As with most European countries at the time, the Commonwealth had extensive forest cover, especially in the east. Today, what remains of the Białowieża Forest constitutes the last largely intact primeval forest in Europe. [272] Image gallery Politics and economy Statuta Regni Poloniae in ordinem alphabeti digesta (Statutes of the Polish Kingdom, Arranged in Alphabetical Order), 1563 18th century amber casket.
[27] The Constitution of 1791 acknowledged Catholicism as the "dominant religion", unlike the Warsaw Confederation, but freedom of religion was still granted with it. [22] After several decades of prosperity, [28][29][30] it entered a period of protracted political, [22][31] military, and economic decline. [32] Its growing weakness led to its partitioning among its neighbors (Austria, Prussia, and Russia) during the late 18th century.
For the non-Polish noble such conversion meant a final step of Polonization that followed the adoption of the Polish language and culture. [228] Poland, as the culturally most advanced part of the Commonwealth, with the royal court, the capital, the largest cities, the second-oldest university in Central Europe (after Prague), and the more liberal and democratic social institutions had proven an irresistible magnet for the non-Polish nobility in the Commonwealth. [23] Many referred to themselves as "gente Ruthenus, natione Polonus" (Ruthenian by blood, Polish by nationality) since the 16th century onwards.
Lithuania - Hungary 23.02.2023
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 26 June 2009. ^ Francis Dvornik (1992). The Slavs in European History and Civilization. Rutgers University Press. p. 300. ISBN 0-8135-0799-5. ^ Salo Wittmayer Baron (1976). A social and religious history of the Jews. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08853-1. ^ Martin Van Gelderen, Quentin Skinner, Republicanism: A Shared European Heritage, Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-521-80756-5 p. 54. ^ a b "The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis" Archived 15 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine (discussion and full online text) of Evsey Domar (1970).
[citation needed] Late reforms The Commonwealth did eventually make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which historian Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe. [37] The revolutionary Constitution recast the erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Polish–Lithuanian federal state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system. The new constitution: abolished the liberum veto and banned the szlachta's confederations; provided for a separation of powers among legislative, executive and judicial branches of government; established "popular sovereignty" and extended political rights to include not only the nobility but the bourgeoisie; increased the rights of the peasantry; preserved religious tolerance (but with a condemnation of apostasy from the Catholic faith).
Szlachta and Sarmatism The prevalent ideology of the szlachta became "Sarmatism", named after the Sarmatians, alleged ancestors of the Poles. [139] This belief system was an important part of szlachta culture, penetrating all aspects of its life. Sarmatism enshrined equality among szlachta, horseback riding, tradition, provincial quaint life in manor houses, peace and pacifism; championed oriental-inspired souvenirs or attire for men (żupan, kontusz, sukmana, pas kontuszowy, delia, szabla); favoured European Baroque architecture; endorsed Latin as a language of thought or expression; and served to integrate the multi-ethnic nobility by creating an almost nationalistic sense of unity and of pride in Golden Liberty. [139] In its early, idealistic form, Sarmatism represented a positive cultural movement: it supported religious belief, honesty, national pride, courage, equality and freedom.
[164] Countless goods and cultural artefacts continued to pass from one region to another via the Commonwealth, particularly that the country was a link between the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe. [165] For instance, Isfahan rugs imported from Persia to the Commonwealth were incorrectly known as "Polish rugs" (French: Polonaise) in Western Europe. [166] Military Kraków Militia, a local guard formation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 16th and 17th centuries The military in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth evolved from the merger of the armies from the Polish Kingdom and from the Grand Lithuanian Duchy, though each state maintained its own division.
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