higher offices to Catholics. Anti-Protestant riots took place in some cities. During the Sandomierz Rebellion of 1606 the Protestants supported the anti-King opposition in large numbers. Nevertheless the massive wave of szlachta's return to Catholicism could not have been stopped.
Although attempts were made during common Protestant-Orthodox congregations in Toruń
in 1595 and in Vilnius
in 1599, the failure of the Protestant movement to form an alliance with the Eastern Orthodox
Christians, the inhabitants of the eastern portion of the Commonwealth, contributed to the Protestants' downfall. The Polish Catholic establishment would not miss the opportunity to form a union with the Orthodox, although their goal was rather the subjugation of the Eastern Rite Christians to the pope (the papacy solicited help in bringing the "schism
" under control) and the Commonwealth's Catholic centers of power. The Orthodox establishment was perceived as a security threat, because of the Eastern Rite bishops dependence on the Patriarchate of Constantinople
at the time of an aggravating conflict with the Ottoman Empire
, and because of the recent development, the establishment in 1589 of the Moscow Patriarchate
. The Patriarchate of Moscow then claimed ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Orthodox Christians of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which to many of them was a worrisome development, motivating them to accept the alternate option of union with the West
. The union idea had the support of King Sigismund III
and the Polish nobility in the east; opinions were divided among the church and lay leaders of the Eastern Orthodox faith.
The Union of Brest
act was negotiated and solemnly concluded in 1595–1596. It had not merged the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox denominations, but led to the establishment of the Slavic Rite Uniate Church
, which was to become an Eastern Catholic Church, one of the Greek Catholic Church
es (Ukrainian Greek Catholic
). The new church, of the Byzantine Rite
, accepted papal supremacy, while it retained in most respects its Eastern Rite
character. The compromise union was flawed from the beginning, as despite the initial agreement the Greek-Catholic bishops were not, like their Roman Catholic counterparts, seated in the Senate, and to their disappointment the Eastern Rite participants of the union had not been granted full equality in general.
The Union of Brest increased antagonisms among the Belarusian
and Ukrainian
communities of the Commonwealth, within which the Orthodox Church had remained the most potent religious force. It added to the already prominent ethnic and class fragmentation and became one more reason for internal infighting that was to impair the Republic. The Eastern Orthodox nobility, branded "Disuniates" and deprived of legal standing, led by Konstanty Ostrogski
commenced a fight for their rights. Prince Ostrogski had been a leader of an Orthodox intellectual revival in Polish Ukraine. In 1576 he founded an elite liberal arts secondary and academic school, the Ostroh Academy
, with trilingual instruction; in 1581 he and his academy were instrumental in the publication of the Ostroh Bible
, the Bible's first scholarly Orthodox Church Slavonic edition. A a result of the efforts, parliamentary statutes of 1607, 1609 and 1635 recognized the Orthodox religion again, as one of the two equal Eastern churches. The restoration of Orthodox hierarchy and administrative structure proved difficult (most bishops had become Uniates, and their Orthodox replacements of 1620 and 1621 were not recognized by the Commonwealth) and was officially done during the reign of Władysław IV
. By that time many of the Orthodox nobles had become Catholics, and the Orthodox leadership fell into the hands of townspeople and lesser nobility organized into church brotherhoods, and the new power in the East, the Cossack warrior class. Metropolitan
Peter Mogila of Kiev
, who organized an influential academy there, contributed greatly to the rebuilding and reform of the Orthodox Church.
The Baroque
style dominated the Polish culture from the 1580s, building on the achievements of the Renaissance
and for a while coexisting with it, to the mid 18th century. Initially Baroque artists and intellectuals, torn between the two competing views of the world, enjoyed wide latitude and freedom of expression. Soon however the Counter-Reformation
instituted a binding point of view that invoked the medieval
tradition, imposed censorship in education and elsewhere (the index
of prohibited books in Poland from 1617), and straightened out their convoluted ways. By the middle of the 17th century the doctrine had been firmly reestablished, sarmatism
and religious zealotry had become the norm. Artistic tastes of the epoch were often acquiring an increasingly Orient
al character. In contrast with the integrative tendencies of the previous period, the burgher and nobility cultural spheres went their separate ways. Renaissance publicist Stanisław Orzechowski had already provided the foundations for Baroque szlachta's political thinking.
At that time there were about forty Jesuit
colleges (secondary schools) scattered throughout the Commonwealth. They were educating mostly szlachta
, burgher sons to a lesser degree. Jan Zamoyski
, Chancellor
of the Crown, who built the town of Zamość
, established an academy
there in 1594; it had functioned as a gymnasium
only after Zamoyski's death. The first two Vasa
kings were well known for patronizing both the arts and sciences. After that the Commonwealth's science experienced general decline, which paralleled the wartime decline of the burgher class.
By the mid 16th century Poland's university, the Academy of Kraków
, entered a crisis stage, and by the early 17th century regressed into Counter-reformation
al conformism. The Jesuits took advantage of the infighting and established in 1579 a university college in Vilnius
, but their efforts aimed at taking over the Academy were unsuccessful. Under the circumstances many elected to pursue their studies abroad. Jan Brożek
, a rector of the Kraków University, was a multidisciplinary scholar who worked on number theory
and promoted Copernicus
' work. He was banned by the Church in 1616 and his anti-Jesuit pamphlet was publicly burned. Brożek's co-worker, Stanisław Pudłowski, worked on a system of measurement
s based on physical phenomena.
Michał Sędziwój (Sendivogius Polonus) was a famous in Europe alchemist
, who wrote a number of treatises in several languages, beginning with Novum Lumen Chymicum (1604, with over fifty editions and translations in the 17th and 18th centuries). A member of Emperor Rudolph II
's circle of scientists and sages, he is believed by some authorities to have been a pioneer chemist
and a discoverer of oxygen
, long before Lavoisier
(Sendivogius' works were studied by leading scientists, including Isaac Newton
).
The early Baroque period produced a number of noted poets. Sebastian Grabowiecki wrote metaphysical
and mystical
religious poetry representing the passive current of Quietism
. Another szlachta poet Samuel Twardowski
participated in military and other historic events; among the genres he pursued was epic poetry
. Urban poetry was quite vital until the middle of the 17th century; the plebeian poets criticized the existing social order and continued within the ambiance of elements of the Renaissance style. The creations of John of Kijany contained a hearty dose of social radicalism. The moralist Sebastian Klonowic
wrote a symbolic poem Flis using the setting of Vistula river craft floating work. Szymon Szymonowic
in his Pastorals portrayed, without embellishments, the hardships of serf life. Maciej Sarbiewski
, a Jesuit, was highly appreciated throughout Europe for the Latin
poetry he wrote.
The preeminent prose of the period was written by Piotr Skarga
, the preacher-orator. In his Sejm Sermons Skarga severely criticized the nobility and the state, while expressing his support for a system based on strong monarchy. Writing of memoirs had become most highly developed in the 17th century. Peregrination to the Holy Land by Mikołaj Radziwiłł and Beginning and Progress of the Muscovy War written by Stanisław Żółkiewski, one of the greatest Polish military commanders, are the best known examples.
One form of art particularly apt for Baroque purposes was the theater. Various theatrical shows were most often staged in conjunction with religious occasions and moralizing, and commonly utilized folk stylization. School theaters had become common among both the Protestant and Catholic secondary schools. A permanent court theater with an orchestra was established by Władysław IV
at the Royal Castle
in Warsaw
in 1637; the actor troupe, dominated by Italians, performed primarily Italian opera and ballet repertoire.
Music, both sacral and secular, kept developing during the Baroque period. High quality church pipe organ
s were built in churches from the 17th century; a fine specimen has been preserved in Leżajsk
. Sigismund III
supported an internationally renowned ensemble of sixty musicians. Working with that orchestra were Adam Jarzębski
and his contemporary Marcin Mielczewski
, chief composers of the courts of Sigismund III and Władysław IV. Jan Aleksander Gorczyn, a royal secretary, published in 1647 a popular music tutorial for beginners.
Martin Kober, a court painter from Wrocław, worked for Stephen Báthory and Sigismund III; he produced a number of well-known royal portraits.
Between 1580 and 1600 Jan Zamoyski
commissioned the Venetian architect Bernardo Morando
to build the city of Zamość
. The town and its fortifications were designed to consistently implement the Renaissance and Mannerism
aesthetic paradigms.
Mannerism is the name sometimes given to the period in art history during which the late Renaissance coexisted with the early Baroque, in Poland the last quarter of the 16th century and the first quarter of the 17th century. Polish art remained influenced by the Italian centers, increasingly Rome, and increasingly by the art of the Netherlands
. As a fusion of imported and local elements, it evolved into an original Polish form of the Baroque.
The Baroque art was developing to a great extent under the patronage of the Catholic Church, which utilized the art to facilitate religious influence, allocating for this purpose the very substantial financial resources at its disposal. The most important in this context art form was architecture, with features rather austere at first, accompanied in due time by progressively more elaborate and lavish facade and interior design concepts.
Beginning in the 1580s, a number of churches patterned after the Church of the Gesù
in Rome had been built. Gothic
and other older churches were increasingly being supplemented with Baroque style architectural additions, sculptures, wall paintings and other ornaments, which is conspicuous in many Polish churches today. The Royal Castle in Warsaw
, after 1596 the main residence of the monarchs, was enlarged and rebuilt around 1611. The Ujazdów Castle
(1620s) of the Polish kings turned out to be architecturally more influential, its design having been followed by a number of Baroque magnate residencies.
The role of Baroque sculpture was usually subordinate, as decorative elements of exteriors and interiors, and on tombstones. A famous exception is the Sigismund's Column
of Sigismund III Vasa
(1644) in front of Warsaw's Royal Castle.
Realistic religious painting, sometimes entire series of related works, served its didactic purpose. Nudity and mythological
themes were banned, but other than that fancy collection of Western paintings were in vogue. Sigismund III brought from Venice
Tommaso Dolabella
. A prolific painter, he was to spend the rest of his life in Kraków
and give rise to a school of Polish painters working under his influence. Danzig (Gdańsk)
was also a center for graphic
arts; painters Herman Han and Bartholomäus Strobel worked there, and so did Willem Hondius
and Jeremias Falck
, who were engravers
.
During the first half of the 17th century Poland was still a leading Central European power in the area of culture. As compared with the previous century, even wider circles of the society participated in cultural activities, but Catholic Counter-Reformation pressure resulted in diminished diversity. Catastrophic wars in the middle of the century greatly weakened the Commonwealth's cultural development and influence in the region.
After the Union of Lublin
, the Senate
of the General Sejm
of the Commonwealth became augmented by Lithuanian high officials; the position of the lay and ecclesiastical lords, who served for life as members of the Senate was strengthened, as the already outnumbered middle szlachta
high office holders had now proportionally fewer representatives in the upper chamber. The Senate could also be convened separately by the king in its traditional capacity of the royal council, apart from any sejm's formal deliberations, and szlachta's attempts to limit the upper chamber's role had not been successful. After the formal union and the addition of deputies from the Grand Duchy
, and Royal Prussia
, also more fully integrated with the Crown in 1569, there were about 170 regional deputies in the lower chamber (referred to as the Sejm) and 140 senators.
Sejm deputies doing legislative work were generally not able to act as they pleased. Regional szlachta assemblies, the sejmik
s, were summoned before sessions of the General Sejm; there the local nobility provided their representatives with copious instructions on how to proceed and protect the interests of the area involved. Another sejmik was called after the General Sejm's conclusion. At that time the deputies would report to their constituency on what had been accomplished.
Sejmiks had become an important part of the Commonwealth's parliamentary life, complementing the role of the General Sejm. They sometimes provided detailed implementations for general proclamations of the sejms, or made legislative decisions during periods when the sejm was not in session, at times communicating directly with the monarch.
There was little significant parliamentary representation for the burgher class, and none for the peasants. The Jewish communities sent representatives to their own Va'ad, or Council of Four Lands
. The narrow social base of the Commonwealth's parliamentary system was detrimental to its future development and the future of the Polish-Lithuanian statehood.
From 1573 an "ordinary" General Sejm was to be convened every two years, for a period of six weeks. A king could summon an "extraordinary" sejm for two weeks, as necessitated by circumstances; an extraordinary sejm could be prolonged if the parliamentarians assented. After the Union the Sejm of the Republic deliberated in more centrally located Warsaw, except that Kraków had remained the location of Coronation Sejms. The turn of the 17th century brought also a permanent migration of the royal court from Kraków to Warsaw.
The order of sejm proceedings was formalized in the 17th century. The lower chamber would do most of the statute preparation work. The last several days were spent working together with the Senate and the king, when the final versions were agreed upon and decisions made; the finished legislative product had to have the consent of all three legislating estates of the realm, the Sejm, the Senate, and the monarch. The lower chamber's rule of unanimity had not been rigorously enforced during the first half of the 17th century.
General Sejm was the highest organ of collective and consensus-based state power. The sejm's supreme court, presided over by the king, decided the most serious of legal cases. During the second half of the 17th century, for a variety of reasons, including abuse of the unanimity rule (liberum veto
), General Sejm's effectiveness had declined, and the void was being increasingly filled by the sejmiks, where in practice the bulk of government's work was getting done.
The system of noble democracy became more firmly rooted during the first interregnum
, after the death of Sigismund II Augustus
, who following the Union of Lublin wanted to reassert his personal power, rather than become an executor of szlachta's will. A lack of agreement concerning the method and timing of the election of his successor was one of the casualties of the situation, and the conflict strengthened the Senate-magnate camp. After the monarch's 1572 death, to protect its common interests, szlachta moved to establish territorial confederations
(kapturs) as provincial governments, through which public order was protected and basic court system provided. The magnates were able to push through their candidacy for the interrex
or regent
to hold the office until a new king is sworn, in the person of the primate
, Jakub Uchański
. The Senate took over the election preparations. The establishment's proposition of universal szlachta participation (rather than election by the Sejm) appeared at that time to be the right idea to most szlachta factions; in reality, during this first as well as subsequent elections, the magnates subordinated and directed, especially the poorer of szlachta.
During the interregnum the szlachta prepared a set of rules and limitations for the future monarch to obey as a safeguard to ensure that the new king, who was going to be a foreigner, complied with the peculiarities of the Commonwealth's political system and respected the privileges of the nobility. As Henry of Valois
was the first one to sign the rules, they became known as the Henrician Articles
. The articles also specified the wolna elekcja (free election) as the only way for any monarch's successor to assume the office, thus precluding any possibility of hereditary monarchy in the future. The Henrician Articles summarized the accumulated rights of Polish nobility, including religious freedom guarantees, and introduced further restrictions on the elective king; as if that were not enough, Henry also signed the so-called pacta conventa
, through which he accepted additional specific obligations. Newly crowned Henry soon embarked on a course of action intended to free him from all the encumbrances imposed, but the outcome of this power struggle was never to be determined. One year after the election, in June 1574, upon learning of his brother's
death, Henry secretly left for France.
In 1575 the nobility commenced a new election process. The magnates tried to force the candidacy of Emperor Maximilian II
, and on 12 December Archbishop Uchański even announced his election. This effort was thwarted by the execution movement
szlachta party led by Mikołaj Sienicki and Jan Zamoyski
; their choice was Stephen Báthory, Prince of Transylvania
. Sienicki quickly arranged for a 15 December proclamation of Anna Jagiellon
, sister of Sigismund Augustus, as the reigning queen, with Stefan Batory added as her husband and king jure uxoris
. Szlachta's pospolite ruszenie
supported the selection with their arms. Batory took over Kraków, where the couple's crowning ceremony took place on 1 May 1576.
Stephen Báthory's reign marks the end of szlachta's reform movement. The foreign king was skeptical of the Polish parliamentary system and had little appreciation for what the execution movement activists had been trying to accomplish. Batory's relations with Sienicki soon deteriorated, while other szlachta leaders had advanced within the nobility ranks, becoming senators or being otherwise preoccupied with their own careers. The reformers managed to move in 1578 in Poland and in 1581 in Lithuania the out-of-date appellate court system from the monarch's domain to the Crown and Lithuanian Tribunals run by the nobility. The cumbersome sejm and sejmiks system, the ad hoc confederations
, and the lack of efficient mechanisms for the implementation of the laws escaped the reformers' attention or will to persevere. Many thought that the glorified nobility rule had approached perfection.
Jan Zamoyski
, one of the most distinguished personalities of the period, became the king's principal adviser and manager. A highly educated and cultivated individual, talented military chief and accomplished politician, he had often promoted himself as a tribune of his fellow szlachta. In fact in a typical magnate manner, Zamoyski accumulated multiple offices and royal land grants, removing himself far from the reform movement ideals he professed earlier.
The king himself was a great military leader and far-sighted politician. Of Batory's confrontations with members of the nobility, the famous case involved the Zborowski brothers: Samuel
was executed on Zamoyski's orders, Krzysztof was sentenced to banishment
and property confiscation by the sejm court. A Hungarian, like other foreign rulers of Poland, Batory was concerned with the affairs of the country of his origin. Batory failed to enforce the Karnkowski's Statutes and therefore was unable to control the foreign trade through Danzig (Gdańsk)
, which was to have highly negative economic and political consequences for the Republic. In cooperation with his chancellor
and later hetman
Jan Zamoyski, he was largely successful in the Livonia
n war. At that time the Commonwealth was able to increase the magnitude of its military effort: The combined for a campaign armed forces from several sources available could be up to 60,000 men strong. King Batory initiated the creation of piechota wybraniecka
, an important peasant infantry military formation.
In 1577 Batory agreed to George Frederick
of Brandenburg
becoming a custodian for the mentally ill Albert Frederick
, Duke of Prussia, which brought the two German polities closer together, to the detriment of the Commonwealth's long-term interests.
King Sigismund Augustus'
Dominium Maris Baltici program, aimed at securing Poland's access to and control over the portion of the Baltic
region and ports that the country had vital interests in protecting, led to the Commonwealth's participation in the Livonian conflict
, which had also become another stage in the series of Lithuania's and Poland's confrontations with Russia. In 1563 Ivan IV
took Polotsk. After the Stettin peace of 1570 (which involved several powers, including Sweden and Denmark) the Commonwealth remained in control of the main part of Livonia, including Riga
and Pernau
. In 1577 Ivan undertook a great expedition, taking over for himself, or his vassal
Magnus, Duke of Holstein most of Livonia, except for the coastal areas of Riga and Reval
. A success of the Polish-Lithuanian counter-offensive became possible as Batory was able to secure the necessary funding from the nobility.
The Polish forces recovered Dünaburg
and most of middle Livonia. The King and Zamoyski then opted for attacking directly the inland Russian territory necessary for keeping Russian communication lines to Livonia open and functioning. Polotsk was retaken in 1579 and the Velikiye Łuki fortress fell in 1580. The take-over of Pskov
was attempted in 1581, but Ivan Petrovich Shuisky
was able to defend the city despite a several months long siege. An armistice was arranged in 1582 by the papal legate
Antonio Possevino
. The Russians evacuated all the Livonian castles they had captured, gave up the Polotsk area and left Velizh
in Lithuanian hands. The Swedish forces, which took over Narva
and most of Estonia
, contributed to the victory. The Commonwealth ended up with the possession of the continuous Baltic coast from Puck
to Pernau
.
There were several candidates for the Commonwealth crown considered after the death of Stephen Báthory, including Archduke Maximilian of Austria. Anna Jagiellon
proposed and pushed for the election of her nephew Sigismund Vasa
, son of John III, King of Sweden
and Catherine Jagellon and the Swedish heir apparent
. The Zamoyski
faction supported Sigismund, the faction led by the Zborowski family wanted Maximilian; two separate elections took place and a civil war resulted. The Habsburg's army entered Poland and attacked Kraków, but was repulsed there and then, while retreating in Silesia
, crushed by the forces organized by Jan Zamoyski at the Battle of Byczyna
(1588), where Maximilian was taken prisoner.
In the meantime Sigismund also arrived and was crowned in Kraków, which initiated his long in the Commonwealth (1587–1632) reign as Zygmunt III Waza
. The prospect of a personal union
with Sweden raised for the Polish and Lithuanian ruling circles political and economic hopes, including favorable Baltic
trade conditions and a common front against Russia's
expansion. However concerning the latter, the control of Estonia
had soon become the bone of contention. Sigismund's ultra-Catholicism appeared threatening to the Swedish Protestant
establishment and contributed to his dethronement in Sweden in 1599.
Inclined to form an alliance with the Habsburgs (and even give up the Polish crown to pursue his ambitions in Sweden), Sigismund conducted secret negotiations with them and married Archduchess Anna. Accused by Zamoyski of breaking his covenants, Sigismund III was humiliated during the sejm
of 1592, which deepened his resentment of szlachta
. Sigismund was bent on strengthening the power of the monarchy and Counter-Reformation
al promotion of the Catholic Church (Piotr Skarga
was among his supporters). Indifferent to the increasingly common breaches of the Warsaw Confederation
religious protections and instances of violence against the Protestants
, the King was opposed by religious minorities.
1605–1607 brought fruitless confrontation between King Sigismund with his supporters and the coalition of opposition nobility. During the sejm of 1605 the royal court proposed a fundamental reform of the body itself, an adoption of the majority rule instead of the traditional practice of unanimous acclamation by all deputies present. Jan Zamoyski
in his last public address reduced himself to a defense of szlachta prerogatives, thus setting the stage for the demagoguery that was to dominate the Commonwealth's political culture for many decades.
For the sejm of 1606 the royal faction, hoping to take advantage of the glorious Battle of Kircholm
victory and other successes, submitted a more comprehensive constructive reform program. Instead the sejm had become preoccupied with the dissident
postulate of prosecuting instigators of religious disturbances directed against non-Catholics; advised by Skarga
, the King refused his assent to the proposed statute.
The nobility opposition, suspecting an attempt against their liberties, called for a rokosz
, or an armed confederation
. Tens of thousands of disaffected szlachta, led by the ultra-Catholic Mikołaj Zebrzydowski and Calvinist
Janusz Radziwiłł, congregated in August near Sandomierz
, giving rise to the so-called Zebrzydowski Rebellion.
The Sandomierz articles produced by the rebels were concerned mostly with placing further limitations on the monarch's power. Threatened by royal forces under Stanisław Żółkiewski, the confederates entered into an agreement with Sigismund, but then backed out of it and demanded the King's deposition. The ensuing civil war was resolved at the Battle of Guzów
, where the szlachta was defeated in 1607. Afterwards however magnate leaders of the pro-King faction made sure that Sigismund's position would remain precarious, leaving arbitration powers within the Senate's competence. Whatever was left of the execution movement
had become thwarted together with the obstructionist szlachta elements, and a compromise solution to the crisis of authority was arrived at. But the victorious lords of the council had at their disposal no effective political machinery necessary to propagate the well-being of the Commonwealth, still in its Golden Age
(or as some prefer Silver Age now), much further.
In 1611 John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
was allowed by the Commonwealth sejm to inherit the Duchy of Prussia fief
, after the death of Albert Frederick
, the last duke of the Prussian Hohenzollern
line. The Brandenburg Hohenzollern branch led the Duchy from 1618.
The reforms of the execution movement had clearly established the sejm as the central and dominant organ of state power. But this situation in reality had not lasted very long, as various destructive decentralizing tendencies, steps taken by the szlachta and the kings, were progressively undermining and eroding the functionality and primacy of the central legislative organ. The resulting void was being filled during the late 16th and 17th centuries by the increasingly active and assertive territorial sejmik
s, which provided a more accessible and direct forum for szlachta activists to promote their narrowly conceived local interests. The sejmiks established effective controls, in practice limiting the sejm's authority; themselves they were taking on an ever broader range of state matters and local issues.
In addition to the destabilizing to the central authority role of the over 70 sejmiks, during the same period, the often unpaid army had begun establishing their own "confederations", or rebellions. By plunder and terror they attempted to recover their compensation and pursue other, sometimes political aims.
Some reforms were being pursued by the more enlightened szlachta, who wanted to expand the role of the sejm at the monarch's and magnate faction's expense, and by the elected kings. Sigismund III during the later part of his rule constructively cooperated with the sejm, making sure that between 1616 and 1632 each session of the body produced the badly needed statutes. The increased efforts in the areas of taxation and maintenance of the military forces made possible the positive outcomes of some of the armed conflicts that took place during Sigismund's reign.
had become incorporated into the Polish armed forces already around that time. During the reign of Sigismund III Vasa
the Cossack problem was beginning to play its role as Rzeczpospolita's preeminent internal challenge of the 17th century.
The Cossacks were first semi-nomadic, then also settled Slavic
people of the Dnieper River
area, who practiced brigandage and plunder, and, renowned for their fighting prowess, early in their history assumed a military organization. Many of them were or originated from run-away peasants from eastern and other areas of the Commonwealth or from Russia
; other significant elements were townspeople and even nobility, who came from the region or migrated into Ukraine
. The Cossacks considered themselves free and independent of any bondage and followed their own elected leaders, who originated from the more affluent strata of their society. There were tens of thousands of Cossacks already early in the 17th century. They had frequently clashed with the neighboring Turks
and Tatars
and raided their Black Sea
coastal settlements.
Many Cossacks were being hired
to participate in wars waged by the Commonwealth. This status resulted in privileges and often constituted a form of social upward mobility
; the Cossacks resented the periodic reductions in their enrollment. The Cossack rebellions or uprisings typically assumed the form of huge plebeian
social movements.
The Ottoman Empire
demanded a total liquidation of the Cossack power. The Commonwealth however needed the Cossacks in the south-east, where they provided an effective buffer against Crimean Tatars
incursions. The other way to quell the Cossack unrest would be to grant nobility status to a substantial portion of their population and thus assimilate them into the Commonwealth's power structure. This solution was being rejected by the magnates and szlachta for political, economic and cultural reasons when there was still time for reform, before disasters struck. The Polish-Lithuanian establishment had instead shifted unsteadily between compromising with the Cossacks, allowing limited numbers, the so-called Cossack register
(500 in 1582, 8000 in the 1630s), to serve with the Commonwealth army (the rest were to be converted into serfdom
, to help the magnates in colonizing the Dnieper area), and brutally using military force in an attempt to subdue them.
Efforts to subjugate and exploit economically the Cossack territories and population in Zaporizhia region
resulted in a series of Cossack uprisings
, of which the early ones could have served as a warning for the szlachta
legislators.
In 1591 the bloodily suppressed Kosiński Uprising
was led by Krzysztof Kosiński
. New fighting took place already in 1594, when the Nalyvaiko Uprising
engulfed large portions of Ukraine and Belarus
. Hetman
Stanisław Żółkiewski defeated the Cossack units in 1596 and Severyn Nalyvaiko
was executed. A temporary pacification of relations followed in the early 17th century, when the many wars fought by the Commonwealth necessitated greater involvement by registered Cossacks
. The Union of Brest
however resulted in new tensions, as the Cossacks had become dedicated adherents and defenders of the Eastern Orthodoxy.
The uprising of Marko Zhmailo of 1625 was confronted by Stanisław Koniecpolski and concluded with Mykhailo Doroshenko
signing the Treaty of Kurukove
. More fighting soon erupted and culminated in the "Taras night" of 1630, when the Cossack rebels under Taras Fedorovych
turned against army units and noble estates. The Fedorovych Uprising
was put under control by Hetman Koniecpolski. These events were followed by an increase in the Cossack registry (Treaty of Pereyaslav
), but then rejection of demands by Cossack elders during the convocation sejm of 1632, who wanted to participate in free elections as members of the Commonwealth and have religious rights of the "disuniate
" Eastern Christians restored. The 1635 sejm
voted instead further restrictions and authorized the construction of the Dnieper Kodak Fortress
, to facilitate more effective control over the Cossack territories. Another round of fighting, the Pavluk Uprising
followed in 1637–1638. It was defeated and its leader Pavel Mikhnovych
executed. Upon new anti-Cossack limitations and sejm statutes imposing serfdom on most Cossacks, the Cossacks rose up again in 1638 under Jakiv Ostryanin and Dmytro Hunia
. The uprising was cruelly suppressed and the existing Cossack land properties were taken over by the magnates. The harsh measures restored relative calm for a short period, while the Cossack affair, perceived as a weak spot of the Commonwealth, was increasingly becoming an issue in international politics.
Władysław IV Vasa
, son of Sigismund III, ruled the Commonwealth during 1632–1648. Born and raised in Poland, prepared for the office from the early years, popular, educated, free of his father's religious prejudices, he seemed a promising chief executive candidate. Władysław however, like his father, had the life ambition of attaining the Swedish
throne by using his royal status and power in Poland and Lithuania, which, to serve his purpose, he attempted to strengthen. Władysław ruled with the help of several prominent magnates, among them Jerzy Ossoliński
, Chancellor of the Crown
, Hetman
Stanisław Koniecpolski, and Jakub Sobieski
, the middle szlachta
leader. Władysław IV was unable to attract a wider szlachta following, and many of his plans had foundered because of lack of support in the increasingly ineffectual sejm
. Because of his tolerance for non-Catholics, Władysław was also opposed by the Catholic clergy and the papacy.
Toward the last years of his reign Władysław IV sought to enhance his position and assure his son's succession by waging a war on the Ottoman Empire
, for which he prepared, despite the lack of nobility support. To secure this end the King worked on forming an alliance with the Cossacks, whom he encouraged to improve their military readiness and intended to use against the Turks, moving in that direction of cooperation further than his predecessors. The war never took place, and the King had to explain his offensive war designs during the "inquisition" sejm of 1646. Władysław's son Zygmunt Kazimierz died in 1647, and the King, weakened, resigned and disappointed, in 1648.
The turn of the 16th and 17th centuries brought changes that, for the time being, weakened the Commonwealth's powerful neighbors (The Tsardom of Russia
, The Austrian Habsburg Monarchy
and the Ottoman Empire
). The resulting opportunity for the Polish-Lithuanian state to improve its position depended on its ability to overcome internal distractions, such as the isolationist and pacifist tendencies that prevailed among the szlachta
ruling class, or the rivalry between nobility leaders and elected kings, often intent on circumventing restrictions on their authority, such as the Henrician Articles
.
The nearly continuous wars of the first three decades of the new century resulted in modernization, if not (because of the treasury limitations) enlargement, of the Commonwealth's army. The total military forces available ranged from a few thousands at the Battle of Kircholm
, to the over fifty thousands plus pospolite ruszenie
mobilized for the Khotyn (Chocim) campaign
of 1621. The remarkable during the first half of the 17th century development of artillery
resulted in the 1650 publication in Amsterdam
of the Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima book by Kazimierz Siemienowicz
, a pioneer also in the science of rocket
ry. Despite the superior quality of the Commonwealth's heavy (hussar
) and light (Cossack) cavalry, the increasing proportions of the infantry (peasant, mercenary and Cossack formations) and of the contingent of foreign troops resulted in an army, in which these respective components were heavily represented. During the reigns of the first two Vasas
a war fleet was developed and fought successful naval battles (1609 against Sweden). As usual, fiscal difficulties impaired the effectiveness of the military, and the treasury's ability to pay the soldiers.
As a continuation of the earlier plans for an anti-Turkish offensive, that had not materialized because of the death of Stefan Batory, Jan Zamoyski
intervened in Moldavia
in 1595. With the backing of the Commonwealth army Ieremia Movilă
assumed the hospodar
's throne as the Commonwealth's vassal
. Zamoyski's army repelled the subsequent assault by the Ottoman Empire
forces at Ţuţora. The next confrontation in the area took place in 1600, when Zamoyski and Stanisław Żółkiewski acted against Michael the Brave, hospodar of Wallachia
and Transylvania
. First Ieremia Movilă, who in the meantime had been removed by Michael in Moldavia, was reimposed, and then Michael was defeated in Wallachia at the Battle of Bucov
. Ieremia's brother Simion Movilă
became the new hospodar there and for a brief period the entire region up to the Danube
had become the Commonwealth's dependency. Turkey soon reasserted its role, in 1601 in Wallachia and in 1606 in Transylvania. Zamoyski's politics and actions, which constituted the earlier stage of the Moldavian magnate wars
, only prolonged Poland's influence in Moldavia and interfered effectively with the simultaneous Habsburg
plans and ambitions in this part of Europe. Further military involvement at the southern frontiers ceased being feasible, as the forces were needed more urgently in the north.
crowning in Sweden took place in 1594 amid tensions and instability caused by religious controversies. As Sigismund returned to Poland, his uncle Charles
, the regent
, took the lead of the anti-Sigismund Swedish opposition. In 1598 Sigismund attempted to resolve the matter militarily
, but the expedition to the country of his origin was defeated at the Battle of Linköping
; Sigismund was taken prisoner and had to agree to the harsh conditions imposed. After his return to Poland, in 1599 the Riksdag of the Estates
deposed him in Sweden, and Charles led the Swedish forces into Estonia
. Sigismund in 1600 proclaimed the incorporation of Estonia into the Commonwealth, which was tantamount to a declaration of war on Sweden
, at the height of Rzeczpospolita's involvement in Moldavia region.
Jürgen von Farensbach
, given the command of the Commonwealth forces, was overpowered by the much larger army brought to the area by Charles, whose quick offensive resulted in the 1600 take-over of most of Livonia
up to the Daugava River, except for Riga
. The Swedes were welcomed by much of the local population, by that time increasingly dissatisfied with the Polish-Lithuanian rule. in 1601 Krzysztof Radziwiłł succeeded at the Battle of Kokenhausen
, but the Swedish advances had been reversed up to (not including) Reval
, only after Jan Zamoyski brought in a more substantial force. Much of this army, having been unpaid, returned to Poland. The clearing action was continued by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
, who, with a small contingent of troops left, defeated the Swedish incursion at Paide
(Biały Kamień) in 1604.
In 1605 Charles, now Charles IX
, the King of Sweden, launched a new offensive, but his efforts were crossed by Chodkiewicz's victories at Kircholm
and elsewhere and the Polish naval successes, while the war continued without a decisive resolution being produced. In the armistice of 1611 the Commonwealth was able to keep the majority of the contested areas, as a variety of internal and foreign difficulties, including the inability to pay the mercenary soldiers and the Union's new involvement in Russia, precluded a comprehensive victory.
After the deaths of Ivan IV
and in 1598 of his son Feodor
, the last tsar
s of the Rurik Dynasty
, Russia
entered a period of severe dynastic, economic and social crisis and instability
. As Boris Godunov
encountered resistance from both the peasant masses and the boyar
opposition, in the Commonwealth the ideas of turning Russia into a subordinated ally, either through a union, or an imposition of a ruler dependent on the Polish-Lithuanian establishment, were rapidly coming into play.
In 1600 Lew Sapieha
led a Commonwealth mission to Moscow to propose a union with the Russian state, patterned after the Polish-Lithuanian Union
, with the boyars granted rights comparable with those of the Commonwealth's nobility. A decision on a single monarch was to be postponed until the death of the current king or tsar. Boris Godunov, at that time also engaged in negotiations with Charles
of Sweden, wasn't interested in that close a relationship and only a twenty-year truce was agreed upon.
In order to continue their efforts, the magnates took advantage of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry under mysterious circumstances and of the appearance of False Dmitriy I
, a pretender-impostor claiming to be the tsarevich. False Dmitriy was able to secure the cooperation and help of the Wiśniowiecki family and of Jerzy Mniszech
, Voivode of Sandomierz
, whom he promised vast Russian estates and a marriage with the voivode's daughter Marina
. Dmitriy became a Catholic and leading an army of adventurers raised in the Commonwealth, with the tacit support of Sigismund III
entered in 1604 the Russian state. After the death of Boris Godunov and the murder of his son Feodor
, False Dmitriy I became the Tsar of Russia, and remained in that capacity until killed during a popular turmoil in 1606.
Russia under the new tsar Vasili Shuisky
remained unstable. A new false Dmitriy materialized and Tsaritsa Marina
had even "recognized" in him her thought-to-be-dead husband. With a new army provided largely by the magnates of the Commonwealth, False Dmitriy II approached Moscow and made futile attempts to take the city. Tsar Vasili IV
, seeking help from King Charles IX of Sweden
, agreed to territorial concessions in Sweden's favor and in 1609 the Russo-Swedish anti-Dmitriy and anti-Commonwealth alliance was able to remove the threat from Moscow and strengthen Vasili. The alliance and the Swedish involvement in Russian affairs caused a direct military intervention on the part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, instigated and led by King Sigismund III.
The Polish army commenced a siege of Smolensk
and the Russo-Swedish relief expedition was defeated in 1610 by Hetman Żółkiewski at the Battle of Klushino
. The victory strengthened the position of the compromise-oriented Russian boyar
faction, which had already been interested in offering the Moscow throne to Władysław Vasa
, son of Sigismund III. Under arrangements negotiated by Żółkiewski, the boyars deposed Tsar Vasili
and accepted Władysław in return for peace, no annexation of Russia into the Commonwealth, the Prince's conversion to the Orthodox
religion, and privileges, including exclusive rights to high offices in the Tsardom
granted to the Russian nobility. After the agreement was signed the Commonwealth forces entered the Kremlin
.
Sigismund III subsequently rejected the compromise solution and demanded the tsar's throne for himself, which would mean complete subjugation of Russia, and as such was rejected by the bulk of the Russian society. Sigismund's refusal and demands only intensified the chaos, as the Swedes proposed their own candidate and took over Veliki Novgorod. The result was the 1611 popular Russian anti-Polish uprising and a siege of the Polish garrison occupying the Kremlin.
In the meantime the Commonwealth forces after a long siege stormed and took Smolensk
in 1611. At the Kremlin the situation of the Poles had been worsening despite occasional reinforcements, and the massive national and religious uprising was spreading all over Russia. A new rescue operation attempted by Hetman Chodkiewicz
failed and a capitulation of the Polish and Lithuanian forces at the Kremlin became necessary. Mikhail Romanov, son of the imprisoned in Poland Patriarch Filaret
, became the new tsar in 1613.
The war effort, debilitated by a rebellious confederation established by the unpaid military, was continued. Turkey
, threatened by the Polish territorial gains became involved at the frontiers, and a peace between Russia and Sweden was agreed to in 1617. Fearing the new alliance the Commonwealth undertook one more major expedition, which took over Vyazma
and arrived at the walls of Moscow, in an attempt to impose the rule of Władysław Vasa
again. The city would not open its gates and not enough military strength was brought in to attempt a forced take-over.
Despite the disappointment, the Commonwealth was able to take advantage of the Russian weakness and through the territorial advances accomplished to reverse the eastern losses suffered in the earlier decades. In the Truce of Deulino
of 1619 the Rzeczpospolita was granted the Smolensk
, Chernihiv
and Novhorod-Siverskyi
regions.
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth attained its greatest geographic extent, but the attempted union with Russia could not have been achieved, as the systemic, cultural and religious incompatibilities between the two empires proved to be insurmountable. The territorial annexations and the ruthlessly conducted wars left a legacy of injustice suffered and desire for revenge on the part of the Russian ruling classes and people. The huge military effort weakened the Commonwealth and the painful consequences of the adventurous policies of the Vasa court and its allied magnates were soon to be felt.
In 1613 Sigismund III Vasa
reached an understanding with Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
, based on which both sides agreed to cooperate and mutually provide assistance in suppressing internal rebellions. The pact neutralized the Habsburg Monarchy
in regard to the Commonwealth's war with Russia, but had resulted in more serious consequences after the Bohemian Revolt
gave rise to the Thirty Years' War
in 1618.
The Czech events weakened the position of the Habsburgs in Silesia
, where there were large concentrations of ethnically
Polish inhabitants, whose ties and interests at that time placed them within the Protestant
camp. Numerous Polish Lutheran
parishes, with schools and centers of cultural activity, had been established in the heavily Polish areas around Opole
and Cieszyn
in eastern Silesia, as well as in numerous cities and towns throughout the region and beyond, including Breslau (Wrocław) and Grünberg (Zielona Góra)
. The threat posed by a potentially resurgent Habsburg monarchy to the situation of Polish Silesians was keenly felt, and there were voices within King Sigismund's circle, including Stanisław Łubieński and Jerzy Zbaraski
, who brought to his attention Poland's historic rights and options in the area. The King, an ardent Catholic, advised by many not to involve the Commonwealth on the Catholic-Habsburg side, decided in the end to act in their support, but unofficially.
The ten thousand men strong Lisowczycy
mercenary division, a highly effective military force, had just returned from the Moscow campaign, and having become a major nuisance for the szlachta
, was available for another assignment abroad; Sigismund sent them south to assist Emperor Ferdinand II
. Sigismund court's intervention greatly influenced the first phase of the war, helping save the position of the Habsburg Monarchy at a critical moment.
The Lisowczycy entered northern Hungary (now Slovakia
) and in 1619 defeated the Transylvania
n forces at the Battle of Humenné
. Prince Bethlen Gábor
of Transylvania, who together with the Czechs had laid siege to Vienna
, had to hurry back to his country and make peace with Ferdinand, which seriously compromised the situation of the Czech insurgents. Afterwards the Lisowczycy ruthlessly fought to suppress the Emperor's opponents in Glatz (Kłodzko) region and elsewhere in Silesia, in Bohemia and Germany.
After the breakdown of the Bohemian Revolt the residents of Silesia, including the Polish gentry in Upper Silesia
, were subjected to severe repressions and Counter-Reformation
al activities, including forced expulsions of thousands of Silesians, many of whom ended up in Poland. Later during the war years the province was repeatedly ravaged in the course of military campaigns crossing its territory, and at one point a Protestant leader, Piast
Duke John Christian of Brieg
, appealed to Władysław IV Vasa
for assuming supremacy over Silesia. King Władysław, although a tolerant ruler including in matters of religion, was like his father
disinclined to involve the Commonwealth in the Thirty Years' War. He ended up getting as fiefs
from the Emperor
the duchies of Opole
and Racibórz
in 1646, twenty years later reclaimed by the Empire. The Peace of Westphalia
allowed the Habsburgs to do as they pleased in Silesia, already completely ruined by the war, which had resulted in intense persecution of Protestants, including the Polish Lower Silesia
communities, forced to emigrate or subjected to Germanization
.
Although the Rzeczpospolita had not formally participated directly in the Thirty Years' War
, the alliance with the Habsburg Monarchy
contributed to getting Poland involved in new wars with the Ottoman Empire
, Sweden and Russia
, and therefore led to significant Commonwealth influence over the course of the Thirty Years' War. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth also had its own intrinsic reasons for the continuation of struggles with the above powers.
From the 16th century the Commonwealth suffered a series of Tatar invasions. In the 16th century Cossack raids began descending on the Black Sea
area Turkish
settlements and Tatar lands. In retaliation the Ottoman Empire
directed their vassal
Tatar
forces, based in Crimea
or Budjak
areas, against the Commonwealth regions of Podolia
and Red Ruthenia
. The borderland area to the south-east was in a state of semi-permanent warfare until the 18th century. Some researchers estimate that altogether more than 3 million people had been captured and enslaved during the time of the Crimean Khanate
.
The greatest intensity of Cossack raids, reaching as far as Sinop
in Turkey, fell on the 1613–1620 period. The Ukrainian
magnates on their part continued their traditional involvement
in Moldavia
, where they kept trying to install their relatives (the Movileşti family) on the hospodar
's throne (Stefan Potocki in 1607 and 1612, Samuel Korecki
and Michał Wiśniowiecki in 1615). Ottoman chief Iskender Pasha
destroyed the magnate forces in Moldavia and compelled Stanisław Żółkiewski in 1617 to consent to the Treaty of Busza
at Poland's border, in which the Commonwealth obliged not to get involved in matters concerning Wallachia
and Transylvania
.
Turkish unease about Poland's influence in Russia, the consequences of the Lisowczycy
expedition against Transylvania, an Ottoman fief in 1619 and the burning of Varna
by the Cossacks in 1620 caused the Empire under the young Sultan
Osman II
to declare a war against the Commonwealth, with the aim of breaking and conquering the Polish-Lithuanian state.
The actual hostilities, which were to bring the demise of Stanisław Żółkiewski, were initiated by the old Polish hetman
. Żółkiewski with Koniecpolski and a rather small force entered Moldavia, hoping for military reinforcements from Moldavian Hospodar Gaspar Graziani
and the Cossacks. The aid had not materialized and the hetmans faced a superior Turkish and Tatar force led by Iskender Pasha. In the aftermath of the failed Battle of Ţuţora (1620)
Żółkiewski was killed, Koniecpolski captured, and the Commonwealth left opened defenseless, but disagreements between the Turkish and Tatar commanders prevented the Ottoman army from immediately waging an effective follow-up.
The sejm
was convened in Warsaw, the royal court was blamed for endangering the country, but high taxes for a sixty thousand men army were agreed to and the number of registered Cossacks
was allowed to reach forty thousand. The Commonwealth forces, led by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
, were helped by Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny and his Cossacks, who raised against the Turks and Tatars and participated in the upcoming campaign. In practice about 30,000 regular army and 25,000 Cossacks faced at Khotyn
a much larger Ottoman force under Osman II. Fierce Turkish attacks
against the fortified Commonwealth positions lasted throughout September 1621 and were repelled. The exhaustion and depletion of its forces made the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Khotyn
, which had kept the old territorial status quo of Sigismund II
(Dniester
River border between the Commonwealth and Ottoman combatants), a favorable for the Polish side outcome. After Osman II was killed in a coup, ratification of the treaty was obtained from his successor Mustafa I
.
In response to further Cossack attacks Tatar incursions continued as well, in 1623 and 1624 reaching almost as far west as the Vistula
, with the attendant plunder and taking of captives. More effective defense was put together by the freed Koniecpolski and Stefan Chmielecki
, who defeated the Tatars on several occasions between 1624 and 1633, using the quarter army
supported by the Cossacks and general population. More warfare with the Ottomans took place in 1633–1634 and ended with a peace treaty. In 1644 Koniecpolski defeated Tugay Bey's army at Okhmativ and before his death planned an invasion against the Crimean Khanate
. King Władysław IV's ideas of a grand international war-crusade
against the Ottoman Empire were thwarted by the inquisition sejm
in 1646. The state's inability to control the activities of the magnates and the Cossacks had contributed to the semi-permanent instability and danger at the Commonwealth's south-eastern frontiers.
More acute threat to the Polish-Lithuanian state came from Sweden. The balance of power in the north had shifted in Sweden's favor, as the Baltic
neighbor was led by King Gustavus Adolphus
, a highly able and aggressive military leader, who greatly improved the effectiveness of the Swedish armed forces, while also taking advantage of Protestant
zealotry. The Commonwealth, exhausted by the wars with Russia
and the Ottoman Empire
and lacking allies, was poorly prepared to face this new challenge
. Continuous diplomatic maneuvering by Sigismund III
made the whole situation look to szlachta
like another stage in the King's Swedish dynastic affairs; in reality the Swedish power resolved to take hold of the entire Polish-controlled Baltic coast, and thereby profit from the Commonwealth's maritime trade intermediary control, endangering its basis for independent existence.
Gustavus Adolphus chose to attack Riga, the Grand Duchy
's foremost trade center, in late August 1621, just as the Ottoman army was approaching Khotyn
, tying-up the Polish forces there. The city
, stormed several times, had to surrender a month later. Moving inland to the south the Swedes next entered Courland
. With Riga the Commonwealth lost the most important Baltic seaport in the region and an entry to northern Livonia
, the Daugava River crossing. The 1622 Truce of Mitawa
gave Poland the possession of Courland and eastern Livonia, but the Swedes were to take over most of Livonia north of the Daugava. The Lithuanian forces were able to keep Dyneburg
, but suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Wallhof
.
The losses impacted severely the trade and customs income of the Great Duchy of Lithuania. The Crown lands were to be also affected, as in July 1626 the Swedes took
Pillau
and forced Duke George William, Elector of Brandenburg
and vassal
of the Commonwealth in the attacked Ducal Prussia, to assume a neutrality stance. The Swedish advance resulted in the take-over of the Baltic coastline up to Puck
. Danzig (Gdańsk)
, which had remained loyal to the Commonwealth, was subjected to a naval blockade.
The Poles, completely surprised by the Swedish invasion, in September attempted a counter-offensive, but were defeated by Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Gniew
. The forces required serious modernization. The sejm
passed high taxation for the defense, but collections lagged behind. The situation was partially saved by the City of Danzig, which hurriedly embarked on the construction of modern fortifications, and by Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. The accomplished commander of the eastern borderlands fighting quickly learned the maritime affairs and contemporary methods of European warfare. Koniecpolski promoted the necessary enlargement of the naval fleet, modernization of the army, and became a fitting counterbalance for the military abilities of Gustavus Adolphus.
Koniecpolski led a spring 1627 military campaign
, trying to keep the Swedish army in the Duchy of Prussia from moving toward Danzig, while also intending to block their reinforcements arriving from the Holy Roman Empire
. Moving quickly the Hetman recovered Puck, and then destroyed at the Battle of Czarne
(Hammerstein) the forces intended for Gustavus. The Swedes themselves Koniecpolski's forces kept near Tczew
, shielding the access to Danzig and preventing Gustavus Adolphus from reaching his main objective. At the Battle of Oliva the Polish ships defeated a Swedish naval squadron.
Danzig was saved, but the next year the strengthened in the Ducal Prussia Swedish army took Brodnica
, and early in 1629 defeated the Polish units at Górzno
. Gustavus Adolphus from his Baltic coast position laid an economic siege against the Commonwealth and ravaged what he had conquered. At this point allied forces under Albrecht von Wallenstein
were brought in to help keep the Swedes in check. Forced by the combined Polish-Austrian action Gustavus had to withdraw from Kwidzyn
to Malbork
, in process being defeated and almost taken prisoner by Koniecpolski at the Battle of Trzciana
.
But in addition to being militarily exhausted, the Commonwealth was now pressured by several European diplomacies to suspend further military activities, to allow Gustavus Adolphus to intervene in the Holy Roman Empire. The Truce of Altmark
left Livonia north of the Daugava and all Prussian and Livonian seaports except for Danzig, Puck, Königsberg
, and Libau
in hands of the Swedes, who were also allowed to charge duty on trade through Danzig.
As Władysław IV
was assuming the Commonwealth crown
, Gustavus Adolphus
, who had been working on organizing an anti-Polish coalition including Sweden, Russia, Transylvania
and Turkey, died. The Russians then undertook an action of their own, attempting to recover lands lost in the Truce of Deulino
.
In the fall of 1632 a well-prepared Russian army took a number of strongholds
on the Lithuanian side of the border and commenced a siege of Smolensk. The well-fortified city was able to withstand a general onslaught followed by a ten-month encirclement by an overwhelming force led by Mikhail Shein
. At that time a Commonwealth rescue expedition of comparable strength arrived, under the highly effective military command of Władysław IV. After months of fierce fighting, in February 1634 Shein capitulated. The Treaty of Polyanovka confirmed the Deulino territorial arrangements with small adjustments in favor of the Tsardom
. Władysław had relinquished, upon monetary compensation, his claims to the Russian throne.
Having secured the eastern front, the King was able to concentrate on the recovery of Baltic areas lost by his father
to Sweden. Władysław IV wanted to take advantage of the Swedish defeat at Nördlingen
and fight for both the territories and his Swedish dynastic claims. The Poles were suspicious of his designs and war preparations and the King was able to proceed with negotiations only, where his unwillingness to give up the dynastic claim weakened the Commonwealth's position. According to the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf of 1635 the Swedes evacuated Royal Prussia
's cities and ports, which meant a return of the Crown's lower Vistula
possessions, and stopped collecting custom duties there. Sweden retained most of Livonia
, while the Rzeczpospolita kept Courland
, which having assumed the servicing of Lithuania's Baltic trade entered a period of prosperity.
The position of the Commonwealth with respect to the Duchy of Prussia kept getting weaker, as the power in the Duchy was being taken over by the Electors of Brandenburg
. Under the electors
, the Duchy had become ever more closely linked to Brandenburg, which was harmful to the political interests of the Commonwealth. Sigismung III left the Duchy's administration in the hands of Joachim Frederick
, and then John Sigismund
, who in 1611 acquired the right to Hohenzollern
succession in the Duchy by the consent of the King and the sejm
. He actually became the Duke of Prussia in 1618, after the death of Albert Frederick
, and was followed by George William
and then Frederick William, who in 1641 in Warsaw for the last time paid a Prussian homage
to a Polish king
. The successive Brandenburg dukes would make nominal concessions, to satisfy the Commonwealth's expediencies and justify the granting of privileges, but an irreversible shift in relations was taking place.
In 1637 died Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, the last of the Slavic Griffins Dynasty
of Stettin
Pomerania. Sweden acquired the Pomeranian rule, while the Commonwealth was only able to get back its fiefs
, Bytów
Land and Lębork
Land. Słupsk Land was also sought, but it ended up a part of Brandenburg. Western Pomerania
was populated in part by the Slavic Kashubians
and Slovincian
s.
The Thirty Years' War
period brought the Commonwealth a mixed legacy, rather more losses than gains, with the Polish-Lithuanian state retaining its status as one the few great powers in central-eastern Europe. From 1635 the country enjoyed a period of peace, during which internal bickering and progressively dysfunctional legislative processes prevented any substantial reforms from taking place. The Commonwealth was unprepared to deal with grave challenges that materialized in the middle of the century.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, before their joint state was subjected to devastating wars in the middle of the 17th century. The Union of Lublin
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
of 1569 established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a more closely unified
Real union
Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions as in contrast to personal unions; however they are not as unified as states in a political union...
federal state, replacing the previously existing personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
of the two countries. The Union was largely run by the Polish and Polonized
Polonization
Polonization was the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular, Polish language, as experienced in some historic periods by non-Polish populations of territories controlled or substantially influenced by Poland...
Lithuanian and Ruthenia
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
n nobility
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, through the system of the central parliament
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
and local assemblies
Sejmik
A sejmik was a regional assembly in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and earlier in the Kingdom of Poland. Sejmiks existed until the end of the Commonwealth in 1795 following the partitions of the Commonwealth...
, but from 1573 led by elected kings
Elective monarchy
An elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by an elected rather than hereditary monarch. The manner of election, the nature of the candidacy and the electors vary from case to case...
.
The beginning of the Commonwealth coincided with the period of Poland's great power, civilizational advancement and prosperity. The Polish–Lithuanian Union had become an influential player in Europe and a vital cultural entity, spreading the Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
eastward. In the second half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a huge state in central-eastern Europe, with an area approaching one million square kilometers.
Following the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
gains (the Warsaw Confederation
Warsaw Confederation
The Warsaw Confederation , an important development in the history of Poland and Lithuania that extended religious tolerance to nobility and free persons within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. , is considered the formal beginning of religious freedom in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and...
of 1573 was the culmination of the unique in Europe religious toleration
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
processes), the Catholic Church embarked on an ideological counter-offensive and Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
claimed many converts from Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
circles. The disagreements over and the difficulties with the assimilation of the eastern Ruthenian populations of the Commonwealth had become clearly discernible. At an earlier stage (from the late 16th century), they manifested themselves in the religious Union of Brest
Union of Brest
Union of Brest or Union of Brześć refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the Pope of Rome. At the time, this church included most Ukrainians and...
, which split the Eastern Christians
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
of the Commonwealth, and on the military front, in a series of Cossack uprisings
Zaporozhia Cossack uprisings
The Cossack uprisings were a series of military conflicts between the cossacks and the states claiming dominion over the territories the Cossacks lived in, namely the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Both states tried to exert control...
.
The Commonwealth, assertive militarily under King Stephen Báthory, suffered from dynastic distractions during the reigns of the Vasa
House of Vasa
The House of Vasa was the Royal House of Sweden 1523-1654 and of Poland 1587-1668. It originated from a noble family in Uppland of which several members had high offices during the 15th century....
kings Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
and Władysław IV
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
. It had also become a playground of internal conflicts, in which the kings, powerful magnates and factions of nobility were the main actors. The Commonwealth fought wars with Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. At the Commonwealth's height, some of its powerful neighbors experienced difficulties of their own and the Polish-Lithuanian state sought domination in Eastern Europe, in particular over Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
. Allied with the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, it did not directly participate in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
.
Tsar Ivan IV of Russia undertook in 1577 hostilities in the Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
n region, which resulted in his takeover of most of the area and caused the Polish-Lithuanian involvement in the Livonian War
Livonian War
The Livonian War was fought for control of Old Livonia in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia when the Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of Denmark–Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.During the period 1558–1578,...
. The successful counter-offensive led by King Báthory and Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
resulted in the peace of 1582 and the retaking of much of the territory contested with Russia, with the Swedish forces establishing themselves in the far north (Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
). Estonia was declared a part of the Commonwealth by Sigismund III in 1600, which gave rise to a war with Sweden
Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611)
-Origins:This conflict between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden can trace its roots to the War against Sigismund, where Sigismund III Vasa, at one time king of both the Commonwealth and Sweden, lost the throne of Sweden during the civil war...
over Livonia; the war lasted until 1611 without producing a definite outcome.
In 1600, as Russia was entering a period of instability
Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third...
, the Commonwealth proposed a union with the Russian state. This failed move was followed by many other similarly unsuccessful, often adventurous attempts, some involving military invasions, other dynastic and diplomatic manipulations and scheming. While the differences between the two societies and empires proved in the end too formidable to overcome, the Polish-Lithuanian state ended up in 1619, after the Truce of Deulino
Truce of Deulino
Truce of Deulino was signed on 11 December 1618 and took effect on 4 January 1619. It concluded the Polish–Muscovite War between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia....
, with the greatest ever expansion of its territory. At the same time it was weakened by the huge military effort made.
In 1620 the Ottoman Empire under Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Osman II
Osman II
Sultan Osman II or Othman II was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1618 until his death on 20 May 1622...
declared a war against the Commonwealth. At the disastrous Battle of Ţuţora
Battle of Tutora (1620)
The Battle of Ţuţora was a battle between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ottoman forces , fought from 17 September to 7 October 1620 in Moldavia, near the Prut River.- Prelude :Because of the failure of Commonwealth diplomatic mission to Constantinople, and violations of the Treaty of...
Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski was killed and the Commonwealth's situation in respect to the Turkish-Tatar
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
invasion forces became very precarious. A mobilization in Poland-Lithuania followed and when Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was a famous Lithuanian military commander and one of the most prominent noblemen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Biography:...
's army withstood fierce enemy assaults at the Battle of Khotyn (1621)
Battle of Khotyn (1621)
The Battle of Khotyn was a battle fought between a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army and an invading Ottoman Imperial army. Here, for a whole month , the Commonwealth forces halted the Ottoman advance...
, the situation improved on the southeastern front. More warfare with the Ottomans followed in 1633–1634 and vast expanses of the Commonwealth had been subjected to Tatar incursions and slave-taking expeditions throughout the period.
War with Sweden, now under Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
, resumed in 1621 with his attack on Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, followed by the Swedish occupation of much of Livonia, control of Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
coast up to Puck
Bay of Puck
The Bay of Puck or Puck Bay , historically also known as the Bay of Putzig , is a shallow western branch of the Bay of Gdańsk in the southern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Gdańsk Pomerania, Poland. It is separated from the open sea by the Hel Peninsula.The bay has an average depth of 2-6 metres...
and the blockade of Danzig. The Commonwealth, exhausted by the warfare that had taken place elsewhere, in 1626–1627 mustered a response
Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629)
The Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629 was the fourth stage in a series of conflicts between Sweden and Poland fought in the 17th century...
, utilizing the military talents of Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski and help from Austria
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. Under pressure from several European powers, the campaign was stopped and ended in the Truce of Altmark
Truce of Altmark
The six-year Truce of Altmark was signed on 25 September 1629 at the Altmark , near Danzig by Sweden and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during Thirty Years' War, ending the Polish–Swedish War ....
, leaving in Swedish hands much of what Gustavus Adolphus had conquered.
Another war with Russia
Smolensk War
The Smolensk War was a conflict fought between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia.Hostilities began in October 1632 when Tsar forces tried to recapture the city of Smolensk, a former Russian possession. Small military engagements produced mixed results for both sides, but the surrender...
followed in 1632 and was concluded without much change in the status quo. King Władysław IV
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
then proceeded to recover the lands lost to Sweden. At the conclusion of the hostilities, Sweden evacuated the cities and ports of Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
but kept most of Livonia. Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, which had remained with the Commonwealth, assumed the servicing of Lithuania's Baltic trade. After Frederick William's last Prussian homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
before the Polish king
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
in 1641, the Commonwealth's position in regard to Prussia and its Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
rulers kept getting weaker.
Elective monarchy and republic of nobility
Elective monarchy
An elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by an elected rather than hereditary monarch. The manner of election, the nature of the candidacy and the electors vary from case to case...
, in which the king was elected by the hereditary nobility
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
. This king would serve as the monarch until he died, at which time the country would have another election.
In 1572, Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
, the last king of the Jagiellon dynasty
Jagiellon dynasty
The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...
, died without any heirs. The political system was not prepared for this eventuality, as there was no method of choosing a new king. After much debate it was determined that the entire nobility of Poland and Lithuania would decide who the king was to be. The nobility were to gather at Wola, near Warsaw, to vote in the royal election.
The election of Polish kings lasted until the Partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
. The elected kings in chronological order were: Henry of Valois
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
, Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon was queen of Poland from 1575 to 1586. She was the daughter of Poland's King Sigismund I the Old, and the wife of Stephen Báthory. She was elected, along with her then fiance, Báthory, as co-ruler in the second election of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, Stephen Báthory, Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
, Władysław IV
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
, John II Casimir
John II Casimir of Poland
John II Casimir was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania during the era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Duke of Opole in Upper Silesia, and titular King of Sweden 1648–1660. In Poland, he is known and commonly referred as Jan Kazimierz. His parents were Sigismund III Vasa and...
, Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki, John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...
, Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II the Strong
Frederick Augustus I or Augustus II the Strong was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ....
, Stanisław Leszczyński, Augustus III
Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III, known as the Saxon ; ; also Prince-elector Friedrich August II was the Elector of Saxony in 1733-1763, as Frederick Augustus II , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1734-1763.-Biography:Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector...
and Stanisław August Poniatowski.
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
, who was the brother of King Charles IX of France
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
, Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Ivan IV of Russia
Ivan IV of Russia
Ivan IV Vasilyevich , known in English as Ivan the Terrible , was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state spanning almost one billion acres,...
, Archduke Ernest of Austria
Archduke Ernest of Austria
Archduke Ernest of Austria was an Austrian nobleman, the son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain....
, and King John III of Sweden
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
. Henry of Valois ended up a winner. But after serving as the Polish king for only four months, he received the news that his brother, the King of France, had died. Henry of Valois then abandoned his Polish post and went back to France, where he succeeded to the throne as Henry III of France
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
.
A few of the elected kings left a lasting mark in the Commonwealth. Stephen Báthory was determined to reassert the deteriorated royal prerogative, at the cost of alienating the powerful noble families. Sigismund III, Władysław IV and John Casimir were all of the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
House of Vasa
House of Vasa
The House of Vasa was the Royal House of Sweden 1523-1654 and of Poland 1587-1668. It originated from a noble family in Uppland of which several members had high offices during the 15th century....
; preoccupation with foreign and dynastic affairs prevented them from making a major contribution to the stability of Poland-Lithuania. John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...
commanded the allied Relief of Vienna
Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...
operation in 1683, which turned out to be the last great victory of the "Republic of Both Nations". Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last of the Polish kings, was a controversial figure. On the one hand he was a driving force behind the substantial and constructive reforms belatedly undertaken by the Commonwealth. On the other, by his weakness and lack of resolve, especially in dealing with imperial Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, he doomed the reforms together with the country they were supposed to help.
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
, became a counterpoint to the absolute monarchies
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
gaining power in Europe. Its quasi-democratic political system of Golden Liberty
Golden Liberty
Golden Liberty , sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth refers to a unique aristocratic political system in the Kingdom of Poland and later, after the Union of Lublin , in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, albeit limited to nobility, was mostly unprecedented in the history of Europe
History of Europe
History of Europe describes the history of humans inhabiting the European continent since it was first populated in prehistoric times to present, with the first human settlement between 45,000 and 25,000 BC.-Overview:...
. In itself, it constituted a fundamental precedent for the later development of European constitutional monarchies.
However the series of power struggles between the lesser nobility (szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
), the higher nobility (magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
s), and elected kings, undermined citizenship values and gradually eroded the government's authority, ability to function and provide for national defense. The infamous liberum veto
Liberum veto
The liberum veto was a parliamentary device in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It allowed any member of the Sejm to force an immediate end to the current session and nullify any legislation that had already been passed at the session by shouting Nie pozwalam! .From the mid-16th to the late 18th...
procedure was used to paralyze parliamentary proceedings beginning in the second half of the 17th century. After the series of devastating wars in the middle of the 17th century (most notably the Chmielnicki Uprising and the Deluge), Poland-Lithuania stopped being an influential player in the politics of Europe. During the wars the Commonwealth lost an estimated 1/3 of its population (higher losses than during World War II). Its economy and growth were further damaged by the nobility's reliance on agriculture
Folwark
Folwark is a Polish word for a primarily serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise , often very large. Folwarks were operated in the Crown of Poland from the 14th century and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 15th century, from the second half of the 16th century in the joint...
and serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
, which, combined with the weakness of the urban burgher
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
class, delayed the industrialization of the country.
By the beginning of the 18th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous European states, was little more than a pawn of its neighbors (the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Austria
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
), who interfered in its domestic politics almost at will. In the second half of the 18th century, the Commonwealth was repeatedly partitioned
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
by the neighboring powers and ceased to exist.
Economic and social developments
The agricultural trade boom in Eastern Europe showed the first signs of the approaching crisis in the 1580s, when food prices stopped increasing. It was followed by a gradual decline in agricultural products prices, a price depressionDepression (economics)
In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle....
, initially present in Western Europe. The negative consequences of this process on folwark
Folwark
Folwark is a Polish word for a primarily serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise , often very large. Folwarks were operated in the Crown of Poland from the 14th century and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 15th century, from the second half of the 16th century in the joint...
economies of the East
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
had reached its culmination in the second half of the 17th century. Further economic aggravation resulted from Europe-wide devaluation
Devaluation
Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to those goods, services or other monetary units with which that currency can be exchanged....
of the currency around 1620, caused by the influx of silver from the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. At that time however massive amounts of Polish grain were still exported through Danzig (Gdańsk)
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
. The Commonwealth nobility took a variety of steps to combat the crisis and keep up high production levels, burdening in particular the serfs
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
with further heavy obligations. The nobles were also forcibly buying or taking over properties of the more affluent thus far peasant categories, a phenomenon especially pronounced from the mid 17th century.
Capital
Financial capital
Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
and energy of urban enterprisers
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
affected the development of mining and metallurgy during the earlier Commonwealth period. There were several hundred hammersmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shops at the turn of the 17th century. Great ironworks
Ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...
furnaces were built in the first half of that century. Mining and metallurgy of silver, copper and lead had also been developed. Expansion of salt production was taking place in Wieliczka
Wieliczka
-External links:***...
, Bochnia
Bochnia
Bochnia is a town of 30,000 inhabitants on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately in halfway [] between Tarnów and the regional capital Kraków . Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in Europe, built circa 1248...
and elsewhere. After about 1700 some of the industrial enterprises were increasingly being taken over by land owners who used serf labor, which led to their neglect and decline in the second half of the 17th century.
Danzig had remained practically autonomous and adamant about protecting its status and foreign trade monopoly. The Karnkowski Statutes of 1570 gave Polish kings the control over maritime commerce, but not even Stephen Báthory, who resorted to an armed intervention against the city, was able to enforce them. Other Polish cities held steady and prosperous through the first half of the 17th century. War disasters in the middle of that century devastated the urban classes.
A rigid social separation legal system, intended to prevent any inter-class mobility, matured around the first half of the 17th century. But the nobility's goal of becoming self-contained and impermeable to newcomers had never been fully realized, as in practice even peasants on occasions acquired the noble status. Later numerous Polish szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
clans had had such "illegitimate" beginnings. Szlachta found justification for their self-appointed dominant role in a peculiar set of attitudes, known as sarmatism
Sarmatism
"Sarmatism" is a term designating the dominant lifestyle, culture and ideology of the szlachta of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Together with "Golden Liberty," it formed a central aspect of the Commonwealth's culture...
, that they had adopted.
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
accelerated the process of massive Polonization
Polonization
Polonization was the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular, Polish language, as experienced in some historic periods by non-Polish populations of territories controlled or substantially influenced by Poland...
of Lithuanian and Rus'
Ruthenia
Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
elites and general nobility in Lithuania and the eastern borderlands, the process that retarded national development of local populations there. In 1563 Sigismund Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
belatedly allowed the Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Lithuanian nobility access to highest offices in the Duchy
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
, but by that time the act was of little practical consequence, as there were few Orthodox nobles of any standing left and the encroaching Catholic Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
would soon nullify the gains. Many magnate families of the East were of Ruthenia
Ruthenia
Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
n origin; their inclusion in the enlarged Crown made the magnate class much stronger politically and economically. Regular szlachta, increasingly dominated by the great land owners, lacked the will to align themselves with Cossack settlers in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
to counterbalance the magnate power, and in the area of Cossack acceptance, integration and rights resorted to delayed and ineffective half-measures. The peasantry was being subjected to heavier burdens and more oppression. For those reasons, the way in which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth expansion took place and developed had caused an aggravation of both the social and national tensions, introduced a fundamental instability into the system, and ultimately resulted in the future crises of the "Republic of Nobles".
Western and Eastern Christianity: Counter-Reformation, Union of Brest
The increasingly uniform and polonized (in case of ethnicEthnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
minorities
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
) szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
of the Commonwealth for the most part returned to the Roman Catholic religion, or if already Catholic remained Catholic, in the course of the 17th century.
Already the Sandomierz Agreement
Sandomierz Agreement
The Sandomierz Agreement was an agreement reached in 1570 in Sandomierz between a number of Protestant groups in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was intended to unite the Calvinists, Lutherans, and Hussites and to oppose the Polish brethren....
of 1570, which was an early expression of Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
irenicism
Irenicism
Irenicism in Christian theology refers to attempts to unify Christian apologetical systems by using reason as an essential attribute. The word derives from the Greek eirene meaning peace. It is a concept related to natural theology, and opposed to polemicism or war-like argumentation, and rooted in...
later prominent in Europe and Poland, had a self-defensive character, because of the intensification of Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
pressure at that time. The agreement strengthened the Protestant position and made the Warsaw Confederation
Warsaw Confederation
The Warsaw Confederation , an important development in the history of Poland and Lithuania that extended religious tolerance to nobility and free persons within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. , is considered the formal beginning of religious freedom in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and...
religious freedom guarantees in 1573 possible.
At the heyday of Reformation in the Commonwealth, at the end of the 16th century, there were about one thousand Protestant congregations
Local church
A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...
, nearly half of them Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
. A half century later only 50% of them had survived, with the burgher Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
suffering lesser losses, the szlachta dominated Calvinism and Nontrinitarianism
Nontrinitarianism
Nontrinitarianism includes all Christian belief systems that disagree with the doctrine of the Trinity, namely, the teaching that God is three distinct hypostases and yet co-eternal, co-equal, and indivisibly united in one essence or ousia...
(Polish Brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
) the greatest. The closing of the Brethren Racovian Academy
Racovian Academy
The Racovian Academy was a school of the Socinian Polish Brethren operating in Raków, Kielce County, Poland 1602-1638, and publisher of the Racovian Catechism in 1605....
and a printing facility in Raków on charges of blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
in 1638 forewarned of more trouble to come.
The ideological war between the Protestant and Catholic camps at first enriched the intellectual life of the Commonwealth. The Catholic Church responded to the challenges with internal reform, following the directions of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
, officially accepted by the Polish Church in 1577, but implemented not until after 1589 and throughout the 17th century. There were earlier efforts of reform, originating from the lower clergy, and from about 1551 by Bishop Stanisław Hozjusz
Stanislaus Hosius
Stanislaus Hosius was a cardinal, since 1551 Prince-Bishop in Bishopric of Warmia, Poland since 1558 papal legate to the Holy Roman Emperor's Imperial Court in Vienna, Austria and since 1566 a papal legate to Poland.Hosius was born in Kraków as the son of Ulrich Hos of Pforzheim and studied law...
of Warmia
Warmia
Warmia or Ermland is a region between Pomerelia and Masuria in northeastern Poland. Together with Masuria, it forms the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship....
, a lone at that time among the Church hierarchy, but ardent reformer. At the turn of the 17th century a number of Rome educated bishops took over the Church administration at the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
level, clergy discipline was implemented and rapid intensification of Counter-Reformation activities took place.
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
and founded for them a college
Collegium Hosianum
The Collegium Hosianum was the Jesuit collegium in Royal Prussia, Poland, founded in 1565, 1566 by Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius in Braniewo . The city of Braniewo was then part of the Diocese of Warmia , a semi-autonomous part of Poland with cardinal Hosius as its prince-bishop...
in Braniewo
Braniewo
Braniewo is a town in northeastern Poland, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 18,068 . It is the capital of Braniewo County...
in 1564. Numerous Jesuit educational institutions and residencies were established in the following decades, most often in the vicinity of centers of Protestant activity. Jesuit priests were carefully selected, well educated, of both noble and urban origins. They had soon become highly influential with the royal court, while working hard within all segments of the society. The Jesuit educational programs and Counter-Reformation propaganda utilized many innovative media techniques, often custom-tailored for a particular audience on hand, as well as time-tried methods of humanist
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
instruction. Preacher Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
and Bible translator Jakub Wujek
Jakub Wujek
Jakub Wujek son of Maciej Wujek; a Polish Jesuit, religious writer, Doctor of Theology, Vice-Chancellor of the Vilnius Academy and translator of the Bible into Polish.-Life:...
count among prominent Jesuit personalities.
Catholic efforts to win the population countered the Protestant idea of a national church with Polonization, or nationalization of the Catholic Church in the Commonwealth, introducing a variety of native elements to make it more accessible and attractive to the masses. The Church hierarchy went along with the notion. The changes that took place during the 17th century defined the character of Polish Catholicism for centuries to come.
The apex of the Counter-Reformation activity had fallen on the turn of the 17th century, the earlier years of the reign of Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
(Zygmunt III Waza), who in cooperation with the Jesuits and some other Church circles attempted to strengthen the power of his monarchy. The King tried to limit access to higher offices to Catholics. Anti-Protestant riots took place in some cities. During the Sandomierz Rebellion of 1606 the Protestants supported the anti-King opposition in large numbers. Nevertheless the massive wave of szlachta's return to Catholicism could not have been stopped.
Although attempts were made during common Protestant-Orthodox congregations in Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
in 1595 and in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
in 1599, the failure of the Protestant movement to form an alliance with the Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Christians, the inhabitants of the eastern portion of the Commonwealth, contributed to the Protestants' downfall. The Polish Catholic establishment would not miss the opportunity to form a union with the Orthodox, although their goal was rather the subjugation of the Eastern Rite Christians to the pope (the papacy solicited help in bringing the "schism
East-West Schism
The East–West Schism of 1054, sometimes known as the Great Schism, formally divided the State church of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively...
" under control) and the Commonwealth's Catholic centers of power. The Orthodox establishment was perceived as a security threat, because of the Eastern Rite bishops dependence on the Patriarchate of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
at the time of an aggravating conflict with the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, and because of the recent development, the establishment in 1589 of the Moscow Patriarchate
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
. The Patriarchate of Moscow then claimed ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Orthodox Christians of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which to many of them was a worrisome development, motivating them to accept the alternate option of union with the West
Western Christianity
Western Christianity is a term used to include the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and groups historically derivative thereof, including the churches of the Anglican and Protestant traditions, which share common attributes that can be traced back to their medieval heritage...
. The union idea had the support of King Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
and the Polish nobility in the east; opinions were divided among the church and lay leaders of the Eastern Orthodox faith.
The Union of Brest
Union of Brest
Union of Brest or Union of Brześć refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the Pope of Rome. At the time, this church included most Ukrainians and...
act was negotiated and solemnly concluded in 1595–1596. It had not merged the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox denominations, but led to the establishment of the Slavic Rite Uniate Church
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
, which was to become an Eastern Catholic Church, one of the Greek Catholic Church
Greek Catholic Church
The Greek Catholic Church consists of the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine liturgical tradition and are thus in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.-List of Greek Catholic Churches:...
es (Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
). The new church, of the Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
, accepted papal supremacy, while it retained in most respects its Eastern Rite
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
character. The compromise union was flawed from the beginning, as despite the initial agreement the Greek-Catholic bishops were not, like their Roman Catholic counterparts, seated in the Senate, and to their disappointment the Eastern Rite participants of the union had not been granted full equality in general.
Belarusians
Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...
and Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
communities of the Commonwealth, within which the Orthodox Church had remained the most potent religious force. It added to the already prominent ethnic and class fragmentation and became one more reason for internal infighting that was to impair the Republic. The Eastern Orthodox nobility, branded "Disuniates" and deprived of legal standing, led by Konstanty Ostrogski
Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski
Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski was a Lithuanian prince, starost of Volodymyr-Volynskyi, marshal of Volhynia and voivode of the Kiev Voivodeship, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He got married on January 1553 in Tarnów...
commenced a fight for their rights. Prince Ostrogski had been a leader of an Orthodox intellectual revival in Polish Ukraine. In 1576 he founded an elite liberal arts secondary and academic school, the Ostroh Academy
Ostroh Academy
National University "Ostroh Academy" is a Ukrainian self-governed research university that was re-opened in 1994 by the Presidential Decree of April 12, 1994...
, with trilingual instruction; in 1581 he and his academy were instrumental in the publication of the Ostroh Bible
Ostrog Bible
The Ostrog Bible was one of the earliest East Slavic translations of the Bible and the first complete printed edition of the Bible in Old Church Slavonic, published in Ostroh, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , by the printer Ivan Fyodorov in 1581 with the assistance of the Ruthenian Prince...
, the Bible's first scholarly Orthodox Church Slavonic edition. A a result of the efforts, parliamentary statutes of 1607, 1609 and 1635 recognized the Orthodox religion again, as one of the two equal Eastern churches. The restoration of Orthodox hierarchy and administrative structure proved difficult (most bishops had become Uniates, and their Orthodox replacements of 1620 and 1621 were not recognized by the Commonwealth) and was officially done during the reign of Władysław IV
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
. By that time many of the Orthodox nobles had become Catholics, and the Orthodox leadership fell into the hands of townspeople and lesser nobility organized into church brotherhoods, and the new power in the East, the Cossack warrior class. Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
Peter Mogila of Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, who organized an influential academy there, contributed greatly to the rebuilding and reform of the Orthodox Church.
Culture of Early Baroque
Baroque in Poland
The Polish Baroque lasted from the late 16th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance style which sought to depict the beauty and harmony of...
style dominated the Polish culture from the 1580s, building on the achievements of the Renaissance
Renaissance in Poland
The Renaissance in Poland lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and is widely considered to have been the Golden Age of Polish culture. Ruled by the Jagiellon dynasty, the Kingdom of Poland actively participated in the broad European Renaissance...
and for a while coexisting with it, to the mid 18th century. Initially Baroque artists and intellectuals, torn between the two competing views of the world, enjoyed wide latitude and freedom of expression. Soon however the Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
instituted a binding point of view that invoked the medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
tradition, imposed censorship in education and elsewhere (the index
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
of prohibited books in Poland from 1617), and straightened out their convoluted ways. By the middle of the 17th century the doctrine had been firmly reestablished, sarmatism
Sarmatism
"Sarmatism" is a term designating the dominant lifestyle, culture and ideology of the szlachta of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Together with "Golden Liberty," it formed a central aspect of the Commonwealth's culture...
and religious zealotry had become the norm. Artistic tastes of the epoch were often acquiring an increasingly Orient
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
al character. In contrast with the integrative tendencies of the previous period, the burgher and nobility cultural spheres went their separate ways. Renaissance publicist Stanisław Orzechowski had already provided the foundations for Baroque szlachta's political thinking.
At that time there were about forty Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
colleges (secondary schools) scattered throughout the Commonwealth. They were educating mostly szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, burgher sons to a lesser degree. Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
, Chancellor
Kanclerz
Kanclerz was one of the highest officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. A respective office also existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 16th...
of the Crown, who built the town of Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
, established an academy
Akademia Zamojska
The Zamojski Academy 1594–1784) was an academy founded in 1594 by Polish Crown Chancellor Jan Zamoyski. It was the fourth institution of higher education to be founded in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After his death it slowly lost its importance, and in 1784 it was downgraded to a lyceum....
there in 1594; it had functioned as a gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
only after Zamoyski's death. The first two Vasa
House of Vasa
The House of Vasa was the Royal House of Sweden 1523-1654 and of Poland 1587-1668. It originated from a noble family in Uppland of which several members had high offices during the 15th century....
kings were well known for patronizing both the arts and sciences. After that the Commonwealth's science experienced general decline, which paralleled the wartime decline of the burgher class.
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
, entered a crisis stage, and by the early 17th century regressed into Counter-reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
al conformism. The Jesuits took advantage of the infighting and established in 1579 a university college in Vilnius
Vilnius University
Vilnius University is the oldest university in the Baltic states and one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. It is also the largest university in Lithuania....
, but their efforts aimed at taking over the Academy were unsuccessful. Under the circumstances many elected to pursue their studies abroad. Jan Brożek
Jan Brozek
Jan Brożek was a Polish polymath: a mathematician, astronomer, physician, poet, writer, musician and rector of the Kraków Academy.-Life:...
, a rector of the Kraków University, was a multidisciplinary scholar who worked on number theory
Number theory
Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers. Number theorists study prime numbers as well...
and promoted Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
' work. He was banned by the Church in 1616 and his anti-Jesuit pamphlet was publicly burned. Brożek's co-worker, Stanisław Pudłowski, worked on a system of measurement
Measurement
Measurement is the process or the result of determining the ratio of a physical quantity, such as a length, time, temperature etc., to a unit of measurement, such as the metre, second or degree Celsius...
s based on physical phenomena.
Michał Sędziwój (Sendivogius Polonus) was a famous in Europe alchemist
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, who wrote a number of treatises in several languages, beginning with Novum Lumen Chymicum (1604, with over fifty editions and translations in the 17th and 18th centuries). A member of Emperor Rudolph II
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...
's circle of scientists and sages, he is believed by some authorities to have been a pioneer chemist
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and a discoverer of oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
, long before Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the "father of modern chemistry", was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology...
(Sendivogius' works were studied by leading scientists, including Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
).
The early Baroque period produced a number of noted poets. Sebastian Grabowiecki wrote metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
and mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
religious poetry representing the passive current of Quietism
Quietism (Christian philosophy)
Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as Quietists insist, with more or less emphasis, on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection...
. Another szlachta poet Samuel Twardowski
Samuel Twardowski
Samuel Twardowski was a Polish poet, diarist, and essayist who gained popularity in 17th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, called by his contemporaries 'Polish Virgil.'-Life and works:...
participated in military and other historic events; among the genres he pursued was epic poetry
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
. Urban poetry was quite vital until the middle of the 17th century; the plebeian poets criticized the existing social order and continued within the ambiance of elements of the Renaissance style. The creations of John of Kijany contained a hearty dose of social radicalism. The moralist Sebastian Klonowic
Sebastian Klonowic
Sebastian Fabian Klonowic was a Polish poet writer and composer.-Biography:He studied at the University of Krakow. He was also known by his Latin name, Acernus, and wrote in both Polish and Latin. He first lived in Lviv, in Ukraine, then he settled in Lublin. While in Lublin, he became mayor.He...
wrote a symbolic poem Flis using the setting of Vistula river craft floating work. Szymon Szymonowic
Szymon Szymonowic
Szymon Szymonowic was a Polish Renaissance poet. He was known as "the Polish Pindar."-Life:Szymonowic studied in Poland , France and Belgium...
in his Pastorals portrayed, without embellishments, the hardships of serf life. Maciej Sarbiewski
Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski
Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski , was Europe's most prominent Latin poet of the 17th century, and a renowned theoretician of poetics.-Life:...
, a Jesuit, was highly appreciated throughout Europe for the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
poetry he wrote.
Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
, the preacher-orator. In his Sejm Sermons Skarga severely criticized the nobility and the state, while expressing his support for a system based on strong monarchy. Writing of memoirs had become most highly developed in the 17th century. Peregrination to the Holy Land by Mikołaj Radziwiłł and Beginning and Progress of the Muscovy War written by Stanisław Żółkiewski, one of the greatest Polish military commanders, are the best known examples.
One form of art particularly apt for Baroque purposes was the theater. Various theatrical shows were most often staged in conjunction with religious occasions and moralizing, and commonly utilized folk stylization. School theaters had become common among both the Protestant and Catholic secondary schools. A permanent court theater with an orchestra was established by Władysław IV
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
at the Royal Castle
Royal Castle, Warsaw
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
in 1637; the actor troupe, dominated by Italians, performed primarily Italian opera and ballet repertoire.
Music, both sacral and secular, kept developing during the Baroque period. High quality church pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
s were built in churches from the 17th century; a fine specimen has been preserved in Leżajsk
Lezajsk
Leżajsk is a town in southeastern Poland with 14,127 inhabitants . It has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodship since 1999 and is the capital of Leżajsk County. Leżajsk is famed for its Bernadine basilica and monastery, built by the architect Antonio Pellacini...
. Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
supported an internationally renowned ensemble of sixty musicians. Working with that orchestra were Adam Jarzębski
Adam Jarzebski
Adam Jarzębski was an early baroque Polish composer, violinist, poet, and writer. The first documented mention of Jarzębski was in 1612, when he became a member of the chapel of Johann Siegmund Hohenzollern in Berlin...
and his contemporary Marcin Mielczewski
Marcin Mielczewski
Marcin Mielczewski was, together with his tutor Franciszek Lilius and Bartłomiej Pękiel, among the most notable Polish composers in the 17th century....
, chief composers of the courts of Sigismund III and Władysław IV. Jan Aleksander Gorczyn, a royal secretary, published in 1647 a popular music tutorial for beginners.
Martin Kober, a court painter from Wrocław, worked for Stephen Báthory and Sigismund III; he produced a number of well-known royal portraits.
Between 1580 and 1600 Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
commissioned the Venetian architect Bernardo Morando
Bernardo Morando
Bernardo Morando, also known as Bernardino or Morandi was a Polish-Italian architect. He is notable as the author of a new town of Zamość, modelled on Renaissance theories of the 'ideal city'....
to build the city of Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
. The town and its fortifications were designed to consistently implement the Renaissance and Mannerism
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
aesthetic paradigms.
Mannerism is the name sometimes given to the period in art history during which the late Renaissance coexisted with the early Baroque, in Poland the last quarter of the 16th century and the first quarter of the 17th century. Polish art remained influenced by the Italian centers, increasingly Rome, and increasingly by the art of the Netherlands
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. As a fusion of imported and local elements, it evolved into an original Polish form of the Baroque.
The Baroque art was developing to a great extent under the patronage of the Catholic Church, which utilized the art to facilitate religious influence, allocating for this purpose the very substantial financial resources at its disposal. The most important in this context art form was architecture, with features rather austere at first, accompanied in due time by progressively more elaborate and lavish facade and interior design concepts.
Church of the Gesu
The Church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. Officially named , its facade is "the first truly baroque façade", introducing the baroque style into architecture ,. The church served as model for innumerable Jesuit...
in Rome had been built. Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
and other older churches were increasingly being supplemented with Baroque style architectural additions, sculptures, wall paintings and other ornaments, which is conspicuous in many Polish churches today. The Royal Castle in Warsaw
Royal Castle, Warsaw
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from...
, after 1596 the main residence of the monarchs, was enlarged and rebuilt around 1611. The Ujazdów Castle
Ujazdów Castle
Ujazdów Castle is a castle in the historic Ujazdów district, between Ujazdów Park and the Royal Baths Park , in Warsaw, Poland.-History:...
(1620s) of the Polish kings turned out to be architecturally more influential, its design having been followed by a number of Baroque magnate residencies.
The role of Baroque sculpture was usually subordinate, as decorative elements of exteriors and interiors, and on tombstones. A famous exception is the Sigismund's Column
Zygmunt's Column
Sigismund's Column , erected in 1644, is located in Castle Square, Warsaw, Poland. It is one of Warsaw's most famous landmarks and one of the oldest secular monuments in northern Europe...
of Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
(1644) in front of Warsaw's Royal Castle.
Realistic religious painting, sometimes entire series of related works, served its didactic purpose. Nudity and mythological
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
themes were banned, but other than that fancy collection of Western paintings were in vogue. Sigismund III brought from Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
Tommaso Dolabella
Tommaso Dolabella
Tommaso Dolabella was a Baroque painter from Venice, who settled in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the royal court of King Sigismund III Vasa. He was later supported by Sigismund's son, Władysław IV Waza. In Warsaw he opened a workshop for artists.-External links:*...
. A prolific painter, he was to spend the rest of his life in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and give rise to a school of Polish painters working under his influence. Danzig (Gdańsk)
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
was also a center for graphic
Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings,or...
arts; painters Herman Han and Bartholomäus Strobel worked there, and so did Willem Hondius
Willem Hondius
Willem Hondius or Willem Hondt was a Dutch engraver, cartographer and painter.-Life:...
and Jeremias Falck
Jeremias Falck
Jeremias Falck was an engraver of the 17th century Baroque, born and active in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, who were engravers
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
.
During the first half of the 17th century Poland was still a leading Central European power in the area of culture. As compared with the previous century, even wider circles of the society participated in cultural activities, but Catholic Counter-Reformation pressure resulted in diminished diversity. Catastrophic wars in the middle of the century greatly weakened the Commonwealth's cultural development and influence in the region.
Sejm and sejmiks
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
, the Senate
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature or parliament. There have been many such bodies in history, since senate means the assembly of the eldest and wiser members of the society and ruling class...
of the General Sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
of the Commonwealth became augmented by Lithuanian high officials; the position of the lay and ecclesiastical lords, who served for life as members of the Senate was strengthened, as the already outnumbered middle szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
high office holders had now proportionally fewer representatives in the upper chamber. The Senate could also be convened separately by the king in its traditional capacity of the royal council, apart from any sejm's formal deliberations, and szlachta's attempts to limit the upper chamber's role had not been successful. After the formal union and the addition of deputies from the Grand Duchy
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
, and Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
, also more fully integrated with the Crown in 1569, there were about 170 regional deputies in the lower chamber (referred to as the Sejm) and 140 senators.
Sejm deputies doing legislative work were generally not able to act as they pleased. Regional szlachta assemblies, the sejmik
Sejmik
A sejmik was a regional assembly in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and earlier in the Kingdom of Poland. Sejmiks existed until the end of the Commonwealth in 1795 following the partitions of the Commonwealth...
s, were summoned before sessions of the General Sejm; there the local nobility provided their representatives with copious instructions on how to proceed and protect the interests of the area involved. Another sejmik was called after the General Sejm's conclusion. At that time the deputies would report to their constituency on what had been accomplished.
Sejmiks had become an important part of the Commonwealth's parliamentary life, complementing the role of the General Sejm. They sometimes provided detailed implementations for general proclamations of the sejms, or made legislative decisions during periods when the sejm was not in session, at times communicating directly with the monarch.
There was little significant parliamentary representation for the burgher class, and none for the peasants. The Jewish communities sent representatives to their own Va'ad, or Council of Four Lands
Council of Four Lands
The Council of Four Lands in Lublin, Poland was the central body of Jewish authority in Poland from 1580 to 1764. Seventy delegates from local kehillot met to discuss taxation and other issues important to the Jewish community...
. The narrow social base of the Commonwealth's parliamentary system was detrimental to its future development and the future of the Polish-Lithuanian statehood.
From 1573 an "ordinary" General Sejm was to be convened every two years, for a period of six weeks. A king could summon an "extraordinary" sejm for two weeks, as necessitated by circumstances; an extraordinary sejm could be prolonged if the parliamentarians assented. After the Union the Sejm of the Republic deliberated in more centrally located Warsaw, except that Kraków had remained the location of Coronation Sejms. The turn of the 17th century brought also a permanent migration of the royal court from Kraków to Warsaw.
General Sejm was the highest organ of collective and consensus-based state power. The sejm's supreme court, presided over by the king, decided the most serious of legal cases. During the second half of the 17th century, for a variety of reasons, including abuse of the unanimity rule (liberum veto
Liberum veto
The liberum veto was a parliamentary device in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It allowed any member of the Sejm to force an immediate end to the current session and nullify any legislation that had already been passed at the session by shouting Nie pozwalam! .From the mid-16th to the late 18th...
), General Sejm's effectiveness had declined, and the void was being increasingly filled by the sejmiks, where in practice the bulk of government's work was getting done.
Nobility rule, first wolna elekcja ("free election")
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
, after the death of Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
, who following the Union of Lublin wanted to reassert his personal power, rather than become an executor of szlachta's will. A lack of agreement concerning the method and timing of the election of his successor was one of the casualties of the situation, and the conflict strengthened the Senate-magnate camp. After the monarch's 1572 death, to protect its common interests, szlachta moved to establish territorial confederations
Confederation (Poland)
A konfederacja was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta A konfederacja (Polish for "confederation") was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta A konfederacja (Polish for "confederation") was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta...
(kapturs) as provincial governments, through which public order was protected and basic court system provided. The magnates were able to push through their candidacy for the interrex
Interrex
The Interrex was literally a ruler "between kings" during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent....
or regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
to hold the office until a new king is sworn, in the person of the primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....
, Jakub Uchański
Jakub Uchanski
Jakub Uchański , of Radwan Coat of Arms, was an archbishop of Gniezno and primate of Poland from 1562 to 1581, interrex from 1572 to 1573 and from 1574 to 1575....
. The Senate took over the election preparations. The establishment's proposition of universal szlachta participation (rather than election by the Sejm) appeared at that time to be the right idea to most szlachta factions; in reality, during this first as well as subsequent elections, the magnates subordinated and directed, especially the poorer of szlachta.
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
was the first one to sign the rules, they became known as the Henrician Articles
Henrician Articles
The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles were a permanent contract that stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the form of 21 Articles written and adopted by the nobility in 1573 at the town of Kamień, near Warsaw,...
. The articles also specified the wolna elekcja (free election) as the only way for any monarch's successor to assume the office, thus precluding any possibility of hereditary monarchy in the future. The Henrician Articles summarized the accumulated rights of Polish nobility, including religious freedom guarantees, and introduced further restrictions on the elective king; as if that were not enough, Henry also signed the so-called pacta conventa
Pacta conventa (Poland)
Pacta conventa was a contractual agreement, from 1573 to 1764 entered into between the "Polish nation" and a newly-elected king upon his "free election" to the throne.The pacta conventa affirmed the king-elect's pledge to respect the laws of the...
, through which he accepted additional specific obligations. Newly crowned Henry soon embarked on a course of action intended to free him from all the encumbrances imposed, but the outcome of this power struggle was never to be determined. One year after the election, in June 1574, upon learning of his brother's
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
death, Henry secretly left for France.
Stephen Báthory
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...
, and on 12 December Archbishop Uchański even announced his election. This effort was thwarted by the execution movement
Execution movement
The Executionist movement was a 16th-century political movement in the Kingdom of Poland and, later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was popular among lesser, middle and even some higher nobility, and it also enjoyed the support of the Polish king...
szlachta party led by Mikołaj Sienicki and Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
; their choice was Stephen Báthory, Prince of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. Sienicki quickly arranged for a 15 December proclamation of Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon was queen of Poland from 1575 to 1586. She was the daughter of Poland's King Sigismund I the Old, and the wife of Stephen Báthory. She was elected, along with her then fiance, Báthory, as co-ruler in the second election of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, sister of Sigismund Augustus, as the reigning queen, with Stefan Batory added as her husband and king jure uxoris
Jure uxoris
Jure uxoris is a Latin term that means "by right of his wife" or "in right of a wife". It is commonly used to refer to a title held by a man whose wife holds it in her own right. In other words, he acquired the title simply by being her husband....
. Szlachta's pospolite ruszenie
Pospolite ruszenie
Pospolite ruszenie , is an anachronistic term describing the mobilisation of armed forces, especially during the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The tradition of wartime mobilisation of part of the population existed from before the 13th century to the 19th century...
supported the selection with their arms. Batory took over Kraków, where the couple's crowning ceremony took place on 1 May 1576.
Stephen Báthory's reign marks the end of szlachta's reform movement. The foreign king was skeptical of the Polish parliamentary system and had little appreciation for what the execution movement activists had been trying to accomplish. Batory's relations with Sienicki soon deteriorated, while other szlachta leaders had advanced within the nobility ranks, becoming senators or being otherwise preoccupied with their own careers. The reformers managed to move in 1578 in Poland and in 1581 in Lithuania the out-of-date appellate court system from the monarch's domain to the Crown and Lithuanian Tribunals run by the nobility. The cumbersome sejm and sejmiks system, the ad hoc confederations
Confederation (Poland)
A konfederacja was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta A konfederacja (Polish for "confederation") was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta A konfederacja (Polish for "confederation") was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta...
, and the lack of efficient mechanisms for the implementation of the laws escaped the reformers' attention or will to persevere. Many thought that the glorified nobility rule had approached perfection.
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
, one of the most distinguished personalities of the period, became the king's principal adviser and manager. A highly educated and cultivated individual, talented military chief and accomplished politician, he had often promoted himself as a tribune of his fellow szlachta. In fact in a typical magnate manner, Zamoyski accumulated multiple offices and royal land grants, removing himself far from the reform movement ideals he professed earlier.
The king himself was a great military leader and far-sighted politician. Of Batory's confrontations with members of the nobility, the famous case involved the Zborowski brothers: Samuel
Samuel Zborowski
Samuel Zborowski was a Polish military commander and a notable member of the szlachta . He is best remembered for having been executed by supporters of the Polish king Stefan Batory and chancellor Jan Zamoyski; an event which caused much uproar among the contemporary Polish nobility.-Biography:Son...
was executed on Zamoyski's orders, Krzysztof was sentenced to banishment
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
and property confiscation by the sejm court. A Hungarian, like other foreign rulers of Poland, Batory was concerned with the affairs of the country of his origin. Batory failed to enforce the Karnkowski's Statutes and therefore was unable to control the foreign trade through Danzig (Gdańsk)
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, which was to have highly negative economic and political consequences for the Republic. In cooperation with his chancellor
Kanclerz
Kanclerz was one of the highest officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. A respective office also existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 16th...
and later hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Jan Zamoyski, he was largely successful in the Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
n war. At that time the Commonwealth was able to increase the magnitude of its military effort: The combined for a campaign armed forces from several sources available could be up to 60,000 men strong. King Batory initiated the creation of piechota wybraniecka
Wojsko komputowe
Wojsko komputowe is a type of military unit used in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century and the 18th century.Until the mid-17th century, Polish forces were divided into permanent units and supplemental units , which were created in the time of military needs...
, an important peasant infantry military formation.
In 1577 Batory agreed to George Frederick
George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
George Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach was Margrave of Ansbach and Bayreuth, as well as Regent of Prussia. He was the son of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and a member of the House of Hohenzollern...
of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
becoming a custodian for the mentally ill Albert Frederick
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
, Duke of Prussia, which brought the two German polities closer together, to the detriment of the Commonwealth's long-term interests.
War with Russia over Livonia
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
Dominium Maris Baltici program, aimed at securing Poland's access to and control over the portion of the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
region and ports that the country had vital interests in protecting, led to the Commonwealth's participation in the Livonian conflict
Livonian War
The Livonian War was fought for control of Old Livonia in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia when the Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of Denmark–Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.During the period 1558–1578,...
, which had also become another stage in the series of Lithuania's and Poland's confrontations with Russia. In 1563 Ivan IV
Ivan IV of Russia
Ivan IV Vasilyevich , known in English as Ivan the Terrible , was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state spanning almost one billion acres,...
took Polotsk. After the Stettin peace of 1570 (which involved several powers, including Sweden and Denmark) the Commonwealth remained in control of the main part of Livonia, including Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
and Pernau
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
. In 1577 Ivan undertook a great expedition, taking over for himself, or his vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
Magnus, Duke of Holstein most of Livonia, except for the coastal areas of Riga and Reval
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
. A success of the Polish-Lithuanian counter-offensive became possible as Batory was able to secure the necessary funding from the nobility.
The Polish forces recovered Dünaburg
Daugavpils
Daugavpils is a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. Daugavpils literally means "Daugava Castle". With a population of over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the country after the capital Riga, which is located some...
and most of middle Livonia. The King and Zamoyski then opted for attacking directly the inland Russian territory necessary for keeping Russian communication lines to Livonia open and functioning. Polotsk was retaken in 1579 and the Velikiye Łuki fortress fell in 1580. The take-over of Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
was attempted in 1581, but Ivan Petrovich Shuisky
Shuisky
The Princes Shuisky were a Rurikid family of boyars descending from Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich of Vladimir-Suzdal and Prince Andrey Yaroslavich, brother to Alexander Nevsky. Their name is derived from the town of Shuya, of which they gained ownership in 1403. The family briefly reached the...
was able to defend the city despite a several months long siege. An armistice was arranged in 1582 by the papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
Antonio Possevino
Antonio Possevino
Antonio Possevino was a Jesuit protagonist of Counter Reformation as a papal diplomat and a Jesuit controversialist, encyclopedist and bibliographer...
. The Russians evacuated all the Livonian castles they had captured, gave up the Polotsk area and left Velizh
Velizh
Velizh is a town and the administrative center of Velizhsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, situated on the bank of the Western Dvina, from Smolensk. Population:...
in Lithuanian hands. The Swedish forces, which took over Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
and most of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, contributed to the victory. The Commonwealth ended up with the possession of the continuous Baltic coast from Puck
Puck, Poland
Puck is a town in northwestern Poland with 11,350 inhabitants. It is in Gdańsk Pomerania on the south coast of the Baltic Sea . Previously in the Gdańsk Voivodeship , Puck has been the capital of Puck County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999.-History:The settlement became a marketplace...
to Pernau
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
.
Sigismund III Vasa's reign
Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon was queen of Poland from 1575 to 1586. She was the daughter of Poland's King Sigismund I the Old, and the wife of Stephen Báthory. She was elected, along with her then fiance, Báthory, as co-ruler in the second election of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
proposed and pushed for the election of her nephew Sigismund Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
, son of John III, King of Sweden
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
and Catherine Jagellon and the Swedish heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
. The Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
faction supported Sigismund, the faction led by the Zborowski family wanted Maximilian; two separate elections took place and a civil war resulted. The Habsburg's army entered Poland and attacked Kraków, but was repulsed there and then, while retreating in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, crushed by the forces organized by Jan Zamoyski at the Battle of Byczyna
Battle of Byczyna
The Battle of Byczyna or Battle of Pitschen was the deciding battle of the 1587–1588 War of the Polish Succession, which erupted after two rival candidates were elected to the Polish throne...
(1588), where Maximilian was taken prisoner.
In the meantime Sigismund also arrived and was crowned in Kraków, which initiated his long in the Commonwealth (1587–1632) reign as Zygmunt III Waza
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
. The prospect of a personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
with Sweden raised for the Polish and Lithuanian ruling circles political and economic hopes, including favorable Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
trade conditions and a common front against Russia's
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
expansion. However concerning the latter, the control of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
had soon become the bone of contention. Sigismund's ultra-Catholicism appeared threatening to the Swedish Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
establishment and contributed to his dethronement in Sweden in 1599.
Inclined to form an alliance with the Habsburgs (and even give up the Polish crown to pursue his ambitions in Sweden), Sigismund conducted secret negotiations with them and married Archduchess Anna. Accused by Zamoyski of breaking his covenants, Sigismund III was humiliated during the sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
of 1592, which deepened his resentment of szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
. Sigismund was bent on strengthening the power of the monarchy and Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
al promotion of the Catholic Church (Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
was among his supporters). Indifferent to the increasingly common breaches of the Warsaw Confederation
Warsaw Confederation
The Warsaw Confederation , an important development in the history of Poland and Lithuania that extended religious tolerance to nobility and free persons within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. , is considered the formal beginning of religious freedom in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and...
religious protections and instances of violence against the Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, the King was opposed by religious minorities.
1605–1607 brought fruitless confrontation between King Sigismund with his supporters and the coalition of opposition nobility. During the sejm of 1605 the royal court proposed a fundamental reform of the body itself, an adoption of the majority rule instead of the traditional practice of unanimous acclamation by all deputies present. Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
in his last public address reduced himself to a defense of szlachta prerogatives, thus setting the stage for the demagoguery that was to dominate the Commonwealth's political culture for many decades.
For the sejm of 1606 the royal faction, hoping to take advantage of the glorious Battle of Kircholm
Battle of Kircholm
The Battle of Kircholm was one of the major battles in the Polish-Swedish War of 1600-1611. The battle was decided in 20 minutes by the devastating charge of Polish-Lithuanian cavalry, the Winged Hussars...
victory and other successes, submitted a more comprehensive constructive reform program. Instead the sejm had become preoccupied with the dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
postulate of prosecuting instigators of religious disturbances directed against non-Catholics; advised by Skarga
Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
, the King refused his assent to the proposed statute.
The nobility opposition, suspecting an attempt against their liberties, called for a rokosz
Rokosz
A rokosz originally was a gathering of all the Polish szlachta , not merely of deputies, for a sejm. The term was introduced to the Polish language from Hungary, where analogous gatherings took place at a field called Rákos....
, or an armed confederation
Confederation (Poland)
A konfederacja was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta A konfederacja (Polish for "confederation") was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta A konfederacja (Polish for "confederation") was an ad hoc association formed by Polish-Lithuanian szlachta...
. Tens of thousands of disaffected szlachta, led by the ultra-Catholic Mikołaj Zebrzydowski and Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
Janusz Radziwiłł, congregated in August near Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
, giving rise to the so-called Zebrzydowski Rebellion.
The Sandomierz articles produced by the rebels were concerned mostly with placing further limitations on the monarch's power. Threatened by royal forces under Stanisław Żółkiewski, the confederates entered into an agreement with Sigismund, but then backed out of it and demanded the King's deposition. The ensuing civil war was resolved at the Battle of Guzów
Battle of Guzów
The Battle of Guzów took place on July 6, 1607, at the village of Guzów in Szydłowiec County, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The confrontation was between the forces of the Zebrzydowski Rebellion against the Royalists supporting King Sigismund III Vasa , under...
, where the szlachta was defeated in 1607. Afterwards however magnate leaders of the pro-King faction made sure that Sigismund's position would remain precarious, leaving arbitration powers within the Senate's competence. Whatever was left of the execution movement
Execution movement
The Executionist movement was a 16th-century political movement in the Kingdom of Poland and, later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was popular among lesser, middle and even some higher nobility, and it also enjoyed the support of the Polish king...
had become thwarted together with the obstructionist szlachta elements, and a compromise solution to the crisis of authority was arrived at. But the victorious lords of the council had at their disposal no effective political machinery necessary to propagate the well-being of the Commonwealth, still in its Golden Age
Polish Golden Age
The Polish Golden Age refers to the times from 15th century Jagiellon Poland to the death of the last of the Jagiellons, Sigismund August in 1569, or mid-17th century, when in 1648 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was ravaged by the Khmelnytsky Uprising and The Deluge and the Golden Age...
(or as some prefer Silver Age now), much further.
In 1611 John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He also served as a Duke of Prussia.-Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia:...
was allowed by the Commonwealth sejm to inherit the Duchy of Prussia fief
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
, after the death of Albert Frederick
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
, the last duke of the Prussian Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
line. The Brandenburg Hohenzollern branch led the Duchy from 1618.
Sejmik
A sejmik was a regional assembly in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and earlier in the Kingdom of Poland. Sejmiks existed until the end of the Commonwealth in 1795 following the partitions of the Commonwealth...
s, which provided a more accessible and direct forum for szlachta activists to promote their narrowly conceived local interests. The sejmiks established effective controls, in practice limiting the sejm's authority; themselves they were taking on an ever broader range of state matters and local issues.
In addition to the destabilizing to the central authority role of the over 70 sejmiks, during the same period, the often unpaid army had begun establishing their own "confederations", or rebellions. By plunder and terror they attempted to recover their compensation and pursue other, sometimes political aims.
Some reforms were being pursued by the more enlightened szlachta, who wanted to expand the role of the sejm at the monarch's and magnate faction's expense, and by the elected kings. Sigismund III during the later part of his rule constructively cooperated with the sejm, making sure that between 1616 and 1632 each session of the body produced the badly needed statutes. The increased efforts in the areas of taxation and maintenance of the military forces made possible the positive outcomes of some of the armed conflicts that took place during Sigismund's reign.
Cossacks
There weren't very many Cossacks in the mid 16th century in the south-eastern borderlands of Lithuania and Poland yet, but the first companies of Cossack light cavalryCavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
had become incorporated into the Polish armed forces already around that time. During the reign of Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
the Cossack problem was beginning to play its role as Rzeczpospolita's preeminent internal challenge of the 17th century.
The Cossacks were first semi-nomadic, then also settled Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
people of the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
area, who practiced brigandage and plunder, and, renowned for their fighting prowess, early in their history assumed a military organization. Many of them were or originated from run-away peasants from eastern and other areas of the Commonwealth or from Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
; other significant elements were townspeople and even nobility, who came from the region or migrated into Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. The Cossacks considered themselves free and independent of any bondage and followed their own elected leaders, who originated from the more affluent strata of their society. There were tens of thousands of Cossacks already early in the 17th century. They had frequently clashed with the neighboring Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
and raided their Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coastal settlements.
Many Cossacks were being hired
Registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks is the term used for Cossacks formations of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth armies.-Establishing:The registered cossacks were created on the King's edict of Sigismund II Augustus on June 5, 1572 confirming the orders of the Crown Hetman Jerzy Jazłowiecki. The first senior ...
to participate in wars waged by the Commonwealth. This status resulted in privileges and often constituted a form of social upward mobility
Social mobility
Social mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...
; the Cossacks resented the periodic reductions in their enrollment. The Cossack rebellions or uprisings typically assumed the form of huge plebeian
Plebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
social movements.
The Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
demanded a total liquidation of the Cossack power. The Commonwealth however needed the Cossacks in the south-east, where they provided an effective buffer against Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
incursions. The other way to quell the Cossack unrest would be to grant nobility status to a substantial portion of their population and thus assimilate them into the Commonwealth's power structure. This solution was being rejected by the magnates and szlachta for political, economic and cultural reasons when there was still time for reform, before disasters struck. The Polish-Lithuanian establishment had instead shifted unsteadily between compromising with the Cossacks, allowing limited numbers, the so-called Cossack register
Registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks is the term used for Cossacks formations of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth armies.-Establishing:The registered cossacks were created on the King's edict of Sigismund II Augustus on June 5, 1572 confirming the orders of the Crown Hetman Jerzy Jazłowiecki. The first senior ...
(500 in 1582, 8000 in the 1630s), to serve with the Commonwealth army (the rest were to be converted into serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
, to help the magnates in colonizing the Dnieper area), and brutally using military force in an attempt to subdue them.
Efforts to subjugate and exploit economically the Cossack territories and population in Zaporizhia region
Zaporizhia (region)
Zaporizhia , Russian: Запоро́жье, Zaporozhye) is a historical region which is situated about the Dnieper River, below the Dnieper rapids , , hence the name, translated as "territory beyond the rapids"...
resulted in a series of Cossack uprisings
Zaporozhia Cossack uprisings
The Cossack uprisings were a series of military conflicts between the cossacks and the states claiming dominion over the territories the Cossacks lived in, namely the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Both states tried to exert control...
, of which the early ones could have served as a warning for the szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
legislators.
In 1591 the bloodily suppressed Kosiński Uprising
Kosinski Uprising
Kosiński Uprising is a name applied to two rebellions in Ukraine organised by Krzysztof Kosiński against the local Ruthenian nobility and magnates....
was led by Krzysztof Kosiński
Krzysztof Kosinski
Krzysztof Kosiński was a Polish noble from the Podlaskie region. He was a colonel of the Registered Cossacks and self-proclaimed Hetman of Ukraine. He led two consecutive rebellions against local Ruthenian nobility, known as the Kosiński Uprising....
. New fighting took place already in 1594, when the Nalyvaiko Uprising
Nalyvaiko Uprising
The Nalyvaiko Uprising was a failed Cossack rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Headed by Severyn Nalyvaiko, it lasted from 1594 to 1596...
engulfed large portions of Ukraine and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. Hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Stanisław Żółkiewski defeated the Cossack units in 1596 and Severyn Nalyvaiko
Severyn Nalyvaiko
Severyn Nalyvaiko was a leader of the Ukrainian Cossacks who became a hero of Ukrainian folklore. He led the Nalyvaiko Uprising. The Decembrist poet Kondraty Ryleyev wrote a poem about him.-Biography:...
was executed. A temporary pacification of relations followed in the early 17th century, when the many wars fought by the Commonwealth necessitated greater involvement by registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks is the term used for Cossacks formations of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth armies.-Establishing:The registered cossacks were created on the King's edict of Sigismund II Augustus on June 5, 1572 confirming the orders of the Crown Hetman Jerzy Jazłowiecki. The first senior ...
. The Union of Brest
Union of Brest
Union of Brest or Union of Brześć refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the Pope of Rome. At the time, this church included most Ukrainians and...
however resulted in new tensions, as the Cossacks had become dedicated adherents and defenders of the Eastern Orthodoxy.
The uprising of Marko Zhmailo of 1625 was confronted by Stanisław Koniecpolski and concluded with Mykhailo Doroshenko
Mykhailo Doroshenko
Mykhailo Doroshenko was the Hetman of the registered Ukrainian Cossacks from 1623–1628.He was elevated to the rank of Cossack colonel in 1616, and he was active in Petro Konashevych's wars against Muscovy. He personally participated in the Battle of Khotyn in 1621...
signing the Treaty of Kurukove
Treaty of Kurukove
The Treaty of Kurukove was an agreement between Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Mykhailo Doroshenko of the Ukrainian Cossacks. After four days of negotiations, it was signed on 5 November 1625 near Lake Kurukove and what is now Kremenchuk. The treaty was a...
. More fighting soon erupted and culminated in the "Taras night" of 1630, when the Cossack rebels under Taras Fedorovych
Taras Fedorovych
Taras Fedorovych was a prominent leader of the Dnieper Cossacks, a popular Hetman elected by unregistered Cossacks....
turned against army units and noble estates. The Fedorovych Uprising
Fedorovych Uprising
The Fedorovych Uprising was a rebellion headed by Taras Fedorovych against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1630.-The uprising:In March 1630 Fedorovych became the leader of a Cossack and peasant revolt which became known as the Fedorovych Uprising...
was put under control by Hetman Koniecpolski. These events were followed by an increase in the Cossack registry (Treaty of Pereyaslav
Treaty of Pereyaslav (1630)
Treaty of Pereiaslav was signed in late June 1630 between rebellious Cossack forces of Taras Fedorovych and Polish forces led by hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski....
), but then rejection of demands by Cossack elders during the convocation sejm of 1632, who wanted to participate in free elections as members of the Commonwealth and have religious rights of the "disuniate
Union of Brest
Union of Brest or Union of Brześć refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the Pope of Rome. At the time, this church included most Ukrainians and...
" Eastern Christians restored. The 1635 sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
voted instead further restrictions and authorized the construction of the Dnieper Kodak Fortress
Kodak fortress
Kodak fortress was a fort built in 1635 by the order of Polish king Władysław IV Vasa and the Sejm over the Dnieper River, near what was to become the town of Stari Kodaky...
, to facilitate more effective control over the Cossack territories. Another round of fighting, the Pavluk Uprising
Pawluk Uprising
The Pavluk Uprising of 1637 was a Cossack uprising in Left-bank Ukraine and Zaporizhia headed by Pavlo Mikhnovych against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.The rebellion was sparked by several Cossacks expelled from the Cossack Registry...
followed in 1637–1638. It was defeated and its leader Pavel Mikhnovych
Pavel Mikhnovych
Pavlo Mikhnovych was a colonel in Registered Cossacks аnd self-appointed hetman, as well as a leader of a peasant rebellion in Left-bank Ukraine and Zaporizhia....
executed. Upon new anti-Cossack limitations and sejm statutes imposing serfdom on most Cossacks, the Cossacks rose up again in 1638 under Jakiv Ostryanin and Dmytro Hunia
Dmytro Hunia
Dmytro Hunia was elected hetman of the Zaporozhian Host in 1638. He was one of the leaders of the Ostrzanin Uprising, a 1638 Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The rebellion was sparked by the Sejm act of the same year that declared that non-Registered Cossacks are equal...
. The uprising was cruelly suppressed and the existing Cossack land properties were taken over by the magnates. The harsh measures restored relative calm for a short period, while the Cossack affair, perceived as a weak spot of the Commonwealth, was increasingly becoming an issue in international politics.
Władysław IV
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
, son of Sigismund III, ruled the Commonwealth during 1632–1648. Born and raised in Poland, prepared for the office from the early years, popular, educated, free of his father's religious prejudices, he seemed a promising chief executive candidate. Władysław however, like his father, had the life ambition of attaining the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
throne by using his royal status and power in Poland and Lithuania, which, to serve his purpose, he attempted to strengthen. Władysław ruled with the help of several prominent magnates, among them Jerzy Ossoliński
Jerzy Ossolinski
Prince Jerzy Ossoliński was a Polish szlachcic, Crown Court Treasurer from 1632, voivode of Sandomierz from 1636, Reichsfürst since 1634, Crown Deputy Chancellor from 1639, Great Crown Chancellor from 1643, starost of Bydgoszcz , Lubomel , Puck and Bolim , magnate, politician and diplomat...
, Chancellor of the Crown
Kanclerz
Kanclerz was one of the highest officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. A respective office also existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 16th...
, Hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Stanisław Koniecpolski, and Jakub Sobieski
Jakub Sobieski
Jakub Sobieski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble, parliamentarian, diarist, political activist, military leader and father of King Jan III Sobieski. Son of castellan and voivode Marek Sobieski and Jadwiga Snopkowska.- Life :...
, the middle szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
leader. Władysław IV was unable to attract a wider szlachta following, and many of his plans had foundered because of lack of support in the increasingly ineffectual sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
. Because of his tolerance for non-Catholics, Władysław was also opposed by the Catholic clergy and the papacy.
Toward the last years of his reign Władysław IV sought to enhance his position and assure his son's succession by waging a war on the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, for which he prepared, despite the lack of nobility support. To secure this end the King worked on forming an alliance with the Cossacks, whom he encouraged to improve their military readiness and intended to use against the Turks, moving in that direction of cooperation further than his predecessors. The war never took place, and the King had to explain his offensive war designs during the "inquisition" sejm of 1646. Władysław's son Zygmunt Kazimierz died in 1647, and the King, weakened, resigned and disappointed, in 1648.
Seeking preponderance in Eastern Europe
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
, The Austrian Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
). The resulting opportunity for the Polish-Lithuanian state to improve its position depended on its ability to overcome internal distractions, such as the isolationist and pacifist tendencies that prevailed among the szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
ruling class, or the rivalry between nobility leaders and elected kings, often intent on circumventing restrictions on their authority, such as the Henrician Articles
Henrician Articles
The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles were a permanent contract that stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the form of 21 Articles written and adopted by the nobility in 1573 at the town of Kamień, near Warsaw,...
.
The nearly continuous wars of the first three decades of the new century resulted in modernization, if not (because of the treasury limitations) enlargement, of the Commonwealth's army. The total military forces available ranged from a few thousands at the Battle of Kircholm
Battle of Kircholm
The Battle of Kircholm was one of the major battles in the Polish-Swedish War of 1600-1611. The battle was decided in 20 minutes by the devastating charge of Polish-Lithuanian cavalry, the Winged Hussars...
, to the over fifty thousands plus pospolite ruszenie
Pospolite ruszenie
Pospolite ruszenie , is an anachronistic term describing the mobilisation of armed forces, especially during the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The tradition of wartime mobilisation of part of the population existed from before the 13th century to the 19th century...
mobilized for the Khotyn (Chocim) campaign
Battle of Khotyn (1621)
The Battle of Khotyn was a battle fought between a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army and an invading Ottoman Imperial army. Here, for a whole month , the Commonwealth forces halted the Ottoman advance...
of 1621. The remarkable during the first half of the 17th century development of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
resulted in the 1650 publication in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
of the Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima book by Kazimierz Siemienowicz
Kazimierz Siemienowicz
Kazimierz Siemienowicz , was a Polish-Lithuanian general of artillery, gunsmith, military engineer, artillery specialist and pioneer of rocketry. Born in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he served the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a federation of Poland and the Grand Duchy, and in the...
, a pioneer also in the science of rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
ry. Despite the superior quality of the Commonwealth's heavy (hussar
Polish Hussars
The Polish Hussars were the main type of cavalry of the first Polish Army, later also introduced into the Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, between the 16th and 18th centuries...
) and light (Cossack) cavalry, the increasing proportions of the infantry (peasant, mercenary and Cossack formations) and of the contingent of foreign troops resulted in an army, in which these respective components were heavily represented. During the reigns of the first two Vasas
House of Vasa
The House of Vasa was the Royal House of Sweden 1523-1654 and of Poland 1587-1668. It originated from a noble family in Uppland of which several members had high offices during the 15th century....
a war fleet was developed and fought successful naval battles (1609 against Sweden). As usual, fiscal difficulties impaired the effectiveness of the military, and the treasury's ability to pay the soldiers.
Moldavia
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
intervened in Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
in 1595. With the backing of the Commonwealth army Ieremia Movilă
Ieremia Movila
Ieremia Movilă was a Hospodar of Moldavia between August 1595 and May 1600, and again between September 1600 and July 10, 1606.-Rule:...
assumed the hospodar
Hospodar
Hospodar or gospodar is a term of Slavonic origin, meaning "lord" or "master".The rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia were styled hospodars in Slavic writings from the 15th century to 1866. Hospodar was used in addition to the title voivod...
's throne as the Commonwealth's vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
. Zamoyski's army repelled the subsequent assault by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
forces at Ţuţora. The next confrontation in the area took place in 1600, when Zamoyski and Stanisław Żółkiewski acted against Michael the Brave, hospodar of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. First Ieremia Movilă, who in the meantime had been removed by Michael in Moldavia, was reimposed, and then Michael was defeated in Wallachia at the Battle of Bucov
Bucov
Bucov is a commune in Prahova County, Romania, just east of Ploieşti, the county seat. It is composed of five villages: Bighilin, Bucov, Chiţorani, Pleaşa and Valea Orlei....
. Ieremia's brother Simion Movilă
Simion Movila
Simion Movilă, a boyar of the Movileşti family, was twice Prince of Wallachia and Prince of Moldavia on one occasion ....
became the new hospodar there and for a brief period the entire region up to the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
had become the Commonwealth's dependency. Turkey soon reasserted its role, in 1601 in Wallachia and in 1606 in Transylvania. Zamoyski's politics and actions, which constituted the earlier stage of the Moldavian magnate wars
Moldavian Magnate Wars
The Moldavian Magnate Wars refer to the period at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century when the magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth intervened in the affairs of Moldavia, clashing with the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire for domination and influence over the...
, only prolonged Poland's influence in Moldavia and interfered effectively with the simultaneous Habsburg
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
plans and ambitions in this part of Europe. Further military involvement at the southern frontiers ceased being feasible, as the forces were needed more urgently in the north.
War with Sweden
Sigismund III'sSigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
crowning in Sweden took place in 1594 amid tensions and instability caused by religious controversies. As Sigismund returned to Poland, his uncle Charles
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
, the regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
, took the lead of the anti-Sigismund Swedish opposition. In 1598 Sigismund attempted to resolve the matter militarily
War against Sigismund
The war against Sigismund was a war between Duke Charles, later King Charles IX and Sigismund, King of Sweden and Poland. Lasting from 1598 to 1599, it is also called War of Deposition against Sigismund, since the focus of the conflicts was the attempt to depose the latter from the throne of Sweden...
, but the expedition to the country of his origin was defeated at the Battle of Linköping
Battle of Stångebro
The Battle of Stångebro or Battle of Linköping took place at Linköping, Sweden on September 25, 1598, and effectively ended the personal union between Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, that had only existed since 1592...
; Sigismund was taken prisoner and had to agree to the harsh conditions imposed. After his return to Poland, in 1599 the Riksdag of the Estates
Riksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
deposed him in Sweden, and Charles led the Swedish forces into Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. Sigismund in 1600 proclaimed the incorporation of Estonia into the Commonwealth, which was tantamount to a declaration of war on Sweden
Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611)
-Origins:This conflict between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden can trace its roots to the War against Sigismund, where Sigismund III Vasa, at one time king of both the Commonwealth and Sweden, lost the throne of Sweden during the civil war...
, at the height of Rzeczpospolita's involvement in Moldavia region.
Jürgen von Farensbach
Jürgen von Farensbach was a Baltic German nobleman and Livonian general. Sent as the Ambassador of Livonian Confederation to Czar Ivan IV of Russia, for concluding a peace treaty, he entered the Russian service and won the battle on Oka against the Tatars on August 1, 1572...
, given the command of the Commonwealth forces, was overpowered by the much larger army brought to the area by Charles, whose quick offensive resulted in the 1600 take-over of most of Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
up to the Daugava River, except for Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
. The Swedes were welcomed by much of the local population, by that time increasingly dissatisfied with the Polish-Lithuanian rule. in 1601 Krzysztof Radziwiłł succeeded at the Battle of Kokenhausen
Battle of Kokenhausen
The Battle of Kokenhausen was a major battle opening the Polish–Swedish War . It took place on the 23 June 1601 near Koknese in Livonia . In the battle, Polish forces defeated the Swedish relief force and captured the besieging force, relieving the Polish garrison...
, but the Swedish advances had been reversed up to (not including) Reval
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, only after Jan Zamoyski brought in a more substantial force. Much of this army, having been unpaid, returned to Poland. The clearing action was continued by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was a famous Lithuanian military commander and one of the most prominent noblemen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Biography:...
, who, with a small contingent of troops left, defeated the Swedish incursion at Paide
Paide
Paide is the capital of Järva County, Estonia.A castle built by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword is located here. The town was formally founded 30 September 1291 by Halt, master of the Livonian Order....
(Biały Kamień) in 1604.
In 1605 Charles, now Charles IX
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
, the King of Sweden, launched a new offensive, but his efforts were crossed by Chodkiewicz's victories at Kircholm
Battle of Kircholm
The Battle of Kircholm was one of the major battles in the Polish-Swedish War of 1600-1611. The battle was decided in 20 minutes by the devastating charge of Polish-Lithuanian cavalry, the Winged Hussars...
and elsewhere and the Polish naval successes, while the war continued without a decisive resolution being produced. In the armistice of 1611 the Commonwealth was able to keep the majority of the contested areas, as a variety of internal and foreign difficulties, including the inability to pay the mercenary soldiers and the Union's new involvement in Russia, precluded a comprehensive victory.
Attempts to subordinate Russia
Ivan IV of Russia
Ivan IV Vasilyevich , known in English as Ivan the Terrible , was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state spanning almost one billion acres,...
and in 1598 of his son Feodor
Feodor I of Russia
Fyodor I Ivanovich 1598) was the last Rurikid Tsar of Russia , son of Ivan IV and Anastasia Romanovna. In English he is sometimes called Feodor the Bellringer in consequence of his strong faith and inclination to travel the land and ring the bells at churches. However, in Russian the name...
, the last tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
s of the Rurik Dynasty
Rurik Dynasty
The Rurik dynasty or Rurikids was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year 862 AD...
, Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
entered a period of severe dynastic, economic and social crisis and instability
Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third...
. As Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:...
encountered resistance from both the peasant masses and the boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
opposition, in the Commonwealth the ideas of turning Russia into a subordinated ally, either through a union, or an imposition of a ruler dependent on the Polish-Lithuanian establishment, were rapidly coming into play.
In 1600 Lew Sapieha
Lew Sapieha
Lew Sapieha . He was born in Astrouna , near Vitsebsk, Belarus. He became Great Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1580, Great Clerk of the Grand Duchy in 1581, Court Chancellor of the GDL in 1585, Grand Chancellor of the GDL from 1589 until 1623, Voivode of Vilnius in 1621, Great...
led a Commonwealth mission to Moscow to propose a union with the Russian state, patterned after the Polish-Lithuanian Union
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
, with the boyars granted rights comparable with those of the Commonwealth's nobility. A decision on a single monarch was to be postponed until the death of the current king or tsar. Boris Godunov, at that time also engaged in negotiations with Charles
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
of Sweden, wasn't interested in that close a relationship and only a twenty-year truce was agreed upon.
In order to continue their efforts, the magnates took advantage of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry under mysterious circumstances and of the appearance of False Dmitriy I
False Dmitriy I
False Dmitriy I was the Tsar of Russia from 21 July 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dimitriy Ioannovich . He is sometimes referred to under the usurped title of Dmitriy II...
, a pretender-impostor claiming to be the tsarevich. False Dmitriy was able to secure the cooperation and help of the Wiśniowiecki family and of Jerzy Mniszech
Jerzy Mniszech
Jerzy Mniszech was a nobleman in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Member of the Mniszchowie family. Krajczy koronny in 1574, castellan of Radom in 1583, voivode of Sandomierz Voivodship in 1590, żupnik ruski, starost of Lwów in 1593, starost of Sambor, Sokal, Sanock, Rohatyn.Father of Marina...
, Voivode of Sandomierz
Sandomierz Voivodeship
Sandomierz Voivodeship was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Little Poland region. Originally Sandomierz Voivodeship also covered the area around Lublin, but in 1474 its three eastern counties...
, whom he promised vast Russian estates and a marriage with the voivode's daughter Marina
Marina Mniszech
Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech (Polish: Maryna Mniszchówna or Maryna Mniszech; Russian: Марина Мнишек (Marina Mnishek); also known as "Marinka the witch" in Russian folklore; c...
. Dmitriy became a Catholic and leading an army of adventurers raised in the Commonwealth, with the tacit support of Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
entered in 1604 the Russian state. After the death of Boris Godunov and the murder of his son Feodor
Feodor II of Russia
Fyodor II Borisovich Godunov of Russia was a tsar of Russia during the Time of Troubles. He was born in Moscow, the son and successor to Boris Godunov...
, False Dmitriy I became the Tsar of Russia, and remained in that capacity until killed during a popular turmoil in 1606.
Russia under the new tsar Vasili Shuisky
Vasili IV of Russia
Vasili IV of Russia was Tsar of Russia between 1606 and 1610 after the murder of False Dmitriy I. His reign fell during the Time of Troubles....
remained unstable. A new false Dmitriy materialized and Tsaritsa Marina
Marina Mniszech
Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech (Polish: Maryna Mniszchówna or Maryna Mniszech; Russian: Марина Мнишек (Marina Mnishek); also known as "Marinka the witch" in Russian folklore; c...
had even "recognized" in him her thought-to-be-dead husband. With a new army provided largely by the magnates of the Commonwealth, False Dmitriy II approached Moscow and made futile attempts to take the city. Tsar Vasili IV
Vasili IV of Russia
Vasili IV of Russia was Tsar of Russia between 1606 and 1610 after the murder of False Dmitriy I. His reign fell during the Time of Troubles....
, seeking help from King Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
, agreed to territorial concessions in Sweden's favor and in 1609 the Russo-Swedish anti-Dmitriy and anti-Commonwealth alliance was able to remove the threat from Moscow and strengthen Vasili. The alliance and the Swedish involvement in Russian affairs caused a direct military intervention on the part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, instigated and led by King Sigismund III.
The Polish army commenced a siege of Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
and the Russo-Swedish relief expedition was defeated in 1610 by Hetman Żółkiewski at the Battle of Klushino
Battle of Klushino
The Battle of Klushino was fought on 4 July 1610, between forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Grand Duchy of Moscow during the Polish-Muscovite War, part of Russia's Time of Troubles. The battle occurred near the village of Klushino near Smolensk...
. The victory strengthened the position of the compromise-oriented Russian boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
faction, which had already been interested in offering the Moscow throne to Władysław Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
, son of Sigismund III. Under arrangements negotiated by Żółkiewski, the boyars deposed Tsar Vasili
Vasili IV of Russia
Vasili IV of Russia was Tsar of Russia between 1606 and 1610 after the murder of False Dmitriy I. His reign fell during the Time of Troubles....
and accepted Władysław in return for peace, no annexation of Russia into the Commonwealth, the Prince's conversion to the Orthodox
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
religion, and privileges, including exclusive rights to high offices in the Tsardom
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
granted to the Russian nobility. After the agreement was signed the Commonwealth forces entered the Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
.
Sigismund III subsequently rejected the compromise solution and demanded the tsar's throne for himself, which would mean complete subjugation of Russia, and as such was rejected by the bulk of the Russian society. Sigismund's refusal and demands only intensified the chaos, as the Swedes proposed their own candidate and took over Veliki Novgorod. The result was the 1611 popular Russian anti-Polish uprising and a siege of the Polish garrison occupying the Kremlin.
In the meantime the Commonwealth forces after a long siege stormed and took Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
in 1611. At the Kremlin the situation of the Poles had been worsening despite occasional reinforcements, and the massive national and religious uprising was spreading all over Russia. A new rescue operation attempted by Hetman Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was a famous Lithuanian military commander and one of the most prominent noblemen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Biography:...
failed and a capitulation of the Polish and Lithuanian forces at the Kremlin became necessary. Mikhail Romanov, son of the imprisoned in Poland Patriarch Filaret
Patriarch Filaret (Feodor Romanov)
Feodor Nikitich Romanov was a Russian boyar who after temporary disgrace rose to become patriarch of Moscow as Filaret , and became de-facto ruler of Russia during the reign of his son, Mikhail Feodorovich.- Life :...
, became the new tsar in 1613.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, threatened by the Polish territorial gains became involved at the frontiers, and a peace between Russia and Sweden was agreed to in 1617. Fearing the new alliance the Commonwealth undertook one more major expedition, which took over Vyazma
Vyazma
Vyazma is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk and Mozhaysk. Throughout its turbulent history, the city defended western approaches to the city of Moscow...
and arrived at the walls of Moscow, in an attempt to impose the rule of Władysław Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
again. The city would not open its gates and not enough military strength was brought in to attempt a forced take-over.
Despite the disappointment, the Commonwealth was able to take advantage of the Russian weakness and through the territorial advances accomplished to reverse the eastern losses suffered in the earlier decades. In the Truce of Deulino
Truce of Deulino
Truce of Deulino was signed on 11 December 1618 and took effect on 4 January 1619. It concluded the Polish–Muscovite War between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia....
of 1619 the Rzeczpospolita was granted the Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
, Chernihiv
Chernihiv
Chernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast...
and Novhorod-Siverskyi
Novhorod-Siverskyi
Novhorod-Siversky is a historic city in the Chernihiv Oblast of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Novhorod-Siversky Raion, and is situated on the bank of the Desna River, 330 km from the capital, Kiev, and 45 km south of the Russian border. Current estimated population:...
regions.
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth attained its greatest geographic extent, but the attempted union with Russia could not have been achieved, as the systemic, cultural and religious incompatibilities between the two empires proved to be insurmountable. The territorial annexations and the ruthlessly conducted wars left a legacy of injustice suffered and desire for revenge on the part of the Russian ruling classes and people. The huge military effort weakened the Commonwealth and the painful consequences of the adventurous policies of the Vasa court and its allied magnates were soon to be felt.
The Commonwealth and Silesia during Thirty Years' War
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
reached an understanding with Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
Matthias of Austria was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611...
, based on which both sides agreed to cooperate and mutually provide assistance in suppressing internal rebellions. The pact neutralized the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
in regard to the Commonwealth's war with Russia, but had resulted in more serious consequences after the Bohemian Revolt
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
gave rise to the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
in 1618.
The Czech events weakened the position of the Habsburgs in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, where there were large concentrations of ethnically
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
Polish inhabitants, whose ties and interests at that time placed them within the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
camp. Numerous Polish Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
parishes, with schools and centers of cultural activity, had been established in the heavily Polish areas around Opole
Opole
Opole is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River . It has a population of 125,992 and is the capital of the Upper Silesia, Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County...
and Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....
in eastern Silesia, as well as in numerous cities and towns throughout the region and beyond, including Breslau (Wrocław) and Grünberg (Zielona Góra)
Zielona Góra
Zielona Góra is a city in Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, with 117,557 inhabitants within the city limits and 294,000 inhabitants within the metropolitan area, including three neighbouring counties ....
. The threat posed by a potentially resurgent Habsburg monarchy to the situation of Polish Silesians was keenly felt, and there were voices within King Sigismund's circle, including Stanisław Łubieński and Jerzy Zbaraski
Jerzy Zbaraski
Jerzy Zbaraski was a Polish-Lithuanian szlachcic.He was Krajczy of the Crown since 1612, Podczaszy of the Crown since 1619, Castellan of Kraków since 1620 and Starost of Pinsk, sokalski, radohoski. Brother of Krzysztof Zbaraski. Last of the Zbaraski family....
, who brought to his attention Poland's historic rights and options in the area. The King, an ardent Catholic, advised by many not to involve the Commonwealth on the Catholic-Habsburg side, decided in the end to act in their support, but unofficially.
The ten thousand men strong Lisowczycy
Lisowczycy
Lisowczycy or chorągiew elearska ; or in singular form: Lisowczyk or elear) - the name of an early 17th century irregular unit of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth light cavalry. The Lisowczycy took part in many battles across Europe and the historical accounts of the period characterized them as...
mercenary division, a highly effective military force, had just returned from the Moscow campaign, and having become a major nuisance for the szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, was available for another assignment abroad; Sigismund sent them south to assist Emperor Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
. Sigismund court's intervention greatly influenced the first phase of the war, helping save the position of the Habsburg Monarchy at a critical moment.
The Lisowczycy entered northern Hungary (now Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
) and in 1619 defeated the Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
n forces at the Battle of Humenné
Battle of Humenné
The Battle of Humenné took place on November 23, 1619 near Humenné during the first period of the Thirty Years' War between the Transylvanian army and the Polish forces of Lisowczycy...
. Prince Bethlen Gábor
Gabriel Bethlen
Gabriel Bethlen was a prince of Transylvania , duke of Opole and leader of an anti-Habsburg insurrection in the Habsburg Royal Hungary. His last armed intervention in 1626 was part of the Thirty Years' War...
of Transylvania, who together with the Czechs had laid siege to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, had to hurry back to his country and make peace with Ferdinand, which seriously compromised the situation of the Czech insurgents. Afterwards the Lisowczycy ruthlessly fought to suppress the Emperor's opponents in Glatz (Kłodzko) region and elsewhere in Silesia, in Bohemia and Germany.
After the breakdown of the Bohemian Revolt the residents of Silesia, including the Polish gentry in Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
, were subjected to severe repressions and Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
al activities, including forced expulsions of thousands of Silesians, many of whom ended up in Poland. Later during the war years the province was repeatedly ravaged in the course of military campaigns crossing its territory, and at one point a Protestant leader, Piast
Piast dynasty
The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It began with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historical ruler was Duke Mieszko I . The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir the Great...
Duke John Christian of Brieg
John Christian of Brieg
John Christian of Brieg , 25 December 1639), was a Duke of Brzeg–Legnica–Wołów ....
, appealed to Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
for assuming supremacy over Silesia. King Władysław, although a tolerant ruler including in matters of religion, was like his father
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
disinclined to involve the Commonwealth in the Thirty Years' War. He ended up getting as fiefs
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
from the Emperor
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
the duchies of Opole
Opole
Opole is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River . It has a population of 125,992 and is the capital of the Upper Silesia, Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County...
and Racibórz
Racibórz
Racibórz is a town in southern Poland with 60,218 inhabitants situated in the Silesian Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship...
in 1646, twenty years later reclaimed by the Empire. The Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
allowed the Habsburgs to do as they pleased in Silesia, already completely ruined by the war, which had resulted in intense persecution of Protestants, including the Polish Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
communities, forced to emigrate or subjected to Germanization
Germanisation
Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...
.
Conflicts with the Ottoman Empire and Crimean Khanate
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, the alliance with the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
contributed to getting Poland involved in new wars with the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Sweden and Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
, and therefore led to significant Commonwealth influence over the course of the Thirty Years' War. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth also had its own intrinsic reasons for the continuation of struggles with the above powers.
From the 16th century the Commonwealth suffered a series of Tatar invasions. In the 16th century Cossack raids began descending on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
area Turkish
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
settlements and Tatar lands. In retaliation the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
directed their vassal
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that is subordinate to another. The vassal in these cases is the ruler, rather than the state itself. Being a vassal most commonly implies providing military assistance to the dominant state when requested to do so; it sometimes implies paying tribute, but a state which...
Tatar
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
forces, based in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
or Budjak
Budjak
Budjak or Budzhak is a historical region in the Odessa Oblast of Ukraine. Lying along the Black Sea between the Danube and Dniester rivers this multiethnic region was the southern part of Bessarabia...
areas, against the Commonwealth regions of Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
and Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia is the name used since medieval times to refer to the area known as Eastern Galicia prior to World War I; first mentioned in Polish historic chronicles in the 1321, as Ruthenia Rubra or Ruthenian Voivodeship .Ethnographers explain that the term was applied from the...
. The borderland area to the south-east was in a state of semi-permanent warfare until the 18th century. Some researchers estimate that altogether more than 3 million people had been captured and enslaved during the time of the Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
.
The greatest intensity of Cossack raids, reaching as far as Sinop
Sinop, Turkey
Sinop is a city with a population of 36,734 on İnce Burun , by its Cape Sinop which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey, historically known as Sinope...
in Turkey, fell on the 1613–1620 period. The Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
magnates on their part continued their traditional involvement
Moldavian Magnate Wars
The Moldavian Magnate Wars refer to the period at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century when the magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth intervened in the affairs of Moldavia, clashing with the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire for domination and influence over the...
in Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, where they kept trying to install their relatives (the Movileşti family) on the hospodar
Hospodar
Hospodar or gospodar is a term of Slavonic origin, meaning "lord" or "master".The rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia were styled hospodars in Slavic writings from the 15th century to 1866. Hospodar was used in addition to the title voivod...
's throne (Stefan Potocki in 1607 and 1612, Samuel Korecki
Samuel Korecki
Samuel Korecki was a nobleman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. His coat of arms was Pogonia. In his military career he achieved the rank of colonel...
and Michał Wiśniowiecki in 1615). Ottoman chief Iskender Pasha
Iskender Pasha
Iskender Pasha , also Iskender Paşa, was an Ottoman Commander and the beylerbey of Oczakov . In 1620 Iskender Paşa led an Ottoman army, with Wallachian contingents against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Battle of Ţuţora , where he was victorious.-Notes:...
destroyed the magnate forces in Moldavia and compelled Stanisław Żółkiewski in 1617 to consent to the Treaty of Busza
Peace of Busza
The Peace of Busza also known as the Treaty of Jaruga was negotiated by Stanisław Żółkiewski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Iskender Pasha of the Ottoman Empire in Busza near the Jaruga and Dniester rivers on September 23, 1617. Polish and Ottoman armies met, but decided to negotiate,...
at Poland's border, in which the Commonwealth obliged not to get involved in matters concerning Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
.
Turkish unease about Poland's influence in Russia, the consequences of the Lisowczycy
Lisowczycy
Lisowczycy or chorągiew elearska ; or in singular form: Lisowczyk or elear) - the name of an early 17th century irregular unit of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth light cavalry. The Lisowczycy took part in many battles across Europe and the historical accounts of the period characterized them as...
expedition against Transylvania, an Ottoman fief in 1619 and the burning of Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
by the Cossacks in 1620 caused the Empire under the young Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Osman II
Osman II
Sultan Osman II or Othman II was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1618 until his death on 20 May 1622...
to declare a war against the Commonwealth, with the aim of breaking and conquering the Polish-Lithuanian state.
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
. Żółkiewski with Koniecpolski and a rather small force entered Moldavia, hoping for military reinforcements from Moldavian Hospodar Gaspar Graziani
Gaspar Graziani
Gaspar Graziani Gaspar (or Gaşpar) Graziani Gaspar (or Gaşpar) Graziani (also credited as Grazziani, Gratiani and Graţiani; Kasper Gratiani in Polish; ca...
and the Cossacks. The aid had not materialized and the hetmans faced a superior Turkish and Tatar force led by Iskender Pasha. In the aftermath of the failed Battle of Ţuţora (1620)
Battle of Tutora (1620)
The Battle of Ţuţora was a battle between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ottoman forces , fought from 17 September to 7 October 1620 in Moldavia, near the Prut River.- Prelude :Because of the failure of Commonwealth diplomatic mission to Constantinople, and violations of the Treaty of...
Żółkiewski was killed, Koniecpolski captured, and the Commonwealth left opened defenseless, but disagreements between the Turkish and Tatar commanders prevented the Ottoman army from immediately waging an effective follow-up.
The sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
was convened in Warsaw, the royal court was blamed for endangering the country, but high taxes for a sixty thousand men army were agreed to and the number of registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks is the term used for Cossacks formations of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth armies.-Establishing:The registered cossacks were created on the King's edict of Sigismund II Augustus on June 5, 1572 confirming the orders of the Crown Hetman Jerzy Jazłowiecki. The first senior ...
was allowed to reach forty thousand. The Commonwealth forces, led by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was a famous Lithuanian military commander and one of the most prominent noblemen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Biography:...
, were helped by Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny and his Cossacks, who raised against the Turks and Tatars and participated in the upcoming campaign. In practice about 30,000 regular army and 25,000 Cossacks faced at Khotyn
Khotyn
Khotyn is a city in Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine, and is the administrative center of Khotyn Raion within the oblast, and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, it has a population of 11,124...
a much larger Ottoman force under Osman II. Fierce Turkish attacks
Battle of Khotyn (1621)
The Battle of Khotyn was a battle fought between a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army and an invading Ottoman Imperial army. Here, for a whole month , the Commonwealth forces halted the Ottoman advance...
against the fortified Commonwealth positions lasted throughout September 1621 and were repelled. The exhaustion and depletion of its forces made the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Khotyn
Treaty of Khotyn
Treaty of Khotyn , signed in the aftermath of the Battle of Khotyn , ended the Polish-Ottoman War . This peace treaty resulted in no border change but Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth agreed to stop its interference in Moldavia...
, which had kept the old territorial status quo of Sigismund II
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
(Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
River border between the Commonwealth and Ottoman combatants), a favorable for the Polish side outcome. After Osman II was killed in a coup, ratification of the treaty was obtained from his successor Mustafa I
Mustafa I
Mustafa I Deli , son of Mehmed III, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1617 to 1618 and from 1622 to 1623. His mother was Valide Sultan Handan Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Helena....
.
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
, with the attendant plunder and taking of captives. More effective defense was put together by the freed Koniecpolski and Stefan Chmielecki
Stefan Chmielecki
Stefan Chmielecki was a Polish-Lithuanian noble and voivode of Kiev .-Bibliography:*Władysław A. Serczyk, Na dalekiej Ukrainie. Dzieje Kozaczyzny do 1648 roku, Kraków - Wrocław 1984....
, who defeated the Tatars on several occasions between 1624 and 1633, using the quarter army
Wojsko kwarciane
Wojsko kwarciane was the term used for regular army units of Poland . The term was used from 1562.Wojsko kwarciane was formed from earlier obrona potoczna units....
supported by the Cossacks and general population. More warfare with the Ottomans took place in 1633–1634 and ended with a peace treaty. In 1644 Koniecpolski defeated Tugay Bey's army at Okhmativ and before his death planned an invasion against the Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
. King Władysław IV's ideas of a grand international war-crusade
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
against the Ottoman Empire were thwarted by the inquisition sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
in 1646. The state's inability to control the activities of the magnates and the Cossacks had contributed to the semi-permanent instability and danger at the Commonwealth's south-eastern frontiers.
Baltic area territorial and maritime access losses
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
neighbor was led by King Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
, a highly able and aggressive military leader, who greatly improved the effectiveness of the Swedish armed forces, while also taking advantage of Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
zealotry. The Commonwealth, exhausted by the wars with Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and lacking allies, was poorly prepared to face this new challenge
Polish–Swedish War (1617–1618)
The Polish–Swedish War was a phase of the longer Polish–Swedish War of 1600 to 1629. It continued the war of 1600–1611 and was an attempt by Sweden to take Polish pressure off Russia. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was then also fighting Tartars and the Ottoman Empire...
. Continuous diplomatic maneuvering by Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
made the whole situation look to szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
like another stage in the King's Swedish dynastic affairs; in reality the Swedish power resolved to take hold of the entire Polish-controlled Baltic coast, and thereby profit from the Commonwealth's maritime trade intermediary control, endangering its basis for independent existence.
Gustavus Adolphus chose to attack Riga, the Grand Duchy
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
's foremost trade center, in late August 1621, just as the Ottoman army was approaching Khotyn
Battle of Khotyn (1621)
The Battle of Khotyn was a battle fought between a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army and an invading Ottoman Imperial army. Here, for a whole month , the Commonwealth forces halted the Ottoman advance...
, tying-up the Polish forces there. The city
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, stormed several times, had to surrender a month later. Moving inland to the south the Swedes next entered Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
. With Riga the Commonwealth lost the most important Baltic seaport in the region and an entry to northern Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
, the Daugava River crossing. The 1622 Truce of Mitawa
Truce of Mitawa
The Truce of Mitawa or Truce of Mitau, signed in November 1622 in Jelgava , ended the Polish–Swedish War .The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been occupied by a serious war with the Ottoman Empire, having fought battles at Ţuţora and Khotyn...
gave Poland the possession of Courland and eastern Livonia, but the Swedes were to take over most of Livonia north of the Daugava. The Lithuanian forces were able to keep Dyneburg
Daugavpils
Daugavpils is a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. Daugavpils literally means "Daugava Castle". With a population of over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the country after the capital Riga, which is located some...
, but suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Wallhof
Battle of Wallhof
Battle of Wallhof , was a battle fought between Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in which a Swedish force of 4,900 men with 6 guns under Gustavus II Adolphus ambushed and took by surprise a Polish-Lithuanian force of 2,000 men with 3 guns under Jan Stanisław Sapieha, Polish-Lithuanian...
.
The losses impacted severely the trade and customs income of the Great Duchy of Lithuania. The Crown lands were to be also affected, as in July 1626 the Swedes took
Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629)
The Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629 was the fourth stage in a series of conflicts between Sweden and Poland fought in the 17th century...
Pillau
Baltiysk
Baltiysk , prior to 1945 known by its German name Pillau , is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separating the Vistula Bay from the Gdańsk Bay. Baltiysk...
and forced Duke George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William of Brandenburg , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was margrave and elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War...
and vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
of the Commonwealth in the attacked Ducal Prussia, to assume a neutrality stance. The Swedish advance resulted in the take-over of the Baltic coastline up to Puck
Puck, Poland
Puck is a town in northwestern Poland with 11,350 inhabitants. It is in Gdańsk Pomerania on the south coast of the Baltic Sea . Previously in the Gdańsk Voivodeship , Puck has been the capital of Puck County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999.-History:The settlement became a marketplace...
. Danzig (Gdańsk)
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, which had remained loyal to the Commonwealth, was subjected to a naval blockade.
The Poles, completely surprised by the Swedish invasion, in September attempted a counter-offensive, but were defeated by Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Gniew
Gniew
Gniew is a town situated on the left bank of the Vistula River, in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located at around .-History:The first recorded mentions of Gniew appear in written documents from the first half of the 13th century, one of which refers to the region as Terra Gymeu...
. The forces required serious modernization. The sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
passed high taxation for the defense, but collections lagged behind. The situation was partially saved by the City of Danzig, which hurriedly embarked on the construction of modern fortifications, and by Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. The accomplished commander of the eastern borderlands fighting quickly learned the maritime affairs and contemporary methods of European warfare. Koniecpolski promoted the necessary enlargement of the naval fleet, modernization of the army, and became a fitting counterbalance for the military abilities of Gustavus Adolphus.
Koniecpolski led a spring 1627 military campaign
Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629)
The Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629 was the fourth stage in a series of conflicts between Sweden and Poland fought in the 17th century...
, trying to keep the Swedish army in the Duchy of Prussia from moving toward Danzig, while also intending to block their reinforcements arriving from the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. Moving quickly the Hetman recovered Puck, and then destroyed at the Battle of Czarne
Czarne
Czarne is a town in Człuchów County of Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. Population: 6,053 .-History:The town was founded on the territories that were formerly part of the Kingdom of Poland. They were acquired by the Monastic State of the Teutonic Order in 1308. Konrad von Jungingen...
(Hammerstein) the forces intended for Gustavus. The Swedes themselves Koniecpolski's forces kept near Tczew
Tczew
Tczew is a town on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 60,279 inhabitants . It is an important railway junction with a classification yard dating to the Prussian Eastern Railway...
, shielding the access to Danzig and preventing Gustavus Adolphus from reaching his main objective. At the Battle of Oliva the Polish ships defeated a Swedish naval squadron.
Danzig was saved, but the next year the strengthened in the Ducal Prussia Swedish army took Brodnica
Brodnica
Brodnica is a town in northern Poland with 27,400 inhabitants . Previously part of Toruń Voivodeship [a province], from 1975 to 1998, Brodnica has been situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999...
, and early in 1629 defeated the Polish units at Górzno
Górzno
Górzno is a town in Brodnica County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 1,369 inhabitants ....
. Gustavus Adolphus from his Baltic coast position laid an economic siege against the Commonwealth and ravaged what he had conquered. At this point allied forces under Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
were brought in to help keep the Swedes in check. Forced by the combined Polish-Austrian action Gustavus had to withdraw from Kwidzyn
Kwidzyn
Kwidzyn is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa river, with 40,008 inhabitants . It has been a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in the Elbląg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kwidzyn County.-History:...
to Malbork
Malbork
Malbork is a town in northern Poland in the Żuławy region , with 38,478 inhabitants . Situated in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously assigned to Elbląg Voivodeship...
, in process being defeated and almost taken prisoner by Koniecpolski at the Battle of Trzciana
Battle of Trzciana
The Battle of Trzciana, , which took place in June 1629 was one of many battles of the Polish-Swedish War...
.
But in addition to being militarily exhausted, the Commonwealth was now pressured by several European diplomacies to suspend further military activities, to allow Gustavus Adolphus to intervene in the Holy Roman Empire. The Truce of Altmark
Truce of Altmark
The six-year Truce of Altmark was signed on 25 September 1629 at the Altmark , near Danzig by Sweden and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during Thirty Years' War, ending the Polish–Swedish War ....
left Livonia north of the Daugava and all Prussian and Livonian seaports except for Danzig, Puck, Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
, and Libau
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
in hands of the Swedes, who were also allowed to charge duty on trade through Danzig.
Compromised power
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
was assuming the Commonwealth crown
Election Sejm of 1632
The Election Sejm of 1632 was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's election sejm that elevated Władysław IV Waza to the Polish throne...
, Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
, who had been working on organizing an anti-Polish coalition including Sweden, Russia, Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and Turkey, died. The Russians then undertook an action of their own, attempting to recover lands lost in the Truce of Deulino
Truce of Deulino
Truce of Deulino was signed on 11 December 1618 and took effect on 4 January 1619. It concluded the Polish–Muscovite War between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia....
.
In the fall of 1632 a well-prepared Russian army took a number of strongholds
Smolensk War
The Smolensk War was a conflict fought between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia.Hostilities began in October 1632 when Tsar forces tried to recapture the city of Smolensk, a former Russian possession. Small military engagements produced mixed results for both sides, but the surrender...
on the Lithuanian side of the border and commenced a siege of Smolensk. The well-fortified city was able to withstand a general onslaught followed by a ten-month encirclement by an overwhelming force led by Mikhail Shein
Mikhail Shein
Mikhail Borisovich Shein was a Russian warlord of Tsar Mikhail Romanov. Despite his tactical skills and successful military career, he ended up losing his army under Smolensk and being executed for this defeat...
. At that time a Commonwealth rescue expedition of comparable strength arrived, under the highly effective military command of Władysław IV. After months of fierce fighting, in February 1634 Shein capitulated. The Treaty of Polyanovka confirmed the Deulino territorial arrangements with small adjustments in favor of the Tsardom
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
. Władysław had relinquished, upon monetary compensation, his claims to the Russian throne.
Having secured the eastern front, the King was able to concentrate on the recovery of Baltic areas lost by his father
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
to Sweden. Władysław IV wanted to take advantage of the Swedish defeat at Nördlingen
Battle of Nördlingen (1634)
The Battle of Nördlingen was fought on 27 August or 6 September , 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. The Roman Catholic Imperial army, bolstered by 18,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant armies of Sweden and their German-Protestant allies .After...
and fight for both the territories and his Swedish dynastic claims. The Poles were suspicious of his designs and war preparations and the King was able to proceed with negotiations only, where his unwillingness to give up the dynastic claim weakened the Commonwealth's position. According to the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf of 1635 the Swedes evacuated Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
's cities and ports, which meant a return of the Crown's lower Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
possessions, and stopped collecting custom duties there. Sweden retained most of Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
, while the Rzeczpospolita kept Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, which having assumed the servicing of Lithuania's Baltic trade entered a period of prosperity.
The position of the Commonwealth with respect to the Duchy of Prussia kept getting weaker, as the power in the Duchy was being taken over by the Electors of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
. Under the electors
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
, the Duchy had become ever more closely linked to Brandenburg, which was harmful to the political interests of the Commonwealth. Sigismung III left the Duchy's administration in the hands of Joachim Frederick
Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
Joachim III Frederick , of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death.-Biography:...
, and then John Sigismund
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He also served as a Duke of Prussia.-Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia:...
, who in 1611 acquired the right to Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
succession in the Duchy by the consent of the King and the sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
. He actually became the Duke of Prussia in 1618, after the death of Albert Frederick
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
, and was followed by George William
George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William of Brandenburg , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was margrave and elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War...
and then Frederick William, who in 1641 in Warsaw for the last time paid a Prussian homage
Prussian Homage
The Prussian Homage or Tribute was the formal investment of Albert of Prussia as duke of the Polish fief of Ducal Prussia.In the aftermath of the armistice ending the Polish-Teutonic War Albert, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and a member of the House of Hohenzollern, visited Martin Luther...
to a Polish king
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
. The successive Brandenburg dukes would make nominal concessions, to satisfy the Commonwealth's expediencies and justify the granting of privileges, but an irreversible shift in relations was taking place.
In 1637 died Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, the last of the Slavic Griffins Dynasty
House of Pomerania
The House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...
of Stettin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
Pomerania. Sweden acquired the Pomeranian rule, while the Commonwealth was only able to get back its fiefs
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
, Bytów
Bytów
Bytów is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northern Poland in the Bytów Lakeland with 16,888 inhabitants . Previously in Słupsk Voivodeship , it is the capital of Bytów County in Pomeranian Voivodeship .-History:...
Land and Lębork
Lebork
Lębork is a town on the Łeba and Okalica rivers in Middle Pomerania region, north-western Poland with some 37,000 inhabitants.Lębork is also the capital of Lębork County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, formerly in Słupsk Voivodeship ....
Land. Słupsk Land was also sought, but it ended up a part of Brandenburg. Western Pomerania
West Pomeranian Voivodeship
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, , is a voivodeship in northwestern Poland. It borders on Pomeranian Voivodeship to the east, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the southeast, Lubusz Voivodeship to the south, the German federal-state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north...
was populated in part by the Slavic Kashubians
Kashubians
Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....
and Slovincian
Slovincian
Slovincian is the language formerly spoken by the Slovincians , a Slavic people living between lakes Gardno and Łebsko near Słupsk in Pomerania....
s.
The Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
period brought the Commonwealth a mixed legacy, rather more losses than gains, with the Polish-Lithuanian state retaining its status as one the few great powers in central-eastern Europe. From 1635 the country enjoyed a period of peace, during which internal bickering and progressively dysfunctional legislative processes prevented any substantial reforms from taking place. The Commonwealth was unprepared to deal with grave challenges that materialized in the middle of the century.
See also
- History of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty
- Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- History of Poland (1569–1795)History of Poland (1569–1795)The Nihil novi act adopted by the Polish Diet in 1505 transferred all legislative power from the king to the Diet. This event marked the beginning of the period known as "Nobles' Democracy" or "Nobles' Commonwealth" when the state was ruled by the "free and equal" Polish nobility...
- History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1648–1764)History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1648–1764)History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth covers a period in the history of Poland and Lithuania, from the time their joint state became the playground of wars and invasions fought on a great scale in the middle of the 17th century, to the beginning of the rule of Stanisław August Poniatowski,...