Szlachta

Szlachta (pronounced: ) was the noble class in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The szlachta were formed in the late Middle Ages and existed through the 18th century and into the 19th century. Traditionally, the szlachta were owners of landed property, often in the form of folwarks. The szlachta enjoyed substantial and almost unrivalled political privileges until the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century. The nobility was officially abolished during the Second Polish Republic by the March 1921 Constitution, though membership in its ranks remains widely claimed in various strata of Polish society at home and abroad.

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 toward a partial democracy (and eventually, anarchy).

Related Topics:
Nobility - Absolute monarchy - King - Political system - Democracy - Anarchy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Poland's nobility were also more numerous than those of all other European countries, they formed some 8-10% of the population, and in some poorer regions (e.g. Mazowsze, the area centred on Warsaw) nearly 30%. By contrast, the nobilities of other European countries, except for Spain, amounted to a mere 1-3%.

Related Topics:
Mazowsze - Warsaw - Europe

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There were a number of ways to upward social mobility and the achievement of nobility. Poland's nobility, unlike France's aristocracy, was not a rigidly exclusive, closed class. Many low-born individuals, including townsfolk, peasants and Jews, could and did rise in Polish society. Thus Poland's noble class was more stable than those of other countries, and so was spared the societal tensions and eventual disintegration that characterised the French revolution. Each szlachic had enormous influence over the country's politics, in some form even greater that what is 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 of liberum veto (Latin: I don't allow), except in the case of a confederated sejm or confederated sejmik.

Related Topics:
France - Aristocracy - Townsfolk - Peasant - Jew - French revolution - Democratic - 1652 - 1791 - Sejm - Sejmik - Liberum veto - Latin - Confederated sejm

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All children of the Polish nobility inherited their noble status from a noble mother and father. Any individual could attain ennoblement (Polish: "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).

Related Topics:
Ennoble - King - 1641 - General sejm

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In theory at least, all Polish noblemen were social equals. The poorest enjoyed the same rights as the wealthiest magnate. The exceptions were a few privileged families such as the Radziwi??, Lubomirski and Czartoryski, who sported aristocratic titles received from foreign courts, such as "Prince" or "Count." All other szlachta simply addressed each other by their given name or as "Sir Brother" (Panie bracie) or the feminine equivalent.

Related Topics:
Magnate - Radziwi?? - Lubomirski - Czartoryski - Prince - Count

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

According to their financial standing, the nobility could be divided into:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• magnates: the wealthiest class;
• middle nobility;
• lesser nobility (often referred to by a variety of colourful Polish terms such as
• szaraczkowa - 'grey ones', from their grey, woollen, uncoloured zupans
• za?ciankowa - from za?cianek, a name for szlachta village, full of zagrody, the impoverished
• okoliczna - 'nearby', similar to za?ciankowa
• zagrodowa - from zagroda, a poor szlachta house, often little different from a peasant's dwelling
• zagonowa - from zagon, a small unit of land measure
• cz?stkowa - 'partial', owners of only part of a single village
• dr??kowa - when gathered, had no comfortable chairs, so they had to sit on fences and the like
• go?ota - 'naked ones', i.e. the landless, or ones who owned no land
• panki - little 'pan' (i.e. lordling), term used in Kaszuby, the Kashubian region
• brukowa - 'cobbled ones', for those living in towns like townsfolk
• hreczkosiej - 'those who saw' and have to work on their own fields by themselves

Heraldry

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most notable difference is that, contrary to other european heraldic systems, the coat of arms did not "belong" to a family or a clan, but the other way around, the szlachta family pertained to a coat of arms. As a consequence, it was common that many distinct, unrelated families (sometimes as many as 600) share the same coat of arms. Because of that, the symbols were barely ever parted. Logically, the number of coats of arms in this system was rather low and did not exceed 200 in late Middle Ages.

Related Topics:
Szlachta - Middle Ages

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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 (or the member of the clan who "adopted them") while women inherited it after their mothers or were adopted to the family of the husband. Also, the brisure was rarely used.

Related Topics:
Lozenge - Brisure

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sarmatism

The szlachta's prevalent mentality and ideology were manifested in "Sarmatism," a name derived from supposed ancestors of the szlachta, the Sarmatians. This belief system became an important part of szlachta culture and affected all aspects of their lives. It enshrined traditional village life, peace and pacifism; popularised oriental-style apparel (the ?upan, 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 nationalistic sense of unity and pride in the szlachta's Golden Freedom (z?ota wolno??). Knowledge of Latin was widespread, and most szlachta freely mixed Polish and Latin ("macaronisms" — from "macaroni") in everyday conversation.

Related Topics:
Ideology - Sarmatism - Sarmatians - ?upan - Kontusz - Sukmana - Pas kontuszowy - Delia - Scimitar - Szabla - Nationalistic - Latin - Macaronism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In its early, idealistic form, Sarmatism seemed like a salutary cultural movement: it fostered religious faith, honesty, national pride, courage, equality and freedom. As with any doctrine, however, that puts one social class above others, it eventually became perverted. 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.

Related Topics:
Social class - Dissension - Anarchy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Religious beliefs

Prior to the Reformation, the Polish nobility were mostly Catholic or Orthodox. 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 Poland (the Catholic and Orthodox churches each accounted for some 40% of the population, with the remaining 20% being Jews or members of Protestant denominations). Szlachta, as the Commonwealth itself, was extremely tolerant of other religions. There were almost no conflicts based on faith, and szlachta members are known to have intervened several times to pacify religious conflicts in cities and towns. In the 18th century, many followers of Jacob Frank joined the ranks of Jewish-descended Polish gentry.

Related Topics:
Reformation - Catholic - Orthodox - Reformed - Counter-Reformation - Roman Catholic Church - Poland - Jew - 18th century - Jacob Frank

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~