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Golden Liberty
Golden Liberty (; , ), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a political system in the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and, after the Union of Lublin (1569), in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under that system, all nobles (''szlachta''), regardless of rank, economic status or their ethnic background were considered to have equal legal status and enjoyed Szlachta privileges, extensive legal rights and privileges. The nobility controlled the legislature (the ''Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sejm''—the parliament) and the Commonwealth's elective monarchy, elected king. Development This political system, unique in Europe, stemmed from the consolidation of power by the ''szlachta'' (nobility, noble class) over other social classes and over the monarchy, monarchical political system. In time, the Szlachta's privileges, ''szlachta'' accumulated enough privil ...
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Kanclerz
The Chancellor of Poland ( - , from ), officially, the Grand Chancellor of the Crown between 1385 and 1795, was one of the highest officials in the historic Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. A respective office also existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 16th century. Today the office of the chancellor has been replaced by that of the Prime Minister. The Chancellors' powers rose together with the increasing importance of written documents. In the 14th century the office of Chancellor of Kraków () evolved into the Chancellor of the Crown () and from that period the chancellor powers were greatly increased, as they became responsible for the foreign policy of the entire Kingdom (later, the Commonwealth). The Chancellor was also supposed to ensure the legality of monarch's actions, especially whether or not they could be considered illeg ...
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Sejmik
A sejmik (, diminutive of ''sejm'', occasionally translated as a ''dietine''; ) was one of various local parliaments in the history of Poland and history of Lithuania. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies in the Kingdom of Poland (before 1572), though they gained significantly more influence in the later era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (18th century). Sejmiks arose around the late 14th and early 15th centuries and existed until the end of the Commonwealth in 1795, following the partitions of the Commonwealth. In a limited form, some sejmiks existed in partitioned Poland (1795–1918), and later in the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939). In modern Poland, since 1999, the term has revived with the ''voivodeship sejmiks'' (''sejmiki województwa''), referring to the elected councils of each of the 16 voivodeships. The competencies of sejmiks varied over time, and there were also geographical differences. Often, numerous different types of sejmiks coexisted in ...
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Liberum Veto
The ''liberum veto'' (Latin for "free veto") was a parliamentary device in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a form of unanimity voting rule that allowed any member of the Sejm (legislature) to force an immediate end to the current session and to nullify any legislation that had already been passed at the session by shouting either ''Sisto activitatem!'' (Latin: "I stop the activity!") or ''Nie pozwalam!'' ( Polish: "I do not allow!"). The rule was in place from the mid-17th century to the late 18th century in the Sejm's parliamentary deliberations. It was based on the premise that since all of the Polish–Lithuanian noblemen were equal, every measure that came before the Sejm had to be passed unanimously. The ''liberum veto'' was a key part of the political system of the Commonwealth, strengthening democratic elements and checking royal power and went against the European-wide trend of having a strong executive ( absolute monarchy). Many historians hold that the '' ...
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Warsaw Confederation
The Warsaw Confederation, also called the Compact of Warsaw, was a political-legal act signed in Warsaw on 28 January 1573 by the first Convocation Sejm (''Sejm konwokacyjny'') held in the Polish Commonwealth. Convened and deliberating as a confederation between 6 and 29 January 1573, during the Commonwealth's first interregnum period (1572–1574), it aimed to form a general confederation to prepare the election of a new king of Poland and ensure continuity during the interregnum. The confederation also pursued the goal of a religious tolerance edict, while ensuring the political equality of dissenters with Catholics. It was one of the first European acts to grant freedom of religion. It was an important development in the history of Poland and Lithuania, extending religious tolerance to the nobility and free persons ( burghers, the townspeople of royal cities) within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. This event is considered the formal beginning of religious freedom in ...
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Religious Toleration
Religious tolerance or religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". Historically, most incidents and writings pertaining to toleration involve the status of minority and dissenting viewpoints in relation to a dominant state religion. However, religion is also sociological, and the practice of toleration has always had a political aspect as well. An overview of the history of toleration and different cultures in which toleration has been practiced, and the ways in which such a paradoxical concept has developed into a guiding one, illuminates its contemporary use as political, social, religious, and ethnic, applying to LGBT individuals and other minorities, and other connected concepts such as human rights. Definition The term "tolerance" derives from the Latin ''tolerantia'', me ...
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Insurrection
Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a portion of a state. A rebellion is often caused by political, religious, or social grievances that originate from a perceived inequality or marginalization. ''Rebellion'' comes from Latin ''re'' and ''bellum'', and in Lockian philosophy refers to the responsibility of the people to overthrow unjust government. Classification Uprisings which revolt, resisting and taking direct action against an authority, law or policy, as well as organize, are rebellions. An insurrection is an uprising to change the government. If a government does not recognize rebels as belligerents, then they are insurgents and the revolt is an insurgency. In a larger conflict, the rebels may be recognized as belligerents without their government being recognize ...
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Rokosz
A rokosz () originally was a Meeting, gathering of all the Polish ''szlachta'' (nobility), not merely of deputies, for a ''sejm''. The term was introduced to the Polish language from Hungary, where analogous gatherings took place at a field called Rákos. With time, "rokosz" came to signify an armed, semi-legal rebellion by the szlachta of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against the king, in the name of defending threatened liberties. The nobles who gathered for a ''rokosz'' formed a "confederation (Poland), confederation".Juliusz Bardach, Bogusław Leśnodorski, and Michał Pietrzak, ''Historia państwa i prawa polskiego'' (Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.225-226) The institution of the rokosz, in the latter sense, derived from the medieval right to resist royal power. The rokosz took its authority from the right to refuse obedience to the king, as stipulated in the Privilege of Mielnik (''przywilej mielnicki'', signed October 23, 1501) and later in the Henri ...
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Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language in the Italian Peninsula and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. It has greatly influenced many languages, Latin influence in English, including English, having contributed List of Latin words with English derivatives, many words to the English lexicon, particularly after the Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England, Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest. Latin Root (linguistics), roots appear frequently in the technical vocabulary used by fields such as theology, List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names, the sciences, List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes, medicine, and List of Latin legal terms ...
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Royal Elections In Poland
Royal elections in Poland ( Polish: ''wolna elekcja'', lit. ''free election'') were the elections of individual kings, rather than dynasties, to the Polish throne. Based on traditions dating to the very beginning of the Polish statehood, strengthened during the Piast and Jagiellon dynasties, they reached their final form in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth period between 1572 and 1791. The "free election" was abolished by the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which established a constitutional-parliamentary monarchy. Evolution The tradition of electing the country's ruler, which occurred either when there was no clear heir to the throne, or to confirm the heir's appointment, dates to the very beginning of Polish statehood. Legends survive of the 9th-century election of the legendary founder of the first Polish royal family, Piast the Wheelwright of the Piast dynasty, and similar voting of his son, Siemowit (that would place a Polish ruler's vote a century before the ear ...
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Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the elder" or "old man") and therefore considered wiser and more experienced members of the society or ruling class. However the Roman Senate was not the ancestor or predecessor of modern parliamentarism in any sense, because the Roman senate was not a de jure legislative body. Many countries have an assembly named a ''senate'', composed of ''senators'' who may be election, elected, appointed, have inheritance, inherited the title, or gained membership by other methods, depending on the country. Modern senates typically serve to provide a chamber of "sober second thought" to consider legislation passed by a lower house, whose members are usually elected. Most senates have asymmetrical duties and powers compared w ...
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