Lithuanian > Polish Royalty
Matejko, Baptism of Lithuania
Polish Lithuanian Background
ALFRED FREDDY KRUPA prof. MFA
THE GENETIC-GENEALOGY RESEARCH OUTCOME REPORT
KRUPA; Szlachta Polska pochodzenia ż'ydowskiego
(Polish nobility of Jewish extraction)
„JERUSALEM NOBLES“
Tarnawa according to Herby szlachty polskiej,
by Zbigniew Leszczyc (1908)
Genetic-genealogy is the science and tool for genealogist where paper trail do not exist anymore and researchers faced „brick wall“. Krupa family DNA through Alfred Freddy Krupa has been examined by several Y-DNA tests (non-recombining male only DNA) in 2007 and 2009, and autosomal DNA (atDNA) test (Family Finder and Population Finder) browsing all 22 chromosome in each generation re-combining DNA, in 2011.
KRUPA POLISH –LITHUANIAN HEBREW NOBILITY LEGAL FACTS
Alfred Krupa prof. M.F.A. in Painting (grandfather of Alfred Freddy Krupa prof.M.F.A.) was born on 22nd of July 1915 in Mikolow,Poland, baptismal name Joseph (paper trail trough his Yugoslavian death certificate and Polish birth certificate), by father Jan Krupa and mother Anastasia Krupa born Podkowa (name associated with noble Clan Dabrowa).
In time of his birth nobility sytem formed in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was still nominally on power. 6 years later, after the adoption of the March Constitution in 1921, the privileges, customs and rules of the nobility were finaly and officially abolished in Poland. This include requirements for Jews to receive prerogatives of nobility.
His father Jan Krupa (name associated with noble Clan Tarnawa) was baptised as well, and as Roman Catholic-Polish killed in the Polish-Ukrainian War (Polish minority upraising,led by POLISH NOBILITY) in 1919 (it looks, eventually that he became member of the Polish Underground Organisation in Lvow or somewhere else in Galicia and as such murdered by russified Ukrainians).
Mother Anastasia Krupa born Podkowa died the same year – 1919.
This Krupa family is of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia, as visible in lists of 12, 25, 37 and 67 Y-DNA matches, within containing significant number of matches with Levit tradition (and some of Cohanim tradition). The most closest match is Abelman family from Seredzius, Lithuania (67 markers, gen.dist.-2).
TMRCA calculations show that Krupa family branched from them some 200-350 years ago (some 8-14 /95%/ generations or more).
There is mention (the very last known mention) of the Krupa family in year 1800 , AS A NOBLE FAMILY in book «List of Nobility of Bila Tzerkva (Ukraine) in 1800», in village Bosivka (published in 2001 in Ukraine).
DNA test /obtained in the FamilyTree DNA, Houston/ of Krupa de Tarnawa Y DNA showed that one of CLOSE Y-DNA 67 male matches is M. Shainis from New York, who's most distant known ancestor was Joseph Shainis, born in 1843 in Bila Tzerkva, Ukraine.
All autosomal DNA Jewish matches of Alfred Freddy Krupa are from Ukraine in range of 6th and 7th cousin.
In independent confirmation of above, „witness“ Prince (Ksiaze) Waclaw Podbereski (1st president of the Confederation of Polish Nobility, Gdansk, during Mladen Krupa's reception into membership,2003) stated that he „knows about noble Krupa's from Ukraine who moved to Poland in 19th century“. http://herbarz.net/Forumnobilium/Rody%20ZSzP.htm, e-mail correspodence archive with the CPN
Bennet Greenspan founder of the oldest and largest genetic-genealogy organization analysing results of Family/Population Finder test (autosomal DNA), on 29th October 2011 concluded that Krupa family converted and intermarried with non-jews sometime prior to 1825 (at latest).
It means that first Krupa male (still of unknown name) was baptised sometime when 3rd Lithuanian statute has been on power (up to 1840). And possibly in terms of Shabbatean-Frankist Jewish movement mass conversion and adoption into nobility. This is coherent with family oral tradition and what has been told to us by other people.
Jewish converts joined rank of Szlachta on the basis of a Lithuanian statute of 1588, which gave the prerogatives of the nobility to baptizing Jews and their offspring. Lithuanian statute of 1588 has been on power up to 1840 when Russian Tzar abolished it. Ruthenia (Ukraine) was under authority of the Lithuanian statute, but as integral part of „the Crown“ /Korrona/of Poland, laws,customs and regulations of both parts of the Commonwealth was enforced equally /bordering territory/.
In Polish part of the Commonwealth Jews has been adopted into nobility on custom basis.
In both cases, based on statute or custom, Jews has been given full prerogatives of nobility along with baptism by automatism.
Upon joining the Catholic Church the Jews received nobilitation and came into possession of the golden liberties of the nobility, the highest privilege the Republic could offer.
Despite the fact we dont know exact date of baptism-conversion from Judaism to Roman Catholic (but it is absolutely certain sometime earlier than 1825, and not prior 1700), Krupa family (descendants of Alfred Krupa, born prior March Constitution of 1921) are fully entitled to claim noble status and ancestry, both on customary and statutary basis.
Declaration/statement of Roman Catholic Church affiliation or baptismal certificate was lawfull and final proof of nobility for converted Jews until, at latest- 1921, and its offsprings in unbroken male line AD INFINITUM.
Mayor Mladen Krupa M.Sc., son of Alfred Krupa, has been legitimized by the Polish Nobility Association-USA (2003) and Confederation of Polish Nobility-Poland (2003), while Alfred Freddy Krupa, son of Mladen Krupa, has been accepted into the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) Nobility Association-Ukraine (2009).
References;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi#DNA_clues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
http://www.jurzak.pl/gd/szablony/herb.php?lang=en&id=0158
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/frankj.html
http://herbarz.net/Forumnobilium/Rody%20ZSzP.htm, e-mail correspodence archive with the CPN
www.polish-heroes.org
The Ukrainian-Polish War in Galicia O. Horbač – taken from Ukraine: a Concise Encyclopedia
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, to be published by the Yale University Press
Zbigniew P. Szczęsny (Warsaw, Poland)
WHAT WE KNOW TODAY ABOUT KRUPA-TARNAWA FAMILY?
Krupa in the Kingdom of Poland as a name /form of address, title ,name,nickname/ is recorded first in 1204, and as family and noble is mentioned /recorded as such in old armorials/ first in 1450 (PETRUS KRUPA DE TARNAWA),
and after that in every century with just one or two names, with «holes» in time of hundred or more years, without showing blood /biological/ or some other particular familiar connection between those persons, but always with the very same Clan arms - Tarnawa http://www.jurzak.pl/gd/szablony/herb.php?lang=en&id=0158/ except Gozdawa arms, but that is actually Peplovski family, not Krupa.
As a result of this, today we do not know are they all one single or several male Y-DNA lines, or this CoA was assigned to people of the same surname but of differ-ent origin under various circumstances and reasons, before nobility was granted by the way of letters patent, or any other registered event;
1.Polska Encyklopedja Szlachecka, vol.VII, pg.170
2.Herbarz Polski (A.Boniecki), vol.XII, pg.342
3.Rodzina-Herbarz Szlachty Polskiej (S.hr Uruski), vol.VIII, pg.89
4.List of Nobility of Bila Tzerkva, pg.37
5.Herby Rodow Polski, pg.312
6.Polskie Rody Szlachty I Ich Herby, pg.107
7.Spis rycerstwa polskiego walczacego z Janem III pod Wienem
8.Kasprzycki (compedia), vol.VIII, pg.170
9.Zernicki (compedia), vol.I, pg.479
10.Szlachta zagrodova (Zernicki, 1907.)
11.Liber Beneficiorum Ecclesiae Creceviensis (J.Dlugosz)
12.Koronna Metrika
13.Polnische Klein Adel Register (web site)
14.Polish-Lithuanian Armorials of Tadeusz Gajl
Krupa h.Tarnawa family is also recorded /in the same sources/ in number of
different locations of former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with different
occupations and wealth;
1. Estate Obrazowo, near Sandomierz (1450.,1460.,1470.)
2. Group of villages in Skwarczynska Wola (1539.)
3. Flower Mill in Pusnow (1541.)
4. Village Bosivka, Bila Tzerkva in Ruthenia /Ukraine/(1800.)
5. City House in Mikolow (19th century-1942.)
6. Surrounding of the Castle Drohyczin
7. Knights under command of the king Jan III Sobieski (1683.)
8. Krupa village in Belarus (establ.before 1450.)-not explained connection
* Plus list of recorded names without listed properties (estates) including
16th and 17th century
Original latin text of J.Dlugosz from 15th century ,speaks about noble Krupa de Tarnawa family.
Later sources and Polish versions speaks about Krupa h.(herb) Tarnawa family which is essentially different thing. Krupa de Tarnawa in translation means Krupa of Tarnawa or Krupa from Tarnawa, designating Tarnawa as a place/location (like in German; Von). In opposition to that Krupa herb Tanawa in translation means just Krupa Coat of Arms Tarnawa. This form was accepted in all later (newer) texts, but original description, probably the most true one, is of outstanding importance as we are now discovering full match Tarnawa-Krupa CoA/places/Y-DNA link from Kingdom of Poland to Central Asia.
As often in case of Polish Nobility , only surviving in memory of older generations, with lack of paper trail, time and way of original nobilitation of Krupa de Tarnawa family not recorded in historical records.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT POLISH NOBILITY?
Polish legend speaks of a Jewish king, Abraham Prokownik, to whom the Polish tribes swore allegiance before he abdicated in favor of Piast. Whether Abraham was a Khazar dynast or viceroy, an Ashkenazi migrant from the west, or a purely mythological figure is a matter of some debate. The tale has it that he was granted the throne when the nobility, having cast out Popiel, agreed to retain as King the first man to step through the city gates the next morning - he is said to have declined the honour and insisted that the wheelwright Piast would make the best. http://web.raex.com/~obsidian/baltic.htmlruler.
Saul Wahl is a legendary figure whose historicity cannot be confirmed and whose existence is dubious. Nevertheless, the story is widespread, and deserves to be commented upon. Saul is said to have been the son of a Rabbi of Padua (Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen). Gifted with extraordinary wisdom, he was found by a Polish Noble (Nicholas Radziwill) who had been assisted by Saul's father in Italy and asked to search for him - finding him living in penurious circumstances in Brest-Litovsk, Radziwill is said to have favoured Saul with gifts and influence. When Stephen Bathory died, circumstances were such that Radziwill was offered the throne pro tempore, until a permanent candidate could be found, but he refused, saying that a much wiser man than he was a better candidate. He prevailed upon the Polish Sejm to elect Saul as rex pro tempore, and Saul is said to have discharged his office for a short time in very creditable fashion. Again, it isn't a very likely tale, but it does point up the fact the Jewish community in Greater Poland was very large and relatively influential during the Middle Ages.http://web.raex.com/~obsidian/baltic.htmlruler.
The Polish Nobility emerged as a clan (family or tribe) system before 1000 A.D. Each clan had its own mark, a tamga, which eventually evolved into the symbols found on Polish coats of arms. The noble class became landowners. Most noblemen in Poland and Lithuania claimed only to belong to the szlachta odwieczna or immemorial nobility. This meant that all knowledge of their origins had long since been lost, and was beyond their memory. Szlachta combined "high birth" and "military prowess" together in medieval times. Nobles were originally tribal chiefs. Poland had a large nobility. About ten percent (10%) of the population was noble, as compared to the one (1%) to two (2%) percent in the rest of Europe. The Polish State was set up to serve the Polish nobleman.
Margaret Odrowaz Sypnievska - http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/PolNobility.html
The Polish term "szlachta" designates the formalized, hereditary noble class. In official Latin documents the old Commonwealth hereditary szlachta is referred to as "nobilitas" and is equivalent to the English nobility. There used to be a widespread misconception to translate "szlachta" as "gentry", because some nobles were poor. Some were even poorer than the non-noble gentry that declined with the 'second serfdom' and re-emerged after the Partitions. Some would even become tenants to the gentry but still kept their constitutional superiority. But it's not wealth or lifestyle (as with the gentry) but a hereditary legal status of a nobleman that makes you one. A specific nobleman was called a "szlachcic", and a noblewoman, a "szlachcianka." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
Szlachta (shlákh-ta) comes from the Old German slahta that is now schlagen (to strike, fight, cleave, breed) and Geschlecht (sex, species, family race). It came from the Polish language via a Czech word slehta (nobility). The szlachta were a blend of "high birth" and "military prowess." In Poland, a coat of arms was shared by many members of the same clan, based on various criteria.
In the fifteenth century, there were 139 clans. In 1584, there were 107 clans, and today there are several hundred* (209).
In the beginning, members of the same clan were neighbors and fought together in battle. As people moved around, of course, the clans were located in all parts of Poland. http://pnaf.us/polenobility.htm
… szlachta simply addressed each other by their given name or as "Sir
Brother" (Panie bracie) or the feminine equivalent.
The other forms of address would be "Illustrious and Magnificent Lord", "Magnificent Lord", "Generous Lord" or "Noble Lord" (in decreasing order) or simply "His/Her Grace Lord/Lady XYZ".
(Wikipedia about Szlachta)
Mayor Mladen Krupa M.Sc., son of Alfred Krupa, has been legitimized by the Polish Nobility Association-USA (2003) and Confederation of Polish Nobility-Poland (2003), while Alfred Freddy Krupa, son of Mladen Krupa, has been accepted into the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) Nobility Association-Ukraine (2009).
THE GENETIC-GENEALOGY RESEARCH OUTCOME REPORT
KRUPA; Szlachta Polska pochodzenia ż'ydowskiego
(Polish nobility of Jewish extraction)
„JERUSALEM NOBLES“
Tarnawa according to Herby szlachty polskiej,
by Zbigniew Leszczyc (1908)
Genetic-genealogy is the science and tool for genealogist where paper trail do not exist anymore and researchers faced „brick wall“. Krupa family DNA through Alfred Freddy Krupa has been examined by several Y-DNA tests (non-recombining male only DNA) in 2007 and 2009, and autosomal DNA (atDNA) test (Family Finder and Population Finder) browsing all 22 chromosome in each generation re-combining DNA, in 2011.
KRUPA POLISH –LITHUANIAN HEBREW NOBILITY LEGAL FACTS
Alfred Krupa prof. M.F.A. in Painting (grandfather of Alfred Freddy Krupa prof.M.F.A.) was born on 22nd of July 1915 in Mikolow,Poland, baptismal name Joseph (paper trail trough his Yugoslavian death certificate and Polish birth certificate), by father Jan Krupa and mother Anastasia Krupa born Podkowa (name associated with noble Clan Dabrowa).
In time of his birth nobility sytem formed in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was still nominally on power. 6 years later, after the adoption of the March Constitution in 1921, the privileges, customs and rules of the nobility were finaly and officially abolished in Poland. This include requirements for Jews to receive prerogatives of nobility.
His father Jan Krupa (name associated with noble Clan Tarnawa) was baptised as well, and as Roman Catholic-Polish killed in the Polish-Ukrainian War (Polish minority upraising,led by POLISH NOBILITY) in 1919 (it looks, eventually that he became member of the Polish Underground Organisation in Lvow or somewhere else in Galicia and as such murdered by russified Ukrainians).
Mother Anastasia Krupa born Podkowa died the same year – 1919.
This Krupa family is of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia, as visible in lists of 12, 25, 37 and 67 Y-DNA matches, within containing significant number of matches with Levit tradition (and some of Cohanim tradition). The most closest match is Abelman family from Seredzius, Lithuania (67 markers, gen.dist.-2).
TMRCA calculations show that Krupa family branched from them some 200-350 years ago (some 8-14 /95%/ generations or more).
There is mention (the very last known mention) of the Krupa family in year 1800 , AS A NOBLE FAMILY in book «List of Nobility of Bila Tzerkva (Ukraine) in 1800», in village Bosivka (published in 2001 in Ukraine).
DNA test /obtained in the FamilyTree DNA, Houston/ of Krupa de Tarnawa Y DNA showed that one of CLOSE Y-DNA 67 male matches is M. Shainis from New York, who's most distant known ancestor was Joseph Shainis, born in 1843 in Bila Tzerkva, Ukraine.
All autosomal DNA Jewish matches of Alfred Freddy Krupa are from Ukraine in range of 6th and 7th cousin.
In independent confirmation of above, „witness“ Prince (Ksiaze) Waclaw Podbereski (1st president of the Confederation of Polish Nobility, Gdansk, during Mladen Krupa's reception into membership,2003) stated that he „knows about noble Krupa's from Ukraine who moved to Poland in 19th century“. http://herbarz.net/Forumnobilium/Rody%20ZSzP.htm, e-mail correspodence archive with the CPN
Bennet Greenspan founder of the oldest and largest genetic-genealogy organization analysing results of Family/Population Finder test (autosomal DNA), on 29th October 2011 concluded that Krupa family converted and intermarried with non-jews sometime prior to 1825 (at latest).
It means that first Krupa male (still of unknown name) was baptised sometime when 3rd Lithuanian statute has been on power (up to 1840). And possibly in terms of Shabbatean-Frankist Jewish movement mass conversion and adoption into nobility. This is coherent with family oral tradition and what has been told to us by other people.
Jewish converts joined rank of Szlachta on the basis of a Lithuanian statute of 1588, which gave the prerogatives of the nobility to baptizing Jews and their offspring. Lithuanian statute of 1588 has been on power up to 1840 when Russian Tzar abolished it. Ruthenia (Ukraine) was under authority of the Lithuanian statute, but as integral part of „the Crown“ /Korrona/of Poland, laws,customs and regulations of both parts of the Commonwealth was enforced equally /bordering territory/.
In Polish part of the Commonwealth Jews has been adopted into nobility on custom basis.
In both cases, based on statute or custom, Jews has been given full prerogatives of nobility along with baptism by automatism.
Upon joining the Catholic Church the Jews received nobilitation and came into possession of the golden liberties of the nobility, the highest privilege the Republic could offer.
Despite the fact we dont know exact date of baptism-conversion from Judaism to Roman Catholic (but it is absolutely certain sometime earlier than 1825, and not prior 1700), Krupa family (descendants of Alfred Krupa, born prior March Constitution of 1921) are fully entitled to claim noble status and ancestry, both on customary and statutary basis.
Declaration/statement of Roman Catholic Church affiliation or baptismal certificate was lawfull and final proof of nobility for converted Jews until, at latest- 1921, and its offsprings in unbroken male line AD INFINITUM.
Mayor Mladen Krupa M.Sc., son of Alfred Krupa, has been legitimized by the Polish Nobility Association-USA (2003) and Confederation of Polish Nobility-Poland (2003), while Alfred Freddy Krupa, son of Mladen Krupa, has been accepted into the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) Nobility Association-Ukraine (2009).
References;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi#DNA_clues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
http://www.jurzak.pl/gd/szablony/herb.php?lang=en&id=0158
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/frankj.html
http://herbarz.net/Forumnobilium/Rody%20ZSzP.htm, e-mail correspodence archive with the CPN
www.polish-heroes.org
The Ukrainian-Polish War in Galicia O. Horbač – taken from Ukraine: a Concise Encyclopedia
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, to be published by the Yale University Press
Zbigniew P. Szczęsny (Warsaw, Poland)
WHAT WE KNOW TODAY ABOUT KRUPA-TARNAWA FAMILY?
Krupa in the Kingdom of Poland as a name /form of address, title ,name,nickname/ is recorded first in 1204, and as family and noble is mentioned /recorded as such in old armorials/ first in 1450 (PETRUS KRUPA DE TARNAWA),
and after that in every century with just one or two names, with «holes» in time of hundred or more years, without showing blood /biological/ or some other particular familiar connection between those persons, but always with the very same Clan arms - Tarnawa http://www.jurzak.pl/gd/szablony/herb.php?lang=en&id=0158/ except Gozdawa arms, but that is actually Peplovski family, not Krupa.
As a result of this, today we do not know are they all one single or several male Y-DNA lines, or this CoA was assigned to people of the same surname but of differ-ent origin under various circumstances and reasons, before nobility was granted by the way of letters patent, or any other registered event;
1.Polska Encyklopedja Szlachecka, vol.VII, pg.170
2.Herbarz Polski (A.Boniecki), vol.XII, pg.342
3.Rodzina-Herbarz Szlachty Polskiej (S.hr Uruski), vol.VIII, pg.89
4.List of Nobility of Bila Tzerkva, pg.37
5.Herby Rodow Polski, pg.312
6.Polskie Rody Szlachty I Ich Herby, pg.107
7.Spis rycerstwa polskiego walczacego z Janem III pod Wienem
8.Kasprzycki (compedia), vol.VIII, pg.170
9.Zernicki (compedia), vol.I, pg.479
10.Szlachta zagrodova (Zernicki, 1907.)
11.Liber Beneficiorum Ecclesiae Creceviensis (J.Dlugosz)
12.Koronna Metrika
13.Polnische Klein Adel Register (web site)
14.Polish-Lithuanian Armorials of Tadeusz Gajl
Krupa h.Tarnawa family is also recorded /in the same sources/ in number of
different locations of former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with different
occupations and wealth;
1. Estate Obrazowo, near Sandomierz (1450.,1460.,1470.)
2. Group of villages in Skwarczynska Wola (1539.)
3. Flower Mill in Pusnow (1541.)
4. Village Bosivka, Bila Tzerkva in Ruthenia /Ukraine/(1800.)
5. City House in Mikolow (19th century-1942.)
6. Surrounding of the Castle Drohyczin
7. Knights under command of the king Jan III Sobieski (1683.)
8. Krupa village in Belarus (establ.before 1450.)-not explained connection
* Plus list of recorded names without listed properties (estates) including
16th and 17th century
Original latin text of J.Dlugosz from 15th century ,speaks about noble Krupa de Tarnawa family.
Later sources and Polish versions speaks about Krupa h.(herb) Tarnawa family which is essentially different thing. Krupa de Tarnawa in translation means Krupa of Tarnawa or Krupa from Tarnawa, designating Tarnawa as a place/location (like in German; Von). In opposition to that Krupa herb Tanawa in translation means just Krupa Coat of Arms Tarnawa. This form was accepted in all later (newer) texts, but original description, probably the most true one, is of outstanding importance as we are now discovering full match Tarnawa-Krupa CoA/places/Y-DNA link from Kingdom of Poland to Central Asia.
As often in case of Polish Nobility , only surviving in memory of older generations, with lack of paper trail, time and way of original nobilitation of Krupa de Tarnawa family not recorded in historical records.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT POLISH NOBILITY?
Polish legend speaks of a Jewish king, Abraham Prokownik, to whom the Polish tribes swore allegiance before he abdicated in favor of Piast. Whether Abraham was a Khazar dynast or viceroy, an Ashkenazi migrant from the west, or a purely mythological figure is a matter of some debate. The tale has it that he was granted the throne when the nobility, having cast out Popiel, agreed to retain as King the first man to step through the city gates the next morning - he is said to have declined the honour and insisted that the wheelwright Piast would make the best. http://web.raex.com/~obsidian/baltic.htmlruler.
Saul Wahl is a legendary figure whose historicity cannot be confirmed and whose existence is dubious. Nevertheless, the story is widespread, and deserves to be commented upon. Saul is said to have been the son of a Rabbi of Padua (Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen). Gifted with extraordinary wisdom, he was found by a Polish Noble (Nicholas Radziwill) who had been assisted by Saul's father in Italy and asked to search for him - finding him living in penurious circumstances in Brest-Litovsk, Radziwill is said to have favoured Saul with gifts and influence. When Stephen Bathory died, circumstances were such that Radziwill was offered the throne pro tempore, until a permanent candidate could be found, but he refused, saying that a much wiser man than he was a better candidate. He prevailed upon the Polish Sejm to elect Saul as rex pro tempore, and Saul is said to have discharged his office for a short time in very creditable fashion. Again, it isn't a very likely tale, but it does point up the fact the Jewish community in Greater Poland was very large and relatively influential during the Middle Ages.http://web.raex.com/~obsidian/baltic.htmlruler.
The Polish Nobility emerged as a clan (family or tribe) system before 1000 A.D. Each clan had its own mark, a tamga, which eventually evolved into the symbols found on Polish coats of arms. The noble class became landowners. Most noblemen in Poland and Lithuania claimed only to belong to the szlachta odwieczna or immemorial nobility. This meant that all knowledge of their origins had long since been lost, and was beyond their memory. Szlachta combined "high birth" and "military prowess" together in medieval times. Nobles were originally tribal chiefs. Poland had a large nobility. About ten percent (10%) of the population was noble, as compared to the one (1%) to two (2%) percent in the rest of Europe. The Polish State was set up to serve the Polish nobleman.
Margaret Odrowaz Sypnievska - http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/PolNobility.html
The Polish term "szlachta" designates the formalized, hereditary noble class. In official Latin documents the old Commonwealth hereditary szlachta is referred to as "nobilitas" and is equivalent to the English nobility. There used to be a widespread misconception to translate "szlachta" as "gentry", because some nobles were poor. Some were even poorer than the non-noble gentry that declined with the 'second serfdom' and re-emerged after the Partitions. Some would even become tenants to the gentry but still kept their constitutional superiority. But it's not wealth or lifestyle (as with the gentry) but a hereditary legal status of a nobleman that makes you one. A specific nobleman was called a "szlachcic", and a noblewoman, a "szlachcianka." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
Szlachta (shlákh-ta) comes from the Old German slahta that is now schlagen (to strike, fight, cleave, breed) and Geschlecht (sex, species, family race). It came from the Polish language via a Czech word slehta (nobility). The szlachta were a blend of "high birth" and "military prowess." In Poland, a coat of arms was shared by many members of the same clan, based on various criteria.
In the fifteenth century, there were 139 clans. In 1584, there were 107 clans, and today there are several hundred* (209).
In the beginning, members of the same clan were neighbors and fought together in battle. As people moved around, of course, the clans were located in all parts of Poland. http://pnaf.us/polenobility.htm
… szlachta simply addressed each other by their given name or as "Sir
Brother" (Panie bracie) or the feminine equivalent.
The other forms of address would be "Illustrious and Magnificent Lord", "Magnificent Lord", "Generous Lord" or "Noble Lord" (in decreasing order) or simply "His/Her Grace Lord/Lady XYZ".
(Wikipedia about Szlachta)
Mayor Mladen Krupa M.Sc., son of Alfred Krupa, has been legitimized by the Polish Nobility Association-USA (2003) and Confederation of Polish Nobility-Poland (2003), while Alfred Freddy Krupa, son of Mladen Krupa, has been accepted into the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) Nobility Association-Ukraine (2009).
"The first Jews to settle in Lithuania in the 11th century came from the land of the Khazars, on the lower Volga River, from Crimea on the Black Sea and from Bohemia. Originally, the Jews came to the land of the Khazars from the Byzantine kingdom, where they had been oppressed. The Khazars had welcomed the Jews and later had been converted to Judaism. When the Khazars were overrun by the Mongols and Russians, the Jews settled in Lithuania, whose rulers, at that time, were extremely tolerant."
Royal Ashina Khazars were inducted into Polish Nobility as Catholics
Casimir III the Great treated the Jews of Poland well, and was known as the King of the Serfs and Jews.
Lithuanian-Polish Royals
Not all kings of Poland were Polish. There is nothing exceptional in that - after all, the present royal house of Britain is of German origin. King Louis (1370-1382) was a member of the French House of Anjou, founded by Saint Louis, but he was also king of Hungary, Poland, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Romania and Bulgaria. The vast empire of the Anjou dynasty did not promise to last long, as Louis had as yet no issue. Later he had two daughters: the princesses Elisabeth and Jadwiga, who became Queen of Poland in 1384.
Lithuania was at the time a major power. It extended over the territories now known as Bielorussia and Ukraine. It was in conflict with Poland and several battles were fought. The Polish senators, however, planned a masterpiece of statesmanship: a marriage of Grand Duke Jagiello with Queen Jadwiga. It would be a great sacrifice on her part, as the grand duke was three times her age and she was a beauty.
Jagiello was baptized in the Catholic faith and took the name of Wladyslaw. The Lithuanians were at the time pagans, worshipping snakes. Jagiello's brother Witold was also baptized. The union of Poland and Lithuania was not an annexation. Lithuania retained its identity and kept it for centuries, but the King of Poland was also Grand Duke of Lithuania.
The union of the two nations resulted in the largest power in Europe and remained in force for the following centuries. Some of the greatest men of Poland - such as the poet Mickiewicz in the 19th century and the national leader Pilsudski in the 20th - were of Lithuanian origin, but they did not know the Lithuanian language which, unlike Polish, is not a Slavonic language. The population of Lithuania was largely Ruthenian.
Jagiello proved to be a great statesman and became the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty, which ruled the union for centuries.
Both Lithuania and Poland had been attacked by the Order of Teutonic Knights, a military order based in East Prussia. The German order was a major power which endeavored to extend its area eastward and south, and the Teutonic Knights were armed better than most European nations. Yet when the Teutonic Knights attacked in 1410, the united Polish and Lithuanian forces under the command of Jagiello defeated them in the great battle of Grunwald. Thus the Prussian efforts to conquer the entire Baltic coast and the northern provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian union were finished forever.
The last Jagiellonian king was Zygmunt-August (1548-1572). He was followed by Henri de Valois, a Frenchman. The next kings were Stefan Batory, a Hungarian, and Zygmunt Vasa, a Swede. The throne of the Polish-Lithuanian union was elective - a democratic feature unknown in other European countries. Foreign princes were elected largely because a Polish king might be considered as a favor for Poland and a Lithuanian one a favor for his country, while a foreigner was neutral.
Nevertheless, one of the best kings was Jan Sobieski (1674-1696), who saved Europe from a Turkish invasion. The Ottoman empire was then a major power. Its huge army besieged Vienna, which had it been seized it would have meant the victorious Turkish army would continue its invasion and thus place western Europe in mortal danger. Jan Sobieski, a great commander, saved Europe. His letters to his wife, a French princess, are a literary masterpiece.
The last king of the Union was Stanislaw Poniatowski (1764-1795).
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f186/royal-families-of-poland-and-lithuania-4716.html
Lithuanian-Polish Royals
Not all kings of Poland were Polish. There is nothing exceptional in that - after all, the present royal house of Britain is of German origin. King Louis (1370-1382) was a member of the French House of Anjou, founded by Saint Louis, but he was also king of Hungary, Poland, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Romania and Bulgaria. The vast empire of the Anjou dynasty did not promise to last long, as Louis had as yet no issue. Later he had two daughters: the princesses Elisabeth and Jadwiga, who became Queen of Poland in 1384.
Lithuania was at the time a major power. It extended over the territories now known as Bielorussia and Ukraine. It was in conflict with Poland and several battles were fought. The Polish senators, however, planned a masterpiece of statesmanship: a marriage of Grand Duke Jagiello with Queen Jadwiga. It would be a great sacrifice on her part, as the grand duke was three times her age and she was a beauty.
Jagiello was baptized in the Catholic faith and took the name of Wladyslaw. The Lithuanians were at the time pagans, worshipping snakes. Jagiello's brother Witold was also baptized. The union of Poland and Lithuania was not an annexation. Lithuania retained its identity and kept it for centuries, but the King of Poland was also Grand Duke of Lithuania.
The union of the two nations resulted in the largest power in Europe and remained in force for the following centuries. Some of the greatest men of Poland - such as the poet Mickiewicz in the 19th century and the national leader Pilsudski in the 20th - were of Lithuanian origin, but they did not know the Lithuanian language which, unlike Polish, is not a Slavonic language. The population of Lithuania was largely Ruthenian.
Jagiello proved to be a great statesman and became the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty, which ruled the union for centuries.
Both Lithuania and Poland had been attacked by the Order of Teutonic Knights, a military order based in East Prussia. The German order was a major power which endeavored to extend its area eastward and south, and the Teutonic Knights were armed better than most European nations. Yet when the Teutonic Knights attacked in 1410, the united Polish and Lithuanian forces under the command of Jagiello defeated them in the great battle of Grunwald. Thus the Prussian efforts to conquer the entire Baltic coast and the northern provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian union were finished forever.
The last Jagiellonian king was Zygmunt-August (1548-1572). He was followed by Henri de Valois, a Frenchman. The next kings were Stefan Batory, a Hungarian, and Zygmunt Vasa, a Swede. The throne of the Polish-Lithuanian union was elective - a democratic feature unknown in other European countries. Foreign princes were elected largely because a Polish king might be considered as a favor for Poland and a Lithuanian one a favor for his country, while a foreigner was neutral.
Nevertheless, one of the best kings was Jan Sobieski (1674-1696), who saved Europe from a Turkish invasion. The Ottoman empire was then a major power. Its huge army besieged Vienna, which had it been seized it would have meant the victorious Turkish army would continue its invasion and thus place western Europe in mortal danger. Jan Sobieski, a great commander, saved Europe. His letters to his wife, a French princess, are a literary masterpiece.
The last king of the Union was Stanislaw Poniatowski (1764-1795).
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f186/royal-families-of-poland-and-lithuania-4716.html
Early Poland
The Chronicles and Deeds of the Dukes or Princes of the Poles by Gallus Anonymous, translated by Janos M. Bak. A 12th century account of Polish history from ancient times to the reign of Boleslaw III.
The Formation of the Polish State: The Period of Ducal Rule, 963-1194 by Tadeusz Manteuffel, translated by Andrew Gorski. Out of print, but available from Alibris.
Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg by Thietmar, translated by David A. Warner. One of the most important sources for the history of the 10th and early 11th centuries. Thietmar had opinions on everything, from politics to shocking women's fashions. He is arguably the single most important witness to the early history of Poland.
The Rise of the Polish Monarchy: Piast Poland in East Central Europe, 1320-1370 by Paul W. Knoll. Ending more than a century of division, Poland's last two Piast rulers, Wladyslaw Lokietek and his son Casimir the Great, forged the splintered country into a strong, independent monarchy. This is the first English-language account of the reigns of these two monarchs. From Alibris.
Jadwiga: Poland's Great Queen by Charlotte Hoffman Kellogg. A 1931 biography of the 14th century queen who founded the Jagiellon dynasty. From Alibris.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795 by Daniel Z. Stone. For four centuries, the Polish-Lithuanian state encompassed present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, and Romania. Governed by a constitutional monarchy, it enjoyed unusual domestic tranquility.
The Polish-Lithuanian Monarchy in European Context: C. 1500-1795 edited by Richard Butterwick. Essays assessing the institution and idea of monarchy in one of Europe's largest and most neglected states.
The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772 deals with the elective monarchy in Poland.
More Books About Lithuania
The first extensive Jewish emigration from Western Europe to Poland occurred at the time of the First Crusade (1098). Under Boleslaw III Krzywousty (1102–1139), the Jews, encouraged by the tolerant régime of this ruler, settled throughout Poland, including over the border into Lithuanian territory as far as Kiev. At the same time Poland saw possible immigration of Khazars, a Turkic tribe that had converted to Judaism. Boleslaw on his part recognized the utility of the Jews it the development of the commercial interests of his country. The Prince of Kraków, Mieszko III the Old (1173–1202), in his endeavor to establish law and order in his domains, prohibited all violence against the Jews, particularly attacks upon them by unruly students (żacy). Boys guilty of such attacks, or their parents, were made to pay fines as heavy as those imposed for sacrilegious acts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Polish_history_origins_to_1600s
Disambiguation - Sigismund was the name of several European nobles:
The Chronicles and Deeds of the Dukes or Princes of the Poles by Gallus Anonymous, translated by Janos M. Bak. A 12th century account of Polish history from ancient times to the reign of Boleslaw III.
The Formation of the Polish State: The Period of Ducal Rule, 963-1194 by Tadeusz Manteuffel, translated by Andrew Gorski. Out of print, but available from Alibris.
Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg by Thietmar, translated by David A. Warner. One of the most important sources for the history of the 10th and early 11th centuries. Thietmar had opinions on everything, from politics to shocking women's fashions. He is arguably the single most important witness to the early history of Poland.
The Rise of the Polish Monarchy: Piast Poland in East Central Europe, 1320-1370 by Paul W. Knoll. Ending more than a century of division, Poland's last two Piast rulers, Wladyslaw Lokietek and his son Casimir the Great, forged the splintered country into a strong, independent monarchy. This is the first English-language account of the reigns of these two monarchs. From Alibris.
Jadwiga: Poland's Great Queen by Charlotte Hoffman Kellogg. A 1931 biography of the 14th century queen who founded the Jagiellon dynasty. From Alibris.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795 by Daniel Z. Stone. For four centuries, the Polish-Lithuanian state encompassed present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, and Romania. Governed by a constitutional monarchy, it enjoyed unusual domestic tranquility.
The Polish-Lithuanian Monarchy in European Context: C. 1500-1795 edited by Richard Butterwick. Essays assessing the institution and idea of monarchy in one of Europe's largest and most neglected states.
The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772 deals with the elective monarchy in Poland.
More Books About Lithuania
The first extensive Jewish emigration from Western Europe to Poland occurred at the time of the First Crusade (1098). Under Boleslaw III Krzywousty (1102–1139), the Jews, encouraged by the tolerant régime of this ruler, settled throughout Poland, including over the border into Lithuanian territory as far as Kiev. At the same time Poland saw possible immigration of Khazars, a Turkic tribe that had converted to Judaism. Boleslaw on his part recognized the utility of the Jews it the development of the commercial interests of his country. The Prince of Kraków, Mieszko III the Old (1173–1202), in his endeavor to establish law and order in his domains, prohibited all violence against the Jews, particularly attacks upon them by unruly students (żacy). Boys guilty of such attacks, or their parents, were made to pay fines as heavy as those imposed for sacrilegious acts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Polish_history_origins_to_1600s
Disambiguation - Sigismund was the name of several European nobles:
- Saint Sigismund of Burgundy (died 523), King of the Burgundians
- Sigismund of Hungary, Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368–1437), King of Hungary, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia
- Sigismund Kestutaitis (c.1350–1440), Grand Duke of Lithuania
- Sigismund Korybut (c.1395-c.1435), Lithuanian Duke, participated in Hussite Wars
- Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (1427–1496), ruler of Further Austria
- Archduke Sigismund Francis of Austria (1630-1665), ruler of Further Austria
- Sigismund of Bavaria (1439–1501), a Duke of Bavaria
- Sigismund I the Old (1467–1548), King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania
- Sigismund II Augustus (1520–1572), King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania
- Sigismund III Vasa (1566–1632), King of Sweden (as Sigismund) and Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania
- Sigismund Báthory (1572–1613), Prince of Transylvania
- Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1864-1866), the fourth child of Friedrich III, German Emperor and Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom
Golden age under Sigismund and Sigusmund II
The most prosperous period in the life of the Polish Jews began with the reign of Sigismund I (1506–1548). In 1507 the king informed the authorities of Lwów
that until further notice its Jewish citizens, in view of losses
sustained by them, were to be left undisturbed in the possession of all
their ancient privileges (Russko-Yevreiski Arkhiv, iii.79). His generous treatment of his physician, Jacob Isaac, whom he made a member of the nobility in 1507, testifies to his liberal views.
But while Sigismund himself was prompted by feelings of justice, his courtiers endeavored to turn to their personal advantage the conflicting interests of the different classes. Sigismund's second wife, Italian born Queen Bona, sold government positions for money; and her favorite, the Voivode (district governor) of Kraków, Piotr Kmita, accepted bribes from both sides, promising to further the interests of each at the Sejm (Polish parliament) and with the king. In 1530 the Jewish question was the subject of heated discussions at the Sejm. There were some delegates who insisted on the just treatment of the Jews. On the other hand, some went so far as to demand the expulsion of the Jews from the country, while still others wished to curtail their commercial rights. The Sejm of 1538 in Piotrków Trybunalski elaborated a series of repressive measures against the Jews, who were prohibited from engaging in the collection of taxes and from leasing estates or government revenues, "it being against God's law that these people should hold honored positions among the Christians." The commercial pursuits of the Jews in the cities were placed under the control of the hostile magistrates, while in the villages Jews were forbidden to trade at all. The Sejm also revived the medieval ecclesiastical law compelling the Jews to wear a distinctive badge.
Sigismund II Augustus (1548–1572) followed in the main the tolerant policy of his father. He confirmed the ancient privileges of the Polish Jews, and considerably widened and strengthened the autonomy of their communities. By a decree of August 13, 1551, the Jews of Great Poland were again granted permission to elect a chief rabbi, who was to act as judge in all matters concerning their religious life. Jews refusing to acknowledge his authority were to be subject to a fine or to excommunication; and those refusing to yield to the latter might be executed after a report of the circumstances had been made to the authorities. The property of the recalcitrants was to be confiscated and turned in to the crown treasury. The chief rabbi was exempted from the authority of the voivode and other officials, while the latter were obliged to assist him in enforcing the law among the Jews.
Blood libel: Legend of the Jew calling the Devil from a Vessel of Blood.--Facsimile of a Woodcut in Boaistuau's "Histoires Prodigieuses:" in 4to, Paris, Annet Briere, 1560.
The favorable attitude of the King and of the enlightened nobility could not prevent the growing animosity against the Jews in certain parts of the kingdom. The Reformation movement stimulated an anti-Jewish crusade by the Catholic clergy, who preached vehemently against all "heretics": Lutherans, Calvinists, and Jews. In 1550 the papal nuncio Alois Lipomano, who had been prominent as a persecutor of the Neo-Christians in Portugal, was delegated to Kraków to strengthen the Catholic spirit among the Polish nobility. He warned the King of the evils resulting from his tolerant attitude toward the various non-believers in the country. Seeing that the Polish nobles, among whom the Reformation had already taken strong root, paid but scant courtesy to his preachings, he initiated a blood libel in the town of Sochaczew. Sigismund pointed out that papal bulls had repeatedly asserted that all such accusations were without any foundation whatsoever; and he decreed that henceforth any Jew accused of having committed a murder for ritual purposes, or of having stolen a host, should be brought before his own court during the sessions of the Sejm. Sigismund II Augustus also granted autonomy to the Jews in the matter of communal administration and laid the foundation for the power of the Kahal.
In 1569 Union of Lublin Lithuania strengthened its ties with Poland, as the previous personal union was peacefully transformed into a unique federation of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The death of Sigismund Augustus (1572) and thus the termination of the Jagiellon dynasty necessitated the election of his successor by the elective body of all the nobility (szlachta). During the interregnum szlachta has passed the Warsaw Confederation act which guaranteed unprecedented religious tolerance to all citizens of the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, the neighboring states were deeply interested in the elections, each hoping to insure the choice of its own candidate. The pope was eager to assure the election of a Catholic, lest the influences of the Reformation should become predominant in Poland. Catherine de' Medici was laboring energetically for the election of her son Henry of Anjou. But in spite of all the intrigues at the various courts, the deciding factor in the election was the influence of Solomon Ashkenazi, then in charge of the foreign affairs of Ottoman Empire. Henry of Anjou was elected, which was of deep concern to the liberal Poles and the Jews, as he was the infamous mastermind of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Therefore Polish szlachta forced him to sign the Henrician articlespacta conventa, guarantying the religious tolerance in Poland, as a condition of acceptance of the throne (those documents would be subsequently signed by every other elected Polish king). However, Henry soon secretly fled to France after a reign in Poland of only a few months, in order to succeed his deceased brother Charles IX on the French throne.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: 1572-1795
Main article: History of Poland (1569-1795) Jewish learning and culture during the early Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Yeshivas were established, under the direction of the rabbis, in the more prominent communities. Such schools were officially known as gymnasia, and their rabbi-principals as rectors. Important yeshivots existed in Kraków, Poznań, and other cities. Jewish printing establishments came into existence in the first quarter of the 16th century. In 1530 a Hebrew Pentateuch (Torah) was printed in Kraków; and at the end of the century the Jewish printing-houses of that city and Lublin issued a large number of Jewish books, mainly of a religious character. The growth of Talmudic Jewish law. Polish Jewry found its views of life shaped by the spirit of Talmudic and rabbinical literature, whose influence was felt in the home, in school, and in the synagogue.
Shalom Shachna (c. 1500–1558), a pupil of Pollak, is counted among the pioneers of Talmudic learning in Poland. He lived and died in Lublin, where he was the head of the yeshivah which produced the rabbinical celebrities of the following century. Shachna's son Israel became rabbi of Lublin on the death of his father, and Shachna's pupil Moses Isserles (known as the ReMA) (1520–1572) achieved an international reputation among the Jews as the co-author of the Shulkhan Arukh, (the "Code of Jewish Law"). His contemporary and correspondent Solomon Luria (1510–1573) of Lublin also enjoyed a wide reputation among his coreligionists; and the authority of both was recognized by the Jews throughout Europe. Among the famous pupils of Isserles should be mentioned David Gans and Mordecai Jaffe, the latter of whom studied also under Luria. Another distinguished rabbinical scholar of that period was Eliezer b. Elijah Ashkenazi (1512–1585) of Kraków. His Ma'ase ha-Shem (Venice, 1583) is permeated with the spirit of the moral philosophy of the Sephardic school, but is extremely mystical. At the end of the work he attempts to forecast the coming of the Jewish Messiah in 1595, basing his calculations on the Book of Daniel. Such Messianic dreams found a receptive soil in the unsettled religious conditions of the time. The new sect of Socinians or Unitarians, which denied the Trinity and which, therefore, stood near to Judaism, had among its leaders Simon Budny, the translator of the Bible into Polish, and the priest Martin Czechowic. Heated religious disputations were common, and Jewish scholars participated in them. At the same time, the Kabbalah had become entrenched under the protection of Rabbinism; and such scholars as Mordecai Jaffe and Yoel Sirkis devoted themselves to its study. The mystic speculations of the kabalists prepared the ground for Sabbatianism, and the Jewish masses were rendered even more receptive by the great disasters that over-took the Jews of Poland during the middle of the 17th century such as the Cossack Chmielnicki Uprising against Poland during 1648–1654.
The beginning of decline - Stephen Báthory (1576–1586) was now elected king of Poland; and he proved both a tolerant ruler and a friend of the Jews. On February 10, 1577, he sent orders to the magistrate of Pozna directing him to prevent class conflicts, and to maintain order in the city. His orders were, however, of no avail. Three months after his manifesto a riot occurred in Poznań. Political and economic events in the course of the 16th century forced the Jews to establish a more compact communal organization, and this separated them from the rest of the urban population; indeed, although with few exceptions they did not live in separate ghettos, they were nevertheless sufficiently isolated from their Christian neighbors to be regarded as strangers. They resided in the towns and cities, but had little to do with municipal administration, their own affairs being managed by the rabbis, the elders, and the dayyanim or religious judges. These conditions contributed to the strengthening of the Kahal organizations. Conflicts and disputes, however, became of frequent occurrence, and led to the convocation of periodical rabbinical congresses, which were the nucleus of the central institution known in Poland, from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 18th century, as the Council of Four Lands.
Under the rule of Sigismund III Vasa, the privileges of all non-Catholics in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were limited. The Catholic reaction which with the aid of the Jesuits and the Council of Trent spread throughout Europe finally reached Poland. The Jesuits and counterreformation found a powerful protector in Báthory's successor, Sigismund III Vasa (1587–1632). Under his rule the "Golden Freedom" of the Polish szlachta gradually became perverted; government by the liberum veto undermined the authority of the Sejm; and the stage was set for the degeneration of unique democracy and religious tolerance of the Commonwealth into anarchy and intolerance. However, the dying spirit of the republic (Rzeczpospolita) was still strong enough to check somewhat the destructive power of Jesuitism, which under an absolute monarchy, like those in Western Europe, have led to drastic anti-Jewish measures similar to those that had been taken in Spain. However in Poland Jesuits were limited only to propaganda. Thus while the Catholic clergy was the mainstay of the anti-Jewish forces, the king, forced by the Protestant szlachta, remained at least in semblance the defender of the Jews. Still, the false accusations of ritual murder against the Jews recurred with growing frequency, and assumed an "ominous inquisitional character." The papal bulls and the ancient charters of privilege proved generally of little avail as protection. Uneasy conditions persisted during the reign of Sigismund's son, Wladislaus IV Vasa (1632–1648).
But while Sigismund himself was prompted by feelings of justice, his courtiers endeavored to turn to their personal advantage the conflicting interests of the different classes. Sigismund's second wife, Italian born Queen Bona, sold government positions for money; and her favorite, the Voivode (district governor) of Kraków, Piotr Kmita, accepted bribes from both sides, promising to further the interests of each at the Sejm (Polish parliament) and with the king. In 1530 the Jewish question was the subject of heated discussions at the Sejm. There were some delegates who insisted on the just treatment of the Jews. On the other hand, some went so far as to demand the expulsion of the Jews from the country, while still others wished to curtail their commercial rights. The Sejm of 1538 in Piotrków Trybunalski elaborated a series of repressive measures against the Jews, who were prohibited from engaging in the collection of taxes and from leasing estates or government revenues, "it being against God's law that these people should hold honored positions among the Christians." The commercial pursuits of the Jews in the cities were placed under the control of the hostile magistrates, while in the villages Jews were forbidden to trade at all. The Sejm also revived the medieval ecclesiastical law compelling the Jews to wear a distinctive badge.
Sigismund II Augustus (1548–1572) followed in the main the tolerant policy of his father. He confirmed the ancient privileges of the Polish Jews, and considerably widened and strengthened the autonomy of their communities. By a decree of August 13, 1551, the Jews of Great Poland were again granted permission to elect a chief rabbi, who was to act as judge in all matters concerning their religious life. Jews refusing to acknowledge his authority were to be subject to a fine or to excommunication; and those refusing to yield to the latter might be executed after a report of the circumstances had been made to the authorities. The property of the recalcitrants was to be confiscated and turned in to the crown treasury. The chief rabbi was exempted from the authority of the voivode and other officials, while the latter were obliged to assist him in enforcing the law among the Jews.
Blood libel: Legend of the Jew calling the Devil from a Vessel of Blood.--Facsimile of a Woodcut in Boaistuau's "Histoires Prodigieuses:" in 4to, Paris, Annet Briere, 1560.
The favorable attitude of the King and of the enlightened nobility could not prevent the growing animosity against the Jews in certain parts of the kingdom. The Reformation movement stimulated an anti-Jewish crusade by the Catholic clergy, who preached vehemently against all "heretics": Lutherans, Calvinists, and Jews. In 1550 the papal nuncio Alois Lipomano, who had been prominent as a persecutor of the Neo-Christians in Portugal, was delegated to Kraków to strengthen the Catholic spirit among the Polish nobility. He warned the King of the evils resulting from his tolerant attitude toward the various non-believers in the country. Seeing that the Polish nobles, among whom the Reformation had already taken strong root, paid but scant courtesy to his preachings, he initiated a blood libel in the town of Sochaczew. Sigismund pointed out that papal bulls had repeatedly asserted that all such accusations were without any foundation whatsoever; and he decreed that henceforth any Jew accused of having committed a murder for ritual purposes, or of having stolen a host, should be brought before his own court during the sessions of the Sejm. Sigismund II Augustus also granted autonomy to the Jews in the matter of communal administration and laid the foundation for the power of the Kahal.
In 1569 Union of Lublin Lithuania strengthened its ties with Poland, as the previous personal union was peacefully transformed into a unique federation of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The death of Sigismund Augustus (1572) and thus the termination of the Jagiellon dynasty necessitated the election of his successor by the elective body of all the nobility (szlachta). During the interregnum szlachta has passed the Warsaw Confederation act which guaranteed unprecedented religious tolerance to all citizens of the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, the neighboring states were deeply interested in the elections, each hoping to insure the choice of its own candidate. The pope was eager to assure the election of a Catholic, lest the influences of the Reformation should become predominant in Poland. Catherine de' Medici was laboring energetically for the election of her son Henry of Anjou. But in spite of all the intrigues at the various courts, the deciding factor in the election was the influence of Solomon Ashkenazi, then in charge of the foreign affairs of Ottoman Empire. Henry of Anjou was elected, which was of deep concern to the liberal Poles and the Jews, as he was the infamous mastermind of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Therefore Polish szlachta forced him to sign the Henrician articlespacta conventa, guarantying the religious tolerance in Poland, as a condition of acceptance of the throne (those documents would be subsequently signed by every other elected Polish king). However, Henry soon secretly fled to France after a reign in Poland of only a few months, in order to succeed his deceased brother Charles IX on the French throne.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: 1572-1795
Main article: History of Poland (1569-1795) Jewish learning and culture during the early Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Yeshivas were established, under the direction of the rabbis, in the more prominent communities. Such schools were officially known as gymnasia, and their rabbi-principals as rectors. Important yeshivots existed in Kraków, Poznań, and other cities. Jewish printing establishments came into existence in the first quarter of the 16th century. In 1530 a Hebrew Pentateuch (Torah) was printed in Kraków; and at the end of the century the Jewish printing-houses of that city and Lublin issued a large number of Jewish books, mainly of a religious character. The growth of Talmudic Jewish law. Polish Jewry found its views of life shaped by the spirit of Talmudic and rabbinical literature, whose influence was felt in the home, in school, and in the synagogue.
Shalom Shachna (c. 1500–1558), a pupil of Pollak, is counted among the pioneers of Talmudic learning in Poland. He lived and died in Lublin, where he was the head of the yeshivah which produced the rabbinical celebrities of the following century. Shachna's son Israel became rabbi of Lublin on the death of his father, and Shachna's pupil Moses Isserles (known as the ReMA) (1520–1572) achieved an international reputation among the Jews as the co-author of the Shulkhan Arukh, (the "Code of Jewish Law"). His contemporary and correspondent Solomon Luria (1510–1573) of Lublin also enjoyed a wide reputation among his coreligionists; and the authority of both was recognized by the Jews throughout Europe. Among the famous pupils of Isserles should be mentioned David Gans and Mordecai Jaffe, the latter of whom studied also under Luria. Another distinguished rabbinical scholar of that period was Eliezer b. Elijah Ashkenazi (1512–1585) of Kraków. His Ma'ase ha-Shem (Venice, 1583) is permeated with the spirit of the moral philosophy of the Sephardic school, but is extremely mystical. At the end of the work he attempts to forecast the coming of the Jewish Messiah in 1595, basing his calculations on the Book of Daniel. Such Messianic dreams found a receptive soil in the unsettled religious conditions of the time. The new sect of Socinians or Unitarians, which denied the Trinity and which, therefore, stood near to Judaism, had among its leaders Simon Budny, the translator of the Bible into Polish, and the priest Martin Czechowic. Heated religious disputations were common, and Jewish scholars participated in them. At the same time, the Kabbalah had become entrenched under the protection of Rabbinism; and such scholars as Mordecai Jaffe and Yoel Sirkis devoted themselves to its study. The mystic speculations of the kabalists prepared the ground for Sabbatianism, and the Jewish masses were rendered even more receptive by the great disasters that over-took the Jews of Poland during the middle of the 17th century such as the Cossack Chmielnicki Uprising against Poland during 1648–1654.
The beginning of decline - Stephen Báthory (1576–1586) was now elected king of Poland; and he proved both a tolerant ruler and a friend of the Jews. On February 10, 1577, he sent orders to the magistrate of Pozna directing him to prevent class conflicts, and to maintain order in the city. His orders were, however, of no avail. Three months after his manifesto a riot occurred in Poznań. Political and economic events in the course of the 16th century forced the Jews to establish a more compact communal organization, and this separated them from the rest of the urban population; indeed, although with few exceptions they did not live in separate ghettos, they were nevertheless sufficiently isolated from their Christian neighbors to be regarded as strangers. They resided in the towns and cities, but had little to do with municipal administration, their own affairs being managed by the rabbis, the elders, and the dayyanim or religious judges. These conditions contributed to the strengthening of the Kahal organizations. Conflicts and disputes, however, became of frequent occurrence, and led to the convocation of periodical rabbinical congresses, which were the nucleus of the central institution known in Poland, from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 18th century, as the Council of Four Lands.
Under the rule of Sigismund III Vasa, the privileges of all non-Catholics in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were limited. The Catholic reaction which with the aid of the Jesuits and the Council of Trent spread throughout Europe finally reached Poland. The Jesuits and counterreformation found a powerful protector in Báthory's successor, Sigismund III Vasa (1587–1632). Under his rule the "Golden Freedom" of the Polish szlachta gradually became perverted; government by the liberum veto undermined the authority of the Sejm; and the stage was set for the degeneration of unique democracy and religious tolerance of the Commonwealth into anarchy and intolerance. However, the dying spirit of the republic (Rzeczpospolita) was still strong enough to check somewhat the destructive power of Jesuitism, which under an absolute monarchy, like those in Western Europe, have led to drastic anti-Jewish measures similar to those that had been taken in Spain. However in Poland Jesuits were limited only to propaganda. Thus while the Catholic clergy was the mainstay of the anti-Jewish forces, the king, forced by the Protestant szlachta, remained at least in semblance the defender of the Jews. Still, the false accusations of ritual murder against the Jews recurred with growing frequency, and assumed an "ominous inquisitional character." The papal bulls and the ancient charters of privilege proved generally of little avail as protection. Uneasy conditions persisted during the reign of Sigismund's son, Wladislaus IV Vasa (1632–1648).
Peak of the Empire
The Polish Nobility by Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewska
The Polish Nobility emerged as a clan (family or tribe) system before 1000 A.D. Each clan had its own mark, a tamga, which eventually evolved into the symbols found on Polish coats of arms. The noble class became landowners. Most noble surnames were taken from the names of estates, called "family nests." For example, Sypniewski was named because they have estates called Sypniewo.
Sometimes the Polish "z" was used at the end of a name to mean "of" or "from." During the fifteeenth century the "z" was changed to "ski" or "cki," which also meant "of" or "from." For example: Jan Debinski or Jan Debricki. Originally, people who were not nobles were forbidden to add "ski" or "cki" to their surname.
While it is true that having surnames ending in "ski" or "cki" originally meant the bearer was of noble birth, but eventually many peasants, living on their lord's land, took their employer's surnames. These people were NOT related to him or of noble birth. The closest thing to this is slaves and servants taking the names of their masters.
Most noblemen in Poland and Lithuania claimed only to belong to the szlachta odwieczna or immemorial nobility. This meant that all knowledge of their origins had long since been lost, and was beyond their memory. Szlachta combined "high birth" and "military prowess" together in medieval times. Nobles were originally tribal chiefs.
There was a great difference between the land barons of England and the magnates of Poland. The power of the English or French lord, at this time, was held from the crown and fitted into a whole system of vassalage, with feudal tenants who held land in fief (an estate) from a lord to whom he owned allegiance. Polish society had evolved from clannish structures, and the introduction of Christianity (and all that went with it), did not alter these significantly. The feudal system which regulated society all over Europe was never introduced in Poland, and this fact can not be stressed too heavily.
Poland had a large nobility. About ten percent (10%) of the population was noble, as compared to the one (1%) to two (2%) percent in the rest of Europe. The Polish State was set up to serve the Polish nobleman.
The szlachta (nobility) inherited both status and land. They were, however, obligated to perform military service for the king, and to submit to his tribunals (his court of moral principles or laws), but they were the independant magistrates over their own lands. In the rest of Europe, the nobles did everything possible to avoid military service. The Polish nobles and military dressed very flamboyantly.
In 1550, nobility was allowed to purchase a house in cities, and to enjoy them without paying municipal taxes, notwithstanding all local legislation to the contrary. From 1573, the nobles had exclusive rights to use the timber and minerals on their land.
Polish nobles first divided everything equally to their sons and unmarried daughters alike. This resulted in loss of wealth in later generations, so that the system changed to eldest male (who had to serve in the military). Nobles felt exclusive and they were biologically unique. There was no strong feelings about bastardy, intermarriage, or miscegenation - only that the children of the irregular unions could not claim nobility.
The Polish nobles had a proverb: "Nightingales are not born from owls." Nobles were pure. A nobleman was worth more than a peasant (in their eyes). Therefore, the murder of a noble brought 58 weeks in a closed dungeon and a fine of 240 groats. If a firearm was used, the sentence was extended to 115 weeks in jail and 480 groats. Legs, arms, eyes, and noses of nobles were priced at 120 groats each; blood wounds at 80 groats, fingers at 30 groats, and teeth at 20 groats. No mention was made of peasant victims. Presumably these cases of wrong doing were not taken to court?
Noblemen always carried a sword to defend themselves. In 1448, the death sentence was established for the rape of a noblewoman by a commoner. A commoner, who was raped, was given 60 groats. This meant that a raped noblewoman was worth two dead noblemen, and the hymen of a peasant girl was much more valuable than the life of her father. Nobles were labelled" "proud," "obstinate," "passionate," and "furious." http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/PolNobility.html
DESCENDANTS of the Great Sejm - http://www.sejm-wielki.pl/en.php
The szlachta (Polish: szlachta, [ˈʂlaxta]( listen), Lithuanian: šlėkta, šlėktos or bajorai ) was a privileged class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great.[1] In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, the existing Lithuanian nobility formally joined the class.[1] As the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) evolved, its membership grew to include leaders of Ducal Prussia and the Ruthenian lands.
The origins of the szlachta are unclear and have been the subject of a variety of theories.[1] Traditionally, its members were owners of landed property, often in the form of folwarks. The nobility negotiated substantial and increasing political privileges for itself until the late 18th century.
During the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1772 to 1795, its members lost their privileges. Until 1918, the legal status of the nobility was then dependent on policies of the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Monarchy. Its privileges were legally abolished in the Second Polish Republic by the March Constitution in 1921.
The Polish term "szlachta" designates the formalized, hereditary noble class. In official Latin documents, the old Commonwealth hereditary szlachta is referred to as "nobilitas" and is equivalent to English nobility. A widespread misconception resulted from translating "szlachta" as "gentry" because some nobles were poor (SEE: Estates of the Realm regarding wealth and nobility). Some were even poorer than non-noble gentry, the non-noble gentry declining with the 'second serfdom' and re-emerging after the Partitions. Some nobles even became tenants of wealthier gentry, while still retaining their constitutional superiority. It was not wealth or lifestyle (obtainable by the gentry) that constituted nobility, but hereditary, juridical status. A specific nobleman was called a "szlachcic," and a noblewoman, a "szlachcianka."
"Szlachta" derives from the Old German word "slahta" (now "(Adels) Geschlecht", "(noble) family"), much as many other Polish words pertaining to the nobility derive from German words — e.g., the Polish "rycerz" ("knight", cognate of the German "Ritter") and the Polish "herb" ("coat of arms", from the German "Erbe", "heritage"). Poles of the 17th century assumed that "szlachta" was from the German "schlachten" ("to slaughter" or "to butcher"); also suggestive is the German "Schlacht" ("battle"). Early Polish historians thought the term may have derived from the name of the legendary proto-Polish chief, Lech, mentioned in Polish and Czech writings.
Kindred terms that might be applied to an early Polish nobleman were "rycerz" (from German Ritter, "knight"), the Latin "nobilis" ("noble"; plural: "nobiles") and "możny" ("magnate", "oligarch"; plural: "możni"). Some powerful Polish nobles were referred to as "magnates" (Polish singular: "magnat", plural: "magnaci"). It has to be remembered however, that not all knights were nobles.
Today the word szlachta in the Polish language denotes any noble class in the world. In broadest meaning, it can also denote some non-hereditary honorary knighthoods granted today by some European monarchs. Even some 19th century non-noble land owners would be called szlachta by courtesy or error as they owned manorial estates but were not noble by birth. In the narrow sense it denotes the old-Commonwealth nobility.
The origins of the szlachta have always been unclear.[1] As a result, its members often referred to it as odwieczna (perennial).[1] Two popular historic theories of origin forwarded by its members and earlier historians and chroniclers involved descent from the Sarmatians or from Japheth, one of Noah's sons (by contrast, the peasantry were said to be the offspring of another son of Noah, Ham - and hence subject to bondage under the Curse of Ham[2] - and the Jews as the offspring of Shem).[1][3]
Other, since discredited theories included its foundation by Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, alien visitations, and regional leaders who had not mixed their bloodlines with those of 'slaves, prisoners, and aliens'.[1] Another theory describes its derivation from a Slavic warrior class, forming a distinct element within the ancient Polonic tribal groupings (SEE: Indo-European caste systems). Around the 14th century, there was little difference between knights and the szlachta in Poland, apart from legal and economic. Members of the szlachta had the personal obligation to defend the country (pospolite ruszenie), thereby becoming the kingdom's privileged social class. Inclusion in the class was usually based on inheritance.[4]
Concerning the early Polish tribes, geography contributed to long-standing traditions. The Polish tribes were internalized and organized around a unifying religious cult, governed by the wiec, an assembly of free tribesmen. Later, when safety required power to be consolidated, an elected prince was chosen to govern.
The tribes were ruled by clans (ród) consisting of people related by blood and descending from a common ancestor, giving the ród/clan a highly developed sense of solidarity. (See gens.) The starosta (or starszyna) had judicial and military power over the ród/clan, although this power was often exercised with an assembly of elders. Strongholds called grόd were built where the religious cult was powerful, where trials were conducted, and where clans gathered in the face of danger. The opole was the territory occupied by a single tribe. (Manteuffel 1982, p. 44).
Mieszko I of Poland (c. 935 – 25 May 992) utilized an elite knightly retinue from his army, which he depended upon for success in uniting the Lekhitic tribes and preserving the unity of his state. Documented proof exists of Mieszko I's successors utilizing such a retinue, too.
Stanisław Antoni Szczuka, a Polish nobleman Another class of knights were granted land by the prince, allowing them to serve the prince militarily. A Polish nobleman living at this time before the 15th century was referred to as a "rycerz", very roughly equivalent to the English "knight," the critical difference being the status of "rycerz" was strictly hereditary; the class of all such individuals was known as the "rycerstwo". Representing the wealthier families of Poland and itinerant knights from abroad seeking their fortunes, this other class of rycerstwo, which became the szlachta/nobility ("szlachta" becomes the proper term for Polish nobility beginning about the 15th century), gradually formed apart from Mieszko I's and his successors' elite retinues. This rycerstwo/nobility obtained more privileges granting them favored status. They were absolved from particular burdens and obligations under ducal law, resulting in the belief only rycerstwo (those combining military prowess with high/noble birth) could serve as officials in state administration.
Select rycerstwo were distinguished above the other rycerstwo, because they descended from past tribal dynasties, or because early Piasts' endowments made them select beneficiaries. These rycerstwo of great wealth were called możni (Magnates). Socially they were not a distinct class from the rycerstwo they originated from and to which they would return were their wealth lost. (Manteuffel 1982, pp. 148–149).
The Period of Division, A.D., 1138 - A.D., 1314, nearly 200 years of feudal fragmentation, when Bolesław III divided Poland among his sons, began the social structure allegedly separating great landowning feudal nobles (możni/Magnates, both ecclesiastical and lay) from the rycerstwo they originated from. The prior social structure was one of Polish tribes united into the historic Polish nation under a state ruled by the Piast dynasty, this dynasty appearing circa 850 A.D.
Some możni (Magnates) descending from past tribal dynasties regarded themselves as co-proprietors of Piast realms, even though the Piasts attempted to deprive them of their independence.[5] These możni (Magnates) constantly sought to undermine princely authority. In Gall Anonym's chronicle, there is noted the nobility's alarm when the Palatine Sieciech "elevated those of a lower class over those who were noble born" entrusting them with state offices.[6]
Lithuanian Main article: Lithuanian nobility In Lithuania Propria, Samogitia and Prussia, prior to the creation of the Kingdom of Lithuania by Mindaugas, nobles were called 'bajorai' and the higher nobility 'kunigai' or 'kunigaikščiai' (dukes). They were the established local leaders and warlords. During the development of the state they gradually became subordinated to higher dukes, and later to the King of Lithuania.
After the Union of Horodło the Lithuanian nobility acquired equal status with the Polish szlachta, and over time began to become more and more polonized, although they did preserve their national consciousness, and in most cases recognition of their Lithuanian family roots. In the 16th century some of the Lithuanian nobility erroneously claimed that they were of Roman extraction, and the Lithuanian language was just a morphed Latin language.
The process of polonization took place over a lengthy period of time. At first only the highest members of the nobility were involved, although gradually a wider group of the population was affected. The major effects on the lesser Lithuanian nobility took place after various sanctions were imposed by the Russian Empiresuch as removing Lithuania from the names of the Gubernyas[7] few years after the November Uprising. After the January Uprising the sanctions went further, and Russian officials announced that "Lithuanians are Russians seduced by Poles and Catholicism" and began to intensify russification, and to ban the printing of books in the Lithuanian language.
Ruthenian In Ruthenia (Ukraine) the nobility gradually gravitated its loyalty towards the multicultural and multilingual Grand Duchy of Lithuania after the principalities of Halych and Volhynia became a part of it. Many noble Ruthenian families intermarried with Lithuanian ones.
The Orthodox nobles' rights were nominally equal to those enjoyed by Polish and Lithuanian nobility, but there was a cultural pressure to convert to Catholicism, that was greatly eased in 1596 by the Union of Brest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
FAMILIES - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_szlachta
The Polish Nobility emerged as a clan (family or tribe) system before 1000 A.D. Each clan had its own mark, a tamga, which eventually evolved into the symbols found on Polish coats of arms. The noble class became landowners. Most noble surnames were taken from the names of estates, called "family nests." For example, Sypniewski was named because they have estates called Sypniewo.
Sometimes the Polish "z" was used at the end of a name to mean "of" or "from." During the fifteeenth century the "z" was changed to "ski" or "cki," which also meant "of" or "from." For example: Jan Debinski or Jan Debricki. Originally, people who were not nobles were forbidden to add "ski" or "cki" to their surname.
While it is true that having surnames ending in "ski" or "cki" originally meant the bearer was of noble birth, but eventually many peasants, living on their lord's land, took their employer's surnames. These people were NOT related to him or of noble birth. The closest thing to this is slaves and servants taking the names of their masters.
Most noblemen in Poland and Lithuania claimed only to belong to the szlachta odwieczna or immemorial nobility. This meant that all knowledge of their origins had long since been lost, and was beyond their memory. Szlachta combined "high birth" and "military prowess" together in medieval times. Nobles were originally tribal chiefs.
There was a great difference between the land barons of England and the magnates of Poland. The power of the English or French lord, at this time, was held from the crown and fitted into a whole system of vassalage, with feudal tenants who held land in fief (an estate) from a lord to whom he owned allegiance. Polish society had evolved from clannish structures, and the introduction of Christianity (and all that went with it), did not alter these significantly. The feudal system which regulated society all over Europe was never introduced in Poland, and this fact can not be stressed too heavily.
Poland had a large nobility. About ten percent (10%) of the population was noble, as compared to the one (1%) to two (2%) percent in the rest of Europe. The Polish State was set up to serve the Polish nobleman.
The szlachta (nobility) inherited both status and land. They were, however, obligated to perform military service for the king, and to submit to his tribunals (his court of moral principles or laws), but they were the independant magistrates over their own lands. In the rest of Europe, the nobles did everything possible to avoid military service. The Polish nobles and military dressed very flamboyantly.
In 1550, nobility was allowed to purchase a house in cities, and to enjoy them without paying municipal taxes, notwithstanding all local legislation to the contrary. From 1573, the nobles had exclusive rights to use the timber and minerals on their land.
Polish nobles first divided everything equally to their sons and unmarried daughters alike. This resulted in loss of wealth in later generations, so that the system changed to eldest male (who had to serve in the military). Nobles felt exclusive and they were biologically unique. There was no strong feelings about bastardy, intermarriage, or miscegenation - only that the children of the irregular unions could not claim nobility.
The Polish nobles had a proverb: "Nightingales are not born from owls." Nobles were pure. A nobleman was worth more than a peasant (in their eyes). Therefore, the murder of a noble brought 58 weeks in a closed dungeon and a fine of 240 groats. If a firearm was used, the sentence was extended to 115 weeks in jail and 480 groats. Legs, arms, eyes, and noses of nobles were priced at 120 groats each; blood wounds at 80 groats, fingers at 30 groats, and teeth at 20 groats. No mention was made of peasant victims. Presumably these cases of wrong doing were not taken to court?
Noblemen always carried a sword to defend themselves. In 1448, the death sentence was established for the rape of a noblewoman by a commoner. A commoner, who was raped, was given 60 groats. This meant that a raped noblewoman was worth two dead noblemen, and the hymen of a peasant girl was much more valuable than the life of her father. Nobles were labelled" "proud," "obstinate," "passionate," and "furious." http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/PolNobility.html
DESCENDANTS of the Great Sejm - http://www.sejm-wielki.pl/en.php
The szlachta (Polish: szlachta, [ˈʂlaxta]( listen), Lithuanian: šlėkta, šlėktos or bajorai ) was a privileged class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great.[1] In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, the existing Lithuanian nobility formally joined the class.[1] As the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) evolved, its membership grew to include leaders of Ducal Prussia and the Ruthenian lands.
The origins of the szlachta are unclear and have been the subject of a variety of theories.[1] Traditionally, its members were owners of landed property, often in the form of folwarks. The nobility negotiated substantial and increasing political privileges for itself until the late 18th century.
During the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1772 to 1795, its members lost their privileges. Until 1918, the legal status of the nobility was then dependent on policies of the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Monarchy. Its privileges were legally abolished in the Second Polish Republic by the March Constitution in 1921.
The Polish term "szlachta" designates the formalized, hereditary noble class. In official Latin documents, the old Commonwealth hereditary szlachta is referred to as "nobilitas" and is equivalent to English nobility. A widespread misconception resulted from translating "szlachta" as "gentry" because some nobles were poor (SEE: Estates of the Realm regarding wealth and nobility). Some were even poorer than non-noble gentry, the non-noble gentry declining with the 'second serfdom' and re-emerging after the Partitions. Some nobles even became tenants of wealthier gentry, while still retaining their constitutional superiority. It was not wealth or lifestyle (obtainable by the gentry) that constituted nobility, but hereditary, juridical status. A specific nobleman was called a "szlachcic," and a noblewoman, a "szlachcianka."
"Szlachta" derives from the Old German word "slahta" (now "(Adels) Geschlecht", "(noble) family"), much as many other Polish words pertaining to the nobility derive from German words — e.g., the Polish "rycerz" ("knight", cognate of the German "Ritter") and the Polish "herb" ("coat of arms", from the German "Erbe", "heritage"). Poles of the 17th century assumed that "szlachta" was from the German "schlachten" ("to slaughter" or "to butcher"); also suggestive is the German "Schlacht" ("battle"). Early Polish historians thought the term may have derived from the name of the legendary proto-Polish chief, Lech, mentioned in Polish and Czech writings.
Kindred terms that might be applied to an early Polish nobleman were "rycerz" (from German Ritter, "knight"), the Latin "nobilis" ("noble"; plural: "nobiles") and "możny" ("magnate", "oligarch"; plural: "możni"). Some powerful Polish nobles were referred to as "magnates" (Polish singular: "magnat", plural: "magnaci"). It has to be remembered however, that not all knights were nobles.
Today the word szlachta in the Polish language denotes any noble class in the world. In broadest meaning, it can also denote some non-hereditary honorary knighthoods granted today by some European monarchs. Even some 19th century non-noble land owners would be called szlachta by courtesy or error as they owned manorial estates but were not noble by birth. In the narrow sense it denotes the old-Commonwealth nobility.
The origins of the szlachta have always been unclear.[1] As a result, its members often referred to it as odwieczna (perennial).[1] Two popular historic theories of origin forwarded by its members and earlier historians and chroniclers involved descent from the Sarmatians or from Japheth, one of Noah's sons (by contrast, the peasantry were said to be the offspring of another son of Noah, Ham - and hence subject to bondage under the Curse of Ham[2] - and the Jews as the offspring of Shem).[1][3]
Other, since discredited theories included its foundation by Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, alien visitations, and regional leaders who had not mixed their bloodlines with those of 'slaves, prisoners, and aliens'.[1] Another theory describes its derivation from a Slavic warrior class, forming a distinct element within the ancient Polonic tribal groupings (SEE: Indo-European caste systems). Around the 14th century, there was little difference between knights and the szlachta in Poland, apart from legal and economic. Members of the szlachta had the personal obligation to defend the country (pospolite ruszenie), thereby becoming the kingdom's privileged social class. Inclusion in the class was usually based on inheritance.[4]
Concerning the early Polish tribes, geography contributed to long-standing traditions. The Polish tribes were internalized and organized around a unifying religious cult, governed by the wiec, an assembly of free tribesmen. Later, when safety required power to be consolidated, an elected prince was chosen to govern.
The tribes were ruled by clans (ród) consisting of people related by blood and descending from a common ancestor, giving the ród/clan a highly developed sense of solidarity. (See gens.) The starosta (or starszyna) had judicial and military power over the ród/clan, although this power was often exercised with an assembly of elders. Strongholds called grόd were built where the religious cult was powerful, where trials were conducted, and where clans gathered in the face of danger. The opole was the territory occupied by a single tribe. (Manteuffel 1982, p. 44).
Mieszko I of Poland (c. 935 – 25 May 992) utilized an elite knightly retinue from his army, which he depended upon for success in uniting the Lekhitic tribes and preserving the unity of his state. Documented proof exists of Mieszko I's successors utilizing such a retinue, too.
Stanisław Antoni Szczuka, a Polish nobleman Another class of knights were granted land by the prince, allowing them to serve the prince militarily. A Polish nobleman living at this time before the 15th century was referred to as a "rycerz", very roughly equivalent to the English "knight," the critical difference being the status of "rycerz" was strictly hereditary; the class of all such individuals was known as the "rycerstwo". Representing the wealthier families of Poland and itinerant knights from abroad seeking their fortunes, this other class of rycerstwo, which became the szlachta/nobility ("szlachta" becomes the proper term for Polish nobility beginning about the 15th century), gradually formed apart from Mieszko I's and his successors' elite retinues. This rycerstwo/nobility obtained more privileges granting them favored status. They were absolved from particular burdens and obligations under ducal law, resulting in the belief only rycerstwo (those combining military prowess with high/noble birth) could serve as officials in state administration.
Select rycerstwo were distinguished above the other rycerstwo, because they descended from past tribal dynasties, or because early Piasts' endowments made them select beneficiaries. These rycerstwo of great wealth were called możni (Magnates). Socially they were not a distinct class from the rycerstwo they originated from and to which they would return were their wealth lost. (Manteuffel 1982, pp. 148–149).
The Period of Division, A.D., 1138 - A.D., 1314, nearly 200 years of feudal fragmentation, when Bolesław III divided Poland among his sons, began the social structure allegedly separating great landowning feudal nobles (możni/Magnates, both ecclesiastical and lay) from the rycerstwo they originated from. The prior social structure was one of Polish tribes united into the historic Polish nation under a state ruled by the Piast dynasty, this dynasty appearing circa 850 A.D.
Some możni (Magnates) descending from past tribal dynasties regarded themselves as co-proprietors of Piast realms, even though the Piasts attempted to deprive them of their independence.[5] These możni (Magnates) constantly sought to undermine princely authority. In Gall Anonym's chronicle, there is noted the nobility's alarm when the Palatine Sieciech "elevated those of a lower class over those who were noble born" entrusting them with state offices.[6]
Lithuanian Main article: Lithuanian nobility In Lithuania Propria, Samogitia and Prussia, prior to the creation of the Kingdom of Lithuania by Mindaugas, nobles were called 'bajorai' and the higher nobility 'kunigai' or 'kunigaikščiai' (dukes). They were the established local leaders and warlords. During the development of the state they gradually became subordinated to higher dukes, and later to the King of Lithuania.
After the Union of Horodło the Lithuanian nobility acquired equal status with the Polish szlachta, and over time began to become more and more polonized, although they did preserve their national consciousness, and in most cases recognition of their Lithuanian family roots. In the 16th century some of the Lithuanian nobility erroneously claimed that they were of Roman extraction, and the Lithuanian language was just a morphed Latin language.
The process of polonization took place over a lengthy period of time. At first only the highest members of the nobility were involved, although gradually a wider group of the population was affected. The major effects on the lesser Lithuanian nobility took place after various sanctions were imposed by the Russian Empiresuch as removing Lithuania from the names of the Gubernyas[7] few years after the November Uprising. After the January Uprising the sanctions went further, and Russian officials announced that "Lithuanians are Russians seduced by Poles and Catholicism" and began to intensify russification, and to ban the printing of books in the Lithuanian language.
Ruthenian In Ruthenia (Ukraine) the nobility gradually gravitated its loyalty towards the multicultural and multilingual Grand Duchy of Lithuania after the principalities of Halych and Volhynia became a part of it. Many noble Ruthenian families intermarried with Lithuanian ones.
The Orthodox nobles' rights were nominally equal to those enjoyed by Polish and Lithuanian nobility, but there was a cultural pressure to convert to Catholicism, that was greatly eased in 1596 by the Union of Brest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
FAMILIES - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_szlachta
Polish Arms, including Tarnawa
Significant legislative changes in the status of the szlachta, as
defined by Robert Bideleux and Ian Jeffries, consist of its 1374
exemption from the land tax, a 1425 guarantee against the 'arbitrary
arrests and/or seizure of property' of its members, a 1454 requirement
that military forces and new taxes be approved by provincial Sejms, and statutes issued between 1496 and 1611 that prescribed the rights of commoners.[8]
Nobles were born into a noble family, adopted by a noble family (this was abolished in 1633) or ennobled by a king or Sejm for various reasons (bravery in combat, service to the state, etc. - yet this was the rarest means of gaining noble status). Many nobles were, in actuality, really usurpers, being commoners, who moved into another part of the country and falsely pretended to noble status. Hundreds of such false nobles were denounced by Hieronim Nekanda Trepka in his Liber generationis plebeanorium (or Liber chamorum) in the first half of 16th century. The law forbade non-nobles from owning nobility-estates and promised the estate to the denouncer. Trepka was an impoverished nobleman who lived a townsman life and collected hundreds of such stories hoping to take over any of such estates. It does not seem he ever succeeded in proving one at the court. Many sejms issued decrees over the centuries in an attempt to resolve this issue, but with little success. It is unknown what percentage of the Polish nobility came from the 'lower' orders of society, but most historians agree that nobles of such base origins formed a 'significant' element of the szlachta.
The Polish nobility enjoyed many rights that were not available to the noble classes of other countries and, typically, each new monarch conceded them further privileges. Those privileges became the basis of the Golden Liberty in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Despite having a king, Poland was called the nobility's Commonwealth because the king was elected by all interested members of hereditary nobility and Poland was considered to be the property of this class, not of the king or the ruling dynasty. This state of affairs grew up in part because of the extinction of the male-line descendants of the old royal dynasty (first the Piasts, then the Jagiellons), and the selection by the nobility of the Polish king from among the dynasty's female-line descendants.
Jan Klemens Branicki , holding hetman'sbuława. Poland's successive kings granted privileges to the nobility at the time of their election to the throne (the privileges being specified in the king-elect's Pacta conventa) and at other times in exchange for ad hoc permission to raise an extraordinary tax or a pospolite ruszenie.
Poland's nobility thus accumulated a growing array of privileges and immunities:
In 1355 in Buda King Casimir III the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) issued the first country-wide privilege for the nobility, in exchange for their agreement that in the lack of Kazimierz male heirs, the throne would pass to his nephew, Louis I of Hungary. He decreed that the nobility would no longer be subject to 'extraordinary' taxes, or use their own funds for military expeditions abroad. He also promised that during travels of the royal court, the king and the court would pay for all expenses, instead of using facilities of local nobility.
In 1374 King Louis of Hungary approved the Privilege of Koszyce (Polish: "przywilej koszycki" or "ugoda koszycka") in Košice in order to guarantee the Polish throne for his daughter Jadwiga. He broadened the definition of who was a member of the nobility and exempted the entire class from all but one tax (łanowy, which was limited to 2 grosze from łan (an old measure of land size)). In addition, the King's right to raise taxes was abolished; no new taxes could be raised without the agreement of the nobility. Henceforth, also, district offices (Polish: "urzędy ziemskie") were reserved exclusively for local nobility, as the Privilege of Koszyce forbade the king to grant official posts and major Polish castles to foreign knights. Finally, this privilege obliged the King to pay indemnities to nobles injured or taken captive during a war outside Polish borders.
In 1422 King Władysław II Jagiełło by the Privilege of Czerwińsk (Polish: "przywilej czerwiński") established the inviolability of nobles' property (their estates could not be confiscated except upon a court verdict) and ceded some jurisdiction over fiscal policy to the Royal Council (later, the Senat of Poland), including the right to mint coinage.
In 1430 with the Privileges of Jedlnia, confirmed at Kraków in 1433 (Polish: "przywileje jedlneńsko-krakowskie"), based partially on his earlier Brześć Kujawski privilege (April 25, 1425), King Władysław II Jagiełło granted the nobility a guarantee against arbitrary arrest, similar to the English Magna Carta's Habeas corpus, known from its own Latin name as "neminem captivabimus (nisi jure victum)." Henceforth no member of the nobility could be imprisoned without a warrant from a court of law: the king could neither punish nor imprison any noble at his whim. King Władysław's quid pro quo for this boon was the nobles' guarantee that his throne would be inherited by one of his sons (who would be bound to honour the privileges theretofore granted to the nobility). On May 2, 1447 the same king issued the Wilno Privilege which gave the Lithuanian boyars the same rights as those possessed by the Polishszlachta.
A Polish nobleman. Rembrandt, 1637 In 1454 King Kazimierz IV Jagiellon granted the Nieszawa Statutes (Polish: "statuty cerkwicko-nieszawskie"), clarifying the legal basis of voivodship sejmiks (local parliaments). The king could promulgate new laws, raise taxes, or call for a levée en masse (pospolite ruszenie) only with the consent of the sejmiks, and the nobility were protected from judicial abuses. The Nieszawa Statutes also curbed the power of the magnates, as the Sejm (national parliament) received the right to elect many officials, including judges, voivods and castellans. These privileges were demanded by the szlachta as a compensation for their participation in the Thirteen Years' War.
The first "free election" (Polish: "wolna elekcja") of a king took place in 1492. (To be sure, some earlier Polish kings had been elected with help from bodies such as that which put Casimir II on the throne, thereby setting a precedent for free elections.) Only senators voted in the 1492 free election, which was won by Jan I Olbracht. For the duration of the Jagiellonian Dynasty, only members of that royal family were considered for election; later, there would be no restrictions on the choice of candidates.
In 1493 the national parliament, the Sejm, began meeting every two years at Piotrków. It comprised two chambers:
On April 26, 1496 King Jan I Olbracht granted the Privilege of Piotrków (Polish: "Przywilej piotrkowski", "konstytucja piotrkowska" or "statuty piotrkowskie"), increasing the nobility's feudal power over serfs. It bound the peasant to the land, as only one son (not the eldest) was permitted to leave the village; townsfolk (Polish: "mieszczaństwo") were prohibited from owning land; and positions in the Church hierarchy could be given only to nobles.
On 23 October 1501, at Mielnik Polish-Lithuanian Union was reformed at the Union of Mielnik (Polish: unia mielnicka, unia piotrkowsko-mielnicka). It was there that the tradition of the coronation Sejm (Polish: "Sejm koronacyjny") was founded. Once again the middle nobility (middle in wealth, not in rank) attempted to reduce the power of the magnates with a law that made them impeachable before the Senate for malfeasance. However the Act of Mielno (Polish: Przywilej mielnicki) of 25 October did more to strengthen the magnate dominated Senate of Poland then the lesser nobility. The nobles were given the right to disobey the King or his representatives—in the Latin, "non praestanda oboedientia"--and to form confederations, an armed rebellion against the king or state officers if the nobles thought that the law or their legitimate privileges were being infringed.
"The Commonwealth's Power at Its Zenith. Golden Liberty. The Election of 1573." Painting by Jan Matejko. On 3 May 1505 King Aleksander I Jagiellon granted the Act of "Nihil novi nisi commune consensu" (Latin: "I accept nothing new except by common consent"). This forbade the king to pass any new law without the consent of the representatives of the nobility, in Sejm and Senat assembled, and thus greatly strengthened the nobility's political position. Basically, this act transferred legislative power from the king to the Sejm. This date commonly marks the beginning of the First Rzeczpospolita, the period of a szlachta-run "Commonwealth".
In 1520 the Act of Bydgoszcz granted the Sejm the right to convene every four years, with or without the king's permission.
About that time the "executionist movement" (Polish: "egzekucja praw"--"execution of the laws") began to take form. Its members would seek to curb the power of the magnates at the Sejm and to strengthen the power of king and country. In 1562 at the Sejm in Piotrków they would force the magnates to return many leased crown lands to the king, and the king to create a standing army (wojsko kwarciane). One of the most famous members of this movement was Jan Zamoyski. After his death in 1605, the movement lost its political force.
Until the death of Zygmunt II August, the last king of the Jagiellonian dynasty, monarchs could only be elected from within the royal family. However, starting from 1573, practically any Polish noble or foreigner of royal blood could become a Polish-Lithuanian monarch. Every newly elected king was supposed to sign two documents - the Pacta conventa ("agreed pacts") - a confirmation of the king's pre-election promises, andHenrican articles (artykuły henrykowskie, named after the first freely elected king, Henry of Valois). The latter document served as a virtual Polish constitution and contained the basic laws of the Commonwealth:
Possessions of major Polish magnate families XVI-XVII century
Transformation into aristocracy
For many centuries, wealthy and powerful members of the szlachta sought to gain legal privileges over their peers. Few szlachta were wealthy enough to be known as magnates (karmazyni — the "Crimsons", from the crimson colour of their boots). A proper magnate should be able to trace noble ancestors back for many generations and own at least 20 villages or estates. He should also hold a major office in the Commonwealth.
Polish magnates 1576-1586 Some historians estimate the number of magnates as 1% of the number of szlachta. Out of approx. one million szlachta, tens of thousands of families, only 200-300 persons could be classed as great magnates with country-wide possessions and influence, and 30-40 of them could be viewed as those with significant impact on Poland's politics.
Magnates often received gifts from monarchs, which significantly increased their wealth. Often, those gifts were only temporary leases, which the magnates never returned (in 16th century, the anti-magnate opposition among szlachta was known as the ruch egzekucji praw - movement for execution of the laws - which demanded that all such possessions are returned to their proper owner, the king).
The Peasant Uprising of 1846 (polish "Rzeź galicyjska"), thelargest peasant uprisingagainst szlachta rules, on Polish lands in XIX century (II-III 1846), compare: Chmielnicki uprising also supported by peasants. Painter: Jan Lewicki One of the most important victories of the magnates was the late 16th century right to create ordynacja's (similar to majorats), which ensured that a family which gained wealth and power could more easily preserve this. Ordynacje's of families of Radziwiłłs, Zamoyskis, Potockis or Lubomirskis often rivalled the estates of the king and were important power bases for the magnates.
Loss of influence by szlachta The sovereignty of szlachta was ended in 1795 by the Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Then, until 1918 their legal status dependent on policies of:
Russian Empire , Kingdom of Prussia or Habsburg Monarchy.
Serfdom was abolished in Russian Poland on February 19, 1864. It was deliberately enacted in a way that would ruin the szlachta. It was the only area where peasants paid the market price in redemption for the land (the average for the empire was 34% above the market price). All land taken from Polish peasants since 1846 was to be returned without redemption payments. The ex serfs could only sell land to other peasants, not szlachta. 90% of the ex serfs in the empire who actually gained land after 1861 were in the 8 western provinces. Along with Romania, Polish landless or domestic serfs were the only ones to be given land after serfdom was abolished.[9] All this was to punish the szlachta's role in the uprisings of 1830 and 1863. By 1864 80% of szlachta were declasse, 1/4 petty nobles were worse off than the average serf, 48.9% of land in Russian Poland was in peasant hands, nobles still held 46%.[10] In Second Polish Republic the privileges of the nobility were lawfully abolished by the March Constitution in 1921 and as such not granted by any future Polish law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
Nobles were born into a noble family, adopted by a noble family (this was abolished in 1633) or ennobled by a king or Sejm for various reasons (bravery in combat, service to the state, etc. - yet this was the rarest means of gaining noble status). Many nobles were, in actuality, really usurpers, being commoners, who moved into another part of the country and falsely pretended to noble status. Hundreds of such false nobles were denounced by Hieronim Nekanda Trepka in his Liber generationis plebeanorium (or Liber chamorum) in the first half of 16th century. The law forbade non-nobles from owning nobility-estates and promised the estate to the denouncer. Trepka was an impoverished nobleman who lived a townsman life and collected hundreds of such stories hoping to take over any of such estates. It does not seem he ever succeeded in proving one at the court. Many sejms issued decrees over the centuries in an attempt to resolve this issue, but with little success. It is unknown what percentage of the Polish nobility came from the 'lower' orders of society, but most historians agree that nobles of such base origins formed a 'significant' element of the szlachta.
The Polish nobility enjoyed many rights that were not available to the noble classes of other countries and, typically, each new monarch conceded them further privileges. Those privileges became the basis of the Golden Liberty in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Despite having a king, Poland was called the nobility's Commonwealth because the king was elected by all interested members of hereditary nobility and Poland was considered to be the property of this class, not of the king or the ruling dynasty. This state of affairs grew up in part because of the extinction of the male-line descendants of the old royal dynasty (first the Piasts, then the Jagiellons), and the selection by the nobility of the Polish king from among the dynasty's female-line descendants.
Jan Klemens Branicki , holding hetman'sbuława. Poland's successive kings granted privileges to the nobility at the time of their election to the throne (the privileges being specified in the king-elect's Pacta conventa) and at other times in exchange for ad hoc permission to raise an extraordinary tax or a pospolite ruszenie.
Poland's nobility thus accumulated a growing array of privileges and immunities:
In 1355 in Buda King Casimir III the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) issued the first country-wide privilege for the nobility, in exchange for their agreement that in the lack of Kazimierz male heirs, the throne would pass to his nephew, Louis I of Hungary. He decreed that the nobility would no longer be subject to 'extraordinary' taxes, or use their own funds for military expeditions abroad. He also promised that during travels of the royal court, the king and the court would pay for all expenses, instead of using facilities of local nobility.
In 1374 King Louis of Hungary approved the Privilege of Koszyce (Polish: "przywilej koszycki" or "ugoda koszycka") in Košice in order to guarantee the Polish throne for his daughter Jadwiga. He broadened the definition of who was a member of the nobility and exempted the entire class from all but one tax (łanowy, which was limited to 2 grosze from łan (an old measure of land size)). In addition, the King's right to raise taxes was abolished; no new taxes could be raised without the agreement of the nobility. Henceforth, also, district offices (Polish: "urzędy ziemskie") were reserved exclusively for local nobility, as the Privilege of Koszyce forbade the king to grant official posts and major Polish castles to foreign knights. Finally, this privilege obliged the King to pay indemnities to nobles injured or taken captive during a war outside Polish borders.
In 1422 King Władysław II Jagiełło by the Privilege of Czerwińsk (Polish: "przywilej czerwiński") established the inviolability of nobles' property (their estates could not be confiscated except upon a court verdict) and ceded some jurisdiction over fiscal policy to the Royal Council (later, the Senat of Poland), including the right to mint coinage.
In 1430 with the Privileges of Jedlnia, confirmed at Kraków in 1433 (Polish: "przywileje jedlneńsko-krakowskie"), based partially on his earlier Brześć Kujawski privilege (April 25, 1425), King Władysław II Jagiełło granted the nobility a guarantee against arbitrary arrest, similar to the English Magna Carta's Habeas corpus, known from its own Latin name as "neminem captivabimus (nisi jure victum)." Henceforth no member of the nobility could be imprisoned without a warrant from a court of law: the king could neither punish nor imprison any noble at his whim. King Władysław's quid pro quo for this boon was the nobles' guarantee that his throne would be inherited by one of his sons (who would be bound to honour the privileges theretofore granted to the nobility). On May 2, 1447 the same king issued the Wilno Privilege which gave the Lithuanian boyars the same rights as those possessed by the Polishszlachta.
A Polish nobleman. Rembrandt, 1637 In 1454 King Kazimierz IV Jagiellon granted the Nieszawa Statutes (Polish: "statuty cerkwicko-nieszawskie"), clarifying the legal basis of voivodship sejmiks (local parliaments). The king could promulgate new laws, raise taxes, or call for a levée en masse (pospolite ruszenie) only with the consent of the sejmiks, and the nobility were protected from judicial abuses. The Nieszawa Statutes also curbed the power of the magnates, as the Sejm (national parliament) received the right to elect many officials, including judges, voivods and castellans. These privileges were demanded by the szlachta as a compensation for their participation in the Thirteen Years' War.
The first "free election" (Polish: "wolna elekcja") of a king took place in 1492. (To be sure, some earlier Polish kings had been elected with help from bodies such as that which put Casimir II on the throne, thereby setting a precedent for free elections.) Only senators voted in the 1492 free election, which was won by Jan I Olbracht. For the duration of the Jagiellonian Dynasty, only members of that royal family were considered for election; later, there would be no restrictions on the choice of candidates.
In 1493 the national parliament, the Sejm, began meeting every two years at Piotrków. It comprised two chambers:
- a Senate of 81 bishops and other dignitaries; and
- a Chamber of Envoys of 54 envoys (in Polish, "envoy" is "poseł") representing their respective Lands.
On April 26, 1496 King Jan I Olbracht granted the Privilege of Piotrków (Polish: "Przywilej piotrkowski", "konstytucja piotrkowska" or "statuty piotrkowskie"), increasing the nobility's feudal power over serfs. It bound the peasant to the land, as only one son (not the eldest) was permitted to leave the village; townsfolk (Polish: "mieszczaństwo") were prohibited from owning land; and positions in the Church hierarchy could be given only to nobles.
On 23 October 1501, at Mielnik Polish-Lithuanian Union was reformed at the Union of Mielnik (Polish: unia mielnicka, unia piotrkowsko-mielnicka). It was there that the tradition of the coronation Sejm (Polish: "Sejm koronacyjny") was founded. Once again the middle nobility (middle in wealth, not in rank) attempted to reduce the power of the magnates with a law that made them impeachable before the Senate for malfeasance. However the Act of Mielno (Polish: Przywilej mielnicki) of 25 October did more to strengthen the magnate dominated Senate of Poland then the lesser nobility. The nobles were given the right to disobey the King or his representatives—in the Latin, "non praestanda oboedientia"--and to form confederations, an armed rebellion against the king or state officers if the nobles thought that the law or their legitimate privileges were being infringed.
"The Commonwealth's Power at Its Zenith. Golden Liberty. The Election of 1573." Painting by Jan Matejko. On 3 May 1505 King Aleksander I Jagiellon granted the Act of "Nihil novi nisi commune consensu" (Latin: "I accept nothing new except by common consent"). This forbade the king to pass any new law without the consent of the representatives of the nobility, in Sejm and Senat assembled, and thus greatly strengthened the nobility's political position. Basically, this act transferred legislative power from the king to the Sejm. This date commonly marks the beginning of the First Rzeczpospolita, the period of a szlachta-run "Commonwealth".
In 1520 the Act of Bydgoszcz granted the Sejm the right to convene every four years, with or without the king's permission.
About that time the "executionist movement" (Polish: "egzekucja praw"--"execution of the laws") began to take form. Its members would seek to curb the power of the magnates at the Sejm and to strengthen the power of king and country. In 1562 at the Sejm in Piotrków they would force the magnates to return many leased crown lands to the king, and the king to create a standing army (wojsko kwarciane). One of the most famous members of this movement was Jan Zamoyski. After his death in 1605, the movement lost its political force.
Until the death of Zygmunt II August, the last king of the Jagiellonian dynasty, monarchs could only be elected from within the royal family. However, starting from 1573, practically any Polish noble or foreigner of royal blood could become a Polish-Lithuanian monarch. Every newly elected king was supposed to sign two documents - the Pacta conventa ("agreed pacts") - a confirmation of the king's pre-election promises, andHenrican articles (artykuły henrykowskie, named after the first freely elected king, Henry of Valois). The latter document served as a virtual Polish constitution and contained the basic laws of the Commonwealth:
- Free election of kings;
- Religious tolerance;
- The Diet to be gathered every two years;
- Foreign policy controlled by the Diet;
- A royal advisory council chosen by the Diet;
- Official posts restricted to Polish and Lithuanian nobles;
- Taxes and monopolies set up by the Diet only;
- Nobles' right to disobey the king should he break any of these laws.
Possessions of major Polish magnate families XVI-XVII century
Transformation into aristocracy
For many centuries, wealthy and powerful members of the szlachta sought to gain legal privileges over their peers. Few szlachta were wealthy enough to be known as magnates (karmazyni — the "Crimsons", from the crimson colour of their boots). A proper magnate should be able to trace noble ancestors back for many generations and own at least 20 villages or estates. He should also hold a major office in the Commonwealth.
Polish magnates 1576-1586 Some historians estimate the number of magnates as 1% of the number of szlachta. Out of approx. one million szlachta, tens of thousands of families, only 200-300 persons could be classed as great magnates with country-wide possessions and influence, and 30-40 of them could be viewed as those with significant impact on Poland's politics.
Magnates often received gifts from monarchs, which significantly increased their wealth. Often, those gifts were only temporary leases, which the magnates never returned (in 16th century, the anti-magnate opposition among szlachta was known as the ruch egzekucji praw - movement for execution of the laws - which demanded that all such possessions are returned to their proper owner, the king).
The Peasant Uprising of 1846 (polish "Rzeź galicyjska"), thelargest peasant uprisingagainst szlachta rules, on Polish lands in XIX century (II-III 1846), compare: Chmielnicki uprising also supported by peasants. Painter: Jan Lewicki One of the most important victories of the magnates was the late 16th century right to create ordynacja's (similar to majorats), which ensured that a family which gained wealth and power could more easily preserve this. Ordynacje's of families of Radziwiłłs, Zamoyskis, Potockis or Lubomirskis often rivalled the estates of the king and were important power bases for the magnates.
Loss of influence by szlachta The sovereignty of szlachta was ended in 1795 by the Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Then, until 1918 their legal status dependent on policies of:
Russian Empire , Kingdom of Prussia or Habsburg Monarchy.
Serfdom was abolished in Russian Poland on February 19, 1864. It was deliberately enacted in a way that would ruin the szlachta. It was the only area where peasants paid the market price in redemption for the land (the average for the empire was 34% above the market price). All land taken from Polish peasants since 1846 was to be returned without redemption payments. The ex serfs could only sell land to other peasants, not szlachta. 90% of the ex serfs in the empire who actually gained land after 1861 were in the 8 western provinces. Along with Romania, Polish landless or domestic serfs were the only ones to be given land after serfdom was abolished.[9] All this was to punish the szlachta's role in the uprisings of 1830 and 1863. By 1864 80% of szlachta were declasse, 1/4 petty nobles were worse off than the average serf, 48.9% of land in Russian Poland was in peasant hands, nobles still held 46%.[10] In Second Polish Republic the privileges of the nobility were lawfully abolished by the March Constitution in 1921 and as such not granted by any future Polish law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
Polish Nobility Foundation - http://pnaf.us/
CULTURE
The Polish nobility differed in many respects from the nobility of other countries. The most important difference was that, while in most European countries the nobility lost power as the ruler strove for absolute monarchy, in Poland the reverse process occurred: the nobility actually gained power at the expense of the king, and the political system evolved into an oligarchy.
Polish noblewomen, early 17th century. Poland's nobility were also more numerous than those of all other European countries, constituting some 10% - 12%[11] of the total population of historic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth also some 10% - 12% among ethnic Poles on ethnic Polish lands (part of Commonwealth), but up to 25% of all Poles worldwide (szlachta could dispose more of resources to travels and/or conquering), while in some poorer regions (e.g. Mazowsze, the area centred on Warsaw) nearly 30%. However, according to [12] szlachta comprised around 8% of the total population in 1791 (up from 6.6% in the 16th century), and no more than 16% of the Roman Catholic (mostly ethnically Polish) population.
It should be noted, though, that Polish szlachta usually incorporated most local nobility from the areas that were absorbed by Poland-Lithuania (Ruthenian boyars, Livonian nobles, etc.) By contrast, the nobilities of other European countries, except for Spain, amounted to a mere 1-3%, however the era of sovereign rules of Polish nobility ended earlier then in other countries (excluding France) yet in 1795 (see: Partitions of Poland), since then their legitimation and future fate depended on legislature and procedures of Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia or Habsburg Monarchy. Gradually their privileges were under further limitations to be completely dissolved by March Constitution of Poland in 1921.
There were a number of avenues to upward social mobility and the achievement of nobility. Poland's nobility was not a rigidly exclusive, closed class. Many low-born individuals, including townsfolk, peasants and Jews, could and did rise to official ennoblement in Polish society. Each szlachcic had enormous influence over the country's politics, in some ways even greater than that enjoyed by the citizens of modern democratic countries. Between 1652 and 1791, any nobleman could nullify all the proceedings of a given sejm (Commonwealth parliament) or sejmik (Commonwealth local parliament) by exercising his individual right ofliberum veto (Latin for "I do not allow"), except in the case of a confederated sejm or confederated sejmik.
All children of the Polish nobility inherited their noble status from a noble mother and father. Any individual could attain ennoblement (nobilitacja) for special services to the state. A foreign noble might be naturalised as a Polish noble (Polish: "indygenat") by the Polish king (later, from 1641, only by a general sejm).
Polish noblemen, early 17th century. In theory at least, all Polish noblemen were social equals. Also in theory, they were legal peers. Those who held 'real power' dignities were more privileged but these dignities were not hereditary. Those who held honorary dignities were higher in 'ritual' hierarchy but these dignities were also granted for a lifetime. Some tenancies became hereditary and went with both privilege and titles. Nobles who were not direct barons of the Crown but held land from other lords were only peers "de iure". The poorest enjoyed the same rights as the wealthiest magnate. The exceptions were a few symbolically privileged families such as the Radziwiłł, Lubomirski and Czartoryski, who sported honorary aristocratic titles recognized in Poland or received from foreign courts, such as "Prince" or "Count". (see also The Princely Houses of Poland). All other szlachta simply addressed each other by their given name or as "Sir Brother" (Panie bracie) or the feminine equivalent. The other forms of address would be "Illustrious and Magnificent Lord", "Magnificent Lord", "Generous Lord" or "Noble Lord" (in decreasing order) or simply "His/Her Grace Lord/Lady XYZ".
Hetman Stefan Czarniecki in crimson bekiesza. Holds buława in right hand. Note crimson boots (buty karmazynowe), a sign of wealth and high status. The crimson color worn by wealthy szlachta prompted the magnates' nickname, "karmazyni" — "the crimson ones." According to their financial standing, the nobility were in common speech divided into:
Heraldry Main article: Polish heraldry Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Coats of arms of families of Poland Coats of arms were very important to the Polish nobility. It is notable, that the Polish heraldic system evolved separately from its western counterparts and differed in many ways from the heraldry of other European countries.
The most notable difference is that, contrary to other European heraldic systems, most families sharing origin would also share a coat-of-arms. They would also share arms with families adopted into the clan (these would often have their arms officially altered upon ennoblement). Sometimes unrelated families would be falsely attributed to the clan on the basis of similarity of arms. Also often noble families claimed inaccurate clan membership. Logically, the number of coats of arms in this system was rather low and did not exceed 200 in late Middle Ages (40.000 in late 18th century).
Also, the tradition of differentiating between the coat of arms proper and a lozenge granted to women did not develop in Poland. Usually men inherited the coat of arms from their fathers. Also, the brisure was rarely used.
[edit] Sarmatism The szlachta's prevalent mentality and ideology were manifested in "Sarmatism", a name derived from a scientifically unproved myth of theszlachtas origin in the powerful ancient nation of Sarmatians. This belief system became an important part of szlachta culture and affected all aspects of their lives. It was popularized by poets who exalted traditional village life, peace, and pacifism. It was also manifested in oriental-style apparel (the żupan, kontusz, sukmana, pas kontuszowy, delia); and made the scimitar-like szabla, too, a near-obligatory item of everyday szlachta apparel. Sarmatism served to integrate the multi-ethnic nobility as it created an almost nationalisticsense of unity and pride in the szlachta's "Golden Liberty" (złota wolność). Knowledge of Latin was widespread, and most szlachta freely mixed Polish and Latin vocabulary (the latter, "macaronisms" — from "macaroni") in everyday conversation.
Jan Zamoyski, in crimson delia and blue silk żupan. In its early, idealistic form, Sarmatism seemed like a salutary cultural movement: it fostered religious faith, honesty, national pride, courage, equality and freedom. Late Sarmatism turned belief into bigotry, honesty into political naiveté, pride into arrogance, courage into stubbornness, equality and freedom within the szlachta class into dissension and anarchy.[citation needed]
[edit] Religious beliefs Prior to the Reformation, the Polish nobility were mostly either Roman Catholic or Orthodox with a small group of Muslims. Many families, however, soon adopted the Reformed faiths. After the Counter-Reformation, when the Roman Catholic Church regained power in Poland, the nobility became almost exclusively Catholic, despite the fact that Roman Catholicism was not the majority religion in Commonwealth (the Catholic and Orthodox churches each accounted for some 40% of all citizens population, with the remaining 20% being Jews or members of Protestant denominations). In the 18th century, many followers of Jacob Frank joined the ranks of Jewish-descended Polish gentry.
Although Jewish religion wasn't usually a pretext to block or deprive of noble status, some laws favoured religious conversion from Judaism to Christianity (see: Neophyte) by rewarding it with ennoblement.[13]
[edit] Ennoblement [edit] In Kingdom of Poland The increase of number of Polish nobility by trustworthy ennoblements is proportionally minimal (since 14th century).
In the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ennoblement (nobilitacja) meant an individual's joining the szlachta (Polish nobility). At first it was granted by monarch, since late 16th century by the sejm that gave the ennobled person a coat of arms. Often that person could join an existing noble szlachta family with their own coat of arms.
According to heraldic sources total number of trustworthy ennoblements issued since 14th century until late 18th century, is estimated[14][15] as about 800 (which gives probably average of about two ennoblements per year, trivia: some above 0.000 000 14 - 0.000 001 of historical population, compare: historical demography of Poland).
Late 18th century is time of short loosening[14][15] of ennoblements policy, which can be explained in terms of sudden collapse of Commonwealth and sudden need of soldiers (see: Partitions of Poland, King Stanisław August Poniatowski).
[edit] Total number of ennoblements estimation according to heraldic[14][15] sources 1 600 (half o which constitute, performed in final years of the state collapse "sudden ennoblements" of late 18th century) is a total estimated number of all trustworthy ennoblements in history of Kingdom of Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth since 14th century.
Types of ennoblement:
In 1506, King Sigismund I the Old confirmed the position of the Lithuanian Council of Lords in state politics and limited entry into the nobility.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
CULTURE
The Polish nobility differed in many respects from the nobility of other countries. The most important difference was that, while in most European countries the nobility lost power as the ruler strove for absolute monarchy, in Poland the reverse process occurred: the nobility actually gained power at the expense of the king, and the political system evolved into an oligarchy.
Polish noblewomen, early 17th century. Poland's nobility were also more numerous than those of all other European countries, constituting some 10% - 12%[11] of the total population of historic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth also some 10% - 12% among ethnic Poles on ethnic Polish lands (part of Commonwealth), but up to 25% of all Poles worldwide (szlachta could dispose more of resources to travels and/or conquering), while in some poorer regions (e.g. Mazowsze, the area centred on Warsaw) nearly 30%. However, according to [12] szlachta comprised around 8% of the total population in 1791 (up from 6.6% in the 16th century), and no more than 16% of the Roman Catholic (mostly ethnically Polish) population.
It should be noted, though, that Polish szlachta usually incorporated most local nobility from the areas that were absorbed by Poland-Lithuania (Ruthenian boyars, Livonian nobles, etc.) By contrast, the nobilities of other European countries, except for Spain, amounted to a mere 1-3%, however the era of sovereign rules of Polish nobility ended earlier then in other countries (excluding France) yet in 1795 (see: Partitions of Poland), since then their legitimation and future fate depended on legislature and procedures of Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia or Habsburg Monarchy. Gradually their privileges were under further limitations to be completely dissolved by March Constitution of Poland in 1921.
There were a number of avenues to upward social mobility and the achievement of nobility. Poland's nobility was not a rigidly exclusive, closed class. Many low-born individuals, including townsfolk, peasants and Jews, could and did rise to official ennoblement in Polish society. Each szlachcic had enormous influence over the country's politics, in some ways even greater than that enjoyed by the citizens of modern democratic countries. Between 1652 and 1791, any nobleman could nullify all the proceedings of a given sejm (Commonwealth parliament) or sejmik (Commonwealth local parliament) by exercising his individual right ofliberum veto (Latin for "I do not allow"), except in the case of a confederated sejm or confederated sejmik.
All children of the Polish nobility inherited their noble status from a noble mother and father. Any individual could attain ennoblement (nobilitacja) for special services to the state. A foreign noble might be naturalised as a Polish noble (Polish: "indygenat") by the Polish king (later, from 1641, only by a general sejm).
Polish noblemen, early 17th century. In theory at least, all Polish noblemen were social equals. Also in theory, they were legal peers. Those who held 'real power' dignities were more privileged but these dignities were not hereditary. Those who held honorary dignities were higher in 'ritual' hierarchy but these dignities were also granted for a lifetime. Some tenancies became hereditary and went with both privilege and titles. Nobles who were not direct barons of the Crown but held land from other lords were only peers "de iure". The poorest enjoyed the same rights as the wealthiest magnate. The exceptions were a few symbolically privileged families such as the Radziwiłł, Lubomirski and Czartoryski, who sported honorary aristocratic titles recognized in Poland or received from foreign courts, such as "Prince" or "Count". (see also The Princely Houses of Poland). All other szlachta simply addressed each other by their given name or as "Sir Brother" (Panie bracie) or the feminine equivalent. The other forms of address would be "Illustrious and Magnificent Lord", "Magnificent Lord", "Generous Lord" or "Noble Lord" (in decreasing order) or simply "His/Her Grace Lord/Lady XYZ".
Hetman Stefan Czarniecki in crimson bekiesza. Holds buława in right hand. Note crimson boots (buty karmazynowe), a sign of wealth and high status. The crimson color worn by wealthy szlachta prompted the magnates' nickname, "karmazyni" — "the crimson ones." According to their financial standing, the nobility were in common speech divided into:
- magnates: the wealthiest class; owners of vast lands, towns, many villages, thousands of peasants
- middle nobility (średnia szlachta): owners of one of more villages, often having some official titles or Envoys from the local Land Assemblies to the General Assembly,
- petty nobility (drobna szlachta), owners of a part of a village or owning no land at all, often referred to by a variety of colourful Polish terms such as:
- szaraczkowa - grey nobility, from their grey, woollen, uncoloured zupans
- okoliczna - local nobility, similar to zaściankowa
- zagrodowa - from zagroda, a farm, often little different from a peasant's dwelling
- zagonowa - from zagon, a small unit of land measure, hide nobility
- cząstkowa - partial, owners of only part of a single village
- panek - little pan (i.e. lordling), term used in Kaszuby, the Kashubian region, also one of the legal terms for legally separated lower nobility in late medieval and early modern Poland
- hreczkosiej - buckwheat sowers - those who had to work their fields themselves.
- zaściankowa - from zaścianek, a name for plural nobility settlement, neighbourhood nobility. Just like hreczkosiej, zaściankowa nobility would have no peasants.
- brukowa - cobble nobility, for those living in towns like townsfolk
- gołota - naked nobility, i.e. the landless. Gołota szlachta would be considered the 'lowest of the high'.
Heraldry Main article: Polish heraldry Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Coats of arms of families of Poland Coats of arms were very important to the Polish nobility. It is notable, that the Polish heraldic system evolved separately from its western counterparts and differed in many ways from the heraldry of other European countries.
The most notable difference is that, contrary to other European heraldic systems, most families sharing origin would also share a coat-of-arms. They would also share arms with families adopted into the clan (these would often have their arms officially altered upon ennoblement). Sometimes unrelated families would be falsely attributed to the clan on the basis of similarity of arms. Also often noble families claimed inaccurate clan membership. Logically, the number of coats of arms in this system was rather low and did not exceed 200 in late Middle Ages (40.000 in late 18th century).
Also, the tradition of differentiating between the coat of arms proper and a lozenge granted to women did not develop in Poland. Usually men inherited the coat of arms from their fathers. Also, the brisure was rarely used.
[edit] Sarmatism The szlachta's prevalent mentality and ideology were manifested in "Sarmatism", a name derived from a scientifically unproved myth of theszlachtas origin in the powerful ancient nation of Sarmatians. This belief system became an important part of szlachta culture and affected all aspects of their lives. It was popularized by poets who exalted traditional village life, peace, and pacifism. It was also manifested in oriental-style apparel (the żupan, kontusz, sukmana, pas kontuszowy, delia); and made the scimitar-like szabla, too, a near-obligatory item of everyday szlachta apparel. Sarmatism served to integrate the multi-ethnic nobility as it created an almost nationalisticsense of unity and pride in the szlachta's "Golden Liberty" (złota wolność). Knowledge of Latin was widespread, and most szlachta freely mixed Polish and Latin vocabulary (the latter, "macaronisms" — from "macaroni") in everyday conversation.
Jan Zamoyski, in crimson delia and blue silk żupan. In its early, idealistic form, Sarmatism seemed like a salutary cultural movement: it fostered religious faith, honesty, national pride, courage, equality and freedom. Late Sarmatism turned belief into bigotry, honesty into political naiveté, pride into arrogance, courage into stubbornness, equality and freedom within the szlachta class into dissension and anarchy.[citation needed]
[edit] Religious beliefs Prior to the Reformation, the Polish nobility were mostly either Roman Catholic or Orthodox with a small group of Muslims. Many families, however, soon adopted the Reformed faiths. After the Counter-Reformation, when the Roman Catholic Church regained power in Poland, the nobility became almost exclusively Catholic, despite the fact that Roman Catholicism was not the majority religion in Commonwealth (the Catholic and Orthodox churches each accounted for some 40% of all citizens population, with the remaining 20% being Jews or members of Protestant denominations). In the 18th century, many followers of Jacob Frank joined the ranks of Jewish-descended Polish gentry.
Although Jewish religion wasn't usually a pretext to block or deprive of noble status, some laws favoured religious conversion from Judaism to Christianity (see: Neophyte) by rewarding it with ennoblement.[13]
[edit] Ennoblement [edit] In Kingdom of Poland The increase of number of Polish nobility by trustworthy ennoblements is proportionally minimal (since 14th century).
In the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ennoblement (nobilitacja) meant an individual's joining the szlachta (Polish nobility). At first it was granted by monarch, since late 16th century by the sejm that gave the ennobled person a coat of arms. Often that person could join an existing noble szlachta family with their own coat of arms.
According to heraldic sources total number of trustworthy ennoblements issued since 14th century until late 18th century, is estimated[14][15] as about 800 (which gives probably average of about two ennoblements per year, trivia: some above 0.000 000 14 - 0.000 001 of historical population, compare: historical demography of Poland).
Late 18th century is time of short loosening[14][15] of ennoblements policy, which can be explained in terms of sudden collapse of Commonwealth and sudden need of soldiers (see: Partitions of Poland, King Stanisław August Poniatowski).
[edit] Total number of ennoblements estimation according to heraldic[14][15] sources 1 600 (half o which constitute, performed in final years of the state collapse "sudden ennoblements" of late 18th century) is a total estimated number of all trustworthy ennoblements in history of Kingdom of Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth since 14th century.
Types of ennoblement:
- Skartabelat - introduced by pacta conventa of 17th century, ennoblement into a sort of lower nobility. Skartabels could not hold public offices or be members of the Sejm. After three generations in noble ranks these families would "mature" to peerage.
- Adopcja herbowa - old way of ennoblement, popular in 15th century, connected with adoption into an existing noble clan by a powerful lord, abolished in 17th century
- Indygenat - recognition of foreign noble status. A foreign noble, after indygenat, received all privileges of a Polish szlachcic. In Polish history, 413 foreign noble families were recognized. From 16th century this was done by the King and Sejm (Polish parliament), since 17th century it was done by Sejm only.
- "secret ennoblement" of questionable legal status, opposed/not recognized by szlachta; by monarch without required by law approval of the sejm.
In 1506, King Sigismund I the Old confirmed the position of the Lithuanian Council of Lords in state politics and limited entry into the nobility.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta
The Lithuanian nobility was historically a legally privileged class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania consisting of Lithuanians, from the historical regions of Lithuania Proper and Samogitia, and in some cases Ruthenian noble families. Families were primarily granted privileges for their military service to the Grand Duchy. After the Union of Lublin in 1569, became less distinguishable from Polish szlachta, although preserved Lithuanian national awareness. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had one of the largest number of nobility in Europe, close to 10% of the population, in some regions, like Samogitia, it was closer to 12%.
Prior to the creation of the Lithuanian state by Mindaugas, lesser members of the nobility were called bajorai (singular - bajoras) and greater nobles, kunigai (singular - kunigas), from the Old German: kunig, meaning "king", or Lithuanian: kunigaikštis, usually translated as duke, Latin: dux. They evolved from tribal leaders, and were chiefly responsible for waging wars and organizing raids operations into enemy's territory. After the establishment of a unified state they gradually became subordinates to greater Dukes, and later to the King of Lithuania. After Mindaugas' death all Lithuanian rulers held the title Grand Duke (Lithuanian: Didysis kunigaikštis), or king (rex which was used in Gediminas' title).
Ethnic Lithuanian nobility had different names than common people, as their names were made of two stems. Greater noble families generally used the Lithuanian pagan given names of their precursors as their family names; this was the case with Goštautai, Radvilos, Astikai, Kęsgailos and others. Those families acquired great wealth and evolved into magnates. Their representatives are respectively Jonas Goštautas, Radvila Astikas, Kristinas Astikas and Mykolas Kęsgaila. Those families were granted coats of arms under the Union of Horodlo in 1413.
While at the beginning the nobility was almost all Lithuanian, with territorial expansion more Ruthenian families joined Lithuanian nobility. Already in the 16th century several Ruthenian noble families began to call themselves gente Ruthenus, natione Lithuanus.[1] A good example is the Chodkiewicz family, that claimed its ancestry from the House of Gediminas.
According to a military census in 1528, ethnic Lithuanian lands had 5730 horsemen and Ruthenian lands of the Grand Duchy – 5372.[2]
The most ancient heraldry has motive of crossed arrows. According to the Union of Horodło of 1413, 47 Lithuanian noble families adopted Polish nobility coat of arms. Later more families adopted more coat of arms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_nobility#cite_note-1
LITHUANIAN RULERS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lithuanian_rulers
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was established by Union of Lublin in 1569. The elected King of Poland was to be elected by Lithuanian noble families as a Grand Duke of Lithuania (until then Lithuanian dukedom was hereditary). The first ruler of the common country was Sigismund II Augustus. Following the partitions in 1772, 1793, and 1795, the commonwealth ceased to exist and Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire for 123 years. There are some gaps in the timeline as it took a while to elect a new king. The first Grand Duke elected after the Gediminyds line went extinct and after the Valois fled back to France was Stephen Báthory, who had made an effort to be recognized as Grand Duke of Lithuania by establishing Vilnius University.
Title: King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lenkijos karalius ir Lietuvos didysis kunigaikštis; Belarusian: karol Polščy, vialiki kniaź litoŭski; Polish: Król Polski, wielki książę litewski).
LITHUANIAN CONSORTS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lithuanian_consorts
Prior to the creation of the Lithuanian state by Mindaugas, lesser members of the nobility were called bajorai (singular - bajoras) and greater nobles, kunigai (singular - kunigas), from the Old German: kunig, meaning "king", or Lithuanian: kunigaikštis, usually translated as duke, Latin: dux. They evolved from tribal leaders, and were chiefly responsible for waging wars and organizing raids operations into enemy's territory. After the establishment of a unified state they gradually became subordinates to greater Dukes, and later to the King of Lithuania. After Mindaugas' death all Lithuanian rulers held the title Grand Duke (Lithuanian: Didysis kunigaikštis), or king (rex which was used in Gediminas' title).
Ethnic Lithuanian nobility had different names than common people, as their names were made of two stems. Greater noble families generally used the Lithuanian pagan given names of their precursors as their family names; this was the case with Goštautai, Radvilos, Astikai, Kęsgailos and others. Those families acquired great wealth and evolved into magnates. Their representatives are respectively Jonas Goštautas, Radvila Astikas, Kristinas Astikas and Mykolas Kęsgaila. Those families were granted coats of arms under the Union of Horodlo in 1413.
While at the beginning the nobility was almost all Lithuanian, with territorial expansion more Ruthenian families joined Lithuanian nobility. Already in the 16th century several Ruthenian noble families began to call themselves gente Ruthenus, natione Lithuanus.[1] A good example is the Chodkiewicz family, that claimed its ancestry from the House of Gediminas.
According to a military census in 1528, ethnic Lithuanian lands had 5730 horsemen and Ruthenian lands of the Grand Duchy – 5372.[2]
The most ancient heraldry has motive of crossed arrows. According to the Union of Horodło of 1413, 47 Lithuanian noble families adopted Polish nobility coat of arms. Later more families adopted more coat of arms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_nobility#cite_note-1
LITHUANIAN RULERS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lithuanian_rulers
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was established by Union of Lublin in 1569. The elected King of Poland was to be elected by Lithuanian noble families as a Grand Duke of Lithuania (until then Lithuanian dukedom was hereditary). The first ruler of the common country was Sigismund II Augustus. Following the partitions in 1772, 1793, and 1795, the commonwealth ceased to exist and Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire for 123 years. There are some gaps in the timeline as it took a while to elect a new king. The first Grand Duke elected after the Gediminyds line went extinct and after the Valois fled back to France was Stephen Báthory, who had made an effort to be recognized as Grand Duke of Lithuania by establishing Vilnius University.
Title: King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lenkijos karalius ir Lietuvos didysis kunigaikštis; Belarusian: karol Polščy, vialiki kniaź litoŭski; Polish: Król Polski, wielki książę litewski).
LITHUANIAN CONSORTS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lithuanian_consorts
Krupski (Belarusian: Крупскі, Polish: Krupski, Russian: Крупский, Ukrainian: Крупський) - Belorussian[1] nobility (gentry) family
Education Surnamegenus Krupski was before the XIV century together with the common practice for all nobleman in Europe.[2] And comes from attachment to a personal name of hereditary nobles who owned the family nest Krupe (now the village in Gmina Krasnystaw), founders genus Krupski.[3] According to documentary texts in Latin and in Polish - "de Krupe". In Latin, Polish "Ivan de Krupe" - Johannis de Crupe (up to the XIV century). In the XV century under the influence of Slavic culture in the texts in Polish there is definitely a modern form of surname Krupski. Polish, "Ivan Krupski" - Jan Krupski (Krupskij). Already on the Latin text of 1534 contains - "Crupsky" (an Act put on earth Krupski Jerome)[4] in 1550 - "Crupski" (the Act of completing his studies at the Cracow University of Krupski Valery[5]). In the Old Belorussian and Russian texts of the XIX century - "Крупскій (Крупскі)" or "Крупский". Surnames in Russian Empire became standard later than noble, after the abolition of serfdom in 1861 (Peasant Reform in Russia).[6] The manuscript authoritative historian of the Polish Roman Catholic Bishop Jan Dlugosh (1415–1480) in the description of the emblem Korczak: ancestors Krupski - Korczak (in Latin - "Corczakowye"), and their nationality and ethnic origin - Rusyns (in Latin - "Genus Ruthenicum").[7] The first known Ancestor of the emblem Korczak - Rusin, diplomat and military commander Krupski[8] Jerzy (1472–1548). He owned estates in Krupe "Chervona Rus" on land "Holmschina" (now - the village Krupe Gmina Krasnystaw Krasnystaw County Lublin Voivodeship Poland). There he founded the fort in 1492 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krupski
Education Surnamegenus Krupski was before the XIV century together with the common practice for all nobleman in Europe.[2] And comes from attachment to a personal name of hereditary nobles who owned the family nest Krupe (now the village in Gmina Krasnystaw), founders genus Krupski.[3] According to documentary texts in Latin and in Polish - "de Krupe". In Latin, Polish "Ivan de Krupe" - Johannis de Crupe (up to the XIV century). In the XV century under the influence of Slavic culture in the texts in Polish there is definitely a modern form of surname Krupski. Polish, "Ivan Krupski" - Jan Krupski (Krupskij). Already on the Latin text of 1534 contains - "Crupsky" (an Act put on earth Krupski Jerome)[4] in 1550 - "Crupski" (the Act of completing his studies at the Cracow University of Krupski Valery[5]). In the Old Belorussian and Russian texts of the XIX century - "Крупскій (Крупскі)" or "Крупский". Surnames in Russian Empire became standard later than noble, after the abolition of serfdom in 1861 (Peasant Reform in Russia).[6] The manuscript authoritative historian of the Polish Roman Catholic Bishop Jan Dlugosh (1415–1480) in the description of the emblem Korczak: ancestors Krupski - Korczak (in Latin - "Corczakowye"), and their nationality and ethnic origin - Rusyns (in Latin - "Genus Ruthenicum").[7] The first known Ancestor of the emblem Korczak - Rusin, diplomat and military commander Krupski[8] Jerzy (1472–1548). He owned estates in Krupe "Chervona Rus" on land "Holmschina" (now - the village Krupe Gmina Krasnystaw Krasnystaw County Lublin Voivodeship Poland). There he founded the fort in 1492 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krupski
Alfred
–Freddy Ashina Tarnawa Krupa , prof. MFA, as one belonging to the Krupa family,
on its turn belongs, to the old-line
(«szlachta odwieczna»), „self-rooted“ Polish nobility by the way of adoption
into (and particulary to clan Tarnawa), as
the Krupa family are descendents of the converted to Roman Catholicism
Ashkenazi Judaists (18th century forced conversion of Shabbateians/Frankists
and nobilitation based on Polish custom
and 3rd Lithuanian statute from 1588).
According to armiger's Genetic Genealogy investigation, from paternal lineage he is a descendent of the medieval Turkic clan Ashina (the ruling dynasty in the Gok-Turk and the Khazarian Khaganates, as well as in number of other Central Asian nomadic empires), converted to Judaism in Khazarian Khaganate, and, from maternal lineage, of the ancient Israeli tribe of Levi, but also connected to Khazars in a way that this particular bloodline was «created» by fusion, of above named turko-mongolic Ashina Royal Dynasty from male side, and from female side from the Tribe of Levi, during existence of the Khazarian Empire.
This background is illustrated by coat of arms as follows:
The cross and the increscent (the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian "herb Tarnawa") represent recognised affiliation to the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian nobility, and especially, to Tarnawa. At the same time, in this particular case, the arms would be mostly interpreted as a symbol of the conversion to Christianity of those who
came from the East, meaning on Hebrew Mongols who accepted «the cross», as Khazarian refugees - then as part of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, at some point in time, in the Polish-Lithuanian State.
The Levite priest in ephod is for the maternal ancestors and old Judaistic faith of his ancestors. The ephod is the proper insignia of the tribe of Levi.
The wolf is a totem of the Ashina's clan, and golden wolf head is the banner of the Ashina in the historical sources. Here it represents armiger's paternal ancestors, and original religion of his ancestors – the Turkic Shamanism.
The compartment symbolizes armiger's connection to these ancestors.
According to armiger's Genetic Genealogy investigation, from paternal lineage he is a descendent of the medieval Turkic clan Ashina (the ruling dynasty in the Gok-Turk and the Khazarian Khaganates, as well as in number of other Central Asian nomadic empires), converted to Judaism in Khazarian Khaganate, and, from maternal lineage, of the ancient Israeli tribe of Levi, but also connected to Khazars in a way that this particular bloodline was «created» by fusion, of above named turko-mongolic Ashina Royal Dynasty from male side, and from female side from the Tribe of Levi, during existence of the Khazarian Empire.
This background is illustrated by coat of arms as follows:
The cross and the increscent (the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian "herb Tarnawa") represent recognised affiliation to the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian nobility, and especially, to Tarnawa. At the same time, in this particular case, the arms would be mostly interpreted as a symbol of the conversion to Christianity of those who
came from the East, meaning on Hebrew Mongols who accepted «the cross», as Khazarian refugees - then as part of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, at some point in time, in the Polish-Lithuanian State.
The Levite priest in ephod is for the maternal ancestors and old Judaistic faith of his ancestors. The ephod is the proper insignia of the tribe of Levi.
The wolf is a totem of the Ashina's clan, and golden wolf head is the banner of the Ashina in the historical sources. Here it represents armiger's paternal ancestors, and original religion of his ancestors – the Turkic Shamanism.
The compartment symbolizes armiger's connection to these ancestors.
