The Privilege of Koszyce or Privilege of Kassa
[Clifford Rogers (editor): ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology'', Oxford University Press, 201]
/ref> was a set of concessions made by Louis I of Hungary
Louis I, also Louis the Great (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of ...
to the Polish 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) in 1374. The privileges were granted in Kassa, Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
(; now Košice
Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...
, Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
). In exchange, one of Louis's daughters (Catherine
Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...
, Mary or Jadwiga) was to ascend the throne of Poland after his death.
The szlachta obtained the following privileges:
*release from the obligation to pay tribute, with the exception of a nominal or token of two groschen
Groschen (; from "thick", via Old Czech ') is the (sometimes colloquial) name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in parts of Europe including Kingdom of France, France, some of the Italian states, and various states of the Holy R ...
from one field, to the monarch;
*release from the duty to build and repair castles, except for those nobles holding territory in eastern Poland, where the threat from Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
was significant;
*the restriction of eligibility for certain offices to persons of Polish (as opposed to Lithuanian, Hungarian, or other) ethnicity;
*payment of soldiers' wages to the szlachta who personally fought in military campaigns;
*release from the duty to build towns and bridges;
*release from the duty to provide food, lodging, and other accommodations for the king and his court when he was traveling within the kingdom.
Louis's promising of the privileges was a success, as his youngest daughter Jadwiga eventually succeeded her father as monarch of Poland after the Greater Poland Civil War
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. Hungarian influence in Poland waned, as one of the conditions for Jadwiga's ascention to the Polish throne was the end of the Polish-Hungarian Union. Louis might have intended for the privileges to be rescindend, but his death prevented that from happening.
The privileges gave a significant power boost to the szlachta and influenced the Polish government for centuries.
References
External links
Multi-language translation of the document
{{DEFAULTSORT:Privilege Of Koszyce
History of Košice
1370s in law
1374 in Europe
14th century in Poland
14th century in Hungary
Legal history of Poland
Succession acts