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The Free Royal Cities Act (, ), also known as the Law on the Cities (), was an act adopted by the Four-Year Sejm (1788–1792) of the
The Free Royal Cities Act (, ), also known as the Law on the Cities (), was an act adopted by the Four-Year Sejm (1788–1792) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
on April 18, 1791, in the run-up to the adoption of the Constitution of May 3, 1791. The Act was subsequently incorporated '' in extenso'' into the Constitution by reference in its Article III.
The Act granted to the Commonwealth's townspeople of the royal cities
The term royal city denotes a privilege that some cities in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown enjoyed during the Middle Ages. It meant the city was an inalienable part of the royal estate; the king could not sell or pledge the city. At the beginnin ...
personal security, the right to acquire landed property and eligibility to military officers' commissions and public offices, It did not give them the rights of ''szlachta
The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...
'' (nobility) but allow the possibility for ennoblement
Ennoblement is the conferring of nobility—the induction of an individual into the noble class. Currently only a few kingdoms still grant nobility to people; among them Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Vatican. Depending on time and reg ...
. It also provided townspeople the right of representation in the ''Sejm
The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
'' as advisers in the cities' affairs.The Third of May ConstitutionSee also
* Black Procession * Jan DekertNotes
References
* Joseph Kasparek, ''The Constitutions of Poland and of the United States: Kinships and Genealogy'', Miami, American Institute of Polish Culture, 1980, pp. 31–33. 1791 in law Legal history of Poland Great Sejm {{Lithuania-hist-stub