''Nihil novi nisi commune consensu'' ("Nothing new without the common consent") is the original

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 aroun ...

title of a 1505 act or

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

adopted by the Polish ''

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' ...

'' (

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

), meeting in the royal castle at Radom.

Etymology

The

expression, "''nihil novi''" ("nothing new"), had previously appeared in the Vulgate Bible phrase, "''nihil novi sub sole''" ("there is nothing new under the sun"), in ''

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

'' 1:9. "''Nihil novi''" in this

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

sense, is interpreted in the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

as " Nothing about us without us" (in Polish, "''Nic o nas bez nas''").

History

''Nihil novi'' effectively established " nobles' democracy" in what came to be known as the Polish " Commonwealth r Republic">Republic.html" ;"title="r Republic">r Republicof the Nobility". It was a major component of the evolution and eventual dominant position of the Polish parliament (Sejm).

''Nihil novi''

The act of ''Nihil novi'' was passed in 1505 during a

session in Radom () that lasted from 30 March to 31 May and was held at the . It was signed by King Alexander Jagiellon on 31 March and adopted by the Sejm on 30 May. The Sejm''s 1505 Act of ''Nihil novi nisi commune consensu'' marked an important victory for Poland's

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

over her kings. It forbade the king to issue laws without the consent of the nobility, represented by the '' Senat'' and Chamber of Deputies, except for laws governing royal cities,

crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

s (''królewszczyzny''), mines,

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s, royal

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

s, and

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s. ''Nihil novi'' invalidated the Privilege of Mielnik, which had strengthened only the magnates, and it thus tipped the balance of power in favor of the Chamber of Deputies (the formally lower chamber of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

), where the ordinary

held sway. ''Nihil novi'' is often regarded as initiating the period in Polish history known as " Nobles' Democracy," which was but a limited democracy as only male nobility (''

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 ...

'') were able to participate (the nobility constituting some ten percent of the Republic's population, still a higher suffrage than in all of the world until the late 19th century).

Text

References

Sources

* Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes. Volume I: The Origins to 1795'', New York, Columbia University Press, 1982, . * Sebastian Piątkowski, ''Radom: zarys dziejów miasta'' (Radom: A Brief History of the City), Radom, 2000, . * Adam Zamoyski, ''The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture'', New York, Hippocrene Books, 1994, .

External links

Latin version of act
(Starting in second section of page) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nihil Novi 1505 in law 1505 in Poland Legal history of Poland Latin words and phrases Latin legal terminology Constitutions of Poland Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth