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			{{Short description|Noble class in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania}}
	{{For|the village|Szlachta, Pomeranian Voivodeship}}
	{{Italic title}}		{{Italic title}}
			{{For|the village|Szlachta, Pomeranian Voivodeship}}
	], ] and the ] in the 17th and 18th century.]]
	] during the times of King ], by ], 1880.]]		], ] and the ] in the 17th and 18th century.]]
			] During the Times of King ]'', by ], 1880.]]
	], nobleman, politician, Grand Treasurer and an important figure in the country during the ].]]
			], a nobleman from ]]]
	The '''''szlachta''''' ({{IPAc-pl|AUD|Pl-szlachta.ogg|'|sz|l|a|ch|t|a}}, ]: ''Nobility'') was a ] ] ] in the ], and the ] (after the ] in 1569, the Kingdom and Grand Duchy became a single state, the ]). Following the ] (1648-57), it included the ], officially known as the ] (1649–1764).<ref></ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://shron.chtyvo.org.ua/Seniutovych-Berezhnyi_Viacheslav/Kozatstvo_ta_borotba_starshyny-shliakhty_na_Hetmanschyni_za_vyznannia_za_neiu_rosiiskym_uriadom_prav_dvorianstva.pdf |title=Козацтво та боротьба старшини-шляхти на Шетьманщині за визнання за нею російським урядом прав дворянства |access-date=2017-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419100614/http://shron.chtyvo.org.ua/Seniutovych-Berezhnyi_Viacheslav/Kozatstvo_ta_borotba_starshyny-shliakhty_na_Hetmanschyni_za_vyznannia_za_neiu_rosiiskym_uriadom_prav_dvorianstva.pdf |archive-date=2017-04-19 |dead-url=yes |df= }}</ref> It gained considerable institutional privileges between 1333 and 1370 in the ] during the reign of King ].<ref name="davies--norman">{{Cite book
	| last = Davies
	| first = Norman
	| authorlink = Norman Davies
	| title = ]
	| publisher = ]
	| date = 1982
	| isbn = 0-231-05351-7 }}</ref>{{rp|211}} In 1413, following a series of tentative ]s between the ] and the Crown Kingdom of Poland, the existing ]-] formally joined this class.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|211}} As the ] (1569–1795) evolved and expanded in territory, its membership grew to include the leaders of ] and ].
			The '''''szlachta''''' (<small>Polish:</small> {{IPAc-pl|AUD|Pl-szlachta.ogg|'|sz|l|a|ch|t|a}}; ]: ''šlėkta'') were the ] ] in the ], the ] and the ] and, as a ], dominated those states<ref name=epwn/> by exercising ].<ref name="szlachta-an-electorate">{{cite encyclopedia
	The origins of the szlachta are shrouded in obscurity and mystery and have been the subject of a variety of theories.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|207}} Traditionally, its members were owners of ], often in the form of "manor farms" or so-called '']s''. The nobility negotiated substantial and increasing political and legal ]s for itself throughout its entire history until the decline of the ] in the late 18th century.
			| last1 = Davies
			| first1 = Ivor Norman Richard
			| author-link1 = Norman Davies
			| last2 = Dawson
			| first2 = Andrew Hutchinson
			| last3 = Jasiewicz
			| first3 = Krzysztof
			| author-link3 = :pl:Krzysztof Jasiewicz
			| last4 = Kondracki
			| first4 = Jerzy Aleksander
			| author-link4 = :pl:Jerzy Kondracki
			| last5 = Wandycz
			| first5 = Piotr Stefan
			| author-link5 = Piotr S. Wandycz
			| encyclopedia = ]
			| title = Poland
			| url = https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland/The-Commonwealth
			| access-date = 24 April 2021
			| date = 2 June 2017
			| page = 15
			| quote = Ranging from the poorest landless yeomen to the great magnates, the szlachta insisted on the equality of all its members. As a political nation it was more numerous (8–10 percent) than the electorate of most European states even in the early 19th century.}}</ref><ref name="races-old-world--aristocracy--caste">{{cite journal
			| last1 = Hutton
			| first1 = Richard Holt
			| author-link1 = Richard Holt Hutton
			| last2 = Bagehot
			| first2 = Walter
			| author-link2 = Walter Bagehot
			| date = January 1864
			| title = The Races of the Old World
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4u4RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA484
			| journal = ]
			| location = London, England
			| publisher = Robson and Levey
			| access-date = 9 Oct 2014
			| pages = 484
			| quote = "These remark exactly express the view which we entertain in regard to the population of Poland. There we find an aristocracy of equals resting upon a basis of serfage, an upper caste drawing the rents of the land, monopolising the government, and composing the army of the country, and who, in the course of long centuries, have imparted much of their own spirit and ideas, and, with the license of a gay aristocracy, not a little of their blood also, to the subordinate population."
			}}</ref><ref name="szlachta-can-be-king">{{cite book
			| last = Ross
			| first = M.
			| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fqxDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51
			| title = A history of Poland from its foundation as a state to the present time; including a full account of the recent patriotic struggle to re-establish its independence. To which is prefixed, a descriptive view of the country, its natural history, cities and towns, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants
			| year = 1835
			| publisher = Pattison and Ross
			| location = Newcastle upon Tyne, England
			| page = 51
			| chapter = A Descriptive View of Poland: Character, Manners, and Customs of the Poles
			| quote = Once admitted within the pale of nobility, every honour of the state, and even the kingly office, was open, there being a perfect equality of civil rights.}}</ref><ref name="szlachta-equality">{{cite journal
			| last = Skwarczyński
			| first = Paweł
			| date = June 1956
			| title = The Problem of Feudalism in Poland up to the Beginning of the 16th Century
			| jstor = 4204744
			| journal = ]
			| location = Salisbury House, Station Road, ], ], ]
			| publisher = ]
			| volume = 34
			| issue = 83
			| page = 299
			| quote = As the knights owned their land, there was no room or need for any intermediaries between them and the king. All of them were equal before the king; but they were not king's tenants, and the king was not their overlord. Their relationship to the king was not feudal, i.e., based on feudal dependence, but rather it was regulated by public law. ... From the fact that the knights were equal before the king, the theory of equality was evolved, which later became one of the important features of the constitution.}}</ref><ref name="zamoyski-clannish-structures">{{cite book
			| last = Zamoyski
			| first = Adam
			|author-link=Adam Zamoyski
			| title = The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture
			| orig-date = 1987
			| year = 1998
			| edition = Fourth Printing
			| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
			| publisher = ]
			| location = New York
			| page =
			| quote = Polish society had evolved from clannish structures, and the introduction of Christianity and all that went with it did not alter these significantly. The feudal system which regulated society all over Europe was never introduced into Poland, and this fact cannot be stressed too heavily.
			| url = https://archive.org/details/polishwaythousan00zamo/page/24
			}}</ref><ref name="only-szlachta-are-citizens">{{cite book
			| last = Struve
			| first = Kai
			| editor-last = Wawrzeniuk
			| editor-first = Piotr
			| editor-link = Piotr Wawrzeniuk
			| chapter-url = https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:214737/FULLTEXT01.pdf
			| type = History
			| title = SOCIETAL CHANGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FORMATION AMONG THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BALTIC AREA 1880-1939
			| chapter = Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century
			| year = 2008
			| publisher = ]
			| location = ], ], ], ]
			| isbn = 978-91-85139-11-8
			| pages = 76–77
			| quote = A deep division between enserfed peasants and gentry landowners had developed in the early modern Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The noble estate, the szlachta, monopolized the political rights and consequently only the szlachta, as constituted by the Commonwealth's sovereign, according to the early modern understanding of the concept, as well as the Polish nation and its members, were considered to be citizens.}}</ref> Szlachta as a class differed significantly from the ] of ].<ref name="zamoyski-not-gentry-not-nobility" /><ref name="dmowski-clan-system"/> The estate was officially abolished in 1921 by the ].<ref name=epwn>, ''Encyklopedia PWN''</ref>
			The origins of the ''szlachta'' are obscure and the subject of several theories.<ref name="davies--norman">{{Cite book|last=Davies|first=Norman|title=God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volume I - The Origins to 1795|title-link=God's Playground|date=1982|publisher=]|isbn=0-231-05351-7|author-link=Norman Davies}}</ref>{{rp|207}} Traditionally, its members ],<ref name="szlachta--allodial">{{cite journal
	During the ] from 1772 to 1795, its members began to lose these legal privileges and social status. From that point until 1918, the legal status of the nobility was essentially dependent upon the policies of the three partitioning powers: the ], the ], and the ]. The legal privileges of the szlachta were legally abolished in the ] by the ] of 1921.
			| last = Skwarczyński
			| first = Paweł
			| date = June 1956
			| title = The Problem of Feudalism in Poland up to the Beginning of the 16th Century
			| jstor = 4204744
			| journal = ]
			| location = Salisbury House, Station Road, ], ], ]
			| publisher = ]
			| volume = 34
			| issue = 83
			| page = 298
			| quote = The resistance to the royal policy was so strong however that by far the greater part of the land was held by the knights as ]ial, not as feudal property, which is in striking contrast to the land conditions in England.}}</ref><ref name="szlachta-own-estates">{{cite book
			| last = Ross
			| first = M.
			| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fqxDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51
			| title = A history of Poland from its foundation as a state to the present time; including a full account of the recent patriotic struggle to re-establish its independence. To which is prefixed, a descriptive view of the country, its natural history, cities and towns, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants
			| year = 1835
			| publisher = Pattison and Ross
			| location = Newcastle upon Tyne, England
			| page = 51
			| chapter = A Descriptive View of Poland: Character, Manners, and Customs of the Poles
			| quote = By the laws of Poland, a noble is a person who possesses a ], or who can prove his descent from ancestors formerly possessing a ], following no trade or commerce, and at liberty to choose the place of his habitation; so that this description includes all persons above ] and ].}}</ref><ref name="szlachta-equality" /> often '']s''.<ref>Szulc, Halina. (1995) ''Morfogeneza Osiedli Wiejskich w Polsce'', Continuo, {{ISBN|83-86682-00-0}}, especially p. 59. In Polish but with a decent Summary in English about patterns of rural settlement in Poland since the Middle Ages. http://rcin.org.pl/igipz/Content/685/Wa51_5218_r1995-nr163_Prace-Geogr.pdf </ref> The ''szlachta'' secured ] throughout its history, beginning with the reign of King ] between 1333 and 1370 in the Kingdom of Poland<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|211}} until the decline and end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century. Apart from providing officers for the army, its chief civic obligations included ] and filling honorary and ] that would later evolve into the upper legislative chamber, the ]. The ''szlachta'' ]<ref name="szlachta-an-electorate" /> also took part in the government of the Commonwealth via the lower legislative chamber of the ], composed of representatives elected at local '']s'' (local ''szlachta'' assemblies). Sejmiks performed various governmental functions at local levels, such as appointing officials and overseeing judicial and financial governance, including tax-raising. The ''szlachta'' assumed various governing positions, including '']'', '']'', ], and '']''.<ref name="góralski--zbigniew">{{Cite book
			| last = Góralski
			| first = Zbigniew
			| title = Urzędy i godności w dawnej Polsce
			| publisher = LSW
			| date = 1998
			| isbn = 83-205-4533-1}} (Pol.)</ref>
			In 1413, following a series of tentative ]s between the ] and the ], the existing ] and ] formally joined the ''szlachta''.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|211}} As the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) evolved and expanded territorially after the ], its membership grew to include the leaders of ] and ]. Over time, membership in the ''szlachta'' grew to encompass around 8% to 15% of Polish-Lithuanian society, which made the membership an ] that was several times larger than most noble classes in other countries; by contrast, nobles in Italy and France encompassed 1% during the ].<ref name="szlachta-an-electorate" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kamen |first=Henry |url= |title=Early Modern European Society |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-415-15865-7 |edition=3rd |location=New Haven and London |pages=107 |language=en}}</ref>
	The notion that all Polish nobles were social equals, regardless of their financial status or offices held, is enshrined in a traditional Polish saying:
			Despite often enormous differences in wealth and political influence, few distinctions in law existed between the ] and lesser ''szlachta''.<ref name="szlachta-an-electorate" /> The juridic principle of ''szlachta'' equality existed because ''szlachta'' land titles were ]ial,<ref name="szlachta--allodial" /> not ], involving no requirement of feudal service to a ].<ref name="szlachta-equality" /><ref name="zamoyski-clannish-structures" /> Unlike ] who eventually took reign in most other European countries, the Polish king was not an ] and not the szlachta's overlord.<ref name="szlachta-equality" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski-allod">{{cite web
	{{poemquote|''Szlachcic na zagrodzie''
			| url = http://www.ststanislas.org/papers/american_nob.htm
	''równy wojewodzie.''}}
			| title = It's Time to End the Myth That Polish Immigrants Were Peasants
			| last = ]-Jakubowski
	—which may roughly be rendered:
			| first = Theodore
			| website = West European Grand Priory, International Order of St Stanislas
	{{poemquote|The noble on the ]
			| publisher = Order of St Stanislas
	Is the ]'s equal.}}
			| location = Croxteth House, Liverpool, Lancashire county, Merseyside, North West England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	or "the tenant farmer noble stands equal to the noble army commander".
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020704093315/http://www.ststanislas.org/papers/american_nob.htm
			| archive-date = 4 July 2002
			| access-date = 24 April 2021
			| quote = 1. The right to hold ] - not as a ], conditional upon service to the ], but absolutely in perpetuity unless sold.}}</ref> The relatively few hereditary ] in the Kingdom of Poland were bestowed by foreign monarchs, while in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, princely titles were mostly inherited by descendants of old dynasties.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} During the three successive ] between 1772 and 1795, most of the ''szlachta'' began to lose legal privileges and social status, while ''szlachta'' elites became part of the nobilities of the three partitioning powers.
	== History ==		== History ==
	=== Etymology ===		=== Etymology ===
			In Polish, a nobleman is called a "''szlachcic''" and a noblewoman a "''szlachcianka''".
	]
	The term ''szlachta'' is derived from the ] word ''slahta'' (modern German ''Geschlecht''; ultimately from the ] *''slagiz'', "blow", "strike"), which means "(noble) family", much as many other Polish words pertaining to the nobility derive from German words—e.g., the Polish "''rycerz''" ("knight", cognate of the German "''Ritter''"), Polish "''herb''" ("coat of arms", from the German "''Erbe''", "heritage"), and Polish "''ród''" and "''naród''" ("birth", indicating origin, blood line, stock or breed and "nation", cognates of Low German and Low Prussian "''rot/rod''", "root").
			The Polish term ''szlachta'' derived from the ] word ''slahta''. In modern German ''Geschlecht'' – which originally came from the ] *''slagiz'', "blow", "strike", and shares the ] root for "slaughter", or the verb "to slug" – means "breeding" or "gender". Like many other Polish words pertaining to nobility, it derives from Germanic words: the Polish word for "knight" is ''rycerz'', from the German ''Ritter'', meaning "rider". The Polish word for "coat of arms" is ''herb'' from the German ''Erbe'' ("heritage").
	Poles of the 17th century assumed that "''szlachta''" came from the German "''schlachten''" ("to slaughter" or "to butcher"); also suggestive is the German "''Schlacht''" ("battle"). Early Polish historians thought the term might have derived from the name of the legendary proto-Polish chief, ], mentioned in Polish and Czech writings.
			17th-century Poles assumed ''szlachta'' came from the German ''schlachten'', "to slaughter" or "to butcher", and was therefore related to the German word for battle, ''Schlacht''. Some early Polish historians thought the term might have derived from the name of the legendary proto-Polish chief, ], mentioned in Polish and Czech writings. The szlachta traced their descent from Lech, who allegedly founded the Polish kingdom in about the fifth century.<ref name="races-old-world">{{cite journal
			| last1 = Hutton
			| first1 = Richard Holt
			| author-link1 = Richard Holt Hutton
			| last2 = Bagehot
			| first2 = Walter
			| author-link2 = Walter Bagehot
			| date = January 1864
			| title = The Races of the Old World
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4u4RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA482
			| journal = ]
			| location = London, England
			| publisher = Robson and Levey
			| access-date = 9 Oct 2014
			}}</ref>{{rp|482}}
			The Polish term ''szlachta'' designated the formalized, hereditary<ref name="szacki--inherited--1995">{{cite book
	Some powerful szlachta members were referred to as "magnates" (Polish singular: "''magnat''", plural: "''magnaci''") and "''możny''" ("]", "oligarch"; plural: "''możni''"); see ].
			| last = Szacki
			| first = Jerzy Ryszard
			| author-link = Jerzy Szacki
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gU6_JbBHkXoC&pg=PA48
			| title = LIBERALISM AFTER COMMUNISM
			| year = 1995
			| publisher = ]
			| location = Budapest, Hungary
			| pages = 48
			| quote = ... the Polish nobility was a closed group (apart from a few exceptions, many of which were contrary to the law), in which membership was inherited.| isbn = 9781858660165
			}}</ref> ]<ref name="races-old-world--aristocracy--caste" /> of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which constituted the nation itself, and ruled without competition.<ref name="dmowski-szlachta-the-nation">{{cite book
			| last = Dmowski
			| first = Roman Stanisław
			| author-link = Roman Dmowski
			| editor-last = Duff
			| editor-first = James Duff
			| editor-link = James Duff Duff
			| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
			| title = RUSSIAN REALITIES AND PROBLEMS
			| year = 1917
			| publisher = ]
			| location = Cambridge
			| page = 116
			| chapter = Poland Old and New
			| quote = In the past the nobility in Poland constituted the nation itself. It ruled the country without competition on the part of any other class, the middle class being small in numbers and wealth, and the peasants being ].}}</ref><ref name="polish-peasant-not-belong-to-polish-nation">{{cite book
			| last = Boswell
			| first = Alexander Bruce
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA116
			| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
			| year = 1919
			| publisher = ]
			| location = ], ], U.S.A.
			| pages = 116–117
			| quote = The Polish peasant in the past was a very humble member of the Polish community – in fact he scarcely belonged to it at all. He had for 350 years no civic rights whatever. He was the serf of his master. It was only the easy-going and patriarchal relations between squire and peasant that made life tolerable for the latter.}}</ref><ref name="only-szlachta-are-citizens" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002">{{cite periodical
			| last = Jakubowski
			| first = Theodore
			| editor-last = Suligowski
			| editor-first = Leonard Joseph
			| title = Claiming Inherited Noble Status
			| periodical= White Eagle: Journal of the Polish Nobility Association Foundation
			| date = Spring–Summer 2002
			| page = 5
			| location = Baltimore, MD
			| url = http://pnaf.us/pdfs/white-eagle-spring-summer-2002.pdf
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170412052147/http://pnaf.us/pdfs/white-eagle-spring-summer-2002.pdf
			| archive-date = 12 April 2017
			| quote = ... the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of Two Nations (from 1385 until the Third Partition of 1795) paralleled the Roman Empire in that -- whether we like it or not -- full rights of citizenship were limited to the governing elite, called szlachta in Polish ... It is not truly correct to consider the szlachta a class; they actually were more like a caste, the military caste, as in Hindu society.}}</ref><ref name="krasinski--szlachta-are-poland">{{cite web
			|last = Gliński
			|first = Mikołaj
			|title = Slavery vs. Serfdom, or Was Poland a Colonial Empire?
			|date = 8 October 2015
			|website = Culture.pl
			|location = ], ], EU
			|url = http://culture.pl/en/article/slavery-vs-serfdom-or-was-poland-a-colonial-empire
			|access-date = 23 June 2017
			|archive-url = https://archive.today/20170624062330/http://culture.pl/en/article/slavery-vs-serfdom-or-was-poland-a-colonial-empire
			|archive-date = 24 June 2017
			|quote = The boundaries between nobility and peasants (and other social groups) persisted well into the 19th and 20th centuries. A shocking proof of how terribly effective this Sarmatian ideology was, can be found in a personal letter of ], one of the three greatest Polish Romantic poets in the 19th century (and a descendant of an aristocratic family). In the mid-19th century Krasiński wrote to his English friend Henry Reeve: 'Believe me and rest assured that apart from aristocracy there's nothing in Poland: no talent, no bright minds, nor sense of sacrifice. Our third state is nonsense; our peasants are machines. Only we are Poland.'
			}}</ref> In official Latin documents of the old ], the hereditary szlachta were referred to as "''nobilitas''" from the Latin term,{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} and could be compared in legal status to English or British ],<ref name="szlachta-equality" /> or to the ancient Roman idea of ''cives'', "citizen".<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /> Until the second half of the 19th century, the Polish term ''{{linktext|obywatel}}'' (which now means "citizen") could be used as a synonym for szlachta landlords.<ref name="szlachta-equals-citizen">{{cite book
			| last = Struve
			| first = Kai
			| editor-last = Wawrzeniuk
			| editor-first = Piotr
			| editor-link = Piotr Wawrzeniuk
			| chapter-url = https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:214737/FULLTEXT01.pdf
			| type = History
			| title = SOCIETAL CHANGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FORMATION AMONG THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BALTIC AREA 1880-1939
			| chapter = Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century
			| year = 2008
			| publisher = ]
			| location = ], ], ], ]
			| isbn = 978-91-85139-11-8
			| page = 77
			| quote = The fact that the Polish term obywatel ("citizen") could be used as a synonym for gentry landlords until the second half of the 19th century shows how strong this concept was within Polish culture.}}</ref>
			Today the word ''szlachta'' simply translates as "nobility". In its broadest sense, it can also denote some non-hereditary honorary knighthoods and ]ial titles granted by other European monarchs, including the ]. Occasionally, 19th-century landowners of commoner descent were referred to as ''szlachta'' by courtesy or error, when they owned manorial estates, but were not in fact noble by birth. ''Szlachta'' also denotes the Ruthenian and Lithuanian nobility from before the old Commonwealth.
	The Polish term "''szlachta''" designated the formalized, hereditary<ref name="szacki--inherited--1995">{{cite book
	| last = Szacki
	| first = Jerzy Ryszard
	| authorlink = Jerzy Szacki
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gU6_JbBHkXoC&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q&f=false
	| title = '''LIBERALISM AFTER COMMUNISM'''
	| year = 1995
	| publisher = ]
	| location = Budapest, Central Hungary region, HUNGARY, EU
	| pages = 48
	| quote = ''... the Polish nobility was a closed group (apart from a few exceptions, many of which were contrary to the law), in which membership was inherited.''}}</ref> noble class of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which constituted the nation itself, and ruled without competition.<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Dmowski
	| first = Roman Stanisław
	| authorlink = Roman Dmowski
	| editor-last = Duff
	| editor-first = James Duff
	| editor-link = James Duff Duff
	| url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
	| title = '''RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS'''
	| year = 1917
	| publisher = ]
	| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| page = 116
	| chapter = '''POLAND, OLD AND NEW'''
	| quote = ''In the past the nobility in Poland constituted the nation itself. It ruled the country without competition on the part of any other class, the middle class being small in numbers and wealth, and the peasants being ].''}}</ref><ref name="krasinski--nobles-are-poland">{{cite web
	|last = Gliński
	|first = Mikołaj
	|title = '''Slavery vs. Serfdom, or Was Poland a Colonial Empire?'''
	|date = 8 October 2015
	|website = Culture.pl
	|location = ], ], EU
	|publisher = ]
	|url = http://culture.pl/en/article/slavery-vs-serfdom-or-was-poland-a-colonial-empire
	|accessdate = 23 June 2017
	|archiveurl = https://archive.is/20170624062330/http://culture.pl/en/article/slavery-vs-serfdom-or-was-poland-a-colonial-empire
	|archivedate = 24 June 2017
	|quote = ''The boundaries between nobility and peasants (and other social groups) persisted well into the 19th and 20th centuries. A shocking proof of how terribly effective this Sarmatian ideology was, can be found in a personal letter of ], one of the three greatest Polish Romantic poets in the 19th century (and a descendant of an aristocratic family). In the mid-19th century Krasiński wrote to his English friend Henry Reeve: &lsquo;Believe me and rest assured that apart from aristocracy there’s nothing in Poland: no talent, no bright minds, nor sense of sacrifice. Our third state is nonsense; our peasants are machines. Only we are Poland.&rsquo;''
	|deadurl = yes
	|df =
	}}</ref> In official Latin documents of the old ], hereditary szlachta are referred to as "nobilitas" and are indeed the equivalent in legal status of the English nobility.
			In the past, a misconception sometimes led to the mistranslation of "''szlachta''" as "gentry" rather than "nobility".<ref>{{Cite book
	Today the word ''szlachta'' in the Polish language simply translates to "nobility". In its broadest meaning, it can also denote some non-hereditary honorary knighthoods granted today by some European monarchs. Occasionally, 19th-century non-noble landowners were referred to as ''szlachta'' by courtesy or error, when they owned manorial estates though they were not noble by birth. In the narrow sense, ''szlachta'' denotes the ] nobility.
	In the past, a certain misconception sometimes led to the mistranslation of "''szlachta''" as "gentry" rather than "nobility".<ref>{{Cite book
	| last = Michener		| last = Michener
	| first = James Albert		| first = James Albert
	| authorlink = James A. Michener		| author-link = James A. Michener
	| title = ]		| title = POLAND
	| publisher = ]; New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.		| publisher = ]; New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
	| date = 1983		| date = 1983
	| isbn = 0-394-53189-2		| isbn = 0-394-53189-2
	| quote = ''Minor nobility: Verbally, this category causes trouble. Polish writers use the word gentry, which doesn't quite sound right in English. European writers use petty nobility, but the adjective has unfortunate connotations.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book		| quote = Minor nobility: Linguistically, this category causes trouble. Some Polish writers refer to 'gentry', which doesn't quite sound right in English. Whereas some European writers use the term 'petty nobility' ]''], but the adjective has unfortunate connotations.| title-link = Poland (novel)
			}}</ref><ref name="zamoyski-not-gentry-not-nobility">{{cite book
	| last = ], herbu ]
	| first = ]		| last = Zamoyski
			| first = Adam
	| title = '''THE POLISH WAY: A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF THE POLES AND THEIR CULTURE'''
			|author-link=Adam Zamoyski
	| orig-year = 1987
			| title = The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture
	| year = 1998
			| orig-date = 1987
	| edition = Fourth Printing
			| year = 1998
	| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
			| edition = Fourth Printing
	| publisher = ]
			| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
	| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
			| publisher = ]
	| page = 55
			| location = New York
	| quote = ''One cannot substitute the terms &#39;nobility&#39; or &#39;gentry&#39; for szlachta because it had little in common with those classes in other European countries either in origin, composition or outlook.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
			| page =
	| last = Davies
			| quote = One cannot substitute the terms 'nobility' or 'gentry' for szlachta because it had little in common with those classes in other European countries either in origin, composition or outlook.
	| first = Norman
			| url = https://archive.org/details/polishwaythousan00zamo/page/55
	| authorlink = Norman Davies
			}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
	| title = '''God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volume I - The Origins to 1795'''
	| year = 1982		| last = Davies
			| first = Norman
	| isbn = 0-231-05351-7
			| author-link = Norman Davies
	| publisher = ]
			| title = GOD'S PLAYGROUND: A HISTORY OF POLAND, VOLUME I - THE ORIGINS TO 1795
	| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
	| page = 206		| year = 1982
			| isbn = 0-231-05351-7
	| quote = ''For the sake of precision therefore, it is essential that szlachta should be translated as &#39;Nobility&#39;, szlachcic as &#39;nobleman&#39;, and stan szlachecki as &#39;the noble estate&#39;.''}}</ref> This mistaken practice began due to the economic status of some ''szlachta'' members being inferior<ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste">{{cite book
			| publisher = ]
	| last = ], herbu ]
			| location = New York City
	| first = ]
			| page = 206
	| title = '''THE POLISH WAY: A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF THE POLES AND THEIR CULTURE'''
			| quote = For the sake of precision therefore, it is essential that szlachta should be translated as 'Nobility', szlachcic as 'nobleman', and stan szlachecki as 'the noble estate'.}}</ref> This mistaken practice began due to the inferior economic status of many ''szlachta'' members compared to that of the nobility in other European countries (see also ] ''regarding wealth and nobility'').<ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste">{{cite book
	| orig-year = 1987
			| last = Zamoyski
	| year = 1998
			| first = Adam
	| edition = Fourth Printing
			|author-link=Adam Zamoyski
	| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
			| title = The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture
	| publisher = ]
			| orig-date = 1987
	| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
	| page = 55		| year = 1998
			| edition = Fourth Printing
	| quote = ''A more apt analogy might perhaps be made with the ] of northern India. ... unlike any other gentry in Europe, the szlachta was not limited by nor did it depend for its status on either wealth, or land, or royal writ. It was defined by its function, that of a warrior caste.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
			| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
	| last = ], herbu ]
			| publisher = ]
	| first = ]
			| location = New York
	| title = '''THE POLISH WAY: A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF THE POLES AND THEIR CULTURE'''
			| page =
	| orig-year = 1987
			| quote = A more apt analogy might perhaps be made with the ]s of northern India. ... unlike any other gentry in Europe, the szlachta was not limited by nor did it depend for its status on either wealth, or land, or royal writ. It was defined by its function, that of a warrior caste.
	| year = 1998
			| url = https://archive.org/details/polishwaythousan00zamo/page/55
	| edition = Fourth Printing
			}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
	| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
			| last = Zamoyski
	| publisher = ]
			| first = Adam
	| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
			|author-link=Adam Zamoyski
	| pages = 57-58
			| title = The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture
	| quote = ''While land provided the majority with a livelihood, it was not the only or even the predominant source of wealth for the magnates, whose estates were not large by the standards of the barons of England or the great lords of France. ... The magnates only started accumulating property on a large scale at the beginning of the fifteenth century.''}}</ref> to that of the nobility in other European countries (see also ] ''regarding wealth and nobility''). The ''szlachta'' included those almost rich and powerful enough to be magnates down to rascals with a noble lineage, no land, no castle, no money, no village, and no peasants.<ref>{{Cite book
			| orig-date = 1987
			| year = 1998
			| edition = Fourth Printing
			| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
			| publisher = ]
			| location = New York
			| pages =
			| quote = While land provided the majority with a livelihood, it was not the only or even the predominant source of wealth for the magnates, whose estates were not large by the standards of the barons of England or the great lords of France. ... The magnates only started accumulating property on a large scale at the beginning of the fifteenth century.
			| url = https://archive.org/details/polishwaythousan00zamo/page/57
			}}</ref> The ''szlachta'' included those rich and powerful enough to be ] down to the impoverished with an aristocratic lineage, but with no land, no castle, no money, no village, and no subject peasants.<ref>{{Cite book
	| last = Michener		| last = Michener
	| first = James Albert		| first = James Albert
	| authorlink = James A. Michener		| author-link = James A. Michener
	| title = ]		| title = POLAND
	| publisher = ]; New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.		| publisher = ]; New York City
	| date = 1983		| date = 1983
	| isbn = 0-394-53189-2		| isbn = 0-394-53189-2
	| quote = ''Minor nobility: ... The category includes men almost rich and powerful enough to be magnates, and all intervening levels down to the roving rascal with no castle, no money, no village, no peasants, one horse and pride unbounded.''}}</ref> At least 60,000 families belonged to the nobility, however, only about 100 were wealthy (less than 0.167%), all the rest were poor (greater than 99.83%).<ref>{{cite book		| quote = Minor nobility: ... The category includes men almost rich and powerful enough to be magnates, and all intervening levels down to the roving rascal with no castle, no money, no village, no peasants, one horse and pride unbounded.| title-link = Poland (novel)
			}}</ref> Historian M.Ross wrote in 1835: "At least 60,000 families belong to this class, of which, however, only about 100 are wealthy; all the rest are poor."<ref name="szlachta-poor">{{cite book
	| last = Ross		| last = Ross (of Durham)
	| first = M.		| first = M.
	| url = https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_Poland_from_Its_Foundation.html?id=fqxDAAAAYAAJ		| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fqxDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51
	| title = '''A HISTORY OF POLAND FROM ITS FOUNDATION AS A STATE TO THE PRESENT TIME; INCLUDING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE RECENT PATRIOTIC STRUGGLE TO RE-ESTABLISH ITS INDEPENDENCE. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, A DESCRIPTIVE VIEW OF THE COUNTRY, ITS NATURAL HISTORY, CITIES AND TOWNS, AND THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ITS INHABITANTS'''		| title = A history of Poland from its foundation as a state to the present time; including a full account of the recent patriotic struggle to re-establish its independence. To which is prefixed, a descriptive view of the country, its natural history, cities and towns, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants
	| year = 1835		| year = 1835
	| publisher = PATTISON AND ROSS		| publisher = Pattison and Ross
	| location = 48 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland county, North East region, ENGLAND		| location = Newcastle upon Tyne, England
	| page = 51		| page = 51
	| chapter = '''A DESCRIPTIVE VIEW OF POLAND: CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE POLES'''		| chapter = A Descriptive View of Poland: Character, Manners, and Customs of the Poles
	| quote = ''At least 60,000 families belong to this class , of which, however, only about 100 are wealthy ; all the rest are poor.''}}</ref>		| quote = At least 60,000 families belong to this class , of which, however, only about 100 are wealthy; all the rest are poor.}}</ref>
			A few exceptionally wealthy and powerful szlachta members constituted the ''magnateria'' and were known as ]s (]).
	As some szlachta were poorer than some non-noble ], some particularly impoverished ''szlachta'' were forced to become tenants of the wealthier gentry. In doing so, however, these ''szlachta'' retained all their constitutional prerogatives, as it was not wealth or lifestyle (obtainable by the gentry), but hereditary juridical status, that determined nobility.
			{{Clear}}
			=== Composition ===
			] ] (lower right), with szlachta ] right of ending any ] session and nullifying any legislation passed ('']''), defying ], ]n, and ]n ] to cease legalization of the ], by halting the ]'s exit from the Senate chamber on 30 September 1773, in effect proclaiming, ''"Murder me, not Poland."'' Painting by ], 1866]]
			] argues that the szlachta were not exactly the same as the European ] nor a ],<ref name="zamoyski-not-gentry-not-nobility" /> as the szlachta fundamentally differed in law, rights, political power, origin, and composition from the ] of Western Europe.<ref name="zamoyski-not-gentry-not-nobility" /><ref name="dmowski-clan-system">{{cite book
			| last = Dmowski
			| first = Roman Stanisław
			| author-link = Roman Dmowski
			| editor-last = Duff
			| editor-first = James Duff
			| editor-link = James Duff Duff
			| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
			| title = RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS
			| year = 1917
			| publisher = ]
			| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
			| pages = 91–92
			| chapter = Poland, Old And New
			| quote = This military class was subdivided into clans, the members of each clan being bound together by strong ties of solidarity. Each clan had its name and crest. The Polish nobility, which sprang from this military class and which derived its family names from its landed properties (in the fifteenth century), had no family crests, of which there was only a limited number. Each of these bore a name which had been the old word of call of the clan. In many instances, one crest belonged to more than a hundred families. The clan system survived in this way throughout the whole of Polish history. It is evident that the warrior class in Poland had quite a different origin and a different legal and social position from that of the feudal nobility of Western Europe.}}</ref><ref name="szlachta-rule">{{cite book
			| last = Boswell
			| first = Alexander Bruce
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA66
			| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
			| year = 1919
			| publisher = ]
			| location = ], ], U.S.A.
			| pages = 66–67
			| quote = But the Parliament was at best a clumsy body, as the deputies were not free agents, but were bound by their mandates from the real sovereign bodies, the local Diets or Sejmiki. The representative of a Sejmik had the right of vetoing all legislation in the Sejm, since he spoke for a whole province or tribe.}}</ref> The szlachta did not rank below the king,<ref name="szlachta-can-be-king" /> as the szlachta's relationship to the Polish king was not feudal. The szlachta stood as equals before the king.<ref name="szlachta-equality" /> The king was not an ], nor the szlachta's overlord, as szlachta land was in ]ium, not ].<ref name="szlachta--allodial" /> Feudal dependence upon a Polish king did not exist for the szlachta<ref name="szlachta-equality" /> and earlier in history some high-ranking szlachta (]s) descending from past tribal dynasties regarded themselves as co-proprietors of ] and constantly sought to undermine Piast authority.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|75, 76}}
			In 1459 ] presented a memorandum to the ], submitting ]s, or ], receive the title of ]. Sons of a prince were to receive titles of ]s and ]s. ] were to receive the title of count. This attempt to introduce the hierarchy of noble titles common for European feudal systems for szlachta was rejected.<ref name="szlachta-reject-titles-of-nobility">{{cite journal
			| last = Skwarczyński
			| first = Paweł
			| date = June 1956
			| title = The Problem of Feudalism in Poland up to the Beginning of the 16th Century
			| jstor = 4204744
			| journal = ]
			| location = Salisbury House, Station Road, ], ], ]
			| publisher = ]
			| volume = 34
			| issue = 83
			| page = 302
			| quote = In 1459 ] submitted a memorandum to the parliament (sejm), suggesting that the ], should be given the title of prince and their sons the titles of barons and counts. The title of count was suggested by him for a ]. But all these suggestions were not accepted. The composition of the king's council provides another distinction between the system in Poland and regular feudal systems elsewhere.}}</ref>
			The fact the szlachta were equal before the king and deliberately opposed becoming a feudal nobility became a matter of law embedded as a constitutional principle of equality.<ref name="szlachta-equality" /><ref name="szlachta-an-electorate" /><ref name="szlachta-can-be-king" /> The ] of ] was the szlachta's ideal.<ref name="szlachta-roman-republicanism">{{cite book
			| last = Boswell
			| first = Alexander Bruce
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47
			| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
			| year = 1919
			| publisher = ]
			| location = ], ], U.S.A.
			| page = 47
			| quote = ... through all modern Polish history it was Roman republicanism that formed the ideal of the republican gentry. The Roman precedent was even quoted to justify serfdom, which was a modified form of ].}}</ref><ref name="roman-empire">{{cite encyclopedia
			| last1 = Davies
			| first1 = Ivor Norman Richard
			| author-link1 = Norman Davies
			| last2 = Dawson
			| first2 = Andrew Hutchinson
			| last3 = Jasiewicz
			| first3 = Krzysztof
			| author-link3 = :pl:Krzysztof Jasiewicz
			| last4 = Kondracki
			| first4 = Jerzy Aleksander
			| author-link4 = :pl:Jerzy Kondracki
			| last5 = Wandycz
			| first5 = Piotr Stefan
			| author-link5 = Piotr S. Wandycz
			| encyclopedia = ]
			| title = Poland
			| url = https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland/The-Commonwealth
			| access-date = 4 June 2017
			| date = 2 June 2017
			| page = 15
			| quote = Throughout most of Europe the medieval system of ] evolved into ], but in the Commonwealth it led to a szlachta democracy inspired by the ideals of ], to which parallels were constantly drawn.}}</ref><ref name="szlachta-dictate-like-roman-senate">{{cite book
			| last = Boswell
			| first = Alexander Bruce
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47
			| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
			| year = 1919
			| publisher = ]
			| location = ], ], U.S.A.
			| page = 67
			| quote = Poland was the great power of East Central Europe, and the ] dictated to the ] as despotically as the ] itself.}}</ref><ref name="okolski-ancient-romans">{{cite journal
			| last = Milewska-Waźbińska
			| first = Barbara
			| editor1-last = Sosnowski
			| editor1-first = Miłosz
			| url = http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-47ad7632-fb82-47ff-a88d-3ebf4845ea16
			| title = Latin as the Language of Social Communication of the Polish Nobility (Based on the Latin Heraldic Work by Szymon Okolski)
			| journal = The Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
			| publisher = ] of the ]
			| location = ]
			| date = 2013
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170608095553/http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-47ad7632-fb82-47ff-a88d-3ebf4845ea16
			| archive-date = 8 June 2017
			| access-date = 8 June 2017
			| quote = The article highlights the role of Latin as the language of communication of the nobility living in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the beginning discusses the concept 'latinitas', which meant not only the correct Latin, but also pointed to the ideological content of antiquity passed through the language of the ]. ... We studied Latin armorial 'Orbis Polonus' by ] (Cracow 1641-1645). ... It concludes that Okolski consciously wrote his work in the language of the ancient Romans.}}</ref><ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /> Poland was known as the ] of Poland, Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} The szlachta, not as a feudal nobility or gentry,<ref name="zamoyski-not-gentry-not-nobility" /><ref name="dmowski-clan-system" /><ref name="zamoyski-clannish-structures" /> but as an electorate,<ref name="szlachta-an-electorate" /> and an ] and warrior ],<ref name="races-old-world--aristocracy--caste" /><ref name="races-old-world--caste">{{cite journal
			| last1 = Hutton
			| first1 = Richard Holt
			| author-link1 = Richard Holt Hutton
			| last2 = Bagehot
			| first2 = Walter
			| author-link2 = Walter Bagehot
			| date = January 1864
			| title = The Races of the Old World
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4u4RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA484
			| journal = ]
			| location = London, England
			| publisher = Robson and Levey
			| pages = 484
			| access-date = 9 Oct 2014
			| quote = ".... there we find an exact counterpart of Polish society: the dominant settlers establishing themselves as an upper caste, all politically equal among themselves, and holding the lands (or more frequently, simply drawing the rents) of the country."
			}}</ref><ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /><ref name="szacki--caste--1995">{{cite book
			| last = Szacki
			| first = Jerzy Ryszard
			| author-link = Jerzy Szacki
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gU6_JbBHkXoC&pg=PA46
			| title = LIBERALISM AFTER COMMUNISM
			| year = 1995
			| publisher = ]
			| location = Budapest, Central Hungary region, HUNGARY, EU
			| pages = 45–46
			| quote = ], on the other hand, wrote as follows: 'If from the deeds of the Polish nobility we took away excesses and the exclusiveness of caste, ...'| isbn = 9781858660165
			}}</ref> with no feudal dependence on a king,<ref name="szlachta-equality" /> exercised ]<ref name="szlachta-rule" /> and ] as servants of a republic the szlachta regarded as the embodiment of their rights.<ref name="szlachta-rights-embodied-in-republic">{{cite encyclopedia
			| last1 = Davies
			| first1 = Ivor Norman Richard
			| author-link1 = Norman Davies
			| last2 = Dawson
			| first2 = Andrew Hutchinson
			| last3 = Jasiewicz
			| first3 = Krzysztof
			| author-link3 = :pl:Krzysztof Jasiewicz
			| last4 = Kondracki
			| first4 = Jerzy Aleksander
			| author-link4 = :pl:Jerzy Kondracki
			| last5 = Wandycz
			| first5 = Piotr Stefan
			| author-link5 = Piotr S. Wandycz
			| encyclopedia = ]
			| title = Poland
			| url = https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland/The-Commonwealth
			| access-date = 24 April 2021
			| date = 2 June 2017
			| page = 15
			| quote = The Commonwealth gradually came to be dominated by the szlachta, which regarded the state as an embodiment of its rights and privileges.}}</ref>
			Over time, numerically most ''lesser'' szlachta became poorer, or were poorer than, their few rich peers with the same political status and status in law, and many ''lesser'' szlachta were worse off than commoners with land. They were called ''szlachta zagrodowa'', that is, "farm nobility", from ''zagroda'', a farm, often little different from a peasant's dwelling, sometimes referred to as ''drobna szlachta'', "petty nobles" or yet, ''szlachta okoliczna'', meaning "local". Particularly impoverished szlachta families were often forced to become tenants of their wealthier peers. They were described as ''szlachta czynszowa'', or "tenant nobles" who paid rent.<ref>], Warsaw, Oficyna Wydawnicza "Ajaks". 1995. p.14. . This monograph describes how during the 19th century the mass of "local" szlachta in the western borderlands of the Russian Empire were subjected to downward mobility and rank poverty through tsarist bureaucracy and a policy of social degradation</ref> See "]" for more.
	An individual nobleman was called a "''szlachcic''", and a noblewoman a "''szlachcianka''".
	=== Origins ===		=== Origins ===
	{{See also|History of Poland (966–1385)}}		{{See also|History of Poland during the Piast dynasty}}
	==== Polish ====		==== Poland ====
			] in a 16th-century Polish woodcut]]
	]'' (1569). Painting by ], 1869, Castle Museum, ].]]
			]
	The origins of the szlachta, while ancient, have always been considered obscure.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|207}} As a result, its members often referred to it as ''odwieczna'' (perennial).<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|207}} Two popular historic theories of origin forwarded by its members and earlier historians and chroniclers involved descent from the ancient Iranian tribes known as ]s or from ], one of ]'s sons (by contrast, the peasantry were said to be the offspring of another son of Noah, ]—and hence subject to bondage under the ]<ref name="colin" />—and the Jews as the offspring of ]).<ref name="davies1" /><ref name="Bondage to the dead: Poland and the memory of the Holocaust" /> Other fanciful theories included its foundation by ], ]<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|207}} or regional leaders who had not mixed their bloodlines with those of 'slaves, prisoners, and aliens'.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|208}}
			The origins of the szlachta, while ancient, have always been considered obscure.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|207}} As a result, its members often referred to it as ''odwieczna'' (perennial).<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|207}} Two popular historical theories about its origins have been put forward by its members and early historians and chroniclers. The first theory involved a presumed descent from the ancient Iranian tribe known as ]s, who in the 2nd century AD, occupied lands in ], and the ]. The second theory involved a presumed szlachta descent from ], one of ]'s sons. By contrast, the peasantry were said to be the offspring of another son of Noah, ] — and hence subject to bondage under the ]. The Jews were considered the offspring of ].<ref name="colin" /><ref name="davies1" /><ref name="Bondage to the dead: Poland and the memory of the Holocaust" /> Other fanciful theories included its foundation by ], ], or regional leaders who had not mixed their bloodlines with those of 'slaves, prisoners, or aliens'.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|207}}<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|208}}
	Another theory describes its derivation from a non-] ] class,<ref name="sarmatians--sulimirski">{{cite journal		Another theory describes its derivation from a non-] ] class,<ref name="sarmatians--sulimirski">{{cite journal
	| last = Sulimirski		| last = Sulimirski
	| first = Tadeusz		| first = Tadeusz
	| authorlink = Tadeusz Sulimirski		| author-link = Tadeusz Sulimirski
	| date = Winter 1964		| date = Winter 1964
	| title = Sarmatians in the Polish Past		| title = Sarmatians in the Polish Past
Line 183:		Line 509:
	| first2 = Jan Nepomucen		| first2 = Jan Nepomucen
	| author-link2 = Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz		| author-link2 = Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz
	| orig-year = 1728		| orig-date = 1728
	| date = 1846		| date = 1846
	| title = Herbarz Polski		| title = HERBARZ POLSKI
	| edition = 3rd?		| edition = 3rd?
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JH_RAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA430#v=onepage&q&f=false		| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JH_RAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA430
	| format = online book		| format = online book
	| language = Polish		| language = pl
	| volume = I.		| volume = I.
	| page = 430		| page = 430
	| location = Leipzig, Saxony, GERMANY		| location = Leipzig, Saxony, GERMANY
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| accessdate = 13 Oct 2014		| access-date = 13 Oct 2014
	| quote = ''Miano Szlachty, pochodzi od Lechitów (The name of the nobility, derived from the ]).		| quote = Miano Szlachty, pochodzi od Lechitów (The name of the nobility, derived from the ]).
			}}</ref><ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} within the ancient Polonic tribal groupings (]). Similar to ] racial ideology, which dictated the Polish elite were largely ]<ref>{{cite book
	}}</ref> <ref name="races-old-world">{{cite journal
	| last1 = Hutton
	| first1 = Richard Holt
	| author-link1 = Richard Holt Hutton
	| last2 = Bagehot
	| first2 = Walter
	| author-link2 = Walter Bagehot
	| date = January 1864
	| title = The Races of the Old World
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4u4RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA482#v=onepage&q&f=false
	| journal = ]
	| location = London, England
	| publisher = Robson and Levey
	| accessdate = 9 Oct 2014
	}}</ref>{{rp|482}} within the ancient Polonic tribal groupings (]). Similar to ] racist ideology, which dictated the Polish elite were largely ]<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Lukas		| last = Lukas
	| first = Richard C.		| first = Richard C.
	| author-link = Richard C. Lukas		| author-link = Richard C. Lukas
	| title = '''DID THE CHILDREN CRY?: HITLER'S WAR AGAINST JEWISH AND POLISH CHILDREN, 1939-45'''		| title = Did the children cry? Hitler's war against Jewish and Polish children, 1939-1945
	| chapter = '''Chapter IV. Germanization; Part I'''		| chapter = Chapter IV. Germanization; Part I
	| date = 1 July 2001		| date = 1 July 2001
	| location = 171 MADISON AVE RM 1602, ] ] 10016-5110		| location = New York
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| format = website
	| chapter-url = http://www.projectinposterum.org/docs/lucas2.htm		| chapter-url = http://www.projectinposterum.org/docs/lucas2.htm
	| type = Online excerpt from book		| type = Online excerpt from book
	| isbn = 978-0781808705		| isbn = 978-0781808705
	| accessdate = 17 August 2018		| access-date = 17 August 2018
			| quote = The same bizarre logic was applied to the Polish intelligentsia, who led the Polish resistance movement. To the Nazis, these leaders were largely ] which enabled them 'To be active in contrast to the fatalistic Slavonic elements.' The implication was obvious: If the Polish elite were re-Germanized, then the mass of Polish people would be denied a dynamic leadership class.
	| archiveurl = http://archive.is/6Uhz
			| url-access = registration
	| archivedate = 11 September 2012
			| url = https://archive.org/details/didchildrencryhi0000luka
	| quote = ''The same bizarre logic was applied to the Polish intelligentsia, who led the Polish resistance movement. To the Nazis, these leaders were largely ] which enabled them 'To be active in contrast to the fatalistic Slavonic elements.' The implication was obvious: If the Polish elite were re-Germanized, then the mass of Polish people would be denied a dynamic leadership class.''}}</ref> (the szlachta ] heralds a ]), this hypothesis states this upper class was not of Slavonic extraction<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} and was of a different origin than the Slavonic peasants (])<ref>{{cite book
			}}</ref> (the szlachta ] heralds a ]), this hypothesis states this upper class was not of Slavonic extraction<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} and was of a different origin than the Slavonic peasants (])<ref>{{cite book
	| last1 = Niesiecki S.J.		| last1 = Niesiecki S.J.
	| first1 = Kasper		| first1 = Kasper
Line 233:		Line 545:
	| first2 = Jan Nepomucen		| first2 = Jan Nepomucen
	| author-link2 = Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz		| author-link2 = Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz
	| orig-year = 1728		| orig-date = 1728
	| date = 1846		| date = 1846
	| title = Herbarz Polski		| title = HERBARZ POLSKI
	| edition = 3rd?		| edition = 3rd?
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JH_RAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA430#v=onepage&q&f=false		| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JH_RAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA430
	| format = online book		| format = online book
	| language = Polish		| language = pl
	| volume = I.		| volume = I.
	| page = 430		| page = 430
	| location = Leipzig, Saxony, GERMANY		| location = Leipzig, Saxony, GERMANY
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| accessdate = 13 Oct 2014		| access-date = 13 Oct 2014
	| quote = ''Kmiecie czyli lud pospolity wolny (Kmiecie is the common free people), ...''		| quote = Kmiecie czyli lud pospolity wolny (Kmiecie is the common free people), ...
	}}</ref> <ref name="kmiecie--guzowski">{{cite journal		}}</ref><ref name="kmiecie--guzowski">{{cite journal
	| last = Guzowski		| last = Guzowski
	| first = Piotr		| first = Piotr
	| date = 1 May 2014		| date = 1 May 2014
	| title = Village court records and peasant credit in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Poland		| title = Village court records and peasant credit in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Poland
	| url = https://www.academia.edu/7481437/Village_court_records_and_peasant_credit_in_fifteenth-_and_sixteenth-century_Poland		| url = https://www.academia.edu/7481437
	| journal = Continuity and Change		| journal = Continuity and Change
	| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM		| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| volume = 29		| volume = 29
	| issue = 01		| issue = 1
	| pages = 118		| pages = 118
	| doi = 10.1017/S0268416014000101		| doi = 10.1017/S0268416014000101
			| s2cid = 145766720
	| accessdate = 9 Oct 2014
			| access-date = 9 Oct 2014
	| quote = ''The most important and the most numerous section of the peasantry in late medieval and early modern Poland was the kmiecie (Latin: cmethones), full peasant holders of hereditary farms with an average size in the region under study of half a mansus, which was equivalent to eight ]. Farms belonging to kmiecie were largely self-sufficient, although some of them were, to varying extents, engaged in production for the market. Other, less numerous, sections of the peasantry were the zagrodnicy (Latin: ortulani), or smallholders, and the ogrodnicy, or cottagers, who farmed small plots of land. These two categories of peasants were not able to support themselves and their families from their land, so they earned extra money as hired labourers on their landlords’ land, or that of the kmiecie. Apart from the holders of large or small farms, Polish villages were also inhabited by so-called komornicy, landless lodgers who earned wages locally. This group included village craftsmen, while the wealthiest kmiecie included millers and innkeepers.}}</ref> over which they ruled.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} The Szlachta were differentiated from the rural population.<ref>{{cite web
			| quote = The most important and the most numerous section of the peasantry in late medieval and early modern Poland was the kmiecie (Latin: cmethones), full peasant holders of hereditary farms with an average size in the region under study of half a mansus, which was equivalent to eight ]s. Farms belonging to kmiecie were largely self-sufficient, although some of them were, to varying extents, engaged in production for the market. Other, less numerous, sections of the peasantry were the zagrodnicy (Latin: ortulani), or smallholders, and the ogrodnicy, or cottagers, who farmed small plots of land. These two categories of peasants were not able to support themselves and their families from their land, so they earned extra money as hired labourers on their landlords' land, or that of the kmiecie. Apart from the holders of large or small farms, Polish villages were also inhabited by so-called komornicy, landless lodgers who earned wages locally. This group included village craftsmen, while the wealthiest kmiecie included millers and innkeepers.}}</ref> over which they ruled.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}}
	| last = ]-Czajkowski
	| first = Leszek Jan
			In old Poland, there were two nations – szlachta and peasants.<ref>{{cite web
	| title = '''Niektóre dane z historii slachty i herbu'''
			| url = http://czaskultury.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WKuligowski_AHistoryOfPolishSerfdom_CzasKultury_3_2016.pdf
	| work = '''Ornatowski.com'''
			| title = A History of Polish Serfdom. Theses and Antitheses
	| location = Warszawa, POLAND, EU
			| last = Kuligowski
	| publisher = Artur Ornatowski
			| first = Waldemar Tadeusz
	| url = http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
	| accessdate = 9 Oct 2014		| date = 2 February 2017
			| website = Czas Kultury
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305045021/http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
			| page = 116
	| archivedate = 5 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
			| access-date = 6 April 2020
	| last = Dmowski
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200406222122/http://czaskultury.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WKuligowski_AHistoryOfPolishSerfdom_CzasKultury_3_2016.pdf
	| first = Roman Stanisław
			| archive-date = 6 April 2020
	| authorlink = Roman Dmowski
			| language = en
	| editor-last = Duff
			| quote = In Poland two, near-nations appeared – nobles and peasants, and between them there was a Jewish wall.}}</ref> The szlachta were differentiated from the rural population.<ref>{{cite web
	| editor-first = James Duff
			| last = Jastrzębiec-Czajkowski
	| editor-link = James Duff Duff
			| first = Leszek Jan
	| url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
			| title = Niektóre dane z historii slachty i herbu
	| title = '''RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS'''
			| work = Ornatowski.com
	| year = 1917
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = Artur Ornatowski
			| url = http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
	| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
			| access-date = 9 Oct 2014
	| page = 91
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305045021/http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
	| chapter = '''POLAND, OLD AND NEW'''
			| archive-date = 5 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
	| quote = ''The population consists of free ] and slaves. Above them there is a class of warriors, very strong numerically, from which the ruler chooses his officials.''}}</ref> In harshly stratified and ] Polish society<ref name="krasinski--nobles-are-poland" /><ref>{{cite book
	| last = Struve		| last = Dmowski
	| first = Kai		| first = Roman Stanisław
			| author-link = Roman Dmowski
	| editor-last = Wawrzeniuk
	| editor-first = Piotr		| editor-last = Duff
	| editor-link = Piotr Wawrzeniuk		| editor-first = James Duff
			| editor-link = James Duff Duff
	| url = https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:214737/FULLTEXT01.pdf
			| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
	| type = History
			| title = RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS
	| title = '''SOCIETAL CHANGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FORMATION AMONG THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BALTIC AREA 1880-1939'''
			| year = 1917
	| chapter = '''Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century'''
			| publisher = ]
	| year = 2008
			| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| publisher = ]
	| format = PDF		| page = 91
			| chapter = Poland, Old And New
	| location = ], ], ], ]
			| quote = The population consists of free ] and slaves. Above them there is a class of warriors, very strong numerically, from which the ruler chooses his officials.}}</ref> In harshly stratified and ] Polish society,<ref name="krasinski--szlachta-are-poland" /><ref name="only-szlachta-are-citizens" /><ref name="peasants-not-want-polish-state">{{cite book
	| isbn = 978-91-85139-11-8
	| pages = 76-77
	| quote = ''A deep division between enserfed peasants and gentry landowners had developed in the early modern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The noble estate, the szlachta, monopolized the political rights and consequently only the szlachta, as constituted by the Commonwealth’s sovereign, according to the early modern understanding of the concept, as well as the Polish nation and its members, were considered to be citizens.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
	| last = Struve		| last = Struve
	| first = Kai		| first = Kai
Line 306:		Line 616:
	| editor-first = Piotr		| editor-first = Piotr
	| editor-link = Piotr Wawrzeniuk		| editor-link = Piotr Wawrzeniuk
	| url = https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:214737/FULLTEXT01.pdf		| chapter-url = https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:214737/FULLTEXT01.pdf
	| type = History		| type = History
	| title = '''SOCIETAL CHANGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FORMATION AMONG THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BALTIC AREA 1880-1939'''		| title = SOCIETAL CHANGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FORMATION AMONG THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BALTIC AREA 1880-1939
	| chapter = '''Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century'''		| chapter = Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century
	| year = 2008		| year = 2008
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| format = PDF
	| location = ], ], ], ]		| location = ], ], ], ]
	| isbn = 978-91-85139-11-8		| isbn = 978-91-85139-11-8
	| page = 78		| page = 78
	| quote = ''The peasants feared the reestablishment of a Polish state because they expected it to be the state of their landlords. Their memory of independent Poland, conveyed from one generation to the next, was one of landlord wilfulness and a lack of rights.''}}</ref>, the nobleman's sense of distinction led to practices that in later periods would be characterized as racism.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|233}} ], herbu ] (1621 - 1696), proclaimed ] "by nature" are "chained to the land and plow," that even an educated peasant would always remain a peasant, because "it is impossible to transform a ] into a ]."<ref>{{cite web		| quote = The peasants feared the reestablishment of a Polish state because they expected it to be the state of their landlords. Their memory of independent Poland, conveyed from one generation to the next, was one of landlord wilfulness and a lack of rights.}}</ref> the szlachta's sense of distinction led to practices that in later periods would be characterized as racism.<ref>{{cite book
			| last = Davies
	| last = ]-Czajkowski
	| first = Leszek Jan		| first = Norman |author-link=Norman Davies
			| title = GOD'S PLAYGROUND: A HISTORY OF POLAND, VOLUME 1: THE ORIGINS TO 1795
	| title = '''Niektóre dane z historii slachty i herbu'''
			| year = 1982
	| work = '''Ornatowski.com'''
			| isbn = 0231053517
	| location = Warszawa, POLAND, EU
	| publisher = Artur Ornatowski		| publisher = ]
			| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
	| url = http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
			| page = 233
	| accessdate = 22 August 2018
			| quote = The nobleman's belief in the exclusive quality of his own estate led to practices which nowadays could only be described as an expression of Racism.| title-link = God's Playground
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305045021/http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
			}}</ref> ], herbu ] (1621–1696), proclaimed ] "by nature" are "chained to the land and plow," that even an educated peasant would always remain a peasant, because "it is impossible to transform a ] into a ]."<ref>{{cite web
	| archivedate = 5 March 2016
			| last = Jastrzębiec-Czajkowski
	| quote=''Podobnie głosił ] h. ], że ] 'z natury' są 'sprawieni do ziemi i do pługa', że nawet wykształcony chłop zawsze pozostanie chłopem, bo 'niepodobna przerobić psa na rysia'; ... (], herbu ], proclaimed ] 'by nature' are 'chained to the land and plow,' that even an educated peasant would always remain a peasant, because 'it is impossible to transform a ] into a ].')''}}</ref> The Szlachta were noble in the ] (see '']'') sense -- "noble" in contrast to the people over whom they ruled after coming into contact with them.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} The szlachta traced their descent from ], who allegedly founded the Polish kingdom in about the fifth century.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} ] was the name of Poland in antiquity, and the szlachta's own name for themselves was ]/Lekhi.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} An exact counterpart of Szlachta society was the Meerassee (]) system of tenure of southern India—an aristocracy of equality—settled as conquerors among a separate race.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|484}} The Polish state paralleled the ]<ref name="roman-empire">{{cite encyclopedia
	| last1 = Davies		| first = Leszek Jan
			| title = Niektóre dane z historii slachty i herbu
	| first1 = Ivor Norman Richard
			| work = Ornatowski.com
	| author-link1 = Norman Davies
	| last2 = Dawson		| location = Warsaw
			| publisher = Artur Ornatowski
	| first2 = Andrew Hutchinson
			| url = http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
	| last3 = Jasiewicz
			| access-date = 22 August 2018
	| first3 = Krzysztof
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305045021/http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
	| author-link3 = :pl:Krzysztof Jasiewicz
			| archive-date = 5 March 2016
	| last4 = Kondracki
			| quote=Podobnie głosił ] h. ], że ] 'z natury' są 'sprawieni do ziemi i do pługa', że nawet wykształcony chłop zawsze pozostanie chłopem, bo 'niepodobna przerobić psa na rysia'; ... (], herbu ], proclaimed ] 'by nature' are 'chained to the land and plow,' that even an educated peasant would always remain a peasant, because 'it is impossible to transform a ] into a ].')}}</ref> The szlachta were noble in the ] (see '']'') sense -- "noble" in contrast to the people over whom they ruled after coming into contact with them.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}}
	| first4 = Jerzy Aleksander
	| author-link4 = :pl:Jerzy Kondracki
			The szlachta traced their descent from ], who allegedly founded the Polish kingdom in about the fifth century.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} ] was the name of Poland in antiquity, and the szlachta's own name for themselves was ]/Lekhi.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} ] argued an exact counterpart of szlachta society was the system of tenure of southern India—an aristocracy of equality—settled as conquerors among a separate race.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|484}} Some elements of the Polish state paralleled the ]<ref name="roman-empire" /><ref name="szlachta-roman-republicanism" /> in that full rights of citizenship were limited to the szlachta.<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /><ref name="polish-peasant-not-belong-to-polish-nation" /> According to British historian {{ill|Alexander Bruce Boswell|pl}}, the 16th-century szlachta ideal was a ]—a body of citizens, a small merchant class, and a multitude of laborers.<ref name="szlachta-aristocratic-greek-city-state">{{cite book
	| last5 = Wandycz
			| last = Boswell
	| first5 = Piotr Stefan
			| first = Alexander Bruce
	| author-link5 = Piotr S. Wandycz
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| encyclopedia = ]
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA66
	| title = '''Poland'''
			| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
	| url = https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland/The-Commonwealth
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
	| access-date = 4 June 2017
	| date = 2 June 2017		| year = 1919
			| publisher = ]
	| page = 15
			| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| quote = ''Throughout most of Europe the medieval system of ] evolved into ], but in the Commonwealth it led to a szlachta democracy inspired by the ideals of ], to which parallels were constantly drawn.''}}</ref><ref name="okolski-ancient-romans">{{cite web
			| page = 66
	| url = http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-47ad7632-fb82-47ff-a88d-3ebf4845ea16
			| quote = Their ideal was that of a Greek city State—a body of citizens, a small trading class, and a mass of labourers.}}</ref> The laborers consisted of peasants in ].<ref>{{cite book
	| title = '''Latin as the Language of Social Communication of the Polish Nobility (Based on the Latin Heraldic Work by Szymon Okolski)'''
			| last = Ross
	| publisher = ]
			| first = M.
	| location = ], ], ], ]
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fqxDAAAAYAAJ
	| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170608095553/http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-47ad7632-fb82-47ff-a88d-3ebf4845ea16
			| title = A history of Poland from its foundation as a state to the present time; including a full account of the recent patriotic struggle to re-establish its independence. To which is prefixed, a descriptive view of the country, its natural history, cities and towns, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants
	| archive-date = 8 June 2017
			| year = 1835
	| access-date = 8 June 2017
			| publisher = PATTISON AND ROSS
	| quote = ''The article highlights the role of Latin as the language of communication of the nobility living in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the beginning discusses the concept &#39;latinitas&#39;, which meant not only the correct Latin, but also pointed to the ideological content of antiquity passed through the language of the ancient Romans. ... We studied Latin armorial &#39;Orbis Polonus&#39; by Simon Okolski (Cracow 1641-1645). ... It concludes that Okolski consciously wrote his work in the language of the ancient Romans.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
			| location = Newcastle upon Tyne
	| last = Boswell
			| page = 55
	| first = Alexander Bruce
			| chapter = A Descriptive View of Poland: Character, Manners, and Customs of the Poles
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
			| quote = The peasants of Poland, as in all feudal countries, were serfs, or slaves; and the value of an estate was not estimated from its extent, but from the number of peasants, who were transferred, like cattle, from one master to another.}}</ref> The szlachta had the exclusive right to enter the clergy until the time of the ],<ref name="topor-jakubowski-clergy-szlachta-exclusive-right">{{cite web
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47#v=onepage&q&f=false
			| url = http://www.ststanislas.org/papers/american_nob.htm
	| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
			| title = It's Time to End the Myth That Polish Immigrants Were Peasants
	| title = '''POLAND AND THE POLES'''
			| last = ]-Jakubowski
	| year = 1919
			| first = Theodore
	| publisher = ]
			| website = West European Grand Priory, International Order of St Stanislas
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.
			| publisher = Order of St Stanislas
	| page = 47
			| location = Croxteth House, Liverpool, Lancashire county, Merseyside, North West England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| quote = ''... through all modern Polish history it was Roman republicanism that formed the ideal of the republican gentry. The Roman precedent was even quoted to justify serfdom, which was a modified form of Roman slavery.''}}</ref> in that full rights of citizenship were limited to the szlachta.<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002">{{cite journal
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020704093315/http://www.ststanislas.org/papers/american_nob.htm
	| last = ]-Jakubowski
			| archive-date = 4 July 2002
	| first = Theodore
			| access-date = 24 April 2021
	| editor-last = ]-Suligowski
			| quote = I would also like to add, for myself, that the szlachta possessed the exclusive right to enter the clergy up until the time of the three partitions.}}</ref> and the szlachta and clergy believed they were genetically superior to peasants.<ref>{{cite web
	| editor-first = Leonard Joseph
			| url = http://czaskultury.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WKuligowski_AHistoryOfPolishSerfdom_CzasKultury_3_2016.pdf
	| year = 2002
			| title = A History of Polish Serfdom. Theses and Antitheses
	| title = '''Claiming Inherited Noble Status'''
			| last = Kuligowski
	| journal = '''WHITE EAGLE: JOURNAL OF THE POLISH NOBILITY ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION'''
			| first = Waldemar Tadeusz
	| volume = 2002
			| date = 2 February 2017
	| issue = Spring/Summer
			| website = Czas Kultury
	| page = 5
			| location = ]
	| location = ], 529 Dunkirk Road, ], Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore county, MARYLAND, U.S.A.
			| page = 116
	| publisher = Polish Nobility Association Foundation
			| access-date = 6 April 2020
	| format = PDF
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200406222122/http://czaskultury.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WKuligowski_AHistoryOfPolishSerfdom_CzasKultury_3_2016.pdf
	| url = http://pnaf.us/pdfs/white-eagle-spring-summer-2002.pdf
			| archive-date = 6 April 2020
	| quote = ''the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of Two Nations (from 1385 until the Third Partition of 1795) paralleled the Roman Empire in that -- whether we like it or not -- full rights of citizenship were limited to the governing elite, called szlachta in Polish ... It is not truly correct to consider the szlachta a class; they actually were more like a caste, the military caste, as in Hindu society.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
			| language = en
	| last = Boswell
			| quote = To distance itself from the peasants, the nobility (and clergy) cultivated a belief in their genetic superiority over the peasants.}}</ref> The szlachta regarded peasants as a lower species.<ref>{{cite web
	| first = Alexander Bruce
			| url = http://czaskultury.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WKuligowski_AHistoryOfPolishSerfdom_CzasKultury_3_2016.pdf
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
			| title = A History of Polish Serfdom. Theses and Antitheses
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA116#v=onepage&q&f=false
			| last = Kuligowski
	| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
			| first = Waldemar Tadeusz
	| title = '''POLAND AND THE POLES'''
			| date = 2 February 2017
	| year = 1919
			| website = Czas Kultury
	| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.		| location = ]
			| page = 118
	| pages = 116-117
			| access-date = 6 April 2020
	| quote = ''The Polish peasant in the past was a very humble member of the Polish community – in fact he scarcely belonged to it at all. He had for 350 years no civic rights whatever. He was the serf of his master. It was only the easy-going and patriarchal relations between squire and peasant that made life tolerable for the latter.''}}</ref> Rome devoted its attention nearly exclusively to agriculture<ref>{{cite book
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200406222122/http://czaskultury.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WKuligowski_AHistoryOfPolishSerfdom_CzasKultury_3_2016.pdf
	| last = Stephenson
			| archive-date = 6 April 2020
	| first = Andrew
			| language = en
	| title = '''PUBLIC LANDS AND AGRARIAN LAWS OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC'''
			| quote = Nobility does not enter, or does so very unwillingly, into marriages with serfs, regarding them as a lower species.}}</ref> Quoting Bishop of Poznań, ] (between 1530 and 1540–1607):
	| chapter = '''CHAPTER I. SEC. 1.—LANDED PROPERTY.'''
	| year = 1891
	| location = ], ]
	| publisher = ]
	| format = website
	| url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12638/12638-h/12638-h.htm
	| type = Online eBook
	| accessdate = 23 August 2018
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20151013005446/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12638/12638-h/12638-h.htm
	| archivedate = 13 October 2015
	| quote = ''The Romans were a people that originally gave their almost exclusive attention to agriculture and stock-raising. The surnames of the most illustrious families, as Piso (miller), Porcius (swine-raiser), Lactucinius (lettuce-raiser), Stolo (a shoot), etc., prove this. To say that a man was a good farmer was, at one time, to bestow upon him the highest praise.''}}</ref> as did old Poland.<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Boswell
	| first = Alexander Bruce
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA136#v=onepage&q&f=false
	| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
	| title = '''POLAND AND THE POLES'''
	| year = 1919
	| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| page = 136
	| quote = ''Poland was formerly a purely agricultural country and produced large quantities of food not only for herself, but for export. ... Poland is still pre-eminently an agricultural country, ...''}}</ref> The szlachta ideal also paralleled that of a ]&mdash;a body of citizens, a small merchant class, and a multitude of laborers.<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Boswell
	| first = Alexander Bruce
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA66#v=onepage&q&f=false
	| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
	| title = '''POLAND AND THE POLES'''
	| year = 1919
	| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| page = 66
	| quote = ''Their ideal was that of a Greek city State—a body of citizens, a small trading class, and a mass of labourers.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
	| last = Ross
	| first = M.
	| url = https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_Poland_from_Its_Foundation.html?id=fqxDAAAAYAAJ
	| title = '''A HISTORY OF POLAND FROM ITS FOUNDATION AS A STATE TO THE PRESENT TIME; INCLUDING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE RECENT PATRIOTIC STRUGGLE TO RE-ESTABLISH ITS INDEPENDENCE. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, A DESCRIPTIVE VIEW OF THE COUNTRY, ITS NATURAL HISTORY, CITIES AND TOWNS, AND THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ITS INHABITANTS'''
	| year = 1835
	| publisher = PATTISON AND ROSS
	| location = 48 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland county, North East region, ENGLAND
	| page = 55
	| chapter = '''A DESCRIPTIVE VIEW OF POLAND: CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE POLES'''
	| quote = ''The peasants of Poland, as in all feudal countries, were serfs, or slaves; and the value of an estate was not estimated from its extent, but from the number of peasants, who were transferred, like cattle, from one master to another.''}}</ref> Quoting Bishop of Poznań, ] (between 1530 and 1540 - 1607):
	<blockquote>		<blockquote>
Line 445:		Line 712:
	| last = Frost		| last = Frost
	| first = Robert I.		| first = Robert I.
	| authorlink = Robert I. Frost		| author-link = Robert I. Frost
	| editor1-last = Leonhard		| editor1-last = Leonhard
	| editor1-first = Jörn		| editor1-first = Jörn
	| editor1-link = Jörn Leonhard		| editor1-link = Jörn Leonhard
	| editor2-last = Wieland		| editor2-last = Wieland
	| editor2-first = Christian		| editor2-first = Christian
	| title = '''WHAT MAKES THE NOBILITY NOBLE?: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES FROM THE SIXTEENTH TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY'''		| title = WHAT MAKES THE NOBILITY NOBLE?: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES FROM THE SIXTEENTH TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
	| chapter = '''Nobility, Citizenship and Corporate Decision-Making in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1454-1795'''		| chapter = Nobility, Citizenship and Corporate Decision-Making in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1454-1795
	| date = 23 June 2011		| date = 23 June 2011
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], ], ]		| location = ], ], ], ]
	| isbn = 978-3525310410		| isbn = 978-3525310410
	| pages = 148-149		| pages = 148–149
	| quote = ''&lsquo;The kingdome of Polonia doth also consist of the said three sortes, that is, the king, nobility and people. But it is to be noted, that this word people includeth only knights and gentlemen.&rsquo; This limitation of political rights to the szlachta, Goślicki argued, meant that the system was more balanced and virtuous since it was based on the best elements of society: ... &lsquo;The gentlemen of Polonia doe represent the popular state, for in them consisteth a great part of the government, and they are as a Seminarie from whence Councellors and Kinges are taken.&rsquo;''}}</ref>		| quote = 'The kingdome of Polonia doth also consist of the said three sortes, that is, the king, nobility and people. But it is to be noted, that this word people includeth only knights and gentlemen.' This limitation of political rights to the szlachta, Goślicki argued, meant that the system was more balanced and virtuous since it was based on the best elements of society: ... 'The gentlemen of Polonia doe represent the popular state, for in them consisteth a great part of the government, and they are as a Seminarie from whence Councellors and Kinges are taken.'}}</ref>
	</blockquote>		</blockquote>
			{{Clear}}
	The szlachta were a ],<ref name="szacki--caste--1995">{{cite book
	| last = Szacki
			===== Military caste and aristocracy =====
	| first = Jerzy Ryszard
			]
	| authorlink = Jerzy Szacki
			] with heraldic shield, by ]]]
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gU6_JbBHkXoC&pg=PA46#v=onepage&q&f=false
			The szlachta were a ],<ref name="szacki--caste--1995" /> a military caste, as in ] society.<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /><ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste" /> In the year 1244, ], identified members of the ]s' clan as members of a ''genealogia:''
	| title = '''LIBERALISM AFTER COMMUNISM'''
	| year = 1995
	| publisher = ]
	| location = Budapest, Central Hungary region, HUNGARY, EU
	| pages = 46
	| quote = ''...Świętochowski, on the other hand, wrote as follows: &lsquo;If from the deeds of the Polish nobility we took away excesses and the exclusiveness of caste, ...&rsquo;''}}</ref> a military caste, as in Hindu society.<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /><ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste" /> In the year 1244, ], identified members of the knights' clan as members of a ''genealogia:''
	<blockquote>		<blockquote>
Line 477:		Line 739:
	</blockquote>		</blockquote>
	The documentation regarding Raciborz and Albert's tenure is the earliest surviving of the use of the clan name and cry defining the honorable status of Polish knights. The names of knightly ''genealogiae'' only came to be associated with heraldic devices later in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. The Polish clan name and cry ritualized the ''ius militare,'' i.e., the power to command an army; and they had been used some time before 1244 to define knightly status. {{Harv|Górecki|1992|pp=183–185}}.		The documentation regarding Raciborz and Albert's tenure is the earliest surviving of the use of the clan name and cry defining the honorable status of Polish knights. The names of knightly ''genealogiae'' only came to be associated with heraldic devices later in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. The Polish clan name and cry ritualized the ''ius militare,'' i.e., the power to command an army; and they had been used sometime before 1244 to define knightly status. {{Harv|Górecki|1992|pp=183–185}}.
	<blockquote>		<blockquote>
	"In Poland, the Radwanice were noted relatively early (1274) as the descendants of ], a knight ]"] active a few decades earlier. ..."<ref name="radwan">], '''"Knight Clans in Medieval Poland," in ] (ed.), The Polish Nobility in the Middle Ages: Anthologies''', ]; Wrocław, POLAND, EU; 1984, page 154.</ref><ref name="radwan-family-line">{{cite journal		"In Poland, the Radwanice were noted relatively early (1274) as the descendants of ], a knight ]"] active a few decades earlier. ..."<ref name="radwan">], "Knight Clans in Medieval Poland," in ] (ed.), THE POLISH NOBILITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES: ANTHOLOGIES, ]; Wrocław, POLAND, EU; 1984, page 154.</ref><ref name="radwan-family-line">{{cite book
			| last = Okolski
	| last = ], ]
	| first = ]		| first = Szymon
			|author-link=Szymon Okolski
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eKBMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA564#v=onepage&q&f=false
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eKBMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA564
	| title = '''RADWAN alias WIRBOW.'''
			| section= RADWAN alias WIRBOW.
	| journal = '''ORBIS POLONUS'''
			| title= Orbis Polonus
	| date = 15 September 1643
	| publisher = Franciscus Caesarius		| date = 1643
			| publisher = Franciscus Caesarius
			| location = ]
	| location = ], ], ], ]
	| volume = II		| volume = II
	| page = 564		| page = 564
	| archivedate = 8 June 2017		| archive-date = 8 June 2017
	| accessdate = 8 June 2017		| access-date = 8 June 2017
	| archiveurl = https://archive.is/20170608065310/https://books.google.nl/books?id=eKBMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA564&redir_esc=y%23v=onepage&q&f=false		| archive-url = https://archive.today/20170608065310/https://books.google.nl/books?id=eKBMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA564&redir_esc=y%23v=onepage&q&f=false
	| language = Latin		| language = la
	| quote = ''LINEA FAMILIAE RADWAN''}}</ref>		| quote = LINEA FAMILIAE RADWAN}}</ref>
	</blockquote>		</blockquote>
	] and ] with eminent privileges attached is an honor derived from the ancient Germans. Where Germans did not inhabit, and where German customs were unknown, no such thing existed.<ref>{{cite book		] and ] with eminent privileges attached is an honor derived from the ancient Germans. Where Germans did not inhabit, and where German customs were unknown, no such thing existed.<ref>{{cite book
	|last = Hobbes		|last = Hobbes
	|first = Thomas		|first = Thomas
	|author-link = Thomas Hobbes		|author-link = Thomas Hobbes
	|title = '''LEVIATHAN'''		|title = LEVIATHAN
	|chapter = '''CHAPTER X. OF POWER, WORTH, DIGNITY, HONOUR AND WORTHINESS; To Honour and Dishonour'''		|chapter = Chapter X. Of Power, Worth, Dignity, Honour and Worthiness; To Honour and Dishonour
	|year = 1651		|year = 1651
	|location = ] Shop, Sign of the Green Dragon, ] Churchyard, ], ], ]		|location = ] Shop, Sign of the Green Dragon, ] Churchyard, ], ], ]
	|publisher = ]		|publisher = ]
	|format = website		|chapter-format = website
	|url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm		|chapter-url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm
	|type = Online eBook		|type = Online eBook
	|accessdate = 17 August 2018		|access-date = 17 August 2018
	|archiveurl = https://archive.today/20131117220000/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm		|archive-url = https://archive.today/20131117220000/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm
	|archivedate = 2013-11-17		|archive-date = 2013-11-17
	|quote = ''Scutchions, and coats of Armes haereditary, where they have any eminent Priviledges, are Honourable; otherwise not: for their Power consisteth either in such Priviledges, or in Riches, or some such thing as is equally honoured in other men. This kind of Honour, commonly called Gentry, has been derived from the Antient Germans. For there never was any such thing known, where the German Customes were unknown. Nor is it now any where in use, where the Germans have not inhabited.''		|quote = Scutchions, and coats of Armes haereditary, where they have any eminent Priviledges, are Honourable; otherwise not: for their Power consisteth either in such Priviledges, or in Riches, or some such thing as is equally honoured in other men. This kind of Honour, commonly called Gentry, has been derived from the Antient Germans. For there never was any such thing known, where the German Customes were unknown. Nor is it now any where in use, where the Germans have not inhabited.
	|dead-url = no		|url-status = live
			}}</ref> The usage of heraldry in Poland was brought in by knights arriving from ], ], ], and ]. Migrations from here were the most frequent, and the time period was the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.<ref>{{cite book
	|df =
	}}</ref> The usage of coats of arms in Poland was brought in by knights arriving from ], ], ], and ]. Migrations from here were the most frequent, and the time period was the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Jelinska-Marchal		| last = Jelinska-Marchal
	| first = D.		| first = D.
	| editor1-last = Judycki		| editor1-last = Judycki
	| editor1-first = Z.		| editor1-first = Z.
	| title = '''THE POLISH ARMORIAL POLANAIS'''		| title = THE POLISH ARMORIAL POLANAIS
	| year = 1988		| year = 1988
	| location = ], ], ], ]		| location = ], ], ], ]
	| publisher = Albi Corvi		| publisher = Albi Corvi
	| page = 11		| page = 11
	| isbn = 978-2907771009}}</ref> However, unlike other European ], coats of arms were associated with Polish knights' clans' (''genealogiae'') names and war cries (''godło''), where heraldic devices came to be held in common by entire clans, fighting in regiments<ref name="zamoyski-whole-clans">{{cite book		| isbn = 978-2907771009}}</ref> However, unlike other European ], coats of arms were associated with Polish knights' clans' (''genealogiae'') names and war cries (''godło''), where heraldic devices came to be held in common by entire clans, fighting in regiments.<ref name="zamoyski-whole-clans">{{cite book
	| last = ], herbu ]		| last = Zamoyski
	| first = ]		| first = Adam
			|author-link=Adam Zamoyski
	| title = '''THE POLISH WAY: A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF THE POLES AND THEIR CULTURE'''
			| title = The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture
	| orig-year = 1987
			| orig-date = 1987
	| year = 1998
	| edition = Fourth Printing		| year = 1998
			| edition = Fourth Printing
	| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8		| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.		| location = New York
			| page =
	| page = 55
	| quote = ''Polish coats of arms are utterly unlike those of European chivalry, and were held in common by whole clans which fought as regiments.''}}</ref><ref name="zamoyski-clannish-structures">{{cite book		| quote = Polish coats of arms are utterly unlike those of European chivalry, and were held in common by whole clans which fought as regiments.
			| url = https://archive.org/details/polishwaythousan00zamo/page/55
	| last = ], herbu ]
			}}</ref><ref name="zamoyski-clannish-structures" /><ref name="dmowski-clan-system" /> {{Harv|Górecki|1992|pp=183–185}}.
	| first = ]
	| title = '''THE POLISH WAY: A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF THE POLES AND THEIR CULTURE'''
	| orig-year = 1987
	| year = 1998
	| edition = Fourth Printing
	| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
	| publisher = ]
	| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
	| page = 24
	| quote = ''Polish society had evolved from clannish structures, and the introduction of Christianity and all that went with it did not alter these significantly. The feudal system which regulated society all over Europe was never introduced into Poland, and this fact cannot be stressed too heavily.''}}</ref><ref name="dmowski-clan-system">{{cite book
	| last = Dmowski
	| first = Roman Stanisław
	| authorlink = Roman Dmowski
	| editor-last = Duff
	| editor-first = James Duff
	| editor-link = James Duff Duff
	| url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
	| title = '''RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS'''
	| year = 1917
	| publisher = ]
	| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| pages = 91-92
	| chapter = '''POLAND, OLD AND NEW'''
	| quote = ''This military class was subdivided into clans, the members of each clan being bound together by strong ties of solidarity. Each clan had its name and crest. The Polish nobility, which sprang from this military class and which derived its family names from its landed properties (in the fifteenth century), had no family crests, of which there was only a limited number. Each of these bore a name which had been the old word of call of the clan. In many instances, one crest belonged to more than a hundred families. The clan system survived in this way throughout the whole of Polish history. It is evident that the warrior class in Poland had quite a different origin and a different legal and social position from that of the feudal nobility of Western Europe.''}}</ref>. {{Harv|Górecki|1992|pp=183–185}}.
			Around the 14th century, there was little difference between knights and the ''szlachta'' in Poland. Members of the szlachta had the personal obligation to defend the country ('']''), thereby becoming within the kingdom a military caste<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /><ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste" /> and ]<ref name="races-old-world--aristocracy--caste" /> with political power and extensive rights secured.<ref name="szlachta-equality" /><ref name="szlachta--allodial" /><ref name="zamoyski-clannish-structures" /> Inclusion in the warrior caste was almost exclusively based on inheritance.<ref name="szacki--inherited--1995" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski--1998">{{cite periodical
	] by wearing a ] with ] and holding the ] peaked cap on an 18th century drawing by French-born ]]]
			| last = Jakubowski
	Around the 14th century, there was little difference between knights and the ''szlachta'' in Poland. Members of the szlachta had the personal obligation to defend the country ('']''), thereby becoming the kingdom's most privileged social class. Inclusion in the class was almost exclusively based on inheritance.<ref name="szacki--inherited--1995" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski--1998">{{cite journal
			| first = Theodore
	| last = ]-Jakubowski
			| editor-last = Suligowski
	| first = Theodore
	| editor-last = ]-Suligowski		| editor-first = Leonard Joseph
			| title = 15th-Century Polish Nobility in the 21st Century
	| editor-first = Leonard Joseph
			| periodical= White Eagle: Journal of the Polish Nobility Association Foundation
	| year = 1998
			| date=Spring–Summer 1998
	| title = '''15th-Century Polish Nobility in the 21st Century'''
			| page = 9
	| journal = '''WHITE EAGLE: JOURNAL OF THE POLISH NOBILITY ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION'''
			| location = Baltimore, MD
	| volume = 1998
			| url = http://pnaf.us/pdfs/white-eagle-spring-summer-1998.pdf
	| issue = Spring/Summer
			| quote = Membership in the Polish szlachta was hereditary. ... (and the family knighthood, rycerstwo, in itself) ... The paramount principle regarding Polish nobility is that it was hereditary. ... one Rudolf Lambert had successfully proven his right to hereditary knighthood (szlachectwo) ... He was also Marshal of the Knighthood (using the word rycerz and not szlachcic ...)}}</ref>
	| page = 9
	| location = ], 529 Dunkirk Road, ], Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore county, MARYLAND, U.S.A.
	| publisher = Polish Nobility Association Foundation
	| format = PDF
	| url = http://pnaf.us/pdfs/white-eagle-spring-summer-1998.pdf
	| quote = ''Membership in the Polish szlachta was hereditary. ... (and the family knighthood, rycerstwo, in itself) ... The paramount principle regarding Polish nobility is that it was hereditary. ... one Rudolf Lambert had successfully proven his right to hereditary knighthood (szlachectwo) ... He was also Marshal of the Knighthood (using the word rycerz and not szlachcic ...)''}}</ref>
	Concerning the early Polish tribes, geography contributed to long-standing traditions. The Polish tribes were internalized and organized around a unifying religious cult, governed by the '']'', an assembly of free tribesmen. Later, when safety required power to be consolidated, an elected prince was chosen to govern. The election privilege was usually limited to elites.<ref name="bardach202627" />		Concerning the early Polish tribes, geography contributed to long-standing traditions. The Polish tribes were internalized and organized around a unifying religious cult, governed by the '']'', an assembly of free tribesmen. Later, when safety required power to be consolidated, an elected prince was chosen to govern. The election privilege was usually limited to elites.<ref name="bardach202627" />
	The tribes were ruled by clans (]) consisting of people related by blood or marriage and theoretically descending from a common ancestor<ref name="radwan-family-line" />, giving the ród/clan a highly developed sense of solidarity. (See '']''.) The '']'' (or ''starszyna'') had judicial and military power over the ród/clan, although this power was often exercised with an assembly of elders. Strongholds called '']'' were built where the religious cult was powerful, where trials were conducted, and where clans gathered in the face of danger. The ''opole'' was the territory occupied by a single tribe. {{Harv|Manteuffel|1982|p=44}} The family unit of a tribe is called the ''rodzina'', while a collection of tribes is a ].		The tribes were ruled by clans (]) consisting of people related by blood or marriage and theoretically descending from a common ancestor,<ref name="radwan-family-line" /> giving the ród/clan a highly developed sense of solidarity. (See '']''.) The '']'' (or ''starszyna'') had judicial and military power over the ród/clan, although this power was often exercised with an assembly of elders. Strongholds called '']'' were built where the religious cult was powerful, where trials were conducted, and where clans gathered in the face of danger. The ''opole'' was the territory occupied by a single tribe. {{Harv|Manteuffel|1982|p=44}} The family unit of a tribe is called the ''rodzina'', while a collection of tribes is a ].
	] (c. 935 – 25 May 992) established an elite knightly retinue from within his army, which he depended upon for success in uniting the ] tribes and preserving the unity of his state. Documented proof exists of Mieszko I's successors utilizing such a retinue, as well.		] (c. 935 – 25 May 992) established an elite knightly retinue from within his army, which he depended upon for success in uniting the ] tribes and preserving the unity of his state. Documented proof exists of Mieszko I's successors utilizing such a retinue, as well.
	Another class of knights were granted land by the prince, allowing them the economic ability to serve the prince militarily. A Polish nobleman living at the time prior to the 15th century was referred to as a "rycerz", very roughly equivalent to the English "knight," the critical difference being the status of "rycerz" was almost strictly hereditary;<ref name="szacki--inherited--1995" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski--1998" /> the class of all such individuals was known as the "rycerstwo".<ref name="topor-jakubowski--1998" /> Representing the wealthier families of Poland and itinerant knights from abroad seeking their fortunes, this other class of rycerstwo, which became the szlachta/nobility ("szlachta" becomes the proper term for Polish nobility beginning about the 15th century), gradually formed apart from Mieszko I's and his successors' elite retinues. This rycerstwo/nobility obtained more privileges granting them favored status. They were absolved from particular burdens and obligations under ducal law, resulting in the belief only rycerstwo (those combining military prowess with high/noble birth) could serve as officials in state administration.		Another group of knights were granted land in ]ium, not ],<ref name="szlachta--allodial" /> by the prince, allowing them the economic ability to serve the prince militarily. A Polish warrior belonging to the military caste<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /><ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste" /> living at the time prior to the 15th century was referred to as a "rycerz", very roughly equivalent to the English "knight," the critical difference being the status of "rycerz" was almost strictly hereditary;<ref name="szacki--inherited--1995" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski--1998" /> the group of all such warriors was known as the "rycerstwo".<ref name="topor-jakubowski--1998" /> Representing the wealthier families of Poland and itinerant knights from abroad seeking their fortunes, this other group of rycerstwo, which became the szlachta ("szlachta" becomes the proper term for Polish ]<ref name="races-old-world--aristocracy--caste" /> beginning about the 15th century), gradually formed apart from Mieszko I's and his successors' elite retinues. This rycerstwo/]<ref name="races-old-world--aristocracy--caste" /> secured more rights granting them favored status. They were absolved from particular burdens and obligations under ducal law, resulting in the belief only rycerstwo (those combining military prowess with high/aristocratic birth) could serve as officials in state administration.
	Select rycerstwo were distinguished above the other rycerstwo, because they descended from past tribal dynasties, or because early ] endowments made them select beneficiaries. These rycerstwo of great wealth were called możni (Magnates). Socially they were not a distinct class from the rycerstwo from which they all originated<ref name="dmowski-magnates-szlachta">{{cite book		Select rycerstwo were distinguished above the other rycerstwo, because they descended from past tribal dynasties, or because early ] endowments made them select beneficiaries. These rycerstwo of great wealth were called ]. They had the same political status and status in law as the rycerstwo from which they all originated<ref name="dmowski-magnates-szlachta">{{cite book
	| last = Dmowski		| last = Dmowski
	| first = Roman Stanisław		| first = Roman Stanisław
	| authorlink = Roman Dmowski		| author-link = Roman Dmowski
	| editor-last = Duff		| editor-last = Duff
	| editor-first = James Duff		| editor-first = James Duff
	| editor-link = James Duff Duff		| editor-link = James Duff Duff
	| url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems		| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
	| title = '''RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS'''		| title = RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS
	| year = 1917		| year = 1917
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM		| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| page = 94		| page = 94
	| chapter = '''POLAND, OLD AND NEW'''		| chapter = Poland, Old And New
	| quote = ''But between the gentry and the magnates there was only a difference of wealth and culture. Both belonged directly to the same class of the community, both were members of the same clans, and the gentry by its social character was destined rather to co-operate with the magnates than to struggle against them. And, as both those elements occupied the same legal position, the power wrested from the king by the magnates became legally an acquisition of the whole of the nobility, ...''}}</ref> and to which they would return were their wealth lost. {{Harv|Manteuffel|1982|pp=148–149}}		| quote = But between the gentry and the magnates there was only a difference of wealth and culture. Both belonged directly to the same class of the community, both were members of the same clans, and the gentry by its social character was destined rather to co-operate with the magnates than to struggle against them. And, as both those elements occupied the same legal position, the power wrested from the king by the magnates became legally an acquisition of the whole of the nobility, ...}}</ref> and to which they would return were their wealth lost. {{Harv|Manteuffel|1982|pp=148–149}}
	The Period of Division from, A.D., 1138 – A.D., 1314, which included nearly 200 years of feudal fragmentation and which stemmed from ]'s division of Poland among his sons, was the genesis of the social structure which saw the economic elevation of the great landowning feudal nobles (możni/Magnates, both ecclesiastical and lay) from the rycerstwo they originated from. The prior social structure was one of Polish tribes united into the historic Polish nation under a state ruled by the ], this dynasty appearing circa 850 A.D.		], which included nearly 200 years of fragmentation and which stemmed from ]'s division of Poland among his sons, was the genesis of the political structure where the great landowning szlachta (]), whose land was in ]ium, not ],<ref name="szlachta--allodial" /><ref name="szlachta-equality" /> were economically elevated above the rycerstwo they originated from. The prior political structure was one of Polish tribes united into the historic Polish nation under a state ruled by the ], this dynasty appearing circa 850 A.D.
	Some możni (Magnates) descending from past tribal dynasties regarded themselves as co-proprietors of Piast realms, even though the Piasts attempted to deprive them of their independence. These możni (Magnates) constantly sought to undermine princely authority.<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|75, 76}} In ] chronicle, there is noted the nobility's alarm when the ] ] "elevated those of a lower class over those who were noble born" entrusting them with state offices. {{Harv|Manteuffel|1982|p=149}}		Some ] descending from past tribal dynasties regarded themselves as co-proprietors of Piast realms,<ref name="szlachta-equality" /><ref name="szlachta--allodial" /> even though the Piasts attempted to deprive them of their independence. These ] constantly sought to ].<ref name="davies--norman" />{{rp|75, 76}} In ] chronicle, there is noted the nobility's alarm when the ] ] "elevated those of a lower class over those who were noble born" entrusting them with state offices. {{Harv|Manteuffel|1982|p=149}}
	==== Lithuanian ====		==== Lithuania ====
	{{Main article|Lithuanian nobility}}		{{Main|Lithuanian nobility}}
			]]]
	] in October 1763, nobleman ] was elected by the nobility and reigned as Stanisław II Augustus.]]
	In ] and in ] prior to the creation of the ] by ], nobles were named ''die beste leuten'' in sources that were written in ]. In Lithuanian, nobles were named ''ponai''. The higher nobility were named ''kunigai'' or ''kunigaikščiai'' (dukes) — a loanword from Scandinavian '']''. They were the established local leaders and warlords. During the development of the state, they gradually became subordinated to higher dukes, and later to the ]. Because of Lithuanian expansion into the lands of ] in the middle of the 14th century, a new term for nobility appeared — ''bajorai'', from ] ''бояре''. This word is used to this day in Lithuania to refer to nobility in general (including that of foreign countries).		In ] and in ], prior to the creation of the ] by ], nobles were called ''die beste leuten'' in ] sources. In Lithuanian, nobles were named ''ponai''. The higher nobility were named ''kunigai'' or ''kunigaikščiai'' (dukes) — a loanword from Scandinavian '']''. They were the established local leaders and warlords. During the development of the state, they gradually became subordinated to higher dukes, and later to the ]. Because of Lithuanian expansion into the lands of ] in the middle of the 14th century, a new term for nobility appeared — ''bajorai'', from ] ''бояре''. This word is used to this day in Lithuania to refer to nobility in general, including those from abroad.
	After the ], the Lithuanian nobility acquired equal status with the Polish szlachta, and over time became more and more ], although they did preserve their ]al consciousness, and in most cases recognition of their Lithuanian family roots. In the 16th century, some of the Lithuanian nobility claimed that they were descended from the Romans, and that the ] was derived from Latin. This led to a conundrum: Polish nobility claimed its own ancestry from ] tribes, but Sarmatians were considered enemies of the Romans. Thus, a new Roman-Sarmatian theory was created. Strong cultural ties with Polish nobility led to a new term for Lithuanian nobility appearing in the 16th century — ''šlėkta'', a direct loanword from Polish ''szlachta''. Recently, Lithuanian linguists advocated against the usage of this Polish loanword.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kiaupienė |first=Jūratė |author-link=Jūratė Kiaupienė |year=2003 |title="Mes, Lietuva": Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės bajorija XVI a. |trans-title="We the Lithuania": nobility of Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 16th c. |language=Lithuanian |publisher=Kronta |isbn=9955-595-08-6 |page=64}}</ref>		After the ], the Lithuanian nobility acquired equal status with its Polish counterparts. Over time they became increasingly ], although they did preserve their ]al consciousness, and in most cases recognition of their Lithuanian family roots. In the 16th century, some of the Lithuanian nobility claimed that they were descended from the Romans, and that the ] was derived from Latin. This led to a conundrum: Polish nobility claimed its own ancestry from ] tribes, but Sarmatians were considered enemies of the Romans. Thus, a new Roman-Sarmatian theory was created. Strong cultural ties with Polish nobility led to a new term for Lithuanian nobility appearing in the 16th century — ''šlėkta'', a direct loanword from Polish ''szlachta''. Recently, Lithuanian linguists advocated dropping the usage of this Polish loanword.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kiaupienė |first=Jūratė |author-link=Jūratė Kiaupienė |year=2003 |title="Mes, Lietuva": Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės bajorija XVI a. |trans-title="We the Lithuania": nobility of Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 16th c. |language=lt |publisher=Kronta |isbn=9955-595-08-6 |page=64}}</ref>
	The process of ] took place over a lengthy period of time. At first only the highest members of the nobility were involved, although gradually a wider group of the population was affected. The major effects on the lesser Lithuanian nobility took place after various sanctions were imposed by the ] such as removing ''Lithuania'' from the names of the Gubernyas<ref name="Ochmański">{{cite book |last=Ochmański |first=Jerzy |title=The National Idea in Lithuania from the 16th to the First Half of the 19th Century: The Problem of Cultural-Linguistic Differentiation |publisher=Mickiewicz University |year=1986 |location=Poznań}}</ref> few years after the ]. After the ] the sanctions went further, and Russian officials announced that "Lithuanians are Russians seduced by Poles and Catholicism" and began to intensify ], and to ] the printing of books in the Lithuanian language.		The process of ] took place over a lengthy period. At first only the leading members of the nobility were involved. Gradually the wider population became affected. Major effects on the lesser Lithuanian nobility occurred after various sanctions were imposed by the ], such as removing ''Lithuania'' from the names of the ''Gubernyas'' shortly after the ].<ref name="Ochmański">{{cite book |last=Ochmański |first=Jerzy |title=The National Idea in Lithuania from the 16th to the First Half of the 19th Century: The Problem of Cultural-Linguistic Differentiation |publisher=Mickiewicz University |year=1986 |location=Poznań}}</ref> After the ] the sanctions went further, and Russian officials began to intensify ], and ].
	==== Ruthenian ====		==== Ruthenia ====
	{{Main article|Ruthenian nobility}}		{{Main|Ruthenian nobility}}
	In ] the nobility gradually gravitated its loyalty towards the multicultural and multilingual ] after the principalities of ] and ] became a part of it. Many noble Ruthenian families intermarried with Lithuanian ones.		After the principalities of ] and ] became integrated with the Grand Duchy, ]'s nobility gradually rendered loyalty to the multilingual and cultural ] that was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} Many noble Ruthenian families intermarried with Lithuanians.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}
	The Orthodox nobles' rights were nominally equal to those enjoyed by Polish and Lithuanian nobility, but there was a cultural pressure to convert to Catholicism, that was greatly eased in 1596 by the ]. See for example careers of Senator ] and ].		The rights of ] nobles were nominally equal to those enjoyed by the Polish and Lithuanian nobility, but they were put under cultural pressure to convert to Catholicism.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} It was a policy that was greatly eased in 1596 by the ].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} See, for example, the careers of Senator ] and ].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}
	==Origins of szlachta surnames==		==Origins of szlachta surnames==
			{{Main|Polish surnames}}
	] of Polish nobleman John of ] sealed with the ] by unknown artist. It is located at the church of ], ], ], ]; 1450.]]		] of szlachcic John of ] sealed with the ] by unknown artist. It is located at the church of ], ], ], ]; 1450.]]
			]
	] in the ] (compiled before 1396), among them ], ], ] (]), ].]]In Polish "dąb" means "oak."<ref name="hoffman--william">William F. Hoffman, '''"Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings"''' (Chicago, Cook county, ILLINOIS, U.S.A.: , 1993).</ref>{{rp|157}} "Dąbrowa" means "oak forest," and "Dąbrówka" means "little oak forest" (or grove). In antiquity, the nobility used topographic surnames to identify themselves.<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Dmowski
	| first = Roman Stanisław
	| authorlink = Roman Dmowski
	| editor-last = Duff
	| editor-first = James Duff
	| editor-link = James Duff Duff
	| url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
	| title = '''RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS'''
	| year = 1917
	| publisher = ]
	| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| page = 91
	| chapter = '''POLAND, OLD AND NEW'''
	| quote = ''The Polish nobility, which sprang from this military class and which derived its family names from its landed properties (in the fifteenth century), ...''}}</ref> The expression "]" (meaning "from" sometimes "at") plus the name of one's ] or ] carried the same prestige as "de" in French names such as "de Châtellerault", and "]" or "]" in German names such as ].<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Boswell
	| first = Alexander Bruce
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109#v=onepage&q&f=false
	| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
	| title = '''POLAND AND THE POLES'''
	| year = 1919
	| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| page = 109
	| quote = ''Later on each family began to take the name of some village or town, with the addition of -ski, which is the Polish equivalent for the French de or German von.''}}</ref> In Polish "z Dąbrówki" and "Dąbrowski" mean the same thing: "of, from Dąbrówka."<ref name="hoffman--william" />{{rp|60}} More precisely, "z Dąbrówki" means owning the patrimony or estate Dąbrówka, not necessarily originating from. Almost all the surnames of genuine Polish szlachta can be traced back to a patrimony or locality, despite time scattering most families far from their original home. John of ] called himself John ], Stephen of ] called himself ].<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Boswell
	| first = Alexander Bruce
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109#v=onepage&q&f=false
	| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
	| title = '''POLAND AND THE POLES'''
	| year = 1919
	| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| page = 109
	| quote = ''Thus John of ] called himself John ], Stephen of ] called himself ]. Although time has scattered most families far from their original home, nearly all the names of the genuinely Polish szlachta can be traced back to some locality.''}}</ref>
			The Proto-Slavic suffix "-ьskъ" means "characteristic of", "typical of".
	At least since the 17th century the surnames/] of noble families became fixed and were inherited by following generations, remaining in that form until today. Prior to that time, a member of the family<ref name="radwan-family-line" /> would simply use his Christian name (e.g., Jakub, Jan, Mikołaj, etc.), and the name of the coat of arms common to all members of his clan.<ref>{{cite book
			This suffix exists in Polish as "-ski" (feminine: "-ska"). It's attached to surnames derived from a person's occupation, characteristics, patronymic surnames, or toponymic surnames (from a person's place of residence, birth or family origin).
	| last = Boswell
			<ref name="hoffman--william">William F. Hoffman, "POLISH SURNAMES: ORIGINS AND MEANINGS" (Chicago, Cook county, ILLINOIS, U.S.A.: , 1993). </ref>{{rp|157}} In antiquity, the szlachta used topographic surnames to identify themselves.<ref>{{cite book
	| first = Alexander Bruce
			| last = Dmowski
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
			| first = Roman Stanisław
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109#v=onepage&q&f=false
			| author-link = Roman Dmowski
	| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
			| editor-last = Duff
	| title = '''POLAND AND THE POLES'''
			| editor-first = James Duff
	| year = 1919
			| editor-link = James Duff Duff
	| publisher = ]
			| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/RussianRealitiesAndProblems
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.
			| title = RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS
	| page = 109
			| year = 1917
	| quote = ''Originally a member of the Polish szlachta used simply his Christian name, and the title of the coat of arms which was common to all the members of his clan.''}}</ref> A member of the family would be identified as, for example, "Jakub z Dąbrówki"<ref name="boniecki">{{cite journal
			| publisher = ]
	| last = ] (]-Boniecki), herbu ]
			| location = Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| first = Adam Józef Feliks
	| year = 1901		| page = 91
			| chapter = Poland, Old And New
	| title = '''DĄBROWSCY h. RADWAN z Dąbrówki'''
			| quote = The Polish nobility, which sprang from this military class and which derived its family names from its landed properties (in the fifteenth century), ...}}</ref> The expression "]" (meaning "from" sometimes "at") plus the name of one's ] or ] (dominion) carried the same prestige as "de" in French names such as "de Châtellerault", and "]" or "]" in German names such as ].<ref>{{cite book
	| journal = '''Herbarz Polski - Część I.; Wiadomości Historyczno-Genealogiczne O Rodach Szlacheckich.'''
	| volume = IV.		| last = Boswell
			| first = Alexander Bruce
	| page = 147
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| location = ], ], ], ]
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109
	| publisher = ]
	| format = online book		| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
	| url = https://polona.pl/item/10355910/159/
			| year = 1919
	| quote = ''DĄBROWSCY h. RADWAN z Dąbrówki pod Piasecznem, w ziemi warszawskiej, w różnych stronach osiedli, przeważnie w ziemi rożańskiej. Przydomek ich &bdquo;Żądło&ldquo;. Żyjący w połowie XV-go wieku Jakub z Dąbrówki, ...''}}</ref>, herbu Radwan, (Jacob to/at Dąbrówki of the knights' clan ]), or "Jakub z Dąbrówki, Żądło (])<ref name="zadlo-cognomen">{{cite journal
			| publisher = ]
	| last = ], ]
			| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| first = ]
			| page = 109
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eKBMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA572#v=onepage&q&f=false
			| quote = Later on each family began to take the name of some village or town, with the addition of -ski, which is the Polish equivalent for the French de or German von.}}</ref> For example, the family name of counts Litwiccy (Litwicki<ref>{{Cite book |last=ks. Dariusz Pater |title=Kapliczki Matki Bożej w Ziemi Przysuskiej znakiem pobożności maryjnej. |publisher=KONTRAST |year=2010 |isbn=978-83-930803-0-4 |pages=214–216 |language=Polish}}</ref>) was formed with the patronymic suffix -ic from the ethnic name Litwa, i.e. Lithuania, 'nation of Lithuanians'. It refers to the early modern empire of Central Europe, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648). In Polish "z Dąbrówki" and "Dąbrowski" mean the same thing: "of, from Dąbrówka."<ref name="hoffman--william" />{{rp|60}} More precisely, "z Dąbrówki" means owning the patrimony or estate Dąbrówka, not necessarily originating from. Almost all the surnames of genuine Polish szlachta can be traced back to a patrimony or locality, despite time scattering most families far from their original home. John of ] called himself John ], Stephen of ] called himself ].<ref>{{cite book
	| title = '''RADWAN alias WIRBOW.'''
			| last = Boswell
	| journal = '''ORBIS POLONUS'''
			| first = Alexander Bruce
	| date = 15 September 1643
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| publisher = Franciscus Caesarius
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109
	| location = ], ], ], ]
			| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
	| volume = II
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
	| page = 572
			| year = 1919
	| archivedate = 8 June 2017
			| publisher = ]
	| accessdate = 8 June 2017
			| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| archiveurl = https://archive.is/20170608064839/https://books.google.nl/books?id=eKBMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA572&redir_esc=y%23v=onepage&q&f=false
			| page = 109
	| language = Latin
			| quote = Thus John of ] called himself John ], Stephen of ] called himself ]. Although time has scattered most families far from their original home, nearly all the names of the genuinely Polish szlachta can be traced back to some locality.}}</ref>
	| quote = ''Dąbrowfcij, cognominati Zedlowie ...''}}</ref> (later a przydomkiem/nickname/]), herbu Radwan" (Jacob to/at Dąbrówki with the distinguishing name Żądło of the knights' clan ]), or "Jakub Żądło,<ref name="zadlo-cognomen" /> herbu Radwan".
			At least since the 17th century the surnames/] of szlachta families became fixed and were inherited by following generations, remaining in that form until today. Prior to that time, a member of the family<ref name="radwan-family-line" /> would simply use his Christian name (e.g., Jakub, Jan, Mikołaj, etc.), and the name of the coat of arms common to all members of his clan.<ref>{{cite book
	The Polish state paralleled the ]<ref name="roman-empire" /> in that full rights of citizenship were limited to the nobility/szlachta.<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /> The nobility/szlachta in ], where Latin was written and spoken far and wide,<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Boswell		| last = Boswell
	| first = Alexander Bruce		| first = Alexander Bruce
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell		| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47#v=onepage&q&f=false		| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109
	| format = GOOGLE EBOOK		| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
	| title = '''POLAND AND THE POLES'''		| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
	| year = 1919		| year = 1919
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.		| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| page = 47		| page = 109
			| quote = Originally a member of the Polish szlachta used simply his Christian name, and the title of the coat of arms which was common to all the members of his clan.}}</ref> A member of the family would be identified as, for example, "Jakub z Dąbrówki",<ref name="boniecki">{{cite journal
	| quote = ''The use of the Latin language was universal in Poland well into the eighteenth century, and many words from Latin have been assimilated by the Polish language and have added to its vocabulary and its expressiveness.''}}</ref> used the ]<ref name="okolski-ancient-romans" /> to distinguish Polish citizens/nobles/szlachta from ]<ref>{{cite web
			| last = ] (]-Boniecki), herbu ]
	| url = https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mikmichalowickilite2-161212085641/95/dwr-dbrowskich-w-michaowicach-nowe-ycie-dworu-wystawa-6-1024.jpg?cb=1481533068
			| first = Adam Józef Feliks
	| title = DWÓR DĄBROWSKICH W MICHAŁOWICACH - "Nowe życie dworu" (wystawa)
			| year = 1901
	| date = 12 December 2016
			| title = DĄBROWSCY h. RADWAN z Dąbrówki
	| publisher = ]
			| journal = Herbarz Polski - Część I.; Wiadomości Historyczno-Genealogiczne O Rodach Szlacheckich.
	| location = ], ], ], Southern Poland, POLAND
			| volume = IV.
	| work = ]
			| page = 147
	| accessdate = 5 June 2017
			| location = ], ], ], ]
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20170605081455/https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mikmichalowickilite2-161212085641/95/dwr-dbrowskich-w-michaowicach-nowe-ycie-dworu-wystawa-6-1024.jpg?cb=1481533068
			| publisher = ]
	| archivedate = 5 June 2017
			| format = online book
	| language = Polish
			| url = https://polona.pl/item/10355910/159/
	| trans-title = DĄBROWSKI MANOR/MANSION IN MICHAŁOWICE - New Life of the Manor/Mansion (Exhibition)
			| quote = DĄBROWSCY h. RADWAN z Dąbrówki pod Piasecznem, w ziemi warszawskiej, w różnych stronach osiedli, przeważnie w ziemi rożańskiej. Przydomek ich "Żądło". Żyjący w połowie XV-go wieku Jakub z Dąbrówki, ...}}</ref> herbu Radwan, (Jacob to/at Dąbrówki of the knights' clan ]), or "Jakub z Dąbrówki, Żądło (])<ref name="zadlo-cognomen">{{cite book
	| quote = ''The Dąbrowski family &#91;Żądło-Dąbrowski, herbu Radwan, landowners of ] - See &#93; willingly engaged in rural life. In the picture: a festive harvest in nearby ] in 1939, ...''}}</ref> and foreigners, hence why multiple surnames are associated with many Polish coat of arms.
			| last = Okolski
			| first = Szymon
			|author-link=Szymon Okolski
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eKBMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA572
			| section= RADWAN alias WIRBOW.
			| title= Orbis Polonus
			| date = 1643
			| publisher = Franciscus Caesarius
			| location = ]
			| volume = II
			| page = 572
			| archive-date = 8 June 2017
			| access-date = 8 June 2017
			| archive-url = https://archive.today/20170608064839/https://books.google.nl/books?id=eKBMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA572&redir_esc=y%23v=onepage&q&f=false
			| language = la
			| quote = Dąbrowfcij, cognominati Zedlowie ...}}</ref> (later a przydomek/nickname/]), herbu Radwan" (Jacob to/at Dąbrówki with the distinguishing name Żądło of the knights' clan ]), or "Jakub Żądło,<ref name="zadlo-cognomen" /> herbu Radwan".
			The Polish state paralleled the ]<ref name="roman-empire" /> in that full rights of citizenship were limited to the szlachta.<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /> The szlachta in ], where Latin was written and spoken far and wide,<ref>{{cite book
	Example - Jakub: Radwan Żądło-Dąbrowski<ref>{{cite web
	| last = Minakowski		| last = Boswell
	| first = Marek Jerzy		| first = Alexander Bruce
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| authorlink = Marek Jerzy Minakowski
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47
	| title = '''Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan'''
			| format = GOOGLE EBOOK
	| website = '''Genealogia Potomków Sejmu Wielkiego'''
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
	| location = Kraków, POLAND, EU
			| year = 1919
	| publisher = Dr Minakowski Publikacje Elektroniczne
			| publisher = ]
	| url = http://wielcy.pl/boniecki/en/art/4/261.xml
			| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| accessdate = 21 July 2018}}</ref> (sometimes Jakub: Radwan Dąbrowski-Żądło)
			| page = 47
			| quote = The use of the Latin language was universal in Poland well into the eighteenth century, and many words from Latin have been assimilated by the Polish language and have added to its vocabulary and its expressiveness.}}</ref> used the ]<ref name="okolski-ancient-romans" /> to distinguish Polish citizens/szlachta from ]<ref>{{cite web
			| url = https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mikmichalowickilite2-161212085641/95/dwr-dbrowskich-w-michaowicach-nowe-ycie-dworu-wystawa-6-1024.jpg?cb=1481533068
			| title = DWÓR DĄBROWSKICH W MICHAŁOWICACH - "Nowe życie dworu" (wystawa)
			| date = 12 December 2016
			| publisher = ]
			| location = ]
			| work = ]
			| access-date = 5 June 2017
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170605081455/https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mikmichalowickilite2-161212085641/95/dwr-dbrowskich-w-michaowicach-nowe-ycie-dworu-wystawa-6-1024.jpg?cb=1481533068
			| archive-date = 5 June 2017
			| language = pl
			| trans-title = DĄBROWSKI MANOR/MANSION IN MICHAŁOWICE - New Life of the Manor/Mansion (Exhibition)
			}}{{unreliable source?|date=February 2022}}</ref> and foreigners, hence why multiple surnames are associated with many Polish coat of arms.
			Example – Jakub: Radwan Żądło-Dąbrowski<ref name="minakowski">{{cite web
			| last = Minakowski
			| first = Marek Jerzy
			| author-link = Marek Jerzy Minakowski
			| title = Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan
			| website = Genealogia Potomków Sejmu Wielkiego
			| location = Kraków, POLAND, EU
			| publisher = Dr Minakowski Publikacje Elektroniczne
			| url = http://wielcy.pl/boniecki/en/art/4/261.xml
			| access-date = 21 July 2018
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190906175928/http://wielcy.pl/boniecki/en/art/4/261.xml
			| archive-date = 6 September 2019}}</ref> (sometimes Jakub: Radwan Dąbrowski-Żądło)
	''']'''		''']'''
Line 752:		Line 995:
	''']''' (name of the family branch/] within the ] gens):		''']''' (name of the family branch/] within the ] gens):
	For example—Braniecki, Dąbrowski<ref>{{cite web		For example—Braniecki, Dąbrowski,<ref>{{cite web
	| url = https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mikmichalowickilite2-161212085641/95/dwr-dbrowskich-w-michaowicach-nowe-ycie-dworu-wystawa-4-1024.jpg?cb=1481533068		| url = https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mikmichalowickilite2-161212085641/95/dwr-dbrowskich-w-michaowicach-nowe-ycie-dworu-wystawa-4-1024.jpg?cb=1481533068
	| title = DWÓR DĄBROWSKICH W MICHAŁOWICACH - "Nowe życie dworu" (wystawa)		| title = DWÓR DĄBROWSKICH W MICHAŁOWICACH - "Nowe życie dworu" (wystawa)
	| date = 12 December 2016		| date = 12 December 2016
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], ], Southern Poland, POLAND		| location = ], ], ], Southern Poland, POLAND
	| work = ]		| work = ]
	| accessdate = 3 June 2017		| access-date = 3 June 2017
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20170603191440/https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mikmichalowickilite2-161212085641/95/dwr-dbrowskich-w-michaowicach-nowe-ycie-dworu-wystawa-4-1024.jpg?cb=1481533068		| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170603191440/https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mikmichalowickilite2-161212085641/95/dwr-dbrowskich-w-michaowicach-nowe-ycie-dworu-wystawa-4-1024.jpg?cb=1481533068
	| archivedate = 3 June 2017		| archive-date = 3 June 2017
	| language = Polish		| language = pl
	| trans-title = DĄBROWSKI MANOR/MANSION IN MICHAŁOWICE - New Life of the Manor/Mansion (Exhibition)		| trans-title = DĄBROWSKI MANOR/MANSION IN MICHAŁOWICE - New Life of the Manor/Mansion (Exhibition)
	| quote = ''Photographs from the family archive of Jan Majewski; Tadeusz Żądło Dąbrowski ...''}}</ref>, Czcikowski, Dostojewski, Górski, Nicki, ], etc.		| quote = Photographs from the family archive of Jan Majewski; Tadeusz Żądło Dąbrowski ...}}</ref> Czcikowski, Dostojewski, Górski, Nicki, ], etc.
	''']''' (nickname, Polish ]):		''']''' (nickname, Polish {{linktext|przydomek}}):
	Żądło (prior to the 17th century, was a ]<ref name="zadlo-cognomen" />)		Żądło (prior to the 17th century, was a ]<ref name="zadlo-cognomen" />)
	] gives an example of the Rościszewski family taking different surnames from the names of various patrimonies or estates they owned. The branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Chrapunia became the Chrapunski family, the branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Strykwina became the Strykwinski family, and the branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Borkow became known as the Borkowski family. Each family shared a common ancestor and belonged to the same knights' clan, so they bore the same coat of arms as the Rościszewski family.<ref>{{cite web		] gives an example of the Rościszewski family taking different surnames from the names of various patrimonies or estates they owned. The branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Chrapunia became the Chrapunski family, the branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Strykwina became the Strykwinski family, and the branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Borkow became known as the Borkowski family. Each family shared a common ancestor and belonged to the same knights' clan, so they bore the same coat of arms as the Rościszewski family.<ref>{{cite web
	| last = Bajer		| last = Bajer
	| first = Piotr Paweł		| first = Piotr Paweł
	| url = http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm		| url = http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm
	| title = '''POLISH NOBILITY AND ITS HERALDRY: AN INTRODUCTION'''		| title = POLISH NOBILITY AND ITS HERALDRY: AN INTRODUCTION
	| publisher = podolska.neostrada.pl		| publisher = podolska.neostrada.pl
	| location = ], ], POLAND		| location = ], ], POLAND
	| accessdate = 5 June 2017		| access-date = 5 June 2017
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160504225306/http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm		| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160504225306/http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm
	| archivedate = 4 May 2016		| archive-date = 4 May 2016
	| quote = ''This peculiarity may be best illustrated by the example given by Paprocki who mentions the Rosciszewski family which took a surname different from the names of the land properties it had owned. Those of the Rosciszewski family who settled in Chrapunia became known as Chrapunskis; those who settled in Strykwina were known as Strykwinskis; and those who settled in Borkow became known as Borkowskis. Since they shared a common ancestor and belonged to the same clan - they were entitled to bear the same arms as Rosciszewskis.''}}</ref>		| quote = This peculiarity may be best illustrated by the example given by Paprocki who mentions the Rosciszewski family which took a surname different from the names of the land properties it had owned. Those of the Rosciszewski family who settled in Chrapunia became known as Chrapunskis; those who settled in Strykwina were known as Strykwinskis; and those who settled in Borkow became known as Borkowskis. Since they shared a common ancestor and belonged to the same clan - they were entitled to bear the same arms as Rosciszewskis.}}</ref>
	Each knights' clan/gens/ród had its ], and there were only a limited number. Almost without exception, there were no family coat of arms.<ref>{{cite book		Each knights' clan/gens/ród had its ], and there were only a limited number. Almost without exception, there were no family coat of arms.<ref>{{cite book
	| last = ], herbu ]		| last = Zamoyski
	| first = ]		| first = Adam
			|author-link=Adam Zamoyski
	| title = '''THE POLISH WAY: A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF THE POLES AND THEIR CULTURE'''
			| title = The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture
	| orig-year = 1987
			| orig-date = 1987
	| year = 1998
	| edition = Fourth Printing		| year = 1998
			| edition = Fourth Printing
	| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8		| isbn = 0-7818-0200-8
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.		| location = New York
			| page =
	| page = 54
	| quote = ''Fig. 4 A selection of Polish coats-of-arms. These were never personal to the bearers; each was borne by all members of the family, and often by dozens of families of different names which may or may not have shared their origins.''}}</ref> Each coat of arms bore a name, the clan's call word. In most instances, the coat of arms belonged to many families within the clan.<ref name="zamoyski-whole-clans" /> The Polish state paralleled the Roman Empire<ref name="roman-empire" /><ref name="okolski-ancient-romans" />, and the Polish nobility had a different origin and structure in law than Western Europe's feudal nobility.<ref name="zamoyski-clannish-structures" /> The clan/gens/ród system survived the whole of Polish history.<ref name="dmowski-clan-system" />		| quote = Fig. 4 A selection of Polish coats-of-arms. These were never personal to the bearers; each was borne by all members of the family, and often by dozens of families of different names which may or may not have shared their origins.
			| url = https://archive.org/details/polishwaythousan00zamo/page/54
			}}</ref> Each coat of arms bore a name, the clan's call word. In most instances, the coat of arms belonged to many families within the clan.<ref name="zamoyski-whole-clans" /> The Polish state paralleled the Roman Empire,<ref name="roman-empire" /><ref name="okolski-ancient-romans" /> and the szlachta had a different origin and structure in law than Western Europe's feudal nobility.<ref name="zamoyski-clannish-structures" /> The clan/gens/ród system survived the whole of Polish history.<ref name="dmowski-clan-system" />
			=== Heraldry ===
			{{Main|Polish heraldry}}
			] in the ] (compiled before 1396), among them ], ], ] (]), ].]]
			{{Commons category|Coats of arms of families of Poland}}
			] were very important to the szlachta. Its heraldic system evolved together with neighbouring states in ], while differing in many ways from the heraldry of other European countries. Polish Knighthood had its counterparts, links and roots in ], e.g. ] and in ], e.g. ].
			Families who had a common origin would also share a coat of arms. They would also share their crest with families adopted into the clan. Sometimes unrelated families would be falsely attributed to a clan on the basis of similarity of crests. Some noble families inaccurately claimed clan membership. The number of coats of arms in this system was comparatively low and did not exceed 200 in the late Middle Ages. There were 40,000 in the late 18th century.
			At the ], forty-seven families of Catholic Lithuanian lords and boyars were adopted by Polish szlachta families and allowed to use Polish coats of arms.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frost|first1=Robert I.|title=The Oxford History of Poland-Lithuania: The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 1385-1569|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=115}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Marian|first1=Biskup|chapter=Polish Diplomacy during the Angewin and Jagiellonian Era (1370-1572): X-XX C|title=The History of Polish Diplomacy: X-XX C|date=2005|publisher=Sejm Publishing Office|page=79}}</ref>
			==== Heritability ====
			The tradition of differentiating between a coat of arms and a ] granted to women, did not develop in Poland. By the 17th century, invariably, men and women inherited a coat of arms from their father.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} When mixed marriages developed after the partitions, that is between commoners and members of the nobility, as a courtesy, children could claim a coat of arms from their ] side, but this was only tolerated and could not be passed on to the next generation. The ] was rarely used. All children would inherit the coat of arms and title of their father. This partly accounts for the relatively large proportion of Polish families who had claim to a coat of arms by the 18th century. Another factor was the arrival of titled foreign settlers, especially from the German lands and the Habsburg Empire.
			Illegitimate children could adopt the mother's surname and title by the consent of the mother's father, but would sometimes be adopted and raised by the natural father's family, thereby acquiring the father's surname, though not the title or arms.
			{{Clear}}
	== Ennoblement ==		== Ennoblement ==
	=== In the Kingdom of Poland ===		=== Kingdom of Poland ===
			The number of lawfully granted ennoblements (])<ref name="only-szlachta-are-citizens" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /><ref name="szlachta-equals-citizen" /><ref name="dmowski-szlachta-the-nation" /><ref name="polish-peasant-not-belong-to-polish-nation" /><ref name="peasants-not-want-polish-state" /> after the 15th century was minimal.
	], the richest noble of his time.]]
	The number of legally granted ennoblements after the 15th century was minimal.
	In the ] and later in the ], ennoblement (''nobilitacja'') may be equated with an individual given legal status as a ''szlachta'' (member of the Polish nobility). Initially, this privilege could be granted by the monarch, but from 1641 onward, this right was reserved for the ]. Most often the individual being ennobled would join an existing noble szlachta clan and assume the undifferentiated ] of that clan.		In the ] and later in the ], ennoblement (''nobilitacja'') may be equated with an individual given legal status as a ''szlachcic'' member of the Polish nobility. Initially, this privilege could be granted by the monarch, but from 1641 onward, this right was reserved for the ]. Most often the individual being ennobled would join an existing noble szlachta clan and assume the undifferentiated ] of that clan.
	According to ] sources, the total number of legal ennoblements issued between the 14th century and the mid-18th century is estimated<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> at approximately 800. This is an average of only about two ennoblements per year, or only 0.000,000,14 – 0.000,001 of the historical population. Compare: ]. ], when trying to obtain Polish noble status, supposedly said in 1784, ''"It is easier to become a duke in Germany, than to be counted among Polish nobles."''<ref name="bajer--polish-noble--2012">{{cite book		According to ] sources, the total number of lawful ennoblements issued between the 14th century and the mid-18th century is estimated at 800.<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> This is an average of only about two ennoblements per year, or only 0.000,000,14 – 0.000,001 of the historical population. Compare: ]. ], when trying to obtain Polish noble status, supposedly said in 1784, ''"It is easier to become a duke in Germany, than to be counted among Polish nobles."''<ref name="bajer--polish-noble--2012">{{cite book
	| last = Bajer		| last = Bajer
	| first = Peter Paul		| first = Peter Paul
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kzJf9HTGK2kC&pg=PA315#v=onepage&q&f=false		| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kzJf9HTGK2kC&pg=PA315
			| title = SCOTS IN THE POLISH–LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH, 16TH TO 18TH CENTURIES: THE FORMATION AND DISAPPEARANCE OF AN ETHNIC GROUP
	| title = '''Scots in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 16th to 18th Centuries: The Formation and Disappearance of an Ethnic Group'''
	| year = 2012		| year = 2012
	| publisher = ]		| publisher = ]
	| location = Leiden, South Holland province, NETHERLANDS, EU		| location = Leiden, South Holland province, NETHERLANDS, EU
	| pages = 315		| pages = 315
	| quote = ''In 1784, Prince Charles de Ligne from Belgium, who was trying to obtain Polish noble status, supposedly said, &lsquo;It is easier to become a duke in Germany, than to be counted among Polish nobles,&rsquo; quoted in Kulikowski, Heraldyka szlachecka, 27.''}}</ref><ref name="bajer--piot-pawel--polish-nobility">{{cite web		| quote = In 1784, Prince Charles de Ligne from Belgium, who was trying to obtain Polish noble status, supposedly said, 'It is easier to become a duke in Germany, than to be counted among Polish nobles,' quoted in Kulikowski, Heraldyka szlachecka, 27.| isbn = 978-9004212473
			}}</ref><ref name="bajer--piot-pawel--polish-nobility">{{cite web
	| last = Bajer		| last = Bajer
	| first = Piotr Paweł		| first = Piotr Paweł
	| url = http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm		| url = http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm
	| title = '''POLISH NOBILITY AND ITS HERALDRY: AN INTRODUCTION'''		| title = POLISH NOBILITY AND ITS HERALDRY: AN INTRODUCTION
	| publisher = podolska.neostrada.pl		| publisher = podolska.neostrada.pl
	| location = ], ], POLAND		| location = ], ], POLAND
	| accessdate = 5 June 2017		| access-date = 5 June 2017
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160504225306/http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm		| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160504225306/http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm
	| archivedate = 4 May 2016		| archive-date = 4 May 2016
	| quote = ''It should not be difficult to understand then, why prince Charles de Ligne from Belgium, who in 1784 was trying to receive the Polish nobility status, supposedly commented that: It is easier to become duke in Germany, then to be counted among Polish nobles . Indeed, from the moment of the prohibition of private adoptions, Polish nobility became a closed cast &#91;]&#93; ...''}}</ref>		| quote = It should not be difficult to understand then, why prince Charles de Ligne from Belgium, who in 1784 was trying to receive the Polish nobility status, supposedly commented that: It is easier to become duke in Germany, then to be counted among Polish nobles . Indeed, from the moment of the prohibition of private adoptions, Polish nobility became a closed cast &#91;]&#93; ...}}</ref>
	The close of the late 18th century (see below) was a period in which a definite increase<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> in the number of ennoblements can be noted. This can most readily be explained in terms of the ongoing decline and eventual collapse of Commonwealth and the resulting need for soldiers and other military leaders (see: ], King ]).		The close of the late 18th century (see below) was a period in which a definite increase<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> in the number of ennoblements can be noted. This can most readily be explained in terms of the ongoing decline and eventual collapse of the Commonwealth and the resulting need for soldiers and other military leaders (see: ], King ]).
	==== Total number of ennoblements estimation ====		==== Estimated number of ennoblements ====
			] in the 12th century by the Emperor of the ] with ] received by Prandota the Old, probable founder of Saint John the Baptist church in ], ], ]. From ''Liber Genesos illustris Familiae Shidlovicae'' (Book of the Genesis of the ]). Painting by ]]]
	] with children'', by ].]]
	According to ]<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> sources 1,600 is the total estimated number of all legal ennoblements throughout the history of Kingdom of Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 14th century onward (half of which were performed in the final years of the late 18th century).		According to ] sources 1,600 is the total estimated number of all lawful ennoblements throughout the history of Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 14th century onward (half of which were performed in the final years of the late 18th century).<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" />
	Types of ennoblement:		Types of ennoblement:
	* ] – The "old way" of ennoblement, popular in the 15th century, connected with adoption into an existing noble clan by a powerful lord, but abolished in the 17th century.		* ] – The "old way" of ennoblement, popular in the 14th century, connected with adoption into an existing szlachta clan by an act of the king. The king granted a fragment of his own coat of arms establishing an alliance with the king's family, or a knight performed an adoption under their coat of arms, which required the confirmation of the king.<ref>{{cite book
			| last = Jelinska-Marchal
	* ] – Introduced by ] of the 17th century, this was ennoblement into a sort of "conditional" or "graduated nobility" status. Skartabels could not hold public offices or be members of the Sejm, but after three generations, the descendants of these families would "mature" to full szlachta status.
			| first = D.
			| editor1-last = Judycki
			| editor1-first = Z.
			| title = THE POLISH ARMORIAL POLANAIS
			| year = 1988
			| location = ], ], ], ]
			| publisher = Albi Corvi
			| page = 12
			| isbn = 978-2907771009
			| quote = In its primary form it was a nobiliary adoption effected by the king (who granted a fragment of his own arms testifying thus an alliance with his family) or by the knight's family who practiced an adoption under their arms, which had to be confirmed by the king.}}</ref> This form of ennoblement was abolished in the 17th century.
			* ] – Introduced by ] of the 17th century (since 1669), this was ennoblement into a sort of "conditional" or "graduated nobility" status. Skartabels could not hold public offices or be members of the Sejm, but after three generations, the descendants of these families would "mature" to full szlachta status. In 1775 another requirement was imposed – they had to acquire a landed estate.<ref>{{cite book
			| last = Jelinska-Marchal
			| first = D.
			| editor1-last = Judycki
			| editor1-first = Z.
			| title = THE POLISH ARMORIAL POLANAIS
			| year = 1988
			| location = ], ], ], ]
			| publisher = Albi Corvi
			| page = 12
			| isbn = 978-2907771009
			| quote = Since 1669 those who acquired the title of nobility were granted only a 'skartabellat' - that means a limited nobility conferred on foreigners - the title which limited a right to hold offices and to fulfill the duties of deputies up to the third generation only. In 1775 another obligation was imposed on them - they had to possess (to acquire) the real properties.}}</ref>
			* ] – from the Latin expression, ''indigenatus'', recognition of foreign noble status. A foreign noble, after acquiring indygenat status, received all privileges of a Polish szlachcic. In Polish history, 413 foreign noble families were recognized. Prior to the 17th century this was done by the King and ], after the 17th century it was done only by the Sejm.
			* "secret ennoblement" – This was of questionable legal status and was often not recognized by many szlachta members. It was typically granted by the elected monarch without the required legal approval of the Sejm.
			=== Grand Duchy of Lithuania ===
	Similar terms:
			In the late 14th century, in the ], ] reformed the Grand Duchy's army: instead of calling all men to arms, he created forces comprising professional warriors—'']'' ("nobles"; see the ] "'']''"). As there were not enough nobles, Vytautas trained suitable men, relieving them of labor on the land and of other duties; for their ] to the Grand Duke, they were granted land that was worked by hired men (]s). The newly formed noble families generally took up, as their ]s, the ] pagan ]s of their ennobled ancestors; this was the case with the ], ], ], ] and others. These families were granted their ] under the ] (1413).
	* ] – Recognition of foreign noble status. A foreign noble, after indygenat, received all privileges of a Polish szlachcic. In Polish history, 413 foreign noble families were recognized. Prior to the 17th century this was done by the King and ] (Polish parliament), after the 17th century it was done only by the ].
	* "secret ennoblement" – This was of questionable legal status and was often not recognized by many szlachta. It was typically granted by the elected monarch without the required legal approval of the ].
	=== In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ===
	In the late 14th century, in the ], ] reformed the Grand Duchy's army: instead of calling all men to arms, he created forces comprising professional warriors—'']'' ("nobles"; see the ] "'']''"). As there were not enough nobles, Vytautas trained suitable men, relieving them of labor on the land and of other duties; for their ] to the Grand Duke, they were granted land that was worked by hired men (]s). The newly formed noble families generally took up, as their ]s, the ] pagan ]s of their ennobled ancestors; this was the case with the ], ], ], ] and others. These families were granted their ] under the ] (1413).
	In 1506, King ] confirmed the position of the ] in state politics and limited entry into the ].		In 1506, King ] confirmed the position of the ] in state politics and limited entry into the ].
			{{Clear}}
	== Privileges ==		== Privileges ==
	{{main article|Szlachta's privileges}}		{{main|Szlachta's privileges}}
	Specific rights of the szlachta included:		Specific rights of the szlachta included:
	] in 1764]]		] in 1764]]
	# The right to hold outright ownership of land (]) -- not as a fief, conditional upon service to the liege Lord, but absolutely in perpetuity unless sold. The szlachta had a monopoly on land. Peasants did not own land.<ref>{{cite web		# The right to hold outright ownership of land (])<ref name="szlachta--allodial" />—not as a fief, conditional upon service to the liege Lord,<ref name="szlachta-equality" /> but absolutely in perpetuity unless sold. The szlachta had a monopoly on land. Peasants did not own land.<ref>{{cite web
	|title = '''FOLWARK SZLACHECKI I CHŁOPI W POLSCE XVI WIEKU'''		|title = FOLWARK SZLACHECKI I CHŁOPI W POLSCE XVI WIEKU
	|work = '''cpx.republika.pl'''		|work = cpx.republika.pl
	|location = POLAND		|location = POLAND
	|url = http://cpx.republika.pl:80/sytuacja.htm		|url = http://cpx.republika.pl:80/sytuacja.htm
	|accessdate = 22 August 2018		|access-date = 22 August 2018
	|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20171203100415/http://cpx.republika.pl/sytuacja.htm		|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171203100415/http://cpx.republika.pl/sytuacja.htm
	|archivedate = 2017-12-03		|archive-date = 2017-12-03
	|quote = ''Posiadanie ziemi * Ziemia na której gospodarowali chłopi nie stanowiła ich własności. Jej rzeczywistym właścicielem był pan określonych dóbr: król, zwykły szlachcic lub kościół. Chłop był więc tylko użytkownikiem ziemi. Zwyczajowo było to użytkowanie dziedziczne - przekazywane na męskich potomków. Pan wsi mógł zawsze jednak usunąć chłopa z gospodarstwa. (The plot of land on which the peasants lived and resided was not their property. The owner was a particular estate: king, nobleman, or church. Therefore, the peasant was only a land user. Land use and residence was hereditary - the use transmitted to male descendants. However, the village master could always evict the peasant from the plot of land.)		|quote = Posiadanie ziemi * Ziemia na której gospodarowali chłopi nie stanowiła ich własności. Jej rzeczywistym właścicielem był pan określonych dóbr: król, zwykły szlachcic lub kościół. Chłop był więc tylko użytkownikiem ziemi. Zwyczajowo było to użytkowanie dziedziczne - przekazywane na męskich potomków. Pan wsi mógł zawsze jednak usunąć chłopa z gospodarstwa. (The plot of land on which the peasants lived and resided was not their property. The owner was a particular estate: king, nobleman, or church. Therefore, the peasant was only a land user. Land use and residence was hereditary - the use transmitted to male descendants. However, the village master could always evict the peasant from the plot of land.)
			}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
	|dead-url = yes
			| last = Skwarczyński
	|df =
			| first = Paweł
	}}</ref> See '']''.
			| date = June 1956
			| title = The Problem of Feudalism in Poland up to the Beginning of the 16th Century
			| jstor = 4204744
			| journal = ]
			| location = Salisbury House, Station Road, ], ], ]
			| publisher = ]
			| volume = 34
			| issue = 83
			| page = 299
			| quote = The knights, except in the few cases already referred to, possessed full ownership of their land, and the peasant small-holders, apart from an insignificant minority, were tenants, to whom the system of feudal tenure applied.}}</ref> See '']''.
	# The right to join in political and military assemblies of the regional nobility.		# The right to join in political and military assemblies of the regional nobility.
	# The right to form independent administrative councils for their locality.		# The right to form independent administrative councils for their locality.
Line 868:		Line 1,163:
	# The right to interdict, in suitable ways, the passage of foreigners and townsmen through their territories.		# The right to interdict, in suitable ways, the passage of foreigners and townsmen through their territories.
	# The right of priority over the courts of the peasantry.		# The right of priority over the courts of the peasantry.
	# Special rights in Polish courts—including freedom from arbitrary arrest and freedom from corporal punishment.		# Special rights in Polish courts, including freedom from ] and freedom from corporal punishment.
	# The right to sell their military or administrative services.		# The right to sell their military or administrative services.
	# Heraldic rights.		# Heraldic rights.
Line 875:		Line 1,170:
	# The right of importing duty-free goods often.		# The right of importing duty-free goods often.
	# The exclusive right to enter the clergy until the time of the ].		# The exclusive right to enter the clergy until the time of the ].
	# The right to try their peasants for major offences (reduced to minor offences only, after the 1760s).<ref>{{cite web		# The right to try their peasants for major offences (reduced to minor offences only, after the 1760s).<ref name="topor-jakubowski-szlachta-rights">{{cite web
	| url = http://www.ststanislas.org/papers/american_nob.htm		| url = http://www.ststanislas.org/papers/american_nob.htm
	| title = It's Time to End the Myth That Polish Immigrants Were Peasants		| title = It's Time to End the Myth That Polish Immigrants Were Peasants
Line 882:		Line 1,177:
	| website = West European Grand Priory, International Order of St Stanislas		| website = West European Grand Priory, International Order of St Stanislas
	| publisher = Order of St Stanislas		| publisher = Order of St Stanislas
	| location = Croxteth House, Liverpool, Lancashire county, Merseyside, North West England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM		| location = Croxteth House, Liverpool, Lancashire county, Merseyside, North West England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
	| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020704093315/http://www.ststanislas.org/papers/american_nob.htm		| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020704093315/http://www.ststanislas.org/papers/american_nob.htm
	| archive-date = 4 July 2002		| archive-date = 4 July 2002
			| access-date = 24 April 2021
	| accessdate = 28 October 2014}}</ref>
			}}</ref>
	], wearing the ].]]] on his way to his execution, 26 May 1584. Sketch by ], 1860]]
			], wearing the ].]]
	Significant legislative changes in the status of the szlachta, as defined by Robert Bideleux and Ian Jeffries, consist of its 1374 exemption from the land tax, a 1425 guarantee against the 'arbitrary arrests and/or seizure of property' of its members, a 1454 requirement that military forces and new taxes be approved by provincial ]s, and statutes issued between 1496 and 1611 that prescribed the rights of commoners.<ref name="ian">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=6Eh9KQTrOckC&pg=PA144&dq=polish+lithuanian+nobility+szlachta&cd=5#v=onepage&q=polish%20lithuanian%20nobility%20szlachta|title=A history of eastern Europe: crisis and change|author=Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries|publisher=]|year=1998|pages=144–145|isbn=978-0-415-16111-4}}</ref>
			] on his way to his execution, 26 May 1584. Sketch by ], 1860]]
			Significant legislative changes in the status of the szlachta, as defined by Robert Bideleux and Ian Jeffries, consist of its 1374 exemption from the land tax, a 1425 guarantee against the 'arbitrary arrests and/or seizure of property' of its members, a 1454 requirement that military forces and new taxes be approved by provincial ]s, and statutes issued between 1496 and 1611 that prescribed the rights of commoners.<ref name="ian" />
			=== Real and false nobles ===
	Nobles were born into a ], adopted by a noble family (this was abolished in 1633) or ] by a king or ] for various reasons (bravery in combat, service to the state, etc.—yet this was the rarest means of gaining noble status). Many nobles were, in actuality, really usurpers, being commoners, who moved into another part of the country and falsely pretended to noble status. Hundreds of such false nobles were denounced by Hieronim Nekanda Trepka in his ''Liber generationis plebeanorium'' (or ''Liber chamorum'') in the first half of the 16th century. The law forbade non-nobles from owning nobility-estates and promised the estate to the denouncer. Trepka was an impoverished nobleman who lived a townsman life and collected hundreds of such stories hoping to take over any of such estates. It does not seem he ever succeeded in proving one at the court. Many sejms issued decrees over the centuries in an attempt to resolve this issue, but with little success. It is unknown what percentage of the Polish nobility came from the 'lower' orders of society, but most historians agree that nobles of such base origins formed a 'significant' element of the szlachta.
			Nobles were born into a ], or ] (this was abolished in 1633). The rarest way of achieving szlachta status was through ] (]) by a king or ] for reasons such as bravery in combat, service to the state, etc. There were claims some nobles were, in fact, usurpers who were commoners that moved to another part of the country and falsely claimed noble status.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} In the first half of the 16th century, hundreds of such "false nobles" were denounced by {{ill|Hieronim Nekanda Trepka|pl}} (1550–1630) in his ''"Liber generationis plebeanorum (Liber chamorum)"'', or ''"Book of ] Genealogy (] Book)"''. Peasants were considered descendants of Ham, the son of Noah subject to bondage under the ]. The law forbade commoners holding landed estates and promised such estates as a reward to denouncers. Trepka was himself an impoverished nobleman who lived a town dweller's life and documented hundreds of such false claims hoping to take over one of the usurped estates. He does not seem to have succeeded in his quest despite his employment as the king's secretary.<ref>Leszczyński, R. ''Osobowość autora - wartość dzieła'', Walerian Nekanda Trepka, ''Liber generationis plebeanorum'' (''Liber chamorum''), wyd. 2, opracował, ] - ] - ] 1995, p. 6-7.</ref> Many sejms issued decrees over the centuries in an attempt to resolve this issue, but with little success. It is unknown what percentage of the Polish nobility came from the 'lower orders' of society, but there are historians who claim nobles of such base origins formed a 'significant' element of the szlachta.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}
			Self-promotion and aggrandizement were not confined to commoners. Often, members of the lower szlachta sought further ennoblement from foreign, therefore less verifiable, sources. That is, they might acquire by legitimate means or otherwise, such as by purchase, one of a selection of foreign titles ranging from ], ], ] to ], all readily translatable into the Polish '']''. Alternatively, they would simply appropriate a title by conferring it upon themselves. An example of this is cited in the case of the last descendant of the ], who managed to restore a genuinely old ] title, but whose actual origins are shrouded in 18th-century mystery.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Andrzej Rachuba |title=Panowie z Ciechanowa |journal=Kronika Zamkowa |page=33 |date=2010 |url=http://mazowsze.hist.pl/16/Kronika_Zamkowa/356/2010/12307/ |access-date=2018-11-30 |archive-date=2018-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201005539/http://mazowsze.hist.pl/16/Kronika_Zamkowa/356/2010/12307/ |url-status=dead }} In Polish with an English summary. The author shows it is likely a Ciechanowiecki ancestor either received a fashionable noble title in exchange for money while travelling on ''the Grand Tour'' in Western Europe or, simply "conferred it upon himself" to hark back to a former higher status. </ref>
	The Polish nobility enjoyed many rights that were not available to the noble classes of other countries and, typically, each new monarch conceded them further privileges. Those privileges became the basis of the ] in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Despite having a king, Poland was called the nobility's ] because ] and Poland was considered to be the property of this class, not of the king or the ruling ]. This state of affairs grew up in part because of the extinction of the male-line descendants of the old royal dynasty (first the ], then the ]), and the selection by the nobility of the Polish king from among the dynasty's female-line descendants.
			=== Accretion of sovereignty to the szlachta ===
	Poland's successive kings granted privileges to the nobility at the time of their election to the throne (the privileges being specified in the king-elect's ]) and at other times in exchange for '']'' permission to raise an extraordinary tax or a '']''.
			The szlachta secured many rights not secured to the nobility of other countries. Over time, each new monarch ceded to them further privileges. Those privileges became the basis of the '']'' in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Despite having a king, Poland was considered the 'nobility's ]' because ] were in the hands of members of a hereditary class. Poland was therefore the domain of this class, and not that of the king or the ruling ]. This arose in part because of the extinction of male heirs in the original royal dynasties: first, the ], then the ]. As a result, the nobility took it upon itself to choose "the Polish king" from among the dynasties' ] descendants.
			Poland's successive kings granted privileges to the nobility upon their election to the throne – the privileges having been specified in the king-elect's ] – and at other times, in exchange for '']'' leave to raise an extraordinary tax or a '']'', a military call up. Poland's nobility thus accumulated a growing array of privileges and immunities.
	Poland's nobility thus accumulated a growing array of privileges and immunities:
	In 1355 in ] King ]<!--or Louis the Hungarian? sources vary! needs verification!--> issued the first country-wide privilege for the nobility, in exchange for their agreement that in the lack of ] male heirs, the throne would pass to his nephew, ]. He decreed that the nobility would no longer be subject to 'extraordinary' taxes, or use their own funds for military expeditions abroad. He also promised that during travels of the royal court, the king and the court would pay for all expenses, instead of using facilities of local nobility.		In 1355 in ] King ]<!--or Louis the Hungarian? sources vary! needs verification!--> issued the first country-wide privilege for the nobility, in exchange for their agreeing that if Casimir had no male heirs, the throne would pass to his nephew, ]. Casimir further decreed that the nobility would no longer be subject to 'extraordinary' taxes or have to use their own funds for foreign military expeditions. Casimir also promised that when the royal court toured, the king and the court would cover all expenses, instead of requiring facilities to be provided by the local nobility.
			==== Privilege of Koszyce and others ====
	In 1374 ] approved the ] (Polish: "przywilej koszycki" or "ugoda koszycka") in ] in order to guarantee the Polish throne for his daughter ]. He broadened the definition of who was a member of the nobility and exempted the entire class from all but one tax (''łanowy'', which was limited to 2 ]e from ''łan'' (])). In addition, the King's right to raise taxes was abolished; no new taxes could be raised without the agreement of the nobility. Henceforth, also, ] (Polish: "urzędy ziemskie") were reserved exclusively for local nobility, as the Privilege of Koszyce forbade the king to grant official posts and major Polish castles to foreign knights. Finally, this privilege obliged the King to pay ] to nobles injured or taken captive during a war outside Polish borders.
			In 1374 ] approved the ] (''przywilej koszycki'') to guarantee the Polish throne for his daughter, ]. He broadened the definition of membership of the nobility and exempted the entire class from all but one tax (''łanowy'') a limit of 2 ]es per ''łan'' of land, ]. In addition, the King's right to raise taxes was effectively abolished: no new taxes would be levied without the agreement of the nobility. Henceforth, ] were also reserved exclusively for local nobility, as the Privilege of Koszyce forbade the king to grant official posts and major Polish castles to foreign knights. Finally, the privilege obliged the king to pay ] to nobles injured or taken captive during a war outside Polish borders.
	In 1422 ] by the Privilege of Czerwińsk (Polish: "przywilej czerwiński") established the inviolability of nobles' property (their estates could not be confiscated except upon a court verdict) and ceded some jurisdiction over ] to the ] (later, the ]), including the right to ] ]age.		In 1422 ] was constrained by the Privilege of Czerwińsk (''przywilej czerwiński''), which established the inviolability of nobles' property. Their estates could not be confiscated except upon the verdict of a court. It also made him cede some jurisdiction over ] to the ], later, the ], including the right to ].
	In 1430 with the Privileges of Jedlnia, confirmed at ] in 1433 (Polish: "przywileje jedlneńsko-krakowskie"), based partially on his earlier ] privilege (April 25, 1425), King Władysław II Jagiełło granted the nobility a guarantee against arbitrary arrest, similar to the English ]'s ], known from its own Latin name as "] (nisi jure victum)." Henceforth no member of the nobility could be imprisoned without a ] from a court of justice: the king could neither punish nor imprison any noble at his whim. King Władysław's '']'' for this boon was the nobles' guarantee that his throne would be inherited by one of his sons (who would be bound to honour the privileges theretofore granted to the nobility). On May 2, 1447 the same king issued the ''Wilno Privilege'' which gave the ] ]s the same rights as those possessed by the Polish ''szlachta''.		In 1430, with the Privileges of ], confirmed at ] in 1433, Polish: ''przywileje jedlneńsko-krakowskie'', based partially on his earlier ] privilege (25 April 1425), King Władysław II Jagiełło granted the nobility a guarantee against arbitrary arrest, similar to the English ]'s ], known from its own Latin name as "] nisi jure victum". Henceforth, no member of the nobility could be imprisoned without a ] from a court of justice. The king could neither punish nor imprison any noble on a whim. King Władysław's '']'' for the ] was the nobles' guarantee that the throne would be inherited by one of his sons, who would be bound to honour the privileges granted earlier to the nobility. On 2 May 1447 the same king issued the ''], or Wilno Privilege'', which gave the ] ]s the same rights as those already secured by the Polish ''szlachta''.
	]''. ], 1637]]
	In 1454 ] granted the ] (Polish: "statuty cerkwicko-nieszawskie"), clarifying the legal basis of ] ]s (local parliaments). The king could ] new laws, raise taxes, or call for a ] ('']'') only with the consent of the sejmiks, and the nobility were protected from judicial abuses. The Nieszawa Statutes also curbed the power of the magnates, as the Sejm (national parliament) received the right to elect many officials, including judges, ] and ]s. These privileges were demanded by the ''szlachta'' as a compensation for their participation in the ].		In 1454, ] granted the ] – Polish: ''statuty cerkwicko-nieszawskie'', clarifying the legal basis of ] ]s – local parliaments. The king could ] new laws, raise taxes, or call for a mass military call up ''pospolite ruszenie'', only with the consent of the sejmiks, and the nobility were protected from judicial abuses. The Nieszawa Statutes also curbed the power of the magnates, as the Sejm, the national parliament, had the right to elect many officials, including judges, ] and ]s. These privileges were demanded by the ''szlachta'' in exchange for their participation in the ].
			==== First Royal Election ====
	The first "]" (Polish: "wolna elekcja") of a king took place in 1492. (To be sure, some earlier Polish kings had been elected with help from bodies such as that which put ] on the throne, thereby setting a precedent for free elections.) Only ]s voted in the 1492 free election, which was won by ]. For the duration of the ], only members of that royal family were considered for election; later, there would be no restrictions on the choice of candidates.
			The first "]" (Polish: ''wolna elekcja'') of a king took place in 1492. In fact, some earlier Polish kings had been elected with help from assemblies such as those that put ] on the throne, thereby setting a precedent for free elections. Only ]s voted in the 1492 free election, which was won by ]. For the duration of the ], only members of that royal family were considered for election. Later, there would be no restrictions on the choice of candidates.
	In 1493 the national parliament, the Sejm, began meeting every two years at ]. It comprised two chambers:		In 1493 the Sejm, began meeting every two years at ]. It comprised two chambers:
	* a ]e of 81 ]s and ]; and		* a ]e of 81 ]s and ]
	* a Chamber of Envoys of 54 envoys (in Polish, "envoy" is "poseł") representing their respective Lands.		* a Chamber of Deputies of 54 deputies representing their respective domains.
	The numbers of senators and envoys later increased.		The numbers of senators and deputies later increased.
	On April 26, 1496 King ] granted the ] (Polish: "Przywilej piotrkowski", "konstytucja piotrkowska" or "statuty piotrkowskie"), increasing the nobility's ] power over ]. It bound the peasant to the land, as only one son (not the eldest) was permitted to leave the village; townsfolk (Polish: "mieszczaństwo") were prohibited from owning land; and positions in the ] hierarchy could be given only to nobles.		On 26 April 1496 King ] granted the ]. The ] increased the nobility's ] power over ]. It bound the peasant to the land, and only one son though not the eldest, was permitted to leave the village. Townsfolk ''mieszczaństwo'' were prohibited from owning land. Positions in the ] hierarchy were restricted to nobles.
	On 23 October 1501, at ] ] was reformed at the Union of Mielnik (Polish: ''unia mielnicka'', ''unia piotrkowsko-mielnicka''). It was there that the tradition of the ] (Polish: "Sejm koronacyjny") was founded. Once again the middle nobility (middle in wealth, not in rank) attempted to reduce the power of the magnates with a law that made them ] before the Senate for ]. However the Act of Mielno (Polish: ''Przywilej mielnicki'') of 25 October did more to strengthen the magnate dominated ] than the lesser nobility. The nobles were given the right to disobey the King or his representatives—in the Latin, "non praestanda oboedientia"—and to form ], an armed rebellion against the king or state officers if the nobles thought that the law or their legitimate privileges were being infringed.		On 23 October 1501, the ] was reformed by the ]. It was there that the tradition of a ] was founded. Here again, the lesser nobility, lesser in wealth only – not in rank – attempted to reduce the power of the Magnates with a law that made them ] before the Senate for ]. However, the ] of 25 October did more to strengthen the Magnate-dominated ] than the lesser nobility. Nobles as a whole were given the right to disobey the King or his representatives — ''non praestanda oboedientia'', and to form ], armed opposition against the king or state officials if the nobles found that the law or their legitimate privileges were being infringed.
	], the ] of 1573''. Painting by ].]]		], the ] of 1573''. Painting by ]]]
	On 3 May 1505 King ] granted the Act of "] nisi commune consensu" (Latin: "I accept nothing new except by common consent"). This forbade the king to pass any new law without the consent of the representatives of the nobility, in Sejm and ''Senat'' assembled, and thus greatly strengthened the nobility's political position. Basically, this act transferred legislative power from the king to the Sejm. This date commonly marks the beginning of the First '']'', the period of a ''szlachta''-run "Commonwealth".		On 3 May 1505 King ] granted the Act of ''] nisi commune consensu'' – "I accept nothing new except by common consent". This forbade the king to pass new laws without the consent of the representatives of the nobility in the assembled Sejm, thus greatly strengthening the nobility's powers. Essentially, this act marked the transfer of legislative power from the king to the Sejm. It also marks the beginning of the ], the period of a ''szlachta''-run "Commonwealth".
	In 1520 the Act of Bydgoszcz granted the Sejm the right to convene every four years, with or without the king's permission.		In 1520 the Act of Bydgoszcz granted the Sejm the right to convene every four years, with or without the king's permission. At about that time the ''Executionist Movement'', seeking to oversee law enforcement, began to take shape. Its members sought to curb the power of the Magnates at the Sejm and to strengthen the power of the monarch. In 1562 at the Sejm in Piotrków they forced the Magnates to return many leased ] to the king, and the king to create a standing army ]. One of the most famous members of this movement was ].
			==== End of the Jagiellonian dynasty ====
	About that time the "]" (Polish: "egzekucja praw"--"execution of the laws") began to take form. Its members would seek to curb the power of the magnates at the Sejm and to strengthen the power of king and country. In 1562 at the Sejm in Piotrków they would force the magnates to return many leased ] to the king, and the king to create a standing army (]). One of the most famous members of this movement was ]. After his death in 1605, the movement lost its political force.
			], first elected monarch of Poland-Lithuania]]
			Until the death of ], the last king of the ] dynasty, all monarchs had to be elected from within the royal family. However, from 1573, practically any Polish noble or foreigner of royal blood could potentially become a ] monarch. Every newly elected king was supposed to sign two documents: the '']'', the king's "pre-election pact", and the '']'', named after the first freely elected king, ]. The latter document was a virtual ''Polish constitution'' and contained the basic laws of the Commonwealth:
			* Free election of kings
			* ]
			* The Sejm to meet every two years
			* Foreign policy controlled by the Sejm
			* A royal advisory council chosen by the Sejm
			* Official posts restricted to Polish and Lithuanian nobles
			* Taxes and monopolies set up by the Sejm only
			* Nobles' right to disobey the Monarch should s/he break any of these laws.
			In 1578 king, ], created the ] to reduce the enormous pressure on the ]. This placed much of the monarch's juridical power in the hands of the elected szlachta deputies, further strengthening the nobility as a class. In 1581 the Crown Tribunal was joined by a counterpart in Lithuania, the ].
	Until the death of ], the last king of the ] dynasty, monarchs could be elected from within only the royal family. However, starting from 1573, practically any Polish noble or foreigner of royal blood could become a ] monarch. Every newly elected king was supposed to sign two documents—the '']'' ("agreed pacts")—a confirmation of the king's pre-election promises, and '']'' (''artykuły henrykowskie'', named after the first freely elected king, ]). The latter document served as a virtual Polish constitution and contained the basic laws of the Commonwealth:
	* Free election of kings;
	* ];
	* The ] to be gathered every two years;
	* Foreign policy controlled by the Diet;
	* A royal advisory council chosen by the Diet;
	* Official posts restricted to Polish and Lithuanian nobles;
	* Taxes and monopolies set up by the Diet only;
	* Nobles' right to disobey the king should he break any of these laws.
			===Magnate oligarchy===
	In 1578 king ] created the ] in order to reduce the enormous pressure on the ]. This placed much of the monarch's juridical power in the hands of the elected szlachta deputies, further strengthening the nobility class. In 1581 the Crown Tribunal was joined by a counterpart in Lithuania, the ].
			]. Drawing by ], circa 1893]]
			{{main|Magnates of Poland and Lithuania}}
			For many centuries, wealthy and powerful members of the szlachta sought to gain legal privileges over their peers. In 1459 ] presented a memorandum to the ], submitting ]s, or ], receive the title of ]. Sons of the prince were to receive titles of ]s and ]s. ] were to receive the title of count. All these submissions were rejected.<ref name="szlachta-reject-titles-of-nobility" />
			Few szlachta were wealthy enough to be known as Magnates, ''karmazyni'', the "]s" – from the crimson colour of their boots. A true Magnate had to be able to trace his ancestry for many generations and own at least 20 villages or estates. He also had to hold high ].{{Citation needed|reason=Some historians estimate the number of Magnates as 1% of the szlachta's total|date=November 2018}}. Thus, out of about one million szlachta, only 200–300 persons could be classed as Magnates with country-wide possessions and influence. Of these some 30–40 were considered as having significant impact on Poland's politics. Magnates often received gifts from monarchs, which greatly increased their wealth. Although such gifts were only temporary ]s, often the Magnates never returned them. This gave rise in the 16th century, to a self-policing trend by the szlachta, known as the ''ruch egzekucji praw'' — movement for the enforcement of the law – against usurping Magnates to force them to return leased lands back to their rightful owner, the monarch.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}
	=== Transformation into aristocracy ===
	]s of major magnate families in 16th–17th century.]]
	{{main article|Magnates of Poland and Lithuania}}
	For many centuries, wealthy and powerful members of the szlachta sought to gain legal privileges over their peers. Few szlachta were wealthy enough to be known as magnates (''karmazyni''—the "]s", from the crimson colour of their boots). A proper magnate should be able to trace noble ancestors back for many generations and own at least 20 villages or ]s. He should also hold a major ].
			One of the most important victories of the Magnates was the late 16th century right to create '']s'', similar to ]s under English law, which ensured that a family which gained landed wealth could more easily preserve it. The ''Ordynacjas'' that belonged to families such as the ], ], ] or ]s often rivalled the estates of the king and were important power bases for them.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}
	Some historians estimate the number of magnates as 1% of the number of szlachta. Out of approx. one million szlachta, tens of thousands of families, only 200–300 persons could be classed as great magnates with country-wide possessions and influence, and 30–40 of them could be viewed as those with significant impact on Poland's politics.
			The difference between the ''magnateria'' and the rest of the szlachta was primarily one of wealth and life-style, as both belonged to the same legally defined class being members of the same clans. Consequently, any power wrested from the king by the magnates was consequently trickled down to the entirety of the szlachta. This often meant the rest of the szlachta tended to cooperate with the magnates rather than struggle against them.<ref name="dmowski-magnates-szlachta" />
	Magnates often received gifts from monarchs, which significantly increased their wealth. Often, those gifts were only temporary ]s, which the magnates never returned (in the 16th century, the anti-magnate opposition among szlachta was known as the ''ruch egzekucji praw''—movement for execution of the laws—which demanded that all such possessions are returned to their proper owner, the king).
			=== Szlachta loss of influence ===
	One of the most important victories of the magnates was the late 16th century right to create ]'s (similar to ]s), which ensured that a family which gained wealth and power could more easily preserve this. Ordynacje's of families of ], ], ] or ] often rivalled the estates of the king and were important power bases for the magnates.
			], the largest ] against ''szlachta'' rulership on Polish lands in the 19th century.]] The notion of the szlachta's accrued sovereignty ended in 1795 with the final ], and until 1918 their legal status was dependent on the policies of the ], the ] or the ].<ref>Kieniewicz, Jan. (2017). "THE JAGIELLONIAN IDEA AND THE PROJECT FOR THE FUTURE", '']'', 6 (51) http://akademicka.pl/ebooks/free/40819e1fff1cbd6d9bee7d2a75425cd1.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721023144/http://www.akademicka.pl/ebooks/free/40819e1fff1cbd6d9bee7d2a75425cd1.pdf|date=2018-07-21}} Retrieved 2018-11-11.</ref>
			In the 1840s ] reduced 64,000 of lesser szlachta to a particular commoner status known as '']'' (literally "single-householders").<ref>Richard Pipes, Russia under the old regime, page 181</ref> Despite this, 62.8% of all Russia's nobles were Polish szlachta in 1858 and still 46.1% in 1897.<ref>Seymour Becker, Nobility and Privilege in late Imperial Russia, page 182</ref>
	Very high offices of the Polish crown were ] "hereditary" and guarded by the ] of Poland, leaving the lower offices below for the "middling" nobility (] &mdash; see ] for a sense of the hierarchy). The prestige of lower offices depended on the wealth of the region. The ] region of Poland had a long-standing reputation of being rather poor due to the condition of the soil.
			] was abolished in Russian Poland on 19 February 1864. It was deliberately enacted with the aim of ruining the szlachta. Only in the ] did peasants pay the market price for land redemption, the average for the rest of the ] was 34% above the market rates. All land taken from Polish peasants since 1846 was to be returned to them without redemption payments. The ex-serfs could only sell land to other peasants, not szlachta. 90% of the ex-serfs in the empire who actually gained land after 1861 lived in the 8 western provinces. Along with ], Polish landless or domestic serfs were the only ones to be given land after serfdom was abolished.<ref>The End of the Old Order in Rural Europe, Jerome Blum, page 391.</ref> All this was to punish the szlachta's role in the uprisings of 1830 and 1863.
			By 1864 80% of szlachta were ''déclassé'' – downward social mobility. One quarter of petty nobles were worse off than the average serf. While 48.9% of the land in Russian Poland was in peasant hands, nobles still held onto 46%.<ref>Norman Davies, God's playground, pages 182 and 188</ref>
			In the ] the privileges of the nobility were legally abolished by the ] in 1921 and as such not reinstated by any succeeding ] law.
	The difference between the magnateria and the rest of the szlachta was one of wealth and culture, as both belonged to the same class and occupied the same position in law, with both being members of the same clans. Consequently, power rested from the king by the magnates was acquired by the entirety of the szlachta, which often meant the rest of the szlachta cooperated with the magnates rather than struggled against them.<ref name="dmowski-magnates-szlachta" />
	=== Loss of influence by szlachta ===
	], the largest ] against ''szlachta'' rules on Polish lands in the 19th century.]]
	The sovereignty of szlachta was ended in 1795 by ], and until 1918 their legal status was dependent on policies of the ], the ] or the ].
	In the 1840s ] reduced 64,000 szlachta to commoner status.<ref>Richard Pipes, Russia under the old regime, page 181</ref> Despite this, 62.8% of Russia's nobles were szlachta in 1858 and still 46.1% in 1897.<ref>Seymour Becker, Nobility and Privilege in late Imperial Russia, page 182</ref>
	Serfdom was abolished in Russian Poland on February 19, 1864. It was deliberately enacted in a way that would ruin the szlachta. It was the only area where peasants paid the market price in redemption for the land (the average for the empire was 34% above the market price). All land taken from Polish peasants since 1846 was to be returned without redemption payments. The ex-serfs could only sell land to other peasants, not szlachta. 90% of the ex-serfs in the empire who actually gained land after 1861 were in the 8 western provinces. Along with ], Polish landless or domestic serfs were the only ones to be given land after serfdom was abolished.<ref>The End of the Old Order in Rural Europe, Jerome Blum, page 391.</ref> All this was to punish the szlachta's role in the uprisings of 1830 and 1863.
	By 1864 80% of szlachta were ''déclassé'' (downward social mobility), ¼ petty nobles were worse off than the average serf, 48.9% of land in Russian Poland was in peasant hands, nobles still held 46%.<ref>Norman Davies, God's playground, pages 182 and 188</ref> In ] the privileges of the nobility were lawfully abolished by the ] in 1921 and as such not granted by any future ] law.
	<!--		<!--
	probably some mistake: All szlachta privileges were finally abolished after the ] under the ] regime of the ].		probably some mistake: All szlachta privileges were finally abolished after the ] under the ] regime of the ].
	-->		-->
			== Cultural and international connections ==
	== Culture of szlachta ==
			{{Main|Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Enlightenment in Poland}}
	Szlachta 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 ], in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the reverse process occurred: the nobility actually gained power at the expense of the king, and the ] evolved into an ].
			]
	] in a ]n outfit (])]]
			Despite preoccupations with warring, politics and status, the szlachta in Poland, as did people from all social classes, played its part in contributing in fields ranging from literature, art and architecture, philosophy, education, agriculture and the many branches of science, to technology and industry.<ref>Aftanazy Roman. ''Dzieje Rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczpospolitej''. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. Editions. Wroclaw 1991-97 {{ISBN|8304037017}}</ref><ref>Entry about ], "King of Zinc" in ''The Annual Register Or A View of the History of Politics and Literature for the Year 1837'', publ. J. Dodsley. London: 1838. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=R9s7AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA264&lpg=RA1-PA264&dq=history+of+wenlock+road+london&source=bl&ots=uW8GppyPPt&sig=9VPCpoOs-DxUyYd9Ke2hicpl84w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBoYifp5LZAhWHKsAKHetdCKs4FBDoAQgsMAE#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref> Perhaps foremost among the cultural determinants of the nobility in Poland were its continuing international connections with the Rome-based ]. It was from the ranks of the szlachta that were drawn the church's leading ]s until the 20th century. Other international influences came through the more or less secretive and powerful Christian and lay organisations such as the ], focused on hospital and other charitable activity.<ref>Association of Polish Knights of Malta: History of the Order in Poland. http://www.apkmuk.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=60</ref> The most notable Polish Maltese Knight was the Pozńan commander, ], founder in 1588 of the oldest school in Poland. One alumnus was ].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title = Encyklopedia Krakowa| publisher = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw-Kraków| year = 2000}}</ref>
	Szlachta were also more numerous than those of all other European countries, constituting 6–12% of the entire population.<ref name="Frost" />{{Ref label|a|a|none}} By contrast, the nobilities of other European countries, except for Spain, amounted to a mere 1–3%. Most of the szlachta were small or landed gentry. In Lithuania minor nobility made up to 3/4 of total szlachta population.{{page needed|date=May 2017}}<ref name="Sikorska"></ref> By the mid-16th century szlachta class consisted of at least 500,000 persons (some 25,000 families)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bajer|first1=Peter Paul|editor1-last=Unger|editor1-first=Richard|title=Britain and Poland-Lithuania: Contact and Comparison from the Middle Ages to 1795|date=2008|pages=331|chapter=Scotsmen and the Polish nobility from the sixteenth century to eighteenth century}}</ref> and was perhaps a million strong in 1795.<ref name="Frost" /> The share of nobles in the population varied across regions. In the 16th century, the highest proportion of nobles lived in ] (24,6%) and ] (26,7%), while Galicia had largest szlachta population in total number<ref name="zsz" />. In some areas, like ] and ], szlachta constituted nearly half of the population. Regions with the lowest percentage of nobles were: ] (1,7%), ] (3%) and ] with 4,6%.<ref name="Mika">{{cite book|last1=Choińska-Mika|first1=Jolanta|title=Między społeczeństwem szlacheckim, a władzą. Problemy komunikacji społeczności lokalne — władza w epoce Jana Kazimierza|date=2002|publisher=Neriton|pages=20-21|url=http://otworzksiazke.pl/images/ksiazki/miedzy_spoleczenstwem_szlacheckim_a_wladza/miedzy_spoleczenstwem_szlacheckim_a_wladza.pdf}}</ref> Before the ], wealth and power inequality among nobles was far greater in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania than in the Polish Kingdom. The further south and east, the more the landscape was dominated by magnate families and lords.<ref name="Frost" /> In Lithuania and Ruthenian palatinates, poor nobles were more likely to rent smallholdings from magnates than to own land themselves.<ref name="Lukowski">{{cite book|last1=Lukowski|first1=Jerzy|title=Liberty's Folly: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Eighteenth Century 1697-1795|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|pages=13}}</ref>
			In the 18th century, after several false starts, international ], ''wolnomularstwo'', from western lodges, became established among the higher échelons of the szlachta, and in spite of membership of some clergy, it was intermittently but strongly opposed by the Catholic Church. After the partitions it became a cover for opposition to the occupying powers.<ref>Wojtowicz, Norbert. (1999) ''Freemasonry in Poland - Formerly and Today''. Wrocław. http://www.legitymizm.org/freemasonry-in-poland </ref> Also in the 18th century there was a marked development in ] of the arts during the reign of ], himself a freemason, and with the growth of social awareness, in ].
			=== Women as purveyors of culture ===
	The ruling elites formed the only socio-political group who possessed national consciousness. All the szlachta members, regardless of their ethnic background, were seen as belonging to the same common "political nation" of the Commonwealth. Common culture, Catholic religion and Polish language were considered to constitute main unifying factors in the dual state<ref>{{cite book|last1=Petronis|first1=Vytautas|title=Constructing Lithuania: Ethnic Mapping in Tsarist Russia, ca. 1800-1914|date=2007|publisher=Stockholm University Press|page=18}}</ref>. Prior to Partitions there was no Polish national identity, only szlachta of all ethnic backgrounds was considered and referred to as Poles.<ref name="Struve"></ref><ref>Stauter-Halsted, Keely The Nation in the Village. The Genesis of Peasant National Identity in Austrian Poland, 1848–1914 (Ithaca 2001)</ref><ref>Jan Molenda Chłopi – naród – niepodległość. Kształtowanie się postaw narodowych i obywatelskich chłopów w Galicji i Królestwie Polskim w przededniu odrodzenia Polski (Warszawa 1999)</ref>
			High-born women in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth exerted political and cultural influence throughout history in their own country and abroad, as queens, princesses and the wives or widows of magnates. Their cultural activities came into sharper relief in the 18th century with their hosting of ] in the French manner. They went on to publish as translators and writers and as facilitators of educational and social projects.<ref>Bogucka Maria. ''Women in Early Modern Polish Society, Against the European Background''. London: Routledge, 2017. {{ISBN|1351871994}}, 9781351871990</ref>
			]. Oil by ]]]
			Notable women members of the szlachta who exerted political and/or cultural influence include:
			* ] (1373 ог 1374–1399)
			* ] (1494-1557), second wife of ]
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]
			* ] (1718–1791), poet, translator and moralist
			* ] (1767–1810), poet, playwright and translator
			=== Gastronomy ===
	Despite polonization in Lithuania and ] in XVII-XVIII centuries, large part of middle szlachta and most of minor kept their ethnical identity in various ways.{{page needed|date=May 2017}}<ref>Михайлов Грушевський Українська шляхта в Галичині на переломі XVI і XVII в.</ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> Due to poverty most of szlachta there never acquired proper education<ref name="Sikorska" /> and with it Polish language and Polish self-identication.<ref></ref> It was common even for wealthy and polonized szlachta still to refer to themselves as ''Litwin''<ref></ref> or ''Rusyn'':
			{{Main|Polish cuisine}}
			]'' by ], 1910]]
			The szlachta, no less than the rest of the population, placed a particular accent on food. It was at the centre of courtly and estate entertaining and in good times, at the heart of village life. During the Age of Enlightenment, King Stanislaw August Poniatowski emulated the French ] by holding his famed ] for intellectuals and artists, drawn chiefly from the szlachta.<ref>Michniewski, A. " "Do czwartku", Zabawy Przyjemne i Pożyteczne 1772", v. 12, p. 1. Ed. ] in ''Poezja polska wieku Oświecenia'', Warsaw. 1954 and 1956</ref> His ''Wednesday Lunches'' were gatherings for policy makers in science, education and politics.
			There was a tradition, particularly in ], kept until the 20th century, of estate owners laying on a festive banquet at the completion of ] for their staff, known as '']'', as a way of expressing an acknowledgment of their work. It was equivalent to a ]. Polish food varied according to region, as elsewhere in Europe, and was influenced by settlers, especially ], and occupying armies.<ref name="Strybel-350">Robert Strybel, Maria Strybel. (''Wildfowl and Game''). ]. 2005.</ref><ref>], William Woys Weaver. ''Food and Drink in Medieval Poland: Rediscovering a Cuisine of the Past''. ]. 1999.</ref>
	{{Quote|text=Although born as Litwin and as Litwin I will die, but Polish idiom we must use in our homeland. |author=] |source=in letter to his brother ]<ref></ref> }}
			=== Hunting ===
	According to Polish estimates from the 1930s, 300,000 members of ''szlachta zagrodowa'' inhabited the ]n region of the ] (out of 800,000 in the whole country). 90% of them were Ukrainian-speaking and 80% were Ukrainian Greek Catholics.<ref name="zsz">{{cite web|last1=Tomaszewski|first1=Patryk|title=Zarys działalności Związku Szlachty Zagrodowej w latach 1938-1939|url=https://konserwatyzm.pl/artykul/1683/zarys-dzialalnosci-zwiazku-szlachty-zagrodowej-w-latach-1938-1939/|website=konserwatyzm.pl|accessdate=5 May 2017|language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517233633/http://konserwatyzm.pl/artykul/1683/zarys-dzialalnosci-zwiazku-szlachty-zagrodowej-w-latach-1938-1939/|archive-date=17 May 2017|dead-url=yes|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In other places of Ukraine in Russian Empire with significant szlachta populations like ]<ref></ref><ref>Грушевський М. С. Барська околична шляхта до к XVIII ст. : Етнографічний нарис / М. С. Грушевський // Грушевський, Михайло Сергійович. Твори: у 50 т. / М. С. Грушевський; редкол.: П. Сохань (голов. ред.), І. Гирич та ін. – Львів: Видавництво "Світ". – 2003. Т. 5. Т. 5. – C. 323 - 336</ref> or ]<ref>Тимошенко В. У лещатах двоглавого орла (Овруцька околична шляхта ХІХ – на початок ХХ ст.) / В.Тимошенко // Українознавство. – К., 2009 – No 2. – С. 55–59.</ref> situation despite ] and polonization was similar:
			]]]
	{{Quote|text=''...over time<ref>first official records of Chopovsky family as szlachta of ] date back to mid-XVII century</ref> multiplied, so that by 1861 there were already 3063 souls of both sexes. They were considered as gentry, but neither way of their life nor outer clothing was any different from the peasants, except that they were more prosperous and had a larger area of their own land . When Uniates were joining Orthodox church in 1839<ref>Russian government liquidated Uniate church after Polotsk convocation</ref>, 43 souls of both sexes switched to the Latin faith, while the rest of Chopovsky (86%) returned to Orthodoxy. The Heraldry of the Russian Governmental Senate did not approve nobility of the Chopovsky family<ref>with exceptions like Prokopenko-Chopovsky branch of the family that received Russian nobility in 1858</ref>, but the land remained theirs.''|author=Ivan Feshchenko-Chopivsky |source=«Chronicle of my life. Memoirs of the Minister of the Central Rada and the Directorate.»<ref></ref> }}
			]]]
			]]]
			One of the favourite szlachta pastimes was hunting (''łowiectwo'').<ref>Szymańska, Aleksandra (2018) "Sezon myśliwski we dworze". ''Rolniczy Magazyn Elektroniczny''. Centralna Biblioteka Rolnicza im. Michała Oczapowskiego. (in Polish) https://rme.cbr.net.pl/index.php/archiwum-rme/53-wrzesien-pazdziernik-nr-45/kultura-i-tradycje-ludowe/85-sezon-mysliwski-we-dworze </ref> Before the formation of Poland as a state, hunting was accessible to everyone. With the introduction of rulers and rules, big game, generically ''zwierzyna'': ], ], deer and boar became the preserve of kings and princes on penalty of ]s' death. From the 13th century on the king would appoint a high-ranking courtier to the role of Master of the Hunt, '']''. In time, the penalties for poaching were commuted to fines and from around the 14th century, landowners acquired the right to hunt on their land. Small game, foxes, hare, badger and stoat etc. were 'fair game' to all comers. Hunting became one of the most popular social activities of the szlachta until the partitions, when different sets of restrictions in the three territories were introduced. This was with a view to curbing social interaction among the subject Poles.<ref>Cheda, Jacek. (2010) Łowiectwo i jego rola w życiu społecznym Wielkiej Brytanii i Polski. ''Civitas Hominibus'': rocznik filozoficzno-spoleczny, 5. 91-105. (in Polish) See p.94. This is a comparison of hunting as a social activity in Great Britain and Poland.</ref> Over the centuries, at least two breeds of specialist hounds were bred in Poland. One was the ], the ''brach''. The other was the ]. ] was so nostalgic about Polish hunting, that when he settled in France in the mid 19th century, and restored his estate at the ], he ordered a brace of Ogar Polski hounds from the Polish breeder and ''szlachcic'', Piotr Orda.<ref>{{cite web|language=pl|title=Historia Ogara Polskiego|url=http://klubogarapolskiego.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=71|access-date=2018-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316072343/http://klubogarapolskiego.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=71|archive-date=2017-03-16}} retrieved 2015-11-24.</ref>
			{{Clear}}
	However the era of sovereign rule of szlachta ended earlier than in other countries (excluding France) in 1795 (see: ]). Since then their legitimacy and future fate depended on legislature and the procedures of the ], ] or ]. Gradually their privileges became further limited, to be completely dissolved by the ] in 1921.
			== Demographics and stratification ==
	]''. Painted by ].]]].]]
			The szlachta differed in many respects from the nobility in other countries. The most important difference was that, while in most European countries the nobility lost power as the ruler strove for ], in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth a reverse process occurred: the nobility actually gained power at the expense of the king, and enabled the ] to evolve into an ].
	There were a number of avenues to upward social mobility and the achievement of nobility, and the szlachta was not a rigidly exclusive, closed class; but, according to ] sources, the total number of legal ennoblements issued between the 14th century and the mid-18th century is estimated at approximately 800.<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> This is an average of only about two ennoblements per year, or only 0.000,000,14 – 0.000,001 of the historical population. Quoting English journalists ] and ] in 1864, ''"The condition of the country at the present day shows that the population consisted of two different peoples, between whom there was an impassable barrier. There is the Sliachta, or caste of nobles (the descendants of ]), on the one hand, and the serfs or peasantry, who constitute the bulk of the population, on the other."''<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|483-484}} Quoting Hutton and Bagehot again, "''... the Statute of 1633 completed the slavery of the other classes, by proclaiming the principle that &#39;the air enslaves the man,&#39; in virtue of which every peasant who had lived for a year upon the estate of a noble was held to be his property. Nowhere in history - nowhere in the world - do we ever see a homogeneous nation organise itself in a form like that which has prevailed from the earliest times in Poland. But where there has been an intrusion of a dominant people, or settlers, who have not fused into the original population, there we find an exact counterpart of Polish society: the dominant settlers establishing themselves as an upper caste, all politically equal among themselves, and holding the lands (or, more frequently, simply drawing the rents) of the country."''<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|483}} Quoting sociologist and historian ], ''"... the Polish nobility was a closed group (apart from a few exceptions, many of which were contrary to the law), in which membership was inherited."''<ref name="szacki--inherited--1995" /> Others assert the szlachta were not a ], but a ],<ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" /> among them, historian ], ''"A more apt analogy might perhaps be made with the ] of northern India. ... unlike any other gentry in Europe, the szlachta was not limited by nor did it depend for its status on either wealth, or land, or royal writ. It was defined by its function, that of a warrior caste."''<ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste" /> And, again quoting sociologist and historian ], ''"...Świętochowski, on the other hand, wrote as follows: &lsquo;If from the deeds of the Polish nobility we took away excesses and the exclusiveness of caste, ...&rsquo;"''.<ref name="szacki--caste--1995" /> Low-born individuals, including ], ]s but not Jews, could and did rise to official ] in Commonwealth society, although ], when trying to obtain Polish noble status, supposedly said in 1784, ''"It is easier to become a duke in Germany, than to be counted among Polish nobles."''<ref name="bajer--polish-noble--2012" /><ref name="bajer--piot-pawel--polish-nobility" />. According to ] sources 1,600 is the total estimated number of all legal ennoblements throughout the history of Kingdom of Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 14th century onward (half of which were performed in the final years of the late 18th century).<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> Hutton and Bagehot, ''"... for the barrier of exclusion was partly thrown down in the last days of the monarchy ..."''.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}} Each szlachcic had enormous influence over the country's politics, in some ways even greater than that enjoyed by the citizens of modern democratic countries. Between 1652 and 1791, any nobleman could nullify all the proceedings of a given ] (Commonwealth parliament) or ] (Commonwealth local parliament) by exercising his individual right of '']'' (Latin for "I do not allow"), except in the case of a ] or confederated sejmik.
			Szlachta members were also proportionately more numerous than their equivalents in all other European countries, constituting 6–12% of the entire population.<ref name="Frost" />{{Ref label|a|a|none}} By contrast, nobles in other European countries, except for Spain, amounted to a mere 1–3%. Most of the szlachta were "minor nobles" or ]. In Lithuania the minor nobility made up to 3/4 of the total szlachta population.{{page needed|date=May 2017}}<ref name="Sikorska">{{Cite web |url=http://repozytorium.lectorium.pl/bitstream/handle/item/832/J.Sikorska-Deklasacja_drobnej_szlachty.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |title=Polityka caratu wobec drobnej szlachty przed powstaniem listopadowym |access-date=2019-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103015126/https://repozytorium.lectorium.pl/bitstream/handle/item/832/J.Sikorska-Deklasacja_drobnej_szlachty.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2018-11-03 }}</ref> By the mid-16th century the szlachta class consisted of at least 500,000 persons (some 25,000 families).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bajer|first1=Peter Paul|editor1-last=Unger|editor1-first=Richard|title=Britain and Poland-Lithuania: Contact and Comparison from the Middle Ages to 1795|url=https://archive.org/details/britainpolandlit00unge|url-access=limited|date=2008|pages=|chapter=Scotsmen and the Polish nobility from the sixteenth century to eighteenth century|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004166233 }}</ref><ref name="Frost" /> Polish historian ] carried out an estimation of the social structure of Poland based on the documents of 1770–1780s, such as tax registers, partial censuses, etc. His estimate for the number of ''szlachta'' was 725,000 of total population 8.8 million. For comparison with other social classes, Christian clergy counted 50,000, Christian ''mieszczaństwo'' (]s) counted 500,000, peasants of various categories (''{{ill|włościanie|pl|Włościanin}}''): 6.4 million, Jews (the fast growing group), e.g., 750,000 in 1764 and 900,000 in 1790. Korzon counted Armenians, Tatars, Greeks, and Russian '']s'' as separate social groups, totaling 250,000-300,000.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_75stIZO7WAC&dq=tytu%C5%82y+arystokratyczne+w+polsce&pg=PA72| title = ''Historia gospozarcza Polski''| year = 2010| publisher = Key Text Wydawnictwo| isbn = 9788387251710}}</ref>
	In old Poland, a nobleman married a noblewoman, as intermarriage between castes was fraught with difficulties<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Davies
	| first = Norman
	| authorlink = Norman Davies
	| title = God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volume I - The Origins to 1795
	| year = 1982
	| isbn = 0-231-05351-7
	| publisher = ]
	| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
	| page = 203
	| quote = ''Social mobility between the estates was fraught with obstacles.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
	| last = Boswell
	| first = Alexander Bruce
	| authorlink = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
	| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47
	| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
	| year = 1919
	| publisher = ]
	| location = ], ], U.S.A.
	| page = 47
	| quote = ''It made the Polish gentleman more remote from the peasant, to whom he was not only a master, but a foreign, somewhat exotic, neighbour. The civilization of the manor, even allowing for social and cultural differences, had very little in common with the life of the cottage.''}}</ref> (]); but, children of a legitimate marriage followed the condition of the father, never the mother, therefore, only the father transmitted his nobility to his children<ref>{{cite web
	|author=Thomas Aquinas
	| authorlink = Thomas Aquinas
	| title = Summa Theologiae: Supplement to the Third Part (Supplementum Tertiæ Partis): Question 52. The impediment of the condition of slavery
	|date=1265–1274
	| publisher = THOMAS AQUINAS
	| website = newadvent.org
	| location = ], ], ], ], ], ]; ], ], ], ]
	| url = http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5052.htm
	| accessdate = 6 June 2017
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20170507201232/http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5052.htm
	| archivedate = 7 May 2017
	| quote = ''Now slavery is a condition of the body, since a slave is to the master a kind of instrument in working; wherefore children follow the mother in freedom and bondage; whereas in matters pertaining to dignity as proceeding from a thing's form, they follow the father, for instance in honors, franchise, inheritance and so forth. The canons are in agreement with this (cap. Liberi, 32, qu. iv, in gloss.: cap. Inducens, De natis ex libero ventre) as also the law of Moses (Exodus 21). ... It is because the son derives honor from his father rather than from his mother that in the genealogies of Scripture, and according to common custom, children are named after their father rather than from their mother. But in matters relating to slavery they follow the mother by preference.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
	| title = An Introduction to The Polish Nobility Association Foundation
	| website = Polish Nobility Association Foundation
	| location = ], 529 Dunkirk Road, ], Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore county, MARYLAND, U.S.A.
	| publisher = Polish Nobility Association Foundation
	| url = http://pnaf.us/pnaf-history.html
	| accessdate = 24 June 2017
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20161029165305/http://pnaf.us/pnaf-history.html
	| archivedate = 29 October 2016
	| quote = ''In ancient times, the nobility was the ruling class of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the exclusive right to enjoy full citizenship. Nobility was hereditary in the male line, and the knight's shield was an outward sign of this.''}}</ref>. (See '']''.) Later, as marriages by a nobleman or noblewoman to a commoner became more frequent, children inherited nobility from their noble parent.{{Dubious |Nobility Through Mother - Doubtful|reason = flies in the face of history, law, and seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking|date=June 2017}} And a noble girl married to a commoner could transmit nobility to her husband and to all their children.{{Dubious |Nobility Through Mother - Doubtful|reason = flies in the face of history, law, and seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking|date=June 2017}} Any individual could attain ennoblement (''{{lang|pl|nobilitacja}}'') for special services to the state. A foreign noble might be naturalized as a Polish noble (Polish: "indygenat") by the Polish king (later, from 1641, only by a ]). By the eighteenth century all these trends were responsible for the great increase in the proportion of szlachta in the total population.
			The proportion of nobles in the population varied across regions. In the 16th century, the highest proportion of nobles lived in the ] (24,6%) and in ] (26,7%), while Galicia had numerically the largest szlachta population.<ref name="zsz" /> In districts, such as ] and ], the szlachta constituted nearly half of the population. Regions with the lowest percentage of nobles were the ] with (1,7%), ] with (3%) and the ] with 4,6%.<ref name="Mika">{{cite book|last1=Choińska-Mika|first1=Jolanta|title=Między społeczeństwem szlacheckim, a władzą. Problemy komunikacji społeczności lokalne — władza w epoce Jana Kazimierza|date=2002|publisher=Neriton|pages=20–21|url=http://otworzksiazke.pl/images/ksiazki/miedzy_spoleczenstwem_szlacheckim_a_wladza/miedzy_spoleczenstwem_szlacheckim_a_wladza.pdf}}</ref> Before the ], inequality among nobles in terms of wealth and power was far greater in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania than in the Polish Kingdom. The further south and east one went, the more the territory was dominated by magnate families and other nobles.<ref name="Frost"/> In the Lithuanian and Ruthenian palatinates, poor nobles were more likely to rent smallholdings from magnates than to own land themselves.<ref name="Lukowski">{{cite book|last1=Lukowski|first1=Jerzy|title=Liberty's Folly: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Eighteenth Century 1697-1795|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|pages=13}}</ref>
	In theory all szlachta were social equals. Also in theory, they were legal peers. Those who held 'real power' dignities were more privileged but these dignities were not hereditary. Those who held honorary dignities were higher in 'ritual' hierarchy but these dignities were also granted for a lifetime. Some tenancies became hereditary and went with both privilege and titles. Nobles who were not direct barons of the Crown but held land from other lords were only peers "de iure". The poorest enjoyed the same rights as the wealthiest magnate. The exceptions were a few symbolically privileged families such as the Radziwiłł, Lubomirski and ], who sported honorary aristocratic titles recognized in Poland or received from foreign courts, such as "Prince" or "]". (see also ]). All other szlachta simply addressed each other by their given name or as "Sir Brother" (''Panie bracie'') or the feminine equivalent. The other forms of address would be "Illustrious and Magnificent Lord", "Magnificent Lord", "Generous Lord" or "Noble Lord" (in decreasing order) or simply "His/Her Grace Lord/Lady".
			] on a Lithuanian commemorative stamp]]
	According to their financial standing, the nobility were in common speech divided into:
	* ]: the wealthiest class; owners of vast lands, towns, many villages, thousands of peasants
	* middle nobility (''średnia szlachta''): owners of one or more villages, often having some official titles or Envoys from the local Land Assemblies to the General Assembly,
	] of ] in Galician ] clothing]]
	* ] (''drobna szlachta''), owners of a part of a village or owning no land at all, often referred to by a variety of colourful Polish terms such as:
	**''szaraczkowa'' – ''grey nobility'', from their grey, ]len, uncoloured ]s
	**''okoliczna'' – ''local nobility'', similar to ''zaściankowa''
	**''zagrodowa'' – from ''zagroda'', a farm, often little different from a peasant's dwelling
	**''zagonowa'' – from ''zagon'', a small unit of land measure, ''hide nobility''
	**''cząstkowa'' – ''partial'', owners of only part of a single village
	**''panek'' – little ''pan'' (i.e., lordling), term used in ], the Kashubian region, also one of the legal terms for legally separated lower nobility in late medieval and early modern Poland
	**''hreczkosiej'' – ''] sowers'' <!--more or less--> – those who had to work their fields themselves.
	**''zaściankowa'' – from ''zaścianek'', a name for plural nobility settlement, ''neighbourhood nobility''. Just like ''hreczkosiej'', ''zaściankowa'' nobility would have no peasants.
	**''brukowa'' – ''] nobility'', for those living in towns like townsfolk
	**''gołota'' – ''naked nobility'', i.e., the landless. ''Gołota'' szlachta would be considered the 'lowest of the high'.
	**''półpanek'' ("half-lord"); also podpanek/pidpanek ("sub-lord") in ] and Ukrainian accent<ref></ref> – a petty ''szlachcic'' pretending to be wealthy.
			It has been said that the ruling elites were the only socio-political milieu to whom a sense of national consciousness could be attributed. All szlachta members, irrespective of their cultural/ethnic background, were regarded as belonging to a single "political nation" within the Commonwealth. Arguably, a common culture, the Catholic religion and the Polish language were seen as the main unifying factors in the dual state.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Petronis|first1=Vytautas|title=Constructing Lithuania: Ethnic Mapping in Tsarist Russia, ca. 1800-1914|date=2007|publisher=Stockholm University Press|page=18}}</ref> Prior to the Partitions there was said to have been no Polish national identity as such. Only szlachta members, irrespective of their ethnicity or culture of origin, were considered as "Poles".<ref name="Struve">{{cite web| url = http://www.diva-portal.se/smash/get/diva2:214737/FULLTEXT01.pdf| title = Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century}}</ref><ref>Stauter-Halsted, Keely The Nation in the Village. The Genesis of Peasant National Identity in Austrian Poland, 1848–1914 (Ithaca 2001)</ref><ref>Jan Molenda Chłopi – naród – niepodległość. Kształtowanie się postaw narodowych i obywatelskich chłopów w Galicji i Królestwie Polskim w przededniu odrodzenia Polski (Warsaw 1999)</ref>
	Note that the ] (''ziemianie'' or ''ziemiaństwo'') was composed of any nobility that owned lands: thus of course the magnates, the middle nobility and that lesser nobility that had at least part of the village. As manorial lordships were also opened to burgesses of certain privileged royal cities, not all landed gentry had a hereditary title of nobility.
			Despite ] in Lithuania and ] in the 17th-18th centuries, a large part of the lower szlachta managed to retain their cultural identity in various ways.{{page needed|date=May 2017}}<ref>Михайлов Грушевський Українська шляхта в Галичині на переломі XVI і XVII в.</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/6515/file.pdf| title = Вячеслав Липинський УКРАЇНА НА ПЕРЕЛОМІ 1657—1659.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://uamoderna.com/images/archiv/21/UM-21-Pavlyshyn.pdf| title = ''Олег Павлишин'' Дилема ідентичності, або історія про те, як "латинники" (не) стали українцями/поляками (Галичина, середина XIX – перша половина XX ст.)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://mue.etnolog.org.ua/zmist/2009/301.pdf| title = ПОЛЬОВІ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ЕТНОСОЦІАЛЬНОГО РОЗВИТКУ ДРІбНОЇ ШЛЯХТИ ГАЛИЧИНИ ВПРОДОВЖ ХІХ – НА ПОЧАТКУ ХХ СТОЛІТТЯ| access-date = 2017-05-02| archive-date = 2021-10-22| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211022082353/http://mue.etnolog.org.ua/zmist/2009/301.pdf| url-status = dead}}</ref> Due to poverty most of the local szlachta had never had access to formal education nor to Polish language teaching and hence could not be expected to self-identify as ''Poles''.<ref name="Sikorska" /><ref>{{cite web| url = http://mue.etnolog.org.ua/zmist/2009/187.pdf| title = ПОЛЯКИ УКРАЇНСЬКОГО ПРАВОбЕРЕЖЖЯ: ДО ПРОбЛЕМИ АСИМІЛЯЦІЇ| access-date = 2017-05-06| archive-date = 2015-05-10| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150510005213/http://mue.etnolog.org.ua/zmist/2009/187.pdf| url-status = dead}}</ref> It was common even for wealthy and in practice Polonised szlachta members still to refer to themselves as Lithuanian, ''Litwin'' or Ruthenian, ''Rusyn''.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/get/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2011~1367188778422/DS.002.2.01.ARTIC| title = POLACY I LITWINI}}</ref>
	=== Heraldry ===
	{{Main article|Polish heraldry}}
	{{Commons category|Coats of arms of families of Poland}}
	] were very important to szlachta. Its heraldic system evolved together with its neighbours in ], while differing in many ways from the heraldry of other European countries. Knighthood families had its counterparts, links or roots in ] (i.e. Poraj) and ] (i.e. Junosza).
			{{Blockquote|text=Although born a Lithuanian and a Lithuanian I shall die, I must use the Polish idiom in my homeland.|author=] |source=in letter to his brother ]<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.pan.poznan.pl/nauki/N_211_01_Tazbir.pdf| title = Język polski a tożsamość narodowa| access-date = 2017-07-21| archive-date = 2019-02-14| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190214150448/http://www.pan.poznan.pl/nauki/N_211_01_Tazbir.pdf| url-status = dead}}</ref> }}
	Most families sharing origin would also share a coat of arms. They would also share arms with families adopted into the clan (these would often have their arms officially altered upon ennoblement). Sometimes unrelated families would be falsely attributed to the clan on the basis of similarity of arms. Also often noble families claimed inaccurate clan membership. Logically, the number of coats of arms in this system was rather low and did not exceed 200 in late Middle Ages (40,000 in the late 18th century).
			According to Polish estimates from the 1930s, 300,000 members of the common nobles ''s'' ''zlachta zagrodowa'' – inhabited the ] region of the ] out of 800,000 in the whole country. 90% of them were Ukrainian-speaking and 80% were Ukrainian ].<ref name="zsz">{{cite web|last1=Tomaszewski|first1=Patryk|title=Zarys działalności Związku Szlachty Zagrodowej w latach 1938-1939|url=https://konserwatyzm.pl/artykul/1683/zarys-dzialalnosci-zwiazku-szlachty-zagrodowej-w-latach-1938-1939/|website=konserwatyzm.pl|access-date=5 May 2017|language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517233633/http://konserwatyzm.pl/artykul/1683/zarys-dzialalnosci-zwiazku-szlachty-zagrodowej-w-latach-1938-1939/|archive-date=17 May 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In other parts of Ukraine with a significant szlachta population, such as the ] or the ]s, the situation was similar despite ] and earlier Polonization.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://iht.univ.kiev.ua/library/ks/1892/pdf/kievskaya-starina-1892-2-B-(5309-5326).pdf| title = Барская околичная шляхта до к. XVIII в.}}</ref><ref>Грушевський М. С. Барська околична шляхта до к XVIII ст. : Етнографічний нарис / М. С. Грушевський // Грушевський, Михайло Сергійович. Твори: у 50 т. / М. С. Грушевський; редкол.: П. Сохань (голов. ред.), І. Гирич та ін. – Львів: Видавництво "Світ". – 2003. Т. 5. Т. 5. – C. 323 - 336</ref><ref>Тимошенко В. У лещатах двоглавого орла (Овруцька околична шляхта ХІХ – на початок ХХ ст.) / В.Тимошенко // Українознавство. – К., 2009 – No 2. – С. 55–59.</ref> As an example:
	At the ], forty-seven families of Catholic Lithuanian lords and boyars were adopted by Polish szlachta families and allowed to use Polish coat of arms.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frost|first1=Robert I.|title=The Oxford History of Poland-Lithuania: The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 1385-1569|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=115}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Marian|first1=Biskup|chapter=Polish Diplomacy during the Angewin and Jagiellonian Era (1370-1572): X-XX C|title=The History of Polish Diplomacy: X-XX C|date=2005|publisher=Sejm Publishing Office|page=79}}</ref>
			{{Blockquote|text=... The first official records of the Chopovsky family, as clan members of the ], date back to mid-XVII century. As the Chopovsky family multiplied, by 1861 they were already 3063 souls of both sexes. They were considered szlachta members, but neither their way of life nor their clothing distinguished them from the neighbouring peasants, except that they were more prosperous and possessed more of their own land . When ] began joining the ] in 1839 - The Russian government liquidated the ] after the ] Convocation - 43 souls of both sexes switched to the Roman faith, while the rest of the Chopovsky (86%) returned to Orthodoxy. The Heraldic Office of the Russian Senate declined to certify the Chopovsky family's noble status, but the land remained theirs. The exception were the Prokopenko-Chopovsky branch of the family who were received into the Russian nobility in 1858,<ref>{{cite book |first= Ivan |last= Feshchenko-Chopivsky |work= Chronicle of my life. Memoirs of the Minister of the Central Rada and the Directorate |url= http://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Yaremenko_Maksym/Richpospolytska_shliakhta_u_Kyievo-Mohylianskii_akademii.pdf |title= РІЧПОСПОЛИТСЬКА ШЛЯХТА У КИЄВО-МОГИЛЯНСЬКІЙ АКАДЕМІЇ XVIII ст. |trans-title= ichpospolytska shliakhta u Kyievo-Mohylianskii akademii |via= shron1.chtyvo.org.ua }}</ref>}}
	The tradition of differentiating between the coat of arms proper and a lozenge granted to women did not develop in Poland. By the 17th century, usually men and women inherited a coat of arms from their father or mother{{Dubious |Nobility Through Mother - Doubtful|reason = flies in the face of history, law, and seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking|date=June 2017}} or even both{{Dubious |Nobility Through Mother - Doubtful|reason = flies in the face of history, law, and seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking|date=June 2017}} (or a member of a clan who had adopted them). But also men{{Dubious |Nobility Through Mother - Doubtful|reason = flies in the face of history, law, and seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking|date=June 2017}} or women could permanently adopt the arms of their wives{{Dubious |Nobility Through Mother - Doubtful|reason = flies in the face of history, law, and seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking|date=June 2017}} or husbands and transmit them to their children even after remarriages. The ] was rarely used. All children would inherit the coat(s) of arms of their parent(s) and transmit them to all their children. This partly accounts for the relatively large proportion of Polish families who had adopted a coat of arms by the 18th century. Another factor was the trend of the nobility titled marrying "commoners" and passing on their title to their spouse and children{{Dubious |Nobility Through Mother - Doubtful|reason = flies in the face of history, law, and seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking|date=June 2017}}, forbidden in the Middle Ages. An illegitimate child could adopt her/his mother's surname and title by the consent of the mother's father, but was often adopted and raised by the natural father's family, thereby acquiring the father's surname and title.
			] as ]'s ''Blue Marquise'']] ], 1859.]]
	=== Sarmatism ===
	] ], representative of ].]]
	The ''szlachta''{{'}}s prevalent mentality and ] were manifested in "]", a name derived from a ] of the ''szlachta''{{'}}s origin in the powerful ancient nation of ]. This belief system became an important part of ''szlachta'' culture and affected all aspects of their lives. It was popularized by poets who exalted traditional village life, peace and pacifism. It was also manifested in oriental-style apparel (the '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']''); and made the ]-like '']'', too, a near-obligatory item of everyday ''szlachta'' apparel. Sarmatism served to integrate the multi-ethnic nobility as it created an almost ] sense of unity and pride in the szlachta's "]" (''złota wolność''). Knowledge of Latin was widespread, and most ''szlachta'' freely mixed Polish and Latin vocabulary (the latter, "]s"—from "macaroni") in everyday conversation.
			However the era of sovereign rule by the szlachta ended earlier than in other countries, excluding France, in 1795 (see ]). Since then their legitimacy and fate depended on the legislation and policies of the ], ] and ]. Their privileges became increasingly limited, and were ultimately dissolved by the ] in 1921.
	=== Religious beliefs ===
	Prior to the ], the Polish nobility were mostly either Roman Catholic or ] with a small group of ]. Many families, however, soon adopted the ] faiths. After the ], when the Roman Catholic Church regained power in ], the nobility became almost exclusively Catholic. Approximately 40% of all citizens population were Roman Catholic, 36% were Greek Catholic,<ref>Kuklo C. Demografia Rzeczypospolitej Przedrozbiorowej — Warsawa: Wydawnictwo DiG, 2009. — 518 p. — P. 211.</ref> 4% Orthodox with the remaining 20% being Jews or members of Protestant denominations. In the 18th century, many followers of ] joined the ranks of Jewish-descended ''okoliczna szlachta''. Although Jewish religion wasn't usually a pretext to block or deprive of noble status, some laws favoured religious conversion from Judaism to Christianity (see: ]) by rewarding it with ennoblement.<ref>{{pl icon}} , '']'' daily, ], 2008</ref>
			There were a number of avenues to upward social mobility and the attainment of nobility. The szlachta was not rigidly exclusive or closed as a class, but according to ] sources, the total number of legal ennoblements issued between the 14th and mid-18th century, is estimated at 800.<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> This is an average of about two ennoblements per year.
	==Gallery==
	<gallery class="center" >
			According to two English journalists ] and ] writing on the subject in 1864,
	File:Bolesław IV Warszawski.jpg|]
	File:Piotr Kmita Sobieński.JPG|]
			{{blockquote|text=The condition of the country at the present day shows that the population consisted of two different peoples, between whom there was an impassable barrier. There is the Sliachta, or caste of nobles (the descendants of ]), on the one hand, and the serfs or peasantry, who constitute the bulk of the population, on the other.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|483–484}}}}
	File:Portrait of Jan Herburt (born c. 1524, died 1577) (c. 1577–1580s).png|]
	File:Marcin_Zborowski.PNG|]
			and
	File:Jan Karal Chadkievič. Ян Караль Хадкевіч (XVII) (6).jpg|] ]
	File:Danckers de Rij Adam Kazanowski.png|]
			{{blockquote|text=... the Statute of 1633 completed the slavery of the other classes, by proclaiming the principle that 'the air enslaves the man,' in virtue of which every peasant who had lived for a year upon the estate of a noble was held to be his property. Nowhere in history - nowhere in the world - do we ever see a homogeneous nation organise itself in a form like that which has prevailed from the earliest times in Poland. But where there has been an intrusion of a dominant people, or settlers, who have not fused into the original population, there we find an exact counterpart of Polish society: the dominant settlers establishing themselves as an upper caste, all politically equal among themselves, and holding the lands (or, more frequently, simply drawing the rents) of the country.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|483}}}}
	File:Semen-Sulima.png|Semen Sulyma
	File:Strobel Władysław Dominik Zasławski.jpg|]
			Sociologist and historian, ] said in this context,
	File:A.A.Bezborodko by Lampi (1794, Hermitage).jpg|]
	File:Anonymous Elżbieta Sieniawska as Minerva.png|]
			{{blockquote|text=... the Polish nobility was a closed group (apart from a few exceptions, many of which were contrary to the law), in which membership was inherited.<ref name="szacki--inherited--1995" />}}
	File:Rigaud Aleksander Sobieski.jpg|]
			Others assert the szlachta were not a ], but a ], among them, historian ],
	File:Rigaud Konstanty Sobieski.jpg|]
	File:Kirill Razumovsky Tokke.jpg|]
			{{blockquote|text=A more apt analogy might perhaps be made with the ]s of northern India. ... unlike any other gentry in Europe, the szlachta was not limited by nor did it depend for its status on either wealth, or land, or royal writ. It was defined by its function, that of a warrior caste.<ref name="zamoyski-warrior-caste" /><ref name="topor-jakubowski--2002" />}}
	File:Stanisław Lubomirski.PNG|]
			Jerzy Szacki continues,
	File:Kauffman Stanisław Poniatowski.jpg|]
	File:Grassi Stanisław Kostka Potocki.jpg|]
			{{blockquote|text=While ] wrote: 'If from the deeds of the Polish nobility we took away excesses and the exclusiveness of caste, ...'.<ref name="szacki--caste--1995" />}}
	File:Bacciarelli Franciszka Rzewuska.jpg|]
	File:Portret Józefy z Mniszchów Potockiej.jpg|]
			Low-born individuals, including ] ''mieszczanie'', ]s ''chłopi'', but not Jews ''Żydzi'', could and did rise to official ] in Commonwealth society, although ], while trying to obtain Polish noble status, is supposed to have said in 1784,
	File:Ireniej Kleafas Aginski. Ірэней Клеафас Агінскі (1845).jpg|]
	File:Stanislovas Narutavicius.jpg|]
			{{blockquote|text=It is easier to become a duke in Germany, than to be counted among Polish nobles.<ref name="bajer--polish-noble--2012" /><ref name="bajer--piot-pawel--polish-nobility" />}}
	File:Kostuś Kalinowski.PNG|]
			], the richest noble of his time.]]
	File:Wincenty Dunin-Marcinkiewicz 2.jpg|]
			], banker and industrialist who turned ] from a sleepy fishing village into an international trade centre]]
	File:Oleksander Koshetz.jpg|]
			According to ] sources 1,600 is the total estimated number of all legal ennoblements throughout the history of Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 14th century onward, half of which were enacted in the final years of the late 18th century.<ref name="czajkowski" /><ref name="pudlowski" /> Hutton and Bagehot,
	File:Bilinski.jpg|]
	File:Krushelnytska - Livia 3.jpg|]
			{{blockquote|text=... for the barrier of exclusion was partly thrown down in the last days of the monarchy ...''.<ref name="races-old-world" />{{rp|482}}}}
	File:Matejko Portret Marii Pusłowskiej.jpg|]
	File:Vycheslav Lypynsky World War I.jpg|]
			Each ''szlachcic'' was said to hold enormous potential influence over the country's politics, far greater than that enjoyed by the citizens of modern democratic countries. Between 1652 and 1791, any nobleman could potentially nullify all the proceedings of a given ''sejm'' or ''sejmik'' by exercising his individual right of '']'' – Latin for "I do not allow" – except in the case of a ] or confederated sejmik.
	File:RodakowskiHenryk.PortretLeonaSapiehy.1878.jpg|]
	File:Stanisław Badeni.PNG|]
			In old Poland, a nobleman could only marry a noblewoman, as intermarriage between "castes" was fraught with difficulties<ref>{{cite book
	</gallery>
			| last = Davies
			| first = Norman
			| author-link = Norman Davies
			| title = GOD'S PLAYGROUND: A HISTORY OF POLAND, VOLUME I - THE ORIGINS TO 1795
			| year = 1982
			| isbn = 0-231-05351-7
			| publisher = ]
			| location = New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.
			| page = 203
			| quote = Social mobility between the estates was fraught with obstacles.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
			| last = Boswell
			| first = Alexander Bruce
			| author-link = :pl:Alexander Bruce Boswell
			| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=loBDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47
			| title = POLAND AND THE POLES
			| year = 1919
			| publisher = ]
			| location = ]
			| page = 47
			| quote = It made the Polish gentleman more remote from the peasant, to whom he was not only a master, but a foreign, somewhat exotic, neighbour. The civilization of the manor, even allowing for social and cultural differences, had very little in common with the life of the cottage.}}</ref> ({{linktext|endogamy}}); but, children of a legitimate marriage followed the condition of the father, never the mother, therefore, only the father transmitted his nobility to his children.<ref>{{cite web
			|first=Thomas
			|last=Aquinas
			| author-link = Thomas Aquinas
			| title = SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: SUPPLEMENT TO THE THIRD PART (SUPPLEMENTUM TERTIÆ PARTIS): QUESTION 52. THE IMPEDIMENT OF THE CONDITION OF SLAVERY
			|date=1265–1274
			| publisher = Thomas Aquinas
			| website = newadvent.org
			| location = ], ], ], ], ], ]; ], ]
			| url = http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5052.htm
			| access-date = 6 June 2017
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170507201232/http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5052.htm
			| archive-date = 7 May 2017
			| quote = Now slavery is a condition of the body, since a slave is to the master a kind of instrument in working; wherefore children follow the mother in freedom and bondage; whereas in matters pertaining to dignity as proceeding from a thing's form, they follow the father, for instance in honors, franchise, inheritance and so forth. The canons are in agreement with this (cap. Liberi, 32, qu. iv, in gloss.: cap. Inducens, De natis ex libero ventre) as also the law of Moses (Exodus 21). ... It is because the son derives honor from his father rather than from his mother that in the genealogies of Scripture, and according to common custom, children are named after their father rather than from their mother. But in matters relating to slavery they follow the mother by preference.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
			| title = An Introduction to The Polish Nobility Association Foundation
			| website = Polish Nobility Association Foundation
			| url = http://pnaf.us/pnaf-history.html
			| access-date = 24 June 2017
			| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161029165305/http://pnaf.us/pnaf-history.html
			| archive-date = 29 October 2016
			| quote = In ancient times, the nobility was the ruling class of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with the exclusive right to enjoy full citizenship. Nobility was hereditary in the male line, and the knight's shield was an outward sign of this.}}</ref> See '']''. A noble woman married to a commoner could not transmit her nobility to her husband and their children. Any individual could attain ennoblement (''{{lang|pl|nobilitacja}}'') for special services to the state. A foreign noble might be naturalized as a Polish noble through the mechanism called the '']'', certified by the king. Later, from 1641, it could only be done by a ]. By the eighteenth century all these trends contributed to the great increase in the proportion of szlachta in the total population.
			In theory all szlachta members were social equals and were formally legal peers. Those who held civic appointments were more privileged but their roles were not hereditary. Those who held honorary appointments were superior in the hierarchy but these positions were only granted for a lifetime. Some tenancies became hereditary and went with both privilege and title. Nobles who were not direct ]s of the Crown but held land from other lords were only peers "de iure". The poorest enjoyed the same rights as the wealthiest magnate. The exceptions were a few symbolically privileged families such as the Radziwiłł, Lubomirski and ], who held honorary aristocratic titles bestowed by foreign courts and recognised in Poland which granted them use of titles such as "Prince" or "]". See also ]. All other szlachta simply addressed each other by their given name or as "Brother, Sir" ''Panie bracie'' or the feminine equivalent. The other forms of address would be "Illustrious and Magnificent Lord", "Magnificent Lord", "Generous Lord" or "Noble Lord" in descending order, or simply "His/Her Grace Lord/Lady".
			The notion that all Polish nobles were social equals, regardless of their financial status or offices held, is enshrined in a traditional Polish ]:
			{{poemquote|''Szlachcic na zagrodzie''
			''równy wojewodzie.''}}
			renderable in English:
			{{poemquote|"The noble on the ]
			is the ]'s equal."}}
			or, preserving the Polish original's ] scheme:
			{{poemquote|"The noble behind his garden wall
			is the province governor's equal."}}
			{{Clear}}
			=== Szlachta categories ===
			The nobility were divided by wealth into:
			* ], the wealthiest class: owners of vast lands, towns, many villages, and thousands of peasants
			* middle nobility (''średnia szlachta''): owners of one or more villages, often bearing official titles, or deputies from '']s'' (regional sejms) to the general '']''
			]]]
			]): ]]]{{clear}}
			]; Year: 1856 – painting of a lesser szlachta/nobility homestead (])]]
			* ] (''drobna szlachta''): owners of part of a village or of no land at all, they were often referred to by a variety of colourful Polish terms, including:
			** ''{{ill|szlachta zaściankowa|pl}}'' – from '']'', poorer members of the szlachta settled together in related families in one village, ''neighborhood/village nobility''.
			** ''szaraczkowa'' – ''grey nobility'', from their grey, ]len, undyed ]s
			** ''okoliczna'' – ''local nobility'', similar to ''zaściankowa''
			** ''zagrodowa'' – from ''zagroda'', a ], often little more than a peasant's dwelling<ref name=porozb/>
			** ''zagonowa'' – from ''zagon'', a small unit of land measure, ''hide nobility''
			** ''cząstkowa'' – ''partial'', owners of only part of a single village<ref name=porozb>Jakub Wojas, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421055615/https://kurierhistoryczny.pl/artykul/porozbiorowa-szlachecka-drobnica,162 |date=2021-04-21 }}</ref>
			** ''panek'' – little ''pan'' (i.e., lordling), term used in ], the Kashubian region, also one of the legal terms for legally separated lower nobility in late medieval and early modern Poland
			** ''hreczkosiej'' – ''] sowers'' <!--more or less--> – those who had to work their fields themselves because they had no peasants.
			** szlachta służebna – petty nobility who possessed land on the condition of military service (mainly of Ruthenian origin, in Eastern Poland)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ornatowski.com/archiwum/historia/szlachta-zagrodowa-w-polsce-poludniowo-wschodniej/|title=Szlachta zagrodowa w Polsce południowo-wschodniej.|website=Ornatowski.com}}</ref><ref name=deklas>], </ref>
			** ] szlachta (''szlachta czynszowa'') – a class of impoverished szlachta who rented estates in the vast lands of magnates (predominantly in Ruthenian lands) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genealogia.okiem.pl/glossary/glossary.php?word=szlachta%20czynszowa|title = Polska Encyklopedia Historyczno-Genealogiczna}}</ref><ref>], The Modern World-System II: Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600–1750, With a New Prologue, , 2011, {{ISBN|0520267583}}</ref>
			** szlachta poddańcza – a step below the quit-rent szlachta: they required to work for the landlord who allotted them some land.<ref name=porozb/>
			** ''szlachta-gołota'' – ''naked nobility'', i.e., the landless szlachta; the poorest szlachta considered the "lowest of the high."
			** ''brukowa'' – town-street nobility: landless ''szlachta'' who earned a living in towns like other townsfolk<ref name=porozb/>
			] – ''ziemianie'', or ''ziemiaństwo'' – was a social class of landowners with manorial estates. The vast majority were ''szlachta'', including lesser nobility, and owned at least part of a village. Since titular ] were also open to burgers of certain privileged ], not all landed gentry had hereditary noble status. The term ''ziemiaństwo'' was also applied to wealthier landed peasants.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} Magnates, as owners of vast lands, generally were considered a separate social class.
			Landless ''szlachta'' were sometimes excluded from taking part in '']s''.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w-nvAAAAMAAJ&q=sejmiki%20also%20excluded| title = p.25| year = 1977| publisher = Polski Instytut Historyczny.}}</ref> Its political rights were removed altogether by the ]. The purpose of the move was to eliminate the purchases of ''szlachta-gołota'' voices in sejmiks by magnates to use them, e.g., in voting or in executing '']''.<ref>, ''Polska Tradycyja''</ref>
			''Półpanek'' ("half-lord"); also podpanek/pidpanek ("sub-lord") in ] and Ukrainian accent<ref>{{cite web| url = http://ebuw.uw.edu.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=7352| title = Lwów i Wilno / &#91;publ. by J. Godlewski&#93;. (1948) nr 98}}</ref> – a derogatory term for a petty ''szlachcic'' pretending to be wealthy.
			In the ] of Poland, ] signed a ] on 19 October 1831, titled "On the Division and Disposition of Nobility in the ]", which required those claiming noble status to provide evidence to the Russian ]. The result was a drastic decrease in the number of petty ''szlachta'', who were demoted into ] required to pay taxes.<ref name="deklas" />
			== Sarmatism ==
			{{Main|Sarmatism}}
			{{multiple image
			| align = right
			| image1 = Jan Zamoyski.PNG
			| width1 = 150
			| caption1 = ], ], ] and a representative of ].
			| image2 = Rembrandt van Rijn - A Polish nobleman.jpg
			| width2 = 138
			| caption2 = '']'', by ] (1637). The subject's Polish identity and garb are unclear.
			}}
			The ''szlachta''{{'}}s prevalent ], especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, was manifested in its adoption of "]", a word derived from the ] that its origins reached back to the ancient tribe of an Iranic people, the ]. This nostalgic belief system embracing chivalry and courtliness became an important part of ''szlachta'' culture and affected all aspects of their lives. It was popularized by poets who exalted traditional village life, peace and pacifism. It was also manifested in oriental-style apparel, the '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'' and made the ]-like '']'' a near-obligatory item of everyday ''szlachta'' apparel. Sarmatism served to integrate a nobility of disparate provenance, as it sought to create a sense of ] unity and pride in the szlachta's "]" ''złota wolność''. It was marked furthermore by a linguistic affectation among the ''szlachta'' of mixing Polish and Latin vocabulary, producing a form of Polish ] peppered with "]s" in everyday conversation.<ref>Wasko, Andrzej. (2006) "Sarmatism or the Enlightenment, The Dilemma of Polish Culture". ''The Sarmatian Review''. http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/497/wasko.html. Retrieved 2018-11-12.</ref>
	== See also ==		== See also ==
Line 1,105:		Line 1,457:
	* ] (''Ziemiaństwo'')		* ] (''Ziemiaństwo'')
	* ]		* ]
			* ]
	* ]		* ]
	== Notes ==		== Explanatory notes ==
	{{refbegin}}		{{Refbegin}}
	''a.''{{Note label|a|a|none}} Estimates of the proportion of szlachta vary widely: 10–12% of the total population of historic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,<ref>'''', p. 51, Yale Richmond, 1995</ref> around 8%<ref></ref> of the total population in 1791 (up from 6.6% in the 16th century){{citation needed|date=April 2017}} or 6-8%.<ref name="Frost">{{cite book|last1=Robert|first1=Frost|editor1-last=Leonhard|editor1-first=Jörn|editor2-last=Wieland|editor2-first=Christian|title=What Makes the Nobility Noble?: Comparative Perspectives from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century|date=2011|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|pages=142, 144|chapter="Ut unusquisque qui vellet, ad illum venire possit". Nobility, Citizenship and Corporate Decision-making in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1454-1795}}</ref>		''a.''{{Note label|a|a|none}} Estimates of the proportion of szlachta vary widely: 10–12% of the total population of historic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,<ref>'''', p. 51, Yale Richmond, 1995</ref> around 8%<ref>{{cite web| url = http://rcin.org.pl/Content/12493/WA303_4510_KH113-r2006-R113-nr1_Kwartalnik-Hist%2003%20Grzeskowiak-Krwawicz.pdf| title = STAROPOLSKA KONCEPCJA WOLNOŚCI I JEJ EWOLUCJA W MYŚLI POLITYCZNEJ XVIII W. p. 61}}</ref> of the total population in 1791 (up from 6.6% in the 16th century){{citation needed|date=April 2017}} or 6–8%.<ref name="Frost">{{cite book|last1=Robert|first1=Frost|editor1-last=Leonhard|editor1-first=Jörn|editor2-last=Wieland|editor2-first=Christian|title=What Makes the Nobility Noble?: Comparative Perspectives from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century|date=2011|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|pages=142, 144|chapter="Ut unusquisque qui vellet, ad illum venire possit". Nobility, Citizenship and Corporate Decision-making in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1454-1795}}</ref>
	{{refend}}		{{Refend}}
	== References ==		== References ==
	{{reflist|30em|refs=		{{Reflist|30em|refs=
	<ref name="bardach202627">Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, ''Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego'' (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987), p.20, 26-27</ref>		<ref name="bardach202627">Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, ''Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego'' (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987), p.20, 26-27</ref>
	<ref name="Bondage to the dead: Poland and the memory of the Holocaust">{{cite book|title=Bondage to the dead: Poland and the memory of the Holocaust|url=https://books.google.com/?id=NQkFY9Uj7ZgC&pg=PA5&dq=szlachta+japet+ham&cd=2#v=onepage&q|page=5|first=Michael C.|last=Steinlauf|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-2729-6|year=1997}}</ref>		<ref name="Bondage to the dead: Poland and the memory of the Holocaust">{{cite book|title=Bondage to the dead: Poland and the memory of the Holocaust|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQkFY9Uj7ZgC&q=szlachta+japet+ham&pg=PA5|page=5|first=Michael C.|last=Steinlauf|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-2729-6|year=1997}}</ref>
	<ref name="colin">{{cite book|title=British identities before nationalism: ethnicity and nationhood in the Atlantic world, 1600–1800|url=https://books.google.com/?id=lz0JwL5jHCgC&pg=PA29&dq=Cursed+Ham+szlachta&cd=1#v=onepage&q=Cursed%20Ham%20szlachta|first=Colin|last=Kidd|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=29|isbn=978-0-521-62403-9}}</ref>		<ref name="colin">{{cite book|title=British identities before nationalism: ethnicity and nationhood in the Atlantic world, 1600–1800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lz0JwL5jHCgC&q=Cursed+Ham+szlachta&pg=PA29|first=Colin|last=Kidd|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=29|isbn=978-0-521-62403-9}}</ref>
	<ref name="czajkowski">{{cite web		<ref name="czajkowski">{{cite web
	| url = http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm		| url = http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
	| title = Niektóre dane z historii szlachty i herbu		| title = Niektóre dane z historii szlachty i herbu
	| language = Polish		| language = pl
	| last = ]-Czajkowski (leader of Polish pro ]party: ]		| last = Jastrzębiec-Czajkowski
	| first = Leszek Jan		| first = Leszek Jan
	| work = '''Ornatowski.com'''		| work = Ornatowski.com
	| location = Warszawa, POLAND, EU		| location = Warsaw
	| publisher = Artur Ornatowski		| publisher = Artur Ornatowski
	| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305045021/http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm		| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305045021/http://www.ornatowski.com/lib/zhistoriiszlachty.htm
	| archivedate = 5 March 2016}}</ref>		| archive-date = 5 March 2016}}</ref>
	<ref name="davies1">{{cite book|first=Norman|last=Davies|title=God's Playground: A History of Poland; Volume I: The Origins to 1795|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1982|pages=161–163|url=https://books.google.com/?id=07vm4vmWPqsC&pg=PA161&dq=szlachta+davies+clouded+mystery&cd=1#v=onepage&q|accessdate=2010-09-22|isbn=978-0-231-05351-8}}</ref>		<ref name="davies1">{{cite book|first=Norman|last=Davies|title=God's Playground: A History of Poland; Volume I: The Origins to 1795|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1982|pages=161–163|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07vm4vmWPqsC&q=szlachta+davies+clouded+mystery&pg=PA161|access-date=2010-09-22|isbn=978-0-231-05351-8}}</ref>
	<ref name="ian">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=6Eh9KQTrOckC&pg=PA144&dq=polish+lithuanian+nobility+szlachta&cd=5#v=onepage&q=polish%20lithuanian%20nobility%20szlachta|title=A history of eastern Europe: crisis and change|author=Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries|publisher=]|year=1998|pages=144–145|isbn=978-0-415-16111-4}}</ref>		<ref name="ian">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Eh9KQTrOckC&q=polish+lithuanian+nobility+szlachta&pg=PA144|title=A history of eastern Europe: crisis and change|author=Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries|publisher=]|year=1998|pages=144–145|isbn=978-0-415-16111-4}}</ref>
	<ref name="pudlowski">], number 5, {{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}, 1988</ref>		<ref name="pudlowski">], number 5, , 1988</ref>
	}}		}}
	== Bibliography ==		== General bibliography ==
	* ], '']'' (Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language), first edition, Kraków, Krakowska Spółka Wydawnicza, 1927 (9th edition, Warsaw, Wiedza Powszechna, 2000).		* ], '']'' (Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language), first edition, Kraków, Krakowska Spółka Wydawnicza, 1927 (9th edition, Warsaw, Wiedza Powszechna, 2000).
	* {{en icon}} {{Cite book | last=Górecki | first=Piotr | title=Economy, Society, and Lordship in Medieval Poland: 1100-1250 | publisher=Holmes and Meier Publishers, Inc.		* {{in lang|en}} {{Cite book | last=Górecki | first=Piotr | title=Economy, Society, and Lordship in Medieval Poland: 1100-1250 | publisher=Holmes and Meier Publishers, Inc.
	| place=New York, NEW YORK | year=1992 | oclc=25787903 | isbn=0-8419-1318-8 | ref=harv }}		| place=New York, NEW YORK | year=1992 | oclc=25787903 | isbn=0-8419-1318-8 }}
			* {{Citation
	*{{Citation
	| last=Manteuffel		| last=Manteuffel
	| first=Tadeusz		| first=Tadeusz
	| authorlink=Tadeusz Manteuffel		| author-link=Tadeusz Manteuffel
	| title=The Formation of the Polish State: The Period of Ducal Rule, 963–1194		| title=The Formation of the Polish State: The Period of Ducal Rule, 963–1194
	| place=Detroit, MICHIGAN, U.S.A.		| place=Detroit, MICHIGAN, U.S.A.
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	| isbn=978-0-8143-1682-5		| isbn=978-0-8143-1682-5
	}}.		}}.
			* Żernicki-Szeliga Emilian v., ''Der Polnische Adel und die demselben hinzugetretenen andersländischen Adelsfamilien, General-Verzeichnis''. Published by Verlag v. Henri Grand. Hamburg 1900. https://archive.org/details/derpolnischeade00szegoog (Ger). This is a reasonably modern and comprehensive list of 3000 Polish and settler szlachta families and their crests, sourced from, among others, Niesiecki, Paprocki and Boniecki. 598 pages. Accessed 2018-11-02.
	== External links ==		== External links ==
			{{commons category|Nobility of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth}}
	*
	*
	*
	*		*
	*		*
	*		* , Henryk Litwin, ''Business Ukraine Magazine'' (bunews.com.ua), 2016 (PDF file).
	*		*
	* by Margaret: ]-Sypniewska, née Knight
	* {{cite web|author= J. Lyčkoŭski|title = Szlachta|url= http://www.lyczkowski.net/pl/informator/rejestr-szlachty/szlachta.html}} (Alphabetical Lists) {{ref-pl}}
	*		*
			*
	*, Henryk Litwin, ''Business Ukraine Magazine'' (bunews.com.ua), 2016 (PDF file).
			* by Wojciech Zembaty on Culture.pl
	* , Radoslaw Sikora, Bartosz Musialowicz, ''Business Ukraine Magazine'' (bunews.com.ua), 2016 (PDF file).
			* {{cite web|title = Ennoblement|url= https://www.lyczkowski.net/en/handbooks/list-of-gentry/ennoblement.html}} Alphabetical Lists of ennobled persons in Polish-Litvan Commonwealth during 1569-1792 {{in lang|en}}
	*
			* {{cite web|title = Noble naturalization|url= https://www.lyczkowski.net/en/handbooks/list-of-gentry/indygenat.html}} Alphabetical Lists of naturalized non-citizens in Polish-Litvan Commonwealth during 1569-1792 {{in lang|en}}
			*
			* by Margaret: ]-Sypniewska, née Knight
			*
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			* {{cite web|author= J. Lyčkoŭski|title = Szlachta|url= https://www.lyczkowski.net/pl/informator/rejestr-szlachty/szlachta.html}} (Alphabetical Lists) {{in lang|pl}}
	{{European nobility}}		{{European nobility}}
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Latest revision as of 22:26, 31 October 2024

Noble class in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

For the village, see Szlachta, Pomeranian Voivodeship.

The szlachta (Polish: ; Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and, as a social class, dominated those states by exercising political rights and power. Szlachta as a class differed significantly from the feudal nobility of Western Europe. The estate was officially abolished in 1921 by the March Constitution.

The origins of the szlachta are obscure and the subject of several theories. Traditionally, its members owned land (allods), often folwarks. The szlachta secured substantial and increasing political power and rights throughout its history, beginning with the reign of King Casimir III the Great between 1333 and 1370 in the Kingdom of Poland until the decline and end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century. Apart from providing officers for the army, its chief civic obligations included electing the monarch and filling honorary and advisory roles at court that would later evolve into the upper legislative chamber, the Senate. The szlachta electorate also took part in the government of the Commonwealth via the lower legislative chamber of the Sejm (bicameral national parliament), composed of representatives elected at local sejmiks (local szlachta assemblies). Sejmiks performed various governmental functions at local levels, such as appointing officials and overseeing judicial and financial governance, including tax-raising. The szlachta assumed various governing positions, including voivode, marshal of voivodeship, castellan, and starosta.

In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, the existing Lithuanian and Ruthenian nobilities formally joined the szlachta. As the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) evolved and expanded territorially after the Union of Lublin, its membership grew to include the leaders of Ducal Prussia and Livonia. Over time, membership in the szlachta grew to encompass around 8% to 15% of Polish-Lithuanian society, which made the membership an electorate that was several times larger than most noble classes in other countries; by contrast, nobles in Italy and France encompassed 1% during the early modern period.

Despite often enormous differences in wealth and political influence, few distinctions in law existed between the great magnates and lesser szlachta. The juridic principle of szlachta equality existed because szlachta land titles were allodial, not feudal, involving no requirement of feudal service to a liege Lord. Unlike absolute monarchs who eventually took reign in most other European countries, the Polish king was not an autocrat and not the szlachta's overlord. The relatively few hereditary noble titles in the Kingdom of Poland were bestowed by foreign monarchs, while in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, princely titles were mostly inherited by descendants of old dynasties. During the three successive Partitions of Poland between 1772 and 1795, most of the szlachta began to lose legal privileges and social status, while szlachta elites became part of the nobilities of the three partitioning powers.

History

Etymology

In Polish, a nobleman is called a "szlachcic" and a noblewoman a "szlachcianka".

The Polish term szlachta derived from the Old High German word slahta. In modern German Geschlecht – which originally came from the Proto-Germanic *slagiz, "blow", "strike", and shares the Anglo-Saxon root for "slaughter", or the verb "to slug" – means "breeding" or "gender". Like many other Polish words pertaining to nobility, it derives from Germanic words: the Polish word for "knight" is rycerz, from the German Ritter, meaning "rider". The Polish word for "coat of arms" is herb from the German Erbe ("heritage"). 17th-century Poles assumed szlachta came from the German schlachten, "to slaughter" or "to butcher", and was therefore related to the German word for battle, Schlacht. Some early Polish historians thought the term might have derived from the name of the legendary proto-Polish chief, Lech, mentioned in Polish and Czech writings. The szlachta traced their descent from Lech, who allegedly founded the Polish kingdom in about the fifth century.

The Polish term szlachta designated the formalized, hereditary aristocracy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which constituted the nation itself, and ruled without competition. In official Latin documents of the old Commonwealth, the hereditary szlachta were referred to as "nobilitas" from the Latin term, and could be compared in legal status to English or British peers of the realm, or to the ancient Roman idea of cives, "citizen". Until the second half of the 19th century, the Polish term obywatel (which now means "citizen") could be used as a synonym for szlachta landlords.

Today the word szlachta simply translates as "nobility". In its broadest sense, it can also denote some non-hereditary honorary knighthoods and baronial titles granted by other European monarchs, including the Holy See. Occasionally, 19th-century landowners of commoner descent were referred to as szlachta by courtesy or error, when they owned manorial estates, but were not in fact noble by birth. Szlachta also denotes the Ruthenian and Lithuanian nobility from before the old Commonwealth.

In the past, a misconception sometimes led to the mistranslation of "szlachta" as "gentry" rather than "nobility". This mistaken practice began due to the inferior economic status of many szlachta members compared to that of the nobility in other European countries (see also Estates of the Realm regarding wealth and nobility). The szlachta included those rich and powerful enough to be great magnates down to the impoverished with an aristocratic lineage, but with no land, no castle, no money, no village, and no subject peasants. Historian M.Ross wrote in 1835: "At least 60,000 families belong to this class, of which, however, only about 100 are wealthy; all the rest are poor."

A few exceptionally wealthy and powerful szlachta members constituted the magnateria and were known as magnates (magnates of Poland and Lithuania).

Composition

Adam Zamoyski argues that the szlachta were not exactly the same as the European nobility nor a gentry, as the szlachta fundamentally differed in law, rights, political power, origin, and composition from the feudal nobility of Western Europe. The szlachta did not rank below the king, as the szlachta's relationship to the Polish king was not feudal. The szlachta stood as equals before the king. The king was not an autocrat, nor the szlachta's overlord, as szlachta land was in allodium, not feudal tenure. Feudal dependence upon a Polish king did not exist for the szlachta and earlier in history some high-ranking szlachta (magnates) descending from past tribal dynasties regarded themselves as co-proprietors of Piast realms and constantly sought to undermine Piast authority.

In 1459 Ostroróg presented a memorandum to the Sejm (parliament), submitting palatines, or Voivodes of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, receive the title of prince. Sons of a prince were to receive titles of counts and barons. Castellans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were to receive the title of count. This attempt to introduce the hierarchy of noble titles common for European feudal systems for szlachta was rejected.

The fact the szlachta were equal before the king and deliberately opposed becoming a feudal nobility became a matter of law embedded as a constitutional principle of equality. The republicanism of ancient Rome was the szlachta's ideal. Poland was known as the Most Serene Republic of Poland, Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae. The szlachta, not as a feudal nobility or gentry, but as an electorate, and an aristocracy and warrior caste, with no feudal dependence on a king, exercised supreme political power over that republic and elected kings as servants of a republic the szlachta regarded as the embodiment of their rights.

Over time, numerically most lesser szlachta became poorer, or were poorer than, their few rich peers with the same political status and status in law, and many lesser szlachta were worse off than commoners with land. They were called szlachta zagrodowa, that is, "farm nobility", from zagroda, a farm, often little different from a peasant's dwelling, sometimes referred to as drobna szlachta, "petty nobles" or yet, szlachta okoliczna, meaning "local". Particularly impoverished szlachta families were often forced to become tenants of their wealthier peers. They were described as szlachta czynszowa, or "tenant nobles" who paid rent. See "Szlachta categories" for more.

Origins

See also: History of Poland during the Piast dynasty

Poland

The origins of the szlachta, while ancient, have always been considered obscure. As a result, its members often referred to it as odwieczna (perennial). Two popular historical theories about its origins have been put forward by its members and early historians and chroniclers. The first theory involved a presumed descent from the ancient Iranian tribe known as Sarmatians, who in the 2nd century AD, occupied lands in Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. The second theory involved a presumed szlachta descent from Japheth, one of Noah's sons. By contrast, the peasantry were said to be the offspring of another son of Noah, Ham — and hence subject to bondage under the Curse of Ham. The Jews were considered the offspring of Shem. Other fanciful theories included its foundation by Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, or regional leaders who had not mixed their bloodlines with those of 'slaves, prisoners, or aliens'.

Another theory describes its derivation from a non-Slavic warrior class, forming a distinct element known as the Lechici/Lekhi (Lechitów) within the ancient Polonic tribal groupings (Indo-European caste systems). Similar to Nazi racial ideology, which dictated the Polish elite were largely Nordic (the szlachta Boreyko coat of arms heralds a swastika), this hypothesis states this upper class was not of Slavonic extraction and was of a different origin than the Slavonic peasants (kmiecie; Latin: cmethones) over which they ruled.

In old Poland, there were two nations – szlachta and peasants. The szlachta were differentiated from the rural population. In harshly stratified and elitist Polish society, the szlachta's sense of distinction led to practices that in later periods would be characterized as racism. Wacław Potocki, herbu Śreniawa (1621–1696), proclaimed peasants "by nature" are "chained to the land and plow," that even an educated peasant would always remain a peasant, because "it is impossible to transform a dog into a lynx." The szlachta were noble in the Aryan (see Alans) sense -- "noble" in contrast to the people over whom they ruled after coming into contact with them.

The szlachta traced their descent from Lech/Lekh, who allegedly founded the Polish kingdom in about the fifth century. Lechia was the name of Poland in antiquity, and the szlachta's own name for themselves was Lechici/Lekhi. Richard Holt Hutton argued an exact counterpart of szlachta society was the system of tenure of southern India—an aristocracy of equality—settled as conquerors among a separate race. Some elements of the Polish state paralleled the Roman Empire in that full rights of citizenship were limited to the szlachta. According to British historian Alexander Bruce Boswell [pl], the 16th-century szlachta ideal was a Greek polis—a body of citizens, a small merchant class, and a multitude of laborers. The laborers consisted of peasants in serfdom. The szlachta had the exclusive right to enter the clergy until the time of the three partitions of Poland–Lithuania, and the szlachta and clergy believed they were genetically superior to peasants. The szlachta regarded peasants as a lower species. Quoting Bishop of Poznań, Wawrzyniec Goślicki, herbu Grzymała (between 1530 and 1540–1607):

"The kingdome of Polonia doth also consist of the said three sortes, that is, the king, nobility and people. But it is to be noted, that this word people includeth only knights and gentlemen. ... The gentlemen of Polonia doe represent the popular state, for in them consisteth a great part of the government, and they are as a Seminarie from whence Councellors and Kinges are taken."

Military caste and aristocracy

The szlachta were a caste, a military caste, as in Hindu society. In the year 1244, Bolesław, Duke of Masovia, identified members of the knights' clan as members of a genealogia:

"I received my good servitors from the land of Poland, and from the clan called Jelito, with my well-disposed knowledge and the cry , , the godło, Nagody, and I established them in the said land of mine, Masovia, ."

The documentation regarding Raciborz and Albert's tenure is the earliest surviving of the use of the clan name and cry defining the honorable status of Polish knights. The names of knightly genealogiae only came to be associated with heraldic devices later in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. The Polish clan name and cry ritualized the ius militare, i.e., the power to command an army; and they had been used sometime before 1244 to define knightly status. (Górecki 1992, pp. 183–185).

"In Poland, the Radwanice were noted relatively early (1274) as the descendants of Radwan, a knight active a few decades earlier. ..."

Escutcheons and hereditary coats of arms with eminent privileges attached is an honor derived from the ancient Germans. Where Germans did not inhabit, and where German customs were unknown, no such thing existed. The usage of heraldry in Poland was brought in by knights arriving from Silesia, Lusatia, Meissen, and Bohemia. Migrations from here were the most frequent, and the time period was the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, unlike other European chivalry, coats of arms were associated with Polish knights' clans' (genealogiae) names and war cries (godło), where heraldic devices came to be held in common by entire clans, fighting in regiments. (Górecki 1992, pp. 183–185).

Around the 14th century, there was little difference between knights and the szlachta in Poland. Members of the szlachta had the personal obligation to defend the country (pospolite ruszenie), thereby becoming within the kingdom a military caste and aristocracy with political power and extensive rights secured. Inclusion in the warrior caste was almost exclusively based on inheritance.

Concerning the early Polish tribes, geography contributed to long-standing traditions. The Polish tribes were internalized and organized around a unifying religious cult, governed by the wiec, an assembly of free tribesmen. Later, when safety required power to be consolidated, an elected prince was chosen to govern. The election privilege was usually limited to elites.

The tribes were ruled by clans (ród) consisting of people related by blood or marriage and theoretically descending from a common ancestor, giving the ród/clan a highly developed sense of solidarity. (See gens.) The starosta (or starszyna) had judicial and military power over the ród/clan, although this power was often exercised with an assembly of elders. Strongholds called grόd were built where the religious cult was powerful, where trials were conducted, and where clans gathered in the face of danger. The opole was the territory occupied by a single tribe. (Manteuffel 1982, p. 44) The family unit of a tribe is called the rodzina, while a collection of tribes is a plemię.

Mieszko I of Poland (c. 935 – 25 May 992) established an elite knightly retinue from within his army, which he depended upon for success in uniting the Lekhitic tribes and preserving the unity of his state. Documented proof exists of Mieszko I's successors utilizing such a retinue, as well.

Another group of knights were granted land in allodium, not feudal tenure, by the prince, allowing them the economic ability to serve the prince militarily. A Polish warrior belonging to the military caste living at the time prior to the 15th century was referred to as a "rycerz", very roughly equivalent to the English "knight," the critical difference being the status of "rycerz" was almost strictly hereditary; the group of all such warriors was known as the "rycerstwo". Representing the wealthier families of Poland and itinerant knights from abroad seeking their fortunes, this other group of rycerstwo, which became the szlachta ("szlachta" becomes the proper term for Polish aristocracy beginning about the 15th century), gradually formed apart from Mieszko I's and his successors' elite retinues. This rycerstwo/aristocracy secured more rights granting them favored status. They were absolved from particular burdens and obligations under ducal law, resulting in the belief only rycerstwo (those combining military prowess with high/aristocratic birth) could serve as officials in state administration.

Select rycerstwo were distinguished above the other rycerstwo, because they descended from past tribal dynasties, or because early Piasts' endowments made them select beneficiaries. These rycerstwo of great wealth were called możni (Magnates). They had the same political status and status in law as the rycerstwo from which they all originated and to which they would return were their wealth lost. (Manteuffel 1982, pp. 148–149)

The Period of Division from, A.D., 1138 – A.D., 1314, which included nearly 200 years of fragmentation and which stemmed from Bolesław III's division of Poland among his sons, was the genesis of the political structure where the great landowning szlachta (możni/Magnates, both ecclesiastical and lay), whose land was in allodium, not feudal tenure, were economically elevated above the rycerstwo they originated from. The prior political structure was one of Polish tribes united into the historic Polish nation under a state ruled by the Piast dynasty, this dynasty appearing circa 850 A.D.

Some możni (Magnates) descending from past tribal dynasties regarded themselves as co-proprietors of Piast realms, even though the Piasts attempted to deprive them of their independence. These możni (Magnates) constantly sought to undermine princely authority. In Gall Anonym's chronicle, there is noted the nobility's alarm when the Palatine Sieciech "elevated those of a lower class over those who were noble born" entrusting them with state offices. (Manteuffel 1982, p. 149)

Lithuania

Main article: Lithuanian nobility

In Lithuania Propria and in Samogitia, prior to the creation of the Kingdom of Lithuania by Mindaugas, nobles were called die beste leuten in German sources. In Lithuanian, nobles were named ponai. The higher nobility were named kunigai or kunigaikščiai (dukes) — a loanword from Scandinavian konung. They were the established local leaders and warlords. During the development of the state, they gradually became subordinated to higher dukes, and later to the King of Lithuania. Because of Lithuanian expansion into the lands of Ruthenia in the middle of the 14th century, a new term for nobility appeared — bajorai, from Ruthenian бояре. This word is used to this day in Lithuania to refer to nobility in general, including those from abroad.

After the Union of Horodło, the Lithuanian nobility acquired equal status with its Polish counterparts. Over time they became increasingly Polonized, although they did preserve their national consciousness, and in most cases recognition of their Lithuanian family roots. In the 16th century, some of the Lithuanian nobility claimed that they were descended from the Romans, and that the Lithuanian language was derived from Latin. This led to a conundrum: Polish nobility claimed its own ancestry from Sarmatian tribes, but Sarmatians were considered enemies of the Romans. Thus, a new Roman-Sarmatian theory was created. Strong cultural ties with Polish nobility led to a new term for Lithuanian nobility appearing in the 16th century — šlėkta, a direct loanword from Polish szlachta. Recently, Lithuanian linguists advocated dropping the usage of this Polish loanword.

The process of Polonization took place over a lengthy period. At first only the leading members of the nobility were involved. Gradually the wider population became affected. Major effects on the lesser Lithuanian nobility occurred after various sanctions were imposed by the Russian Empire, such as removing Lithuania from the names of the Gubernyas shortly after the November Uprising. After the January Uprising the sanctions went further, and Russian officials began to intensify Russification, and banned the printing of books in Lithuanian.

Ruthenia

Main article: Ruthenian nobility

After the principalities of Halych and Volhynia became integrated with the Grand Duchy, Ruthenia's nobility gradually rendered loyalty to the multilingual and cultural melting pot that was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Many noble Ruthenian families intermarried with Lithuanians.

The rights of Orthodox nobles were nominally equal to those enjoyed by the Polish and Lithuanian nobility, but they were put under cultural pressure to convert to Catholicism. It was a policy that was greatly eased in 1596 by the Union of Brest. See, for example, the careers of Senator Adam Kisiel and Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki.

Origins of szlachta surnames

Main article: Polish surnames

The Proto-Slavic suffix "-ьskъ" means "characteristic of", "typical of". This suffix exists in Polish as "-ski" (feminine: "-ska"). It's attached to surnames derived from a person's occupation, characteristics, patronymic surnames, or toponymic surnames (from a person's place of residence, birth or family origin). In antiquity, the szlachta used topographic surnames to identify themselves. The expression "z" (meaning "from" sometimes "at") plus the name of one's patrimony or estate (dominion) carried the same prestige as "de" in French names such as "de Châtellerault", and "von" or "zu" in German names such as "von Weizsäcker" or "zu Rhein". For example, the family name of counts Litwiccy (Litwicki) was formed with the patronymic suffix -ic from the ethnic name Litwa, i.e. Lithuania, 'nation of Lithuanians'. It refers to the early modern empire of Central Europe, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648). In Polish "z Dąbrówki" and "Dąbrowski" mean the same thing: "of, from Dąbrówka." More precisely, "z Dąbrówki" means owning the patrimony or estate Dąbrówka, not necessarily originating from. Almost all the surnames of genuine Polish szlachta can be traced back to a patrimony or locality, despite time scattering most families far from their original home. John of Zamość called himself John Zamoyski, Stephen of Potok called himself Potocki.

At least since the 17th century the surnames/cognomens of szlachta families became fixed and were inherited by following generations, remaining in that form until today. Prior to that time, a member of the family would simply use his Christian name (e.g., Jakub, Jan, Mikołaj, etc.), and the name of the coat of arms common to all members of his clan. A member of the family would be identified as, for example, "Jakub z Dąbrówki", herbu Radwan, (Jacob to/at Dąbrówki of the knights' clan Radwan coat of arms), or "Jakub z Dąbrówki, Żądło (cognomen) (later a przydomek/nickname/agnomen), herbu Radwan" (Jacob to/at Dąbrówki with the distinguishing name Żądło of the knights' clan Radwan coat of arms), or "Jakub Żądło, herbu Radwan".

The Polish state paralleled the Roman Empire in that full rights of citizenship were limited to the szlachta. The szlachta in Poland, where Latin was written and spoken far and wide, used the Roman naming convention of the tria nomina (praenomen, nomen, and cognomen) to distinguish Polish citizens/szlachta from the peasantry and foreigners, hence why multiple surnames are associated with many Polish coat of arms.

Example – Jakub: Radwan Żądło-Dąbrowski (sometimes Jakub: Radwan Dąbrowski-Żądło)

Praenomen

Jakub

Nomen (nomen gentile—name of the gens/ród or knights' clan):

Radwan

Cognomen (name of the family branch/sept within the Radwan gens):

For example—Braniecki, Dąbrowski, Czcikowski, Dostojewski, Górski, Nicki, Zebrzydowski, etc.

Agnomen (nickname, Polish przydomek):

Żądło (prior to the 17th century, was a cognomen)

Bartosz Paprocki gives an example of the Rościszewski family taking different surnames from the names of various patrimonies or estates they owned. The branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Chrapunia became the Chrapunski family, the branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Strykwina became the Strykwinski family, and the branch of the Rościszewski family that settled in Borkow became known as the Borkowski family. Each family shared a common ancestor and belonged to the same knights' clan, so they bore the same coat of arms as the Rościszewski family.

Each knights' clan/gens/ród had its coat of arms, and there were only a limited number. Almost without exception, there were no family coat of arms. Each coat of arms bore a name, the clan's call word. In most instances, the coat of arms belonged to many families within the clan. The Polish state paralleled the Roman Empire, and the szlachta had a different origin and structure in law than Western Europe's feudal nobility. The clan/gens/ród system survived the whole of Polish history.

Heraldry

Main article: Polish heraldry

Coats of arms were very important to the szlachta. Its heraldic system evolved together with neighbouring states in Central Europe, while differing in many ways from the heraldry of other European countries. Polish Knighthood had its counterparts, links and roots in Moravia, e.g. Poraj coat of arms and in Germany, e.g. Junosza coat of arms.

Families who had a common origin would also share a coat of arms. They would also share their crest with families adopted into the clan. Sometimes unrelated families would be falsely attributed to a clan on the basis of similarity of crests. Some noble families inaccurately claimed clan membership. The number of coats of arms in this system was comparatively low and did not exceed 200 in the late Middle Ages. There were 40,000 in the late 18th century.

At the Union of Horodło, forty-seven families of Catholic Lithuanian lords and boyars were adopted by Polish szlachta families and allowed to use Polish coats of arms.

Heritability

The tradition of differentiating between a coat of arms and a lozenge granted to women, did not develop in Poland. By the 17th century, invariably, men and women inherited a coat of arms from their father. When mixed marriages developed after the partitions, that is between commoners and members of the nobility, as a courtesy, children could claim a coat of arms from their distaff side, but this was only tolerated and could not be passed on to the next generation. The brisure was rarely used. All children would inherit the coat of arms and title of their father. This partly accounts for the relatively large proportion of Polish families who had claim to a coat of arms by the 18th century. Another factor was the arrival of titled foreign settlers, especially from the German lands and the Habsburg Empire.

Illegitimate children could adopt the mother's surname and title by the consent of the mother's father, but would sometimes be adopted and raised by the natural father's family, thereby acquiring the father's surname, though not the title or arms.

Ennoblement

Kingdom of Poland

The number of lawfully granted ennoblements (naturalization) after the 15th century was minimal.

In the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ennoblement (nobilitacja) may be equated with an individual given legal status as a szlachcic member of the Polish nobility. Initially, this privilege could be granted by the monarch, but from 1641 onward, this right was reserved for the sejm. Most often the individual being ennobled would join an existing noble szlachta clan and assume the undifferentiated coat of arms of that clan.

According to heraldic sources, the total number of lawful ennoblements issued between the 14th century and the mid-18th century is estimated at 800. This is an average of only about two ennoblements per year, or only 0.000,000,14 – 0.000,001 of the historical population. Compare: historical demography of Poland. Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince of Ligne, when trying to obtain Polish noble status, supposedly said in 1784, "It is easier to become a duke in Germany, than to be counted among Polish nobles."

The close of the late 18th century (see below) was a period in which a definite increase in the number of ennoblements can be noted. This can most readily be explained in terms of the ongoing decline and eventual collapse of the Commonwealth and the resulting need for soldiers and other military leaders (see: Partitions of Poland, King Stanisław August Poniatowski).

Estimated number of ennoblements

According to heraldic sources 1,600 is the total estimated number of all lawful ennoblements throughout the history of Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 14th century onward (half of which were performed in the final years of the late 18th century).

Types of ennoblement:

• Adopcja herbowa – The "old way" of ennoblement, popular in the 14th century, connected with adoption into an existing szlachta clan by an act of the king. The king granted a fragment of his own coat of arms establishing an alliance with the king's family, or a knight performed an adoption under their coat of arms, which required the confirmation of the king. This form of ennoblement was abolished in the 17th century.
• Skartabellat – Introduced by pacta conventa of the 17th century (since 1669), this was ennoblement into a sort of "conditional" or "graduated nobility" status. Skartabels could not hold public offices or be members of the Sejm, but after three generations, the descendants of these families would "mature" to full szlachta status. In 1775 another requirement was imposed – they had to acquire a landed estate.
• Indygenat – from the Latin expression, indigenatus, recognition of foreign noble status. A foreign noble, after acquiring indygenat status, received all privileges of a Polish szlachcic. In Polish history, 413 foreign noble families were recognized. Prior to the 17th century this was done by the King and Sejm, after the 17th century it was done only by the Sejm.
• "secret ennoblement" – This was of questionable legal status and was often not recognized by many szlachta members. It was typically granted by the elected monarch without the required legal approval of the Sejm.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

In the late 14th century, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vytautas the Great reformed the Grand Duchy's army: instead of calling all men to arms, he created forces comprising professional warriors—bajorai ("nobles"; see the cognate "boyar"). As there were not enough nobles, Vytautas trained suitable men, relieving them of labor on the land and of other duties; for their military service to the Grand Duke, they were granted land that was worked by hired men (veldams). The newly formed noble families generally took up, as their family names, the Lithuanian pagan given names of their ennobled ancestors; this was the case with the Goštautai, Radvilos, Astikai, Kęsgailos and others. These families were granted their coats of arms under the Union of Horodlo (1413).

In 1506, King Sigismund I the Old confirmed the position of the Lithuanian Council of Lords in state politics and limited entry into the nobility.

Privileges

Main article: Szlachta's privileges

Specific rights of the szlachta included:

1. The right to hold outright ownership of land (Allod)—not as a fief, conditional upon service to the liege Lord, but absolutely in perpetuity unless sold. The szlachta had a monopoly on land. Peasants did not own land. See Polish landed gentry (Ziemiaństwo).
2. The right to join in political and military assemblies of the regional nobility.
3. The right to form independent administrative councils for their locality.
4. The right to cast a vote for Polish Kings.
5. The right to travel freely anywhere in the old Commonwealth of the Polish and Lithuanian nobility; or outside it, as foreign policy dictated.
6. The right to demand information from Crown offices.
7. The right to spiritual semi-independence from the clergy.
8. The right to interdict, in suitable ways, the passage of foreigners and townsmen through their territories.
9. The right of priority over the courts of the peasantry.
10. Special rights in Polish courts, including freedom from arbitrary arrest and freedom from corporal punishment.
11. The right to sell their military or administrative services.
12. Heraldic rights.
13. The right to receive higher pay when entitled in the "Levée en masse" (mobilization of the szlachta for defence of the nation).
14. Educational rights
15. The right of importing duty-free goods often.
16. The exclusive right to enter the clergy until the time of the three partitions of Poland.
17. The right to try their peasants for major offences (reduced to minor offences only, after the 1760s).

Significant legislative changes in the status of the szlachta, as defined by Robert Bideleux and Ian Jeffries, consist of its 1374 exemption from the land tax, a 1425 guarantee against the 'arbitrary arrests and/or seizure of property' of its members, a 1454 requirement that military forces and new taxes be approved by provincial Sejms, and statutes issued between 1496 and 1611 that prescribed the rights of commoners.

Real and false nobles

Nobles were born into a noble family, or adopted into a noble clan by an act of the King (this was abolished in 1633). The rarest way of achieving szlachta status was through ennoblement (naturalization) by a king or Sejm for reasons such as bravery in combat, service to the state, etc. There were claims some nobles were, in fact, usurpers who were commoners that moved to another part of the country and falsely claimed noble status. In the first half of the 16th century, hundreds of such "false nobles" were denounced by Hieronim Nekanda Trepka [pl] (1550–1630) in his "Liber generationis plebeanorum (Liber chamorum)", or "Book of Plebeian Genealogy (Ham's Book)". Peasants were considered descendants of Ham, the son of Noah subject to bondage under the Curse of Ham. The law forbade commoners holding landed estates and promised such estates as a reward to denouncers. Trepka was himself an impoverished nobleman who lived a town dweller's life and documented hundreds of such false claims hoping to take over one of the usurped estates. He does not seem to have succeeded in his quest despite his employment as the king's secretary. Many sejms issued decrees over the centuries in an attempt to resolve this issue, but with little success. It is unknown what percentage of the Polish nobility came from the 'lower orders' of society, but there are historians who claim nobles of such base origins formed a 'significant' element of the szlachta.

Self-promotion and aggrandizement were not confined to commoners. Often, members of the lower szlachta sought further ennoblement from foreign, therefore less verifiable, sources. That is, they might acquire by legitimate means or otherwise, such as by purchase, one of a selection of foreign titles ranging from Baron, Marchese, Freiherr to Comte, all readily translatable into the Polish Hrabia. Alternatively, they would simply appropriate a title by conferring it upon themselves. An example of this is cited in the case of the last descendant of the Ciechanowiecki family, who managed to restore a genuinely old Comital title, but whose actual origins are shrouded in 18th-century mystery.

Accretion of sovereignty to the szlachta

The szlachta secured many rights not secured to the nobility of other countries. Over time, each new monarch ceded to them further privileges. Those privileges became the basis of the Golden Liberty in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Despite having a king, Poland was considered the 'nobility's Commonwealth' because Royal elections in Poland were in the hands of members of a hereditary class. Poland was therefore the domain of this class, and not that of the king or the ruling dynasty. This arose in part because of the extinction of male heirs in the original royal dynasties: first, the Piasts, then the Jagiellons. As a result, the nobility took it upon itself to choose "the Polish king" from among the dynasties' matrilinial descendants.

Poland's successive kings granted privileges to the nobility upon their election to the throne – the privileges having been specified in the king-elect's Pacta conventa – and at other times, in exchange for ad hoc leave to raise an extraordinary tax or a pospolite ruszenie, a military call up. Poland's nobility thus accumulated a growing array of privileges and immunities.

In 1355 in Buda King Casimir III the Great issued the first country-wide privilege for the nobility, in exchange for their agreeing that if Casimir had no male heirs, the throne would pass to his nephew, Louis I of Hungary. Casimir further decreed that the nobility would no longer be subject to 'extraordinary' taxes or have to use their own funds for foreign military expeditions. Casimir also promised that when the royal court toured, the king and the court would cover all expenses, instead of requiring facilities to be provided by the local nobility.

Privilege of Koszyce and others

In 1374 King Louis of Hungary approved the Privilege of Koszyce (przywilej koszycki) to guarantee the Polish throne for his daughter, Jadwiga. He broadened the definition of membership of the nobility and exempted the entire class from all but one tax (łanowy) a limit of 2 groszes per łan of land, Old Polish units of measurement. In addition, the King's right to raise taxes was effectively abolished: no new taxes would be levied without the agreement of the nobility. Henceforth, district offices were also reserved exclusively for local nobility, as the Privilege of Koszyce forbade the king to grant official posts and major Polish castles to foreign knights. Finally, the privilege obliged the king to pay indemnities to nobles injured or taken captive during a war outside Polish borders.

In 1422 King Władysław II Jagiełło was constrained by the Privilege of Czerwińsk (przywilej czerwiński), which established the inviolability of nobles' property. Their estates could not be confiscated except upon the verdict of a court. It also made him cede some jurisdiction over fiscal policy to the Royal Council, later, the Senate of Poland, including the right to mint coinage.

In 1430, with the Privileges of Jedlnia, confirmed at Kraków in 1433, Polish: przywileje jedlneńsko-krakowskie, based partially on his earlier Brześć Kujawski privilege (25 April 1425), King Władysław II Jagiełło granted the nobility a guarantee against arbitrary arrest, similar to the English Magna Carta's habeas corpus, known from its own Latin name as "neminem captivabimus nisi jure victum". Henceforth, no member of the nobility could be imprisoned without a warrant from a court of justice. The king could neither punish nor imprison any noble on a whim. King Władysław's quid pro quo for the easement was the nobles' guarantee that the throne would be inherited by one of his sons, who would be bound to honour the privileges granted earlier to the nobility. On 2 May 1447 the same king issued the Wilno Pact, or Wilno Privilege, which gave the Lithuanian boyars the same rights as those already secured by the Polish szlachta.

In 1454, King Casimir IV granted the Nieszawa Statutes – Polish: statuty cerkwicko-nieszawskie, clarifying the legal basis of voivodship sejmiks – local parliaments. The king could promulgate new laws, raise taxes, or call for a mass military call up pospolite ruszenie, only with the consent of the sejmiks, and the nobility were protected from judicial abuses. The Nieszawa Statutes also curbed the power of the magnates, as the Sejm, the national parliament, had the right to elect many officials, including judges, voivods and castellans. These privileges were demanded by the szlachta in exchange for their participation in the Thirteen Years' War.

First Royal Election

The first "free election" (Polish: wolna elekcja) of a king took place in 1492. In fact, some earlier Polish kings had been elected with help from assemblies such as those that put Casimir II on the throne, thereby setting a precedent for free elections. Only senators voted in the 1492 free election, which was won by John I Albert. For the duration of the Jagiellonian Dynasty, only members of that royal family were considered for election. Later, there would be no restrictions on the choice of candidates.

In 1493 the Sejm, began meeting every two years at Piotrków. It comprised two chambers:

• a Senate of 81 bishops and other dignitaries
• a Chamber of Deputies of 54 deputies representing their respective domains.

The numbers of senators and deputies later increased.

On 26 April 1496 King John I Albert granted the Privilege of Piotrków. The Statutes of Piotrków increased the nobility's feudal power over serfs. It bound the peasant to the land, and only one son though not the eldest, was permitted to leave the village. Townsfolk mieszczaństwo were prohibited from owning land. Positions in the Church hierarchy were restricted to nobles.

On 23 October 1501, the Polish–Lithuanian union was reformed by the Union of Mielnik. It was there that the tradition of a coronation Sejm was founded. Here again, the lesser nobility, lesser in wealth only – not in rank – attempted to reduce the power of the Magnates with a law that made them impeachable before the Senate for malfeasance. However, the Act of Mielnik of 25 October did more to strengthen the Magnate-dominated Senate of Poland than the lesser nobility. Nobles as a whole were given the right to disobey the King or his representatives — non praestanda oboedientia, and to form confederations, armed opposition against the king or state officials if the nobles found that the law or their legitimate privileges were being infringed.

On 3 May 1505 King Alexander I Jagiellon granted the Act of Nihil novi nisi commune consensu – "I accept nothing new except by common consent". This forbade the king to pass new laws without the consent of the representatives of the nobility in the assembled Sejm, thus greatly strengthening the nobility's powers. Essentially, this act marked the transfer of legislative power from the king to the Sejm. It also marks the beginning of the First Rzeczpospolita, the period of a szlachta-run "Commonwealth".

In 1520 the Act of Bydgoszcz granted the Sejm the right to convene every four years, with or without the king's permission. At about that time the Executionist Movement, seeking to oversee law enforcement, began to take shape. Its members sought to curb the power of the Magnates at the Sejm and to strengthen the power of the monarch. In 1562 at the Sejm in Piotrków they forced the Magnates to return many leased crown lands to the king, and the king to create a standing army wojsko kwarciane. One of the most famous members of this movement was Jan Zamoyski.

End of the Jagiellonian dynasty

Until the death of Sigismund II Augustus, the last king of the Jagiellonian dynasty, all monarchs had to be elected from within the royal family. However, from 1573, practically any Polish noble or foreigner of royal blood could potentially become a Polish–Lithuanian monarch. Every newly elected king was supposed to sign two documents: the Pacta conventa, the king's "pre-election pact", and the Henrican articles, named after the first freely elected king, Henry of Valois. The latter document was a virtual Polish constitution and contained the basic laws of the Commonwealth:

• Free election of kings
• Religious tolerance
• The Sejm to meet every two years
• Foreign policy controlled by the Sejm
• A royal advisory council chosen by the Sejm
• Official posts restricted to Polish and Lithuanian nobles
• Taxes and monopolies set up by the Sejm only
• Nobles' right to disobey the Monarch should s/he break any of these laws.

In 1578 king, Stefan Batory, created the Crown Tribunal to reduce the enormous pressure on the Royal Court. This placed much of the monarch's juridical power in the hands of the elected szlachta deputies, further strengthening the nobility as a class. In 1581 the Crown Tribunal was joined by a counterpart in Lithuania, the Lithuanian Tribunal.

Magnate oligarchy

Main article: Magnates of Poland and Lithuania

For many centuries, wealthy and powerful members of the szlachta sought to gain legal privileges over their peers. In 1459 Ostroróg presented a memorandum to the Sejm (parliament), submitting palatines, or Voivodes of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, receive the title of prince. Sons of the prince were to receive titles of counts and barons. Castellans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were to receive the title of count. All these submissions were rejected.

Few szlachta were wealthy enough to be known as Magnates, karmazyni, the "Crimsons" – from the crimson colour of their boots. A true Magnate had to be able to trace his ancestry for many generations and own at least 20 villages or estates. He also had to hold high office in the Commonwealth.. Thus, out of about one million szlachta, only 200–300 persons could be classed as Magnates with country-wide possessions and influence. Of these some 30–40 were considered as having significant impact on Poland's politics. Magnates often received gifts from monarchs, which greatly increased their wealth. Although such gifts were only temporary leases, often the Magnates never returned them. This gave rise in the 16th century, to a self-policing trend by the szlachta, known as the ruch egzekucji praw — movement for the enforcement of the law – against usurping Magnates to force them to return leased lands back to their rightful owner, the monarch.

One of the most important victories of the Magnates was the late 16th century right to create Ordynacjas, similar to Fee tails under English law, which ensured that a family which gained landed wealth could more easily preserve it. The Ordynacjas that belonged to families such as the Radziwiłł, Zamoyski, Potocki or Lubomirskis often rivalled the estates of the king and were important power bases for them.

The difference between the magnateria and the rest of the szlachta was primarily one of wealth and life-style, as both belonged to the same legally defined class being members of the same clans. Consequently, any power wrested from the king by the magnates was consequently trickled down to the entirety of the szlachta. This often meant the rest of the szlachta tended to cooperate with the magnates rather than struggle against them.

Szlachta loss of influence

The notion of the szlachta's accrued sovereignty ended in 1795 with the final Partitions of Poland, and until 1918 their legal status was dependent on the policies of the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia or the Habsburg monarchy.

In the 1840s Nicholas I reduced 64,000 of lesser szlachta to a particular commoner status known as odnodvortsy (literally "single-householders"). Despite this, 62.8% of all Russia's nobles were Polish szlachta in 1858 and still 46.1% in 1897. Serfdom was abolished in Russian Poland on 19 February 1864. It was deliberately enacted with the aim of ruining the szlachta. Only in the Russian Partition did peasants pay the market price for land redemption, the average for the rest of the Russian Empire was 34% above the market rates. All land taken from Polish peasants since 1846 was to be returned to them without redemption payments. The ex-serfs could only sell land to other peasants, not szlachta. 90% of the ex-serfs in the empire who actually gained land after 1861 lived in the 8 western provinces. Along with Romania, Polish landless or domestic serfs were the only ones to be given land after serfdom was abolished. All this was to punish the szlachta's role in the uprisings of 1830 and 1863. By 1864 80% of szlachta were déclassé – downward social mobility. One quarter of petty nobles were worse off than the average serf. While 48.9% of the land in Russian Poland was in peasant hands, nobles still held onto 46%.

In the Second Polish Republic the privileges of the nobility were legally abolished by the March Constitution in 1921 and as such not reinstated by any succeeding Polish law.

Cultural and international connections

Main articles: Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Enlightenment in Poland

Despite preoccupations with warring, politics and status, the szlachta in Poland, as did people from all social classes, played its part in contributing in fields ranging from literature, art and architecture, philosophy, education, agriculture and the many branches of science, to technology and industry. Perhaps foremost among the cultural determinants of the nobility in Poland were its continuing international connections with the Rome-based Catholic Church. It was from the ranks of the szlachta that were drawn the church's leading Prelates until the 20th century. Other international influences came through the more or less secretive and powerful Christian and lay organisations such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, focused on hospital and other charitable activity. The most notable Polish Maltese Knight was the Pozńan commander, Bartłomiej Nowodworski, founder in 1588 of the oldest school in Poland. One alumnus was John III Sobieski. In the 18th century, after several false starts, international Freemasonry, wolnomularstwo, from western lodges, became established among the higher échelons of the szlachta, and in spite of membership of some clergy, it was intermittently but strongly opposed by the Catholic Church. After the partitions it became a cover for opposition to the occupying powers. Also in the 18th century there was a marked development in Patronage of the arts during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, himself a freemason, and with the growth of social awareness, in Philanthropy.

Women as purveyors of culture

High-born women in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth exerted political and cultural influence throughout history in their own country and abroad, as queens, princesses and the wives or widows of magnates. Their cultural activities came into sharper relief in the 18th century with their hosting of salons in the French manner. They went on to publish as translators and writers and as facilitators of educational and social projects.

Notable women members of the szlachta who exerted political and/or cultural influence include:

• Queen Jadwiga (1373 ог 1374–1399)
• Bona Sforza (1494-1557), second wife of Sigismund I the Old
• Zofia Lubomirska
• Anna Jabłonowska
• Elzbieta Lubomirska
• Eleonora Czartoryska
• Izabela Czartoryska
• Barbara Sanguszko (1718–1791), poet, translator and moralist
• Tekla Teresa Lubienska (1767–1810), poet, playwright and translator

Gastronomy

Main article: Polish cuisine

The szlachta, no less than the rest of the population, placed a particular accent on food. It was at the centre of courtly and estate entertaining and in good times, at the heart of village life. During the Age of Enlightenment, King Stanislaw August Poniatowski emulated the French Salons by holding his famed Thursday Lunches for intellectuals and artists, drawn chiefly from the szlachta. His Wednesday Lunches were gatherings for policy makers in science, education and politics.

There was a tradition, particularly in Mazovia, kept until the 20th century, of estate owners laying on a festive banquet at the completion of harvest for their staff, known as Dożynki, as a way of expressing an acknowledgment of their work. It was equivalent to a harvest festival. Polish food varied according to region, as elsewhere in Europe, and was influenced by settlers, especially Jewish cuisine, and occupying armies.

Hunting

One of the favourite szlachta pastimes was hunting (łowiectwo). Before the formation of Poland as a state, hunting was accessible to everyone. With the introduction of rulers and rules, big game, generically zwierzyna: Aurochs, bison, deer and boar became the preserve of kings and princes on penalty of poachers' death. From the 13th century on the king would appoint a high-ranking courtier to the role of Master of the Hunt, Łowczy. In time, the penalties for poaching were commuted to fines and from around the 14th century, landowners acquired the right to hunt on their land. Small game, foxes, hare, badger and stoat etc. were 'fair game' to all comers. Hunting became one of the most popular social activities of the szlachta until the partitions, when different sets of restrictions in the three territories were introduced. This was with a view to curbing social interaction among the subject Poles. Over the centuries, at least two breeds of specialist hounds were bred in Poland. One was the Polish Hunting Dog, the brach. The other was the Ogar Polski. Count Xavier Branicki was so nostalgic about Polish hunting, that when he settled in France in the mid 19th century, and restored his estate at the Chateau de Montresor, he ordered a brace of Ogar Polski hounds from the Polish breeder and szlachcic, Piotr Orda.

Demographics and stratification

The szlachta differed in many respects from the nobility in 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 the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth a reverse process occurred: the nobility actually gained power at the expense of the king, and enabled the political system to evolve into an oligarchy.

Szlachta members were also proportionately more numerous than their equivalents in all other European countries, constituting 6–12% of the entire population. By contrast, nobles in other European countries, except for Spain, amounted to a mere 1–3%. Most of the szlachta were "minor nobles" or smallholders. In Lithuania the minor nobility made up to 3/4 of the total szlachta population. By the mid-16th century the szlachta class consisted of at least 500,000 persons (some 25,000 families). Polish historian Tadeusz Korzon carried out an estimation of the social structure of Poland based on the documents of 1770–1780s, such as tax registers, partial censuses, etc. His estimate for the number of szlachta was 725,000 of total population 8.8 million. For comparison with other social classes, Christian clergy counted 50,000, Christian mieszczaństwo (burghers) counted 500,000, peasants of various categories (włościanie [pl]): 6.4 million, Jews (the fast growing group), e.g., 750,000 in 1764 and 900,000 in 1790. Korzon counted Armenians, Tatars, Greeks, and Russian raskolniks as separate social groups, totaling 250,000-300,000.

The proportion of nobles in the population varied across regions. In the 16th century, the highest proportion of nobles lived in the Płock Voivodeship (24,6%) and in Podlachia (26,7%), while Galicia had numerically the largest szlachta population. In districts, such as Wizna and Łomża, the szlachta constituted nearly half of the population. Regions with the lowest percentage of nobles were the Kraków Voivodeship with (1,7%), Royal Prussia with (3%) and the Sieradz Voivodeship with 4,6%. Before the Union of Lublin, inequality among nobles in terms of wealth and power was far greater in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania than in the Polish Kingdom. The further south and east one went, the more the territory was dominated by magnate families and other nobles. In the Lithuanian and Ruthenian palatinates, poor nobles were more likely to rent smallholdings from magnates than to own land themselves.

It has been said that the ruling elites were the only socio-political milieu to whom a sense of national consciousness could be attributed. All szlachta members, irrespective of their cultural/ethnic background, were regarded as belonging to a single "political nation" within the Commonwealth. Arguably, a common culture, the Catholic religion and the Polish language were seen as the main unifying factors in the dual state. Prior to the Partitions there was said to have been no Polish national identity as such. Only szlachta members, irrespective of their ethnicity or culture of origin, were considered as "Poles".

Despite Polonisation in Lithuania and Ruthenia in the 17th-18th centuries, a large part of the lower szlachta managed to retain their cultural identity in various ways. Due to poverty most of the local szlachta had never had access to formal education nor to Polish language teaching and hence could not be expected to self-identify as Poles. It was common even for wealthy and in practice Polonised szlachta members still to refer to themselves as Lithuanian, Litwin or Ruthenian, Rusyn.

Although born a Lithuanian and a Lithuanian I shall die, I must use the Polish idiom in my homeland.

— Janusz Radziwiłł, in letter to his brother Krzysztof

According to Polish estimates from the 1930s, 300,000 members of the common nobles s zlachta zagrodowa – inhabited the subcarpathian region of the Second Polish Republic out of 800,000 in the whole country. 90% of them were Ukrainian-speaking and 80% were Ukrainian Greek Catholics. In other parts of Ukraine with a significant szlachta population, such as the Bar or the Ovruch regions, the situation was similar despite Russification and earlier Polonization. As an example:

... The first official records of the Chopovsky family, as clan members of the Korwin coat of arms, date back to mid-XVII century. As the Chopovsky family multiplied, by 1861 they were already 3063 souls of both sexes. They were considered szlachta members, but neither their way of life nor their clothing distinguished them from the neighbouring peasants, except that they were more prosperous and possessed more of their own land . When Uniates began joining the Orthodox church in 1839 - The Russian government liquidated the Uniate church after the Polotsk Convocation - 43 souls of both sexes switched to the Roman faith, while the rest of the Chopovsky (86%) returned to Orthodoxy. The Heraldic Office of the Russian Senate declined to certify the Chopovsky family's noble status, but the land remained theirs. The exception were the Prokopenko-Chopovsky branch of the family who were received into the Russian nobility in 1858,

However the era of sovereign rule by the szlachta ended earlier than in other countries, excluding France, in 1795 (see Partitions of Poland). Since then their legitimacy and fate depended on the legislation and policies of the Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg monarchy. Their privileges became increasingly limited, and were ultimately dissolved by the March Constitution of Poland in 1921.

There were a number of avenues to upward social mobility and the attainment of nobility. The szlachta was not rigidly exclusive or closed as a class, but according to heraldic sources, the total number of legal ennoblements issued between the 14th and mid-18th century, is estimated at 800. This is an average of about two ennoblements per year.

According to two English journalists Richard Holt Hutton and Walter Bagehot writing on the subject in 1864,

The condition of the country at the present day shows that the population consisted of two different peoples, between whom there was an impassable barrier. There is the Sliachta, or caste of nobles (the descendants of Lekh), on the one hand, and the serfs or peasantry, who constitute the bulk of the population, on the other.

and

... the Statute of 1633 completed the slavery of the other classes, by proclaiming the principle that 'the air enslaves the man,' in virtue of which every peasant who had lived for a year upon the estate of a noble was held to be his property. Nowhere in history - nowhere in the world - do we ever see a homogeneous nation organise itself in a form like that which has prevailed from the earliest times in Poland. But where there has been an intrusion of a dominant people, or settlers, who have not fused into the original population, there we find an exact counterpart of Polish society: the dominant settlers establishing themselves as an upper caste, all politically equal among themselves, and holding the lands (or, more frequently, simply drawing the rents) of the country.

Sociologist and historian, Jerzy Ryszard Szacki said in this context,

... the Polish nobility was a closed group (apart from a few exceptions, many of which were contrary to the law), in which membership was inherited.

Others assert the szlachta were not a social class, but a caste, among them, historian Adam Zamoyski,

A more apt analogy might perhaps be made with the Rajputs of northern India. ... unlike any other gentry in Europe, the szlachta was not limited by nor did it depend for its status on either wealth, or land, or royal writ. It was defined by its function, that of a warrior caste.

Jerzy Szacki continues,

While Aleksander Świętochowski wrote: 'If from the deeds of the Polish nobility we took away excesses and the exclusiveness of caste, ...'.

Low-born individuals, including townsfolk mieszczanie, peasants chłopi, but not Jews Żydzi, could and did rise to official ennoblement in Commonwealth society, although Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince of Ligne, while trying to obtain Polish noble status, is supposed to have said in 1784,

It is easier to become a duke in Germany, than to be counted among Polish nobles.

According to heraldic sources 1,600 is the total estimated number of all legal ennoblements throughout the history of Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 14th century onward, half of which were enacted in the final years of the late 18th century. Hutton and Bagehot,

... for the barrier of exclusion was partly thrown down in the last days of the monarchy ....

Each szlachcic was said to hold enormous potential influence over the country's politics, far greater than that enjoyed by the citizens of modern democratic countries. Between 1652 and 1791, any nobleman could potentially nullify all the proceedings of a given sejm or sejmik by exercising his individual right of liberum veto – Latin for "I do not allow" – except in the case of a confederated sejm or confederated sejmik.

In old Poland, a nobleman could only marry a noblewoman, as intermarriage between "castes" was fraught with difficulties (endogamy); but, children of a legitimate marriage followed the condition of the father, never the mother, therefore, only the father transmitted his nobility to his children. See patrilineality. A noble woman married to a commoner could not transmit her nobility to her husband and their children. Any individual could attain ennoblement (nobilitacja) for special services to the state. A foreign noble might be naturalized as a Polish noble through the mechanism called the Indygenat, certified by the king. Later, from 1641, it could only be done by a general sejm. By the eighteenth century all these trends contributed to the great increase in the proportion of szlachta in the total population.

In theory all szlachta members were social equals and were formally legal peers. Those who held civic appointments were more privileged but their roles were not hereditary. Those who held honorary appointments were superior in the hierarchy but these positions were only granted for a lifetime. Some tenancies became hereditary and went with both privilege and title. Nobles who were not direct Lessees of the Crown but held land from other lords were only peers "de iure". The poorest enjoyed the same rights as the wealthiest magnate. The exceptions were a few symbolically privileged families such as the Radziwiłł, Lubomirski and Czartoryski, who held honorary aristocratic titles bestowed by foreign courts and recognised in Poland which granted them use of titles such as "Prince" or "Count". See also The Princely Houses of Poland. All other szlachta simply addressed each other by their given name or as "Brother, Sir" Panie bracie or the feminine equivalent. The other forms of address would be "Illustrious and Magnificent Lord", "Magnificent Lord", "Generous Lord" or "Noble Lord" in descending order, or simply "His/Her Grace Lord/Lady".

The notion that all Polish nobles were social equals, regardless of their financial status or offices held, is enshrined in a traditional Polish adage:

Szlachcic na zagrodzie
równy wojewodzie.

renderable in English:

"The noble on the croft
is the voivode's equal."

or, preserving the Polish original's rhyme scheme:

"The noble behind his garden wall
is the province governor's equal."

Szlachta categories

The nobility were divided by wealth into:

• magnates, the wealthiest class: owners of vast lands, towns, many villages, and thousands of peasants
• middle nobility (średnia szlachta): owners of one or more villages, often bearing official titles, or deputies from sejmiks (regional sejms) to the general Sejm

• petty nobility (drobna szlachta): owners of part of a village or of no land at all, they were often referred to by a variety of colourful Polish terms, including:
  • szlachta zaściankowa [pl] – from zaścianek, poorer members of the szlachta settled together in related families in one village, neighborhood/village nobility.
  • szaraczkowa – grey nobility, from their grey, woollen, undyed żupans
  • okoliczna – local nobility, similar to zaściankowa
  • zagrodowa – from zagroda, a croft, often little more than a peasant's dwelling
  • zagonowa – from zagon, a small unit of land measure, hide nobility
  • cząstkowa – partial, owners of only part of a single village
  • panek – little pan (i.e., lordling), term used in Kaszuby, the Kashubian region, also one of the legal terms for legally separated lower nobility in late medieval and early modern Poland
  • hreczkosiej – buckwheat sowers – those who had to work their fields themselves because they had no peasants.
  • szlachta służebna – petty nobility who possessed land on the condition of military service (mainly of Ruthenian origin, in Eastern Poland)
  • quit-rent szlachta (szlachta czynszowa) – a class of impoverished szlachta who rented estates in the vast lands of magnates (predominantly in Ruthenian lands)
  • szlachta poddańcza – a step below the quit-rent szlachta: they required to work for the landlord who allotted them some land.
  • szlachta-gołota – naked nobility, i.e., the landless szlachta; the poorest szlachta considered the "lowest of the high."
  • brukowa – town-street nobility: landless szlachta who earned a living in towns like other townsfolk

Polish landed gentry – ziemianie, or ziemiaństwo – was a social class of landowners with manorial estates. The vast majority were szlachta, including lesser nobility, and owned at least part of a village. Since titular manorial lordships were also open to burgers of certain privileged cities with royal charters, not all landed gentry had hereditary noble status. The term ziemiaństwo was also applied to wealthier landed peasants. Magnates, as owners of vast lands, generally were considered a separate social class.

Landless szlachta were sometimes excluded from taking part in sejmiks. Its political rights were removed altogether by the Constitution of 3 May 1791. The purpose of the move was to eliminate the purchases of szlachta-gołota voices in sejmiks by magnates to use them, e.g., in voting or in executing liberum veto.

Półpanek ("half-lord"); also podpanek/pidpanek ("sub-lord") in Podolia and Ukrainian accent – a derogatory term for a petty szlachcic pretending to be wealthy.

In the Russian Partition of Poland, Tsar Nicholas I signed a ukase on 19 October 1831, titled "On the Division and Disposition of Nobility in the Western Governorates", which required those claiming noble status to provide evidence to the Russian Office of Heraldry. The result was a drastic decrease in the number of petty szlachta, who were demoted into estates of the realm required to pay taxes.

Sarmatism

Main article: Sarmatism Jan Zamoyski, Hetman, Grand Crown Chancellor and a representative of Sarmatism.A Polish Nobleman, by Rembrandt (1637). The subject's Polish identity and garb are unclear.

The szlachta's prevalent ideology, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, was manifested in its adoption of "Sarmatism", a word derived from the legend that its origins reached back to the ancient tribe of an Iranic people, the Sarmatians. This nostalgic belief system embracing chivalry and courtliness became an important part of szlachta culture and affected all aspects of their lives. It was popularized by poets who exalted traditional village life, peace and pacifism. It was also manifested in oriental-style apparel, the żupan, kontusz, sukmana, pas kontuszowy, delia and made the scimitar-like szabla a near-obligatory item of everyday szlachta apparel. Sarmatism served to integrate a nobility of disparate provenance, as it sought to create a sense of national unity and pride in the szlachta's "Golden Liberty" złota wolność. It was marked furthermore by a linguistic affectation among the szlachta of mixing Polish and Latin vocabulary, producing a form of Polish Dog Latin peppered with "macaronisms" in everyday conversation.

See also

• List of Polish titled nobility
• List of szlachta
• Lithuanian nobility
• Polish heraldry
• Polish landed gentry (Ziemiaństwo)
• Polish name
• Silva rerum
• Ukrainian nobility from Galicia

Explanatory notes

a. Estimates of the proportion of szlachta vary widely: 10–12% of the total population of historic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, around 8% of the total population in 1791 (up from 6.6% in the 16th century) or 6–8%.

References

1. ^ "Szlachta. Szlachta w Polsce", Encyklopedia PWN
2. ^ Davies, Ivor Norman Richard; Dawson, Andrew Hutchinson; Jasiewicz, Krzysztof ; Kondracki, Jerzy Aleksander ; Wandycz, Piotr Stefan (2 June 2017). "Poland". Encyclopædia Britannica. p. 15. Retrieved 24 April 2021. Ranging from the poorest landless yeomen to the great magnates, the szlachta insisted on the equality of all its members. As a political nation it was more numerous (8–10 percent) than the electorate of most European states even in the early 19th century.
3. ^ Hutton, Richard Holt; Bagehot, Walter (January 1864). "The Races of the Old World". National Review. London, England: Robson and Levey: 484. Retrieved 9 Oct 2014. These remark exactly express the view which we entertain in regard to the population of Poland. There we find an aristocracy of equals resting upon a basis of serfage, an upper caste drawing the rents of the land, monopolising the government, and composing the army of the country, and who, in the course of long centuries, have imparted much of their own spirit and ideas, and, with the license of a gay aristocracy, not a little of their blood also, to the subordinate population.
4. ^ Ross, M. (1835). "A Descriptive View of Poland: Character, Manners, and Customs of the Poles". A history of Poland from its foundation as a state to the present time; including a full account of the recent patriotic struggle to re-establish its independence. To which is prefixed, a descriptive view of the country, its natural history, cities and towns, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Pattison and Ross. p. 51. Once admitted within the pale of nobility, every honour of the state, and even the kingly office, was open, there being a perfect equality of civil rights.
5. ^ Skwarczyński, Paweł (June 1956). "The Problem of Feudalism in Poland up to the Beginning of the 16th Century". The Slavonic and East European Review. 34 (83). Salisbury House, Station Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire county, ENGLAND: Modern Humanities Research Association: 299. JSTOR 4204744. As the knights owned their land, there was no room or need for any intermediaries between them and the king. All of them were equal before the king; but they were not king's tenants, and the king was not their overlord. Their relationship to the king was not feudal, i.e., based on feudal dependence, but rather it was regulated by public law. ... From the fact that the knights were equal before the king, the theory of equality was evolved, which later became one of the important features of the constitution.
6. ^ Zamoyski, Adam (1998) . The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture (Fourth Printing ed.). New York: Hippocrene Books. p. 24. ISBN 0-7818-0200-8. Polish society had evolved from clannish structures, and the introduction of Christianity and all that went with it did not alter these significantly. The feudal system which regulated society all over Europe was never introduced into Poland, and this fact cannot be stressed too heavily.
7. ^ Struve, Kai (2008). "Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century" (PDF). In Wawrzeniuk, Piotr (ed.). SOCIETAL CHANGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FORMATION AMONG THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BALTIC AREA 1880-1939 (History). Flemingsberg, Huddinge municipality, Stockholm county, KINGDOM OF SWEDEN: Södertörns högskola. pp. 76–77. ISBN 978-91-85139-11-8. A deep division between enserfed peasants and gentry landowners had developed in the early modern Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The noble estate, the szlachta, monopolized the political rights and consequently only the szlachta, as constituted by the Commonwealth's sovereign, according to the early modern understanding of the concept, as well as the Polish nation and its members, were considered to be citizens.
8. ^ Zamoyski, Adam (1998) . The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture (Fourth Printing ed.). New York: Hippocrene Books. p. 55. ISBN 0-7818-0200-8. One cannot substitute the terms 'nobility' or 'gentry' for szlachta because it had little in common with those classes in other European countries either in origin, composition or outlook.
9. ^ Dmowski, Roman Stanisław (1917). "Poland, Old And New". In Duff, James Duff (ed.). RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS. Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM: Cambridge University Press. pp. 91–92. This military class was subdivided into clans, the members of each clan being bound together by strong ties of solidarity. Each clan had its name and crest. The Polish nobility, which sprang from this military class and which derived its family names from its landed properties (in the fifteenth century), had no family crests, of which there was only a limited number. Each of these bore a name which had been the old word of call of the clan. In many instances, one crest belonged to more than a hundred families. The clan system survived in this way throughout the whole of Polish history. It is evident that the warrior class in Poland had quite a different origin and a different legal and social position from that of the feudal nobility of Western Europe.
10. ^ Davies, Norman (1982). God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volume I - The Origins to 1795. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-05351-7.
11. ^ Skwarczyński, Paweł (June 1956). "The Problem of Feudalism in Poland up to the Beginning of the 16th Century". The Slavonic and East European Review. 34 (83). Salisbury House, Station Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire county, ENGLAND: Modern Humanities Research Association: 298. JSTOR 4204744. The resistance to the royal policy was so strong however that by far the greater part of the land was held by the knights as allodial, not as feudal property, which is in striking contrast to the land conditions in England.
12. Ross, M. (1835). "A Descriptive View of Poland: Character, Manners, and Customs of the Poles". A history of Poland from its foundation as a state to the present time; including a full account of the recent patriotic struggle to re-establish its independence. To which is prefixed, a descriptive view of the country, its natural history, cities and towns, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Pattison and Ross. p. 51. By the laws of Poland, a noble is a person who possesses a freehold estate, or who can prove his descent from ancestors formerly possessing a freehold, following no trade or commerce, and at liberty to choose the place of his habitation; so that this description includes all persons above burghers and peasants.
13. Szulc, Halina. (1995) Morfogeneza Osiedli Wiejskich w Polsce, Continuo, ISBN 83-86682-00-0, especially p. 59. In Polish but with a decent Summary in English about patterns of rural settlement in Poland since the Middle Ages. http://rcin.org.pl/igipz/Content/685/Wa51_5218_r1995-nr163_Prace-Geogr.pdf
14. Góralski, Zbigniew (1998). Urzędy i godności w dawnej Polsce. LSW. ISBN 83-205-4533-1. (Pol.)
15. Kamen, Henry (2021). Early Modern European Society (3rd ed.). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-415-15865-7.
16. Topór-Jakubowski, Theodore. "It's Time to End the Myth That Polish Immigrants Were Peasants". West European Grand Priory, International Order of St Stanislas. Croxteth House, Liverpool, Lancashire county, Merseyside, North West England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM: Order of St Stanislas. Archived from the original on 4 July 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2021. 1. The right to hold outright ownership of land - not as a fief, conditional upon service to the liege Lord, but absolutely in perpetuity unless sold.
17. ^ Hutton, Richard Holt; Bagehot, Walter (January 1864). "The Races of the Old World". National Review. London, England: Robson and Levey. Retrieved 9 Oct 2014.
18. ^ Szacki, Jerzy Ryszard (1995). LIBERALISM AFTER COMMUNISM. Budapest, Hungary: Central European University Press. p. 48. ISBN 9781858660165. ... the Polish nobility was a closed group (apart from a few exceptions, many of which were contrary to the law), in which membership was inherited.
19. ^ Dmowski, Roman Stanisław (1917). "Poland Old and New". In Duff, James Duff (ed.). RUSSIAN REALITIES AND PROBLEMS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 116. In the past the nobility in Poland constituted the nation itself. It ruled the country without competition on the part of any other class, the middle class being small in numbers and wealth, and the peasants being serfs.
20. ^ Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. pp. 116–117. The Polish peasant in the past was a very humble member of the Polish community – in fact he scarcely belonged to it at all. He had for 350 years no civic rights whatever. He was the serf of his master. It was only the easy-going and patriarchal relations between squire and peasant that made life tolerable for the latter.
21. ^ Jakubowski, Theodore (Spring–Summer 2002). Suligowski, Leonard Joseph (ed.). "Claiming Inherited Noble Status" (PDF). White Eagle: Journal of the Polish Nobility Association Foundation. Baltimore, MD. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2017. ... the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of Two Nations (from 1385 until the Third Partition of 1795) paralleled the Roman Empire in that -- whether we like it or not -- full rights of citizenship were limited to the governing elite, called szlachta in Polish ... It is not truly correct to consider the szlachta a class; they actually were more like a caste, the military caste, as in Hindu society.
22. ^ Gliński, Mikołaj (8 October 2015). "Slavery vs. Serfdom, or Was Poland a Colonial Empire?". Culture.pl. Warsaw, POLAND, EU. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017. The boundaries between nobility and peasants (and other social groups) persisted well into the 19th and 20th centuries. A shocking proof of how terribly effective this Sarmatian ideology was, can be found in a personal letter of Zygmunt Krasiński, one of the three greatest Polish Romantic poets in the 19th century (and a descendant of an aristocratic family). In the mid-19th century Krasiński wrote to his English friend Henry Reeve: 'Believe me and rest assured that apart from aristocracy there's nothing in Poland: no talent, no bright minds, nor sense of sacrifice. Our third state is nonsense; our peasants are machines. Only we are Poland.'
23. ^ Struve, Kai (2008). "Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century" (PDF). In Wawrzeniuk, Piotr (ed.). SOCIETAL CHANGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FORMATION AMONG THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BALTIC AREA 1880-1939 (History). Flemingsberg, Huddinge municipality, Stockholm county, KINGDOM OF SWEDEN: Södertörns högskola. p. 77. ISBN 978-91-85139-11-8. The fact that the Polish term obywatel ("citizen") could be used as a synonym for gentry landlords until the second half of the 19th century shows how strong this concept was within Polish culture.
24. Michener, James Albert (1983). POLAND. Random House; New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A. ISBN 0-394-53189-2. Minor nobility: Linguistically, this category causes trouble. Some Polish writers refer to 'gentry', which doesn't quite sound right in English. Whereas some European writers use the term 'petty nobility' , but the adjective has unfortunate connotations.
25. Davies, Norman (1982). GOD'S PLAYGROUND: A HISTORY OF POLAND, VOLUME I - THE ORIGINS TO 1795. New York City: Columbia University Press. p. 206. ISBN 0-231-05351-7. For the sake of precision therefore, it is essential that szlachta should be translated as 'Nobility', szlachcic as 'nobleman', and stan szlachecki as 'the noble estate'.
26. ^ Zamoyski, Adam (1998) . The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture (Fourth Printing ed.). New York: Hippocrene Books. p. 55. ISBN 0-7818-0200-8. A more apt analogy might perhaps be made with the Rajputs of northern India. ... unlike any other gentry in Europe, the szlachta was not limited by nor did it depend for its status on either wealth, or land, or royal writ. It was defined by its function, that of a warrior caste.
27. Zamoyski, Adam (1998) . The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture (Fourth Printing ed.). New York: Hippocrene Books. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0-7818-0200-8. While land provided the majority with a livelihood, it was not the only or even the predominant source of wealth for the magnates, whose estates were not large by the standards of the barons of England or the great lords of France. ... The magnates only started accumulating property on a large scale at the beginning of the fifteenth century.
28. Michener, James Albert (1983). POLAND. Random House; New York City. ISBN 0-394-53189-2. Minor nobility: ... The category includes men almost rich and powerful enough to be magnates, and all intervening levels down to the roving rascal with no castle, no money, no village, no peasants, one horse and pride unbounded.
29. Ross (of Durham), M. (1835). "A Descriptive View of Poland: Character, Manners, and Customs of the Poles". A history of Poland from its foundation as a state to the present time; including a full account of the recent patriotic struggle to re-establish its independence. To which is prefixed, a descriptive view of the country, its natural history, cities and towns, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Pattison and Ross. p. 51. At least 60,000 families belong to this class , of which, however, only about 100 are wealthy; all the rest are poor.
30. ^ Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. pp. 66–67. But the Parliament was at best a clumsy body, as the deputies were not free agents, but were bound by their mandates from the real sovereign bodies, the local Diets or Sejmiki. The representative of a Sejmik had the right of vetoing all legislation in the Sejm, since he spoke for a whole province or tribe.
31. ^ Skwarczyński, Paweł (June 1956). "The Problem of Feudalism in Poland up to the Beginning of the 16th Century". The Slavonic and East European Review. 34 (83). Salisbury House, Station Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire county, ENGLAND: Modern Humanities Research Association: 302. JSTOR 4204744. In 1459 Ostroróg submitted a memorandum to the parliament (sejm), suggesting that the palatines, or provincial governors, should be given the title of prince and their sons the titles of barons and counts. The title of count was suggested by him for a castellanus. But all these suggestions were not accepted. The composition of the king's council provides another distinction between the system in Poland and regular feudal systems elsewhere.
32. ^ Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 47. ... through all modern Polish history it was Roman republicanism that formed the ideal of the republican gentry. The Roman precedent was even quoted to justify serfdom, which was a modified form of Roman slavery.
33. ^ Davies, Ivor Norman Richard; Dawson, Andrew Hutchinson; Jasiewicz, Krzysztof ; Kondracki, Jerzy Aleksander ; Wandycz, Piotr Stefan (2 June 2017). "Poland". Encyclopædia Britannica. p. 15. Retrieved 4 June 2017. Throughout most of Europe the medieval system of estates evolved into absolutism, but in the Commonwealth it led to a szlachta democracy inspired by the ideals of ancient Rome, to which parallels were constantly drawn.
34. Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 67. Poland was the great power of East Central Europe, and the Polish Sejm dictated to the East as despotically as the Roman Senate itself.
35. ^ Milewska-Waźbińska, Barbara (2013). Sosnowski, Miłosz (ed.). "Latin as the Language of Social Communication of the Polish Nobility (Based on the Latin Heraldic Work by Szymon Okolski)". The Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. Poznań: Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017. The article highlights the role of Latin as the language of communication of the nobility living in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the beginning discusses the concept 'latinitas', which meant not only the correct Latin, but also pointed to the ideological content of antiquity passed through the language of the ancient Romans. ... We studied Latin armorial 'Orbis Polonus' by Simon Okolski (Cracow 1641-1645). ... It concludes that Okolski consciously wrote his work in the language of the ancient Romans.
36. Hutton, Richard Holt; Bagehot, Walter (January 1864). "The Races of the Old World". National Review. London, England: Robson and Levey: 484. Retrieved 9 Oct 2014. .... there we find an exact counterpart of Polish society: the dominant settlers establishing themselves as an upper caste, all politically equal among themselves, and holding the lands (or more frequently, simply drawing the rents) of the country.
37. ^ Szacki, Jerzy Ryszard (1995). LIBERALISM AFTER COMMUNISM. Budapest, Central Hungary region, HUNGARY, EU: Central European University Press. pp. 45–46. ISBN 9781858660165. Aleksander Świętochowski, on the other hand, wrote as follows: 'If from the deeds of the Polish nobility we took away excesses and the exclusiveness of caste, ...'
38. Davies, Ivor Norman Richard; Dawson, Andrew Hutchinson; Jasiewicz, Krzysztof ; Kondracki, Jerzy Aleksander ; Wandycz, Piotr Stefan (2 June 2017). "Poland". Encyclopædia Britannica. p. 15. Retrieved 24 April 2021. The Commonwealth gradually came to be dominated by the szlachta, which regarded the state as an embodiment of its rights and privileges.
39. Jolanta Sikorska-Kulesza, Deklasacja drobnej szlachty na Litwie i Białorusi w XIX wieku Warsaw, Oficyna Wydawnicza "Ajaks". 1995. p.14. . This monograph describes how during the 19th century the mass of "local" szlachta in the western borderlands of the Russian Empire were subjected to downward mobility and rank poverty through tsarist bureaucracy and a policy of social degradation
40. Kidd, Colin (1999). British identities before nationalism: ethnicity and nationhood in the Atlantic world, 1600–1800. Cambridge University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-521-62403-9.
41. Davies, Norman (1982). God's Playground: A History of Poland; Volume I: The Origins to 1795. Columbia University Press. pp. 161–163. ISBN 978-0-231-05351-8. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
42. Steinlauf, Michael C. (1997). Bondage to the dead: Poland and the memory of the Holocaust. Syracuse University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-8156-2729-6.
43. Sulimirski, Tadeusz (Winter 1964). "Sarmatians in the Polish Past". The Polish Review. 9 (1). Champaign, Champaign county, ILLINOIS, U.S.A.: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America: 13–66. JSTOR 25776522.
44. Niesiecki S.J., Kasper; de Bobrowicz, Jan Nepomucen (1846) . HERBARZ POLSKI (online book) (in Polish). Vol. I. (3rd? ed.). Leipzig, Saxony, GERMANY: Breitkopf & Härtel. p. 430. Retrieved 13 Oct 2014. Miano Szlachty, pochodzi od Lechitów (The name of the nobility, derived from the Lechites).
45. Lukas, Richard C. (1 July 2001). "Chapter IV. Germanization; Part I". Did the children cry? Hitler's war against Jewish and Polish children, 1939-1945 (Online excerpt from book). New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 978-0781808705. Retrieved 17 August 2018. The same bizarre logic was applied to the Polish intelligentsia, who led the Polish resistance movement. To the Nazis, these leaders were largely Nordic which enabled them 'To be active in contrast to the fatalistic Slavonic elements.' The implication was obvious: If the Polish elite were re-Germanized, then the mass of Polish people would be denied a dynamic leadership class.
46. Niesiecki S.J., Kasper; de Bobrowicz, Jan Nepomucen (1846) . HERBARZ POLSKI (online book) (in Polish). Vol. I. (3rd? ed.). Leipzig, Saxony, GERMANY: Breitkopf & Härtel. p. 430. Retrieved 13 Oct 2014. Kmiecie czyli lud pospolity wolny (Kmiecie is the common free people), ...
47. Guzowski, Piotr (1 May 2014). "Village court records and peasant credit in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Poland". Continuity and Change. 29 (1). Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM: Cambridge University Press: 118. doi:10.1017/S0268416014000101. S2CID 145766720. Retrieved 9 Oct 2014. The most important and the most numerous section of the peasantry in late medieval and early modern Poland was the kmiecie (Latin: cmethones), full peasant holders of hereditary farms with an average size in the region under study of half a mansus, which was equivalent to eight hectares. Farms belonging to kmiecie were largely self-sufficient, although some of them were, to varying extents, engaged in production for the market. Other, less numerous, sections of the peasantry were the zagrodnicy (Latin: ortulani), or smallholders, and the ogrodnicy, or cottagers, who farmed small plots of land. These two categories of peasants were not able to support themselves and their families from their land, so they earned extra money as hired labourers on their landlords' land, or that of the kmiecie. Apart from the holders of large or small farms, Polish villages were also inhabited by so-called komornicy, landless lodgers who earned wages locally. This group included village craftsmen, while the wealthiest kmiecie included millers and innkeepers.
48. Kuligowski, Waldemar Tadeusz (2 February 2017). "A History of Polish Serfdom. Theses and Antitheses" (PDF). Czas Kultury. p. 116. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020. In Poland two, near-nations appeared – nobles and peasants, and between them there was a Jewish wall.
49. Jastrzębiec-Czajkowski, Leszek Jan. "Niektóre dane z historii slachty i herbu". Ornatowski.com. Artur Ornatowski. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 9 Oct 2014.
50. Dmowski, Roman Stanisław (1917). "Poland, Old And New". In Duff, James Duff (ed.). RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS. Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM: Cambridge University Press. p. 91. The population consists of free husbandmen and slaves. Above them there is a class of warriors, very strong numerically, from which the ruler chooses his officials.
51. ^ Struve, Kai (2008). "Citizenship and National Identity: the Peasants of Galicia during the 19th Century" (PDF). In Wawrzeniuk, Piotr (ed.). SOCIETAL CHANGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FORMATION AMONG THE RURAL POPULATION OF THE BALTIC AREA 1880-1939 (History). Flemingsberg, Huddinge municipality, Stockholm county, KINGDOM OF SWEDEN: Södertörns högskola. p. 78. ISBN 978-91-85139-11-8. The peasants feared the reestablishment of a Polish state because they expected it to be the state of their landlords. Their memory of independent Poland, conveyed from one generation to the next, was one of landlord wilfulness and a lack of rights.
52. Davies, Norman (1982). GOD'S PLAYGROUND: A HISTORY OF POLAND, VOLUME 1: THE ORIGINS TO 1795. New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Columbia University Press. p. 233. ISBN 0231053517. The nobleman's belief in the exclusive quality of his own estate led to practices which nowadays could only be described as an expression of Racism.
53. Jastrzębiec-Czajkowski, Leszek Jan. "Niektóre dane z historii slachty i herbu". Ornatowski.com. Warsaw: Artur Ornatowski. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2018. Podobnie głosił Wacław Potocki h. Śreniawa, że chłopi 'z natury' są 'sprawieni do ziemi i do pługa', że nawet wykształcony chłop zawsze pozostanie chłopem, bo 'niepodobna przerobić psa na rysia'; ... (Wacław Potocki, herbu Śreniawa, proclaimed peasants 'by nature' are 'chained to the land and plow,' that even an educated peasant would always remain a peasant, because 'it is impossible to transform a dog into a lynx.')
54. Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 66. Their ideal was that of a Greek city State—a body of citizens, a small trading class, and a mass of labourers.
55. Ross, M. (1835). "A Descriptive View of Poland: Character, Manners, and Customs of the Poles". A history of Poland from its foundation as a state to the present time; including a full account of the recent patriotic struggle to re-establish its independence. To which is prefixed, a descriptive view of the country, its natural history, cities and towns, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants. Newcastle upon Tyne: PATTISON AND ROSS. p. 55. The peasants of Poland, as in all feudal countries, were serfs, or slaves; and the value of an estate was not estimated from its extent, but from the number of peasants, who were transferred, like cattle, from one master to another.
56. Topór-Jakubowski, Theodore. "It's Time to End the Myth That Polish Immigrants Were Peasants". West European Grand Priory, International Order of St Stanislas. Croxteth House, Liverpool, Lancashire county, Merseyside, North West England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM: Order of St Stanislas. Archived from the original on 4 July 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2021. I would also like to add, for myself, that the szlachta possessed the exclusive right to enter the clergy up until the time of the three partitions.
57. Kuligowski, Waldemar Tadeusz (2 February 2017). "A History of Polish Serfdom. Theses and Antitheses" (PDF). Czas Kultury. Poznań. p. 116. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020. To distance itself from the peasants, the nobility (and clergy) cultivated a belief in their genetic superiority over the peasants.
58. Kuligowski, Waldemar Tadeusz (2 February 2017). "A History of Polish Serfdom. Theses and Antitheses" (PDF). Czas Kultury. Poznań. p. 118. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020. Nobility does not enter, or does so very unwillingly, into marriages with serfs, regarding them as a lower species.
59. Frost, Robert I. (23 June 2011). "Nobility, Citizenship and Corporate Decision-Making in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1454-1795". In Leonhard, Jörn; Wieland, Christian (eds.). WHAT MAKES THE NOBILITY NOBLE?: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES FROM THE SIXTEENTH TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Göttingen, Göttingen district, Lower Saxony, GERMANY: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-3525310410. 'The kingdome of Polonia doth also consist of the said three sortes, that is, the king, nobility and people. But it is to be noted, that this word people includeth only knights and gentlemen.' This limitation of political rights to the szlachta, Goślicki argued, meant that the system was more balanced and virtuous since it was based on the best elements of society: ... 'The gentlemen of Polonia doe represent the popular state, for in them consisteth a great part of the government, and they are as a Seminarie from whence Councellors and Kinges are taken.'
60. ^ Janusz Bieniak, "Knight Clans in Medieval Poland," in Antoni Gąsiorowski (ed.), THE POLISH NOBILITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES: ANTHOLOGIES, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich; Wrocław, POLAND, EU; 1984, page 154.
61. ^ Okolski, Szymon (1643). "RADWAN alias WIRBOW.". Orbis Polonus (in Latin). Vol. II. Kraków: Franciscus Caesarius. p. 564. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017. LINEA FAMILIAE RADWAN
62. Hobbes, Thomas (1651). "Chapter X. Of Power, Worth, Dignity, Honour and Worthiness; To Honour and Dishonour" (website). LEVIATHAN (Online eBook). Andrew Crooke's Shop, Sign of the Green Dragon, St Paul's Cathedral Churchyard, Ludgate Hill, London, ENGLAND: ANDREW CROOKE. Archived from the original on 2013-11-17. Retrieved 17 August 2018. Scutchions, and coats of Armes haereditary, where they have any eminent Priviledges, are Honourable; otherwise not: for their Power consisteth either in such Priviledges, or in Riches, or some such thing as is equally honoured in other men. This kind of Honour, commonly called Gentry, has been derived from the Antient Germans. For there never was any such thing known, where the German Customes were unknown. Nor is it now any where in use, where the Germans have not inhabited.
63. Jelinska-Marchal, D. (1988). Judycki, Z. (ed.). THE POLISH ARMORIAL POLANAIS. Château-Thierry, Aisne department, Hauts-de-France region, FRANCE: Albi Corvi. p. 11. ISBN 978-2907771009.
64. ^ Zamoyski, Adam (1998) . The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture (Fourth Printing ed.). New York: Hippocrene Books. p. 55. ISBN 0-7818-0200-8. Polish coats of arms are utterly unlike those of European chivalry, and were held in common by whole clans which fought as regiments.
65. ^ Jakubowski, Theodore (Spring–Summer 1998). Suligowski, Leonard Joseph (ed.). "15th-Century Polish Nobility in the 21st Century" (PDF). White Eagle: Journal of the Polish Nobility Association Foundation. Baltimore, MD. p. 9. Membership in the Polish szlachta was hereditary. ... (and the family knighthood, rycerstwo, in itself) ... The paramount principle regarding Polish nobility is that it was hereditary. ... one Rudolf Lambert had successfully proven his right to hereditary knighthood (szlachectwo) ... He was also Marshal of the Knighthood (using the word rycerz and not szlachcic ...)
66. Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987), p.20, 26-27
67. ^ Dmowski, Roman Stanisław (1917). "Poland, Old And New". In Duff, James Duff (ed.). RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS. Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM: Cambridge University Press. p. 94. But between the gentry and the magnates there was only a difference of wealth and culture. Both belonged directly to the same class of the community, both were members of the same clans, and the gentry by its social character was destined rather to co-operate with the magnates than to struggle against them. And, as both those elements occupied the same legal position, the power wrested from the king by the magnates became legally an acquisition of the whole of the nobility, ...
68. Kiaupienė, Jūratė (2003). "Mes, Lietuva": Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės bajorija XVI a. ["We the Lithuania": nobility of Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 16th c.] (in Lithuanian). Kronta. p. 64. ISBN 9955-595-08-6.
69. Ochmański, Jerzy (1986). The National Idea in Lithuania from the 16th to the First Half of the 19th Century: The Problem of Cultural-Linguistic Differentiation. Poznań: Mickiewicz University.
70. ^ William F. Hoffman, "POLISH SURNAMES: ORIGINS AND MEANINGS" (Chicago, Cook county, ILLINOIS, U.S.A.: POLISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, 1993).
71. Dmowski, Roman Stanisław (1917). "Poland, Old And New". In Duff, James Duff (ed.). RUSSIAN REALITIES & PROBLEMS. Cambridge, East of England, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM: Cambridge University Press. p. 91. The Polish nobility, which sprang from this military class and which derived its family names from its landed properties (in the fifteenth century), ...
72. Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 109. Later on each family began to take the name of some village or town, with the addition of -ski, which is the Polish equivalent for the French de or German von.
73. ks. Dariusz Pater (2010). Kapliczki Matki Bożej w Ziemi Przysuskiej znakiem pobożności maryjnej (in Polish). KONTRAST. pp. 214–216. ISBN 978-83-930803-0-4.
74. Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 109. Thus John of Zamość called himself John Zamoyski, Stephen of Potok called himself Potocki. Although time has scattered most families far from their original home, nearly all the names of the genuinely Polish szlachta can be traced back to some locality.
75. Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 109. Originally a member of the Polish szlachta used simply his Christian name, and the title of the coat of arms which was common to all the members of his clan.
76. Boniecki (Fredro-Boniecki), herbu Bończa, Adam Józef Feliks (1901). "DĄBROWSCY h. RADWAN z Dąbrówki" (online book). Herbarz Polski - Część I.; Wiadomości Historyczno-Genealogiczne O Rodach Szlacheckich. IV.. Warsaw, Warsaw governorate, Vistula land (Russian POLAND), RUSSIAN EMPIRE: Gebethner i Wolff: 147. DĄBROWSCY h. RADWAN z Dąbrówki pod Piasecznem, w ziemi warszawskiej, w różnych stronach osiedli, przeważnie w ziemi rożańskiej. Przydomek ich "Żądło". Żyjący w połowie XV-go wieku Jakub z Dąbrówki, ...
77. ^ Okolski, Szymon (1643). "RADWAN alias WIRBOW.". Orbis Polonus (in Latin). Vol. II. Kraków: Franciscus Caesarius. p. 572. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017. Dąbrowfcij, cognominati Zedlowie ...
78. Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES (GOOGLE EBOOK). New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 47. The use of the Latin language was universal in Poland well into the eighteenth century, and many words from Latin have been assimilated by the Polish language and have added to its vocabulary and its expressiveness.
79. "DWÓR DĄBROWSKICH W MICHAŁOWICACH - "Nowe życie dworu" (wystawa)" [DĄBROWSKI MANOR/MANSION IN MICHAŁOWICE - New Life of the Manor/Mansion (Exhibition)]. SlideShare (in Polish). Kraków: Małopolska Institute of Culture. 12 December 2016. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
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82. Bajer, Piotr Paweł. "POLISH NOBILITY AND ITS HERALDRY: AN INTRODUCTION". Warsaw, Masovian voivodeship, POLAND: podolska.neostrada.pl. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2017. This peculiarity may be best illustrated by the example given by Paprocki who mentions the Rosciszewski family which took a surname different from the names of the land properties it had owned. Those of the Rosciszewski family who settled in Chrapunia became known as Chrapunskis; those who settled in Strykwina were known as Strykwinskis; and those who settled in Borkow became known as Borkowskis. Since they shared a common ancestor and belonged to the same clan - they were entitled to bear the same arms as Rosciszewskis.
83. Zamoyski, Adam (1998) . The Polish Way: A Thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture (Fourth Printing ed.). New York: Hippocrene Books. p. 54. ISBN 0-7818-0200-8. Fig. 4 A selection of Polish coats-of-arms. These were never personal to the bearers; each was borne by all members of the family, and often by dozens of families of different names which may or may not have shared their origins.
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89. ^ Bajer, Piotr Paweł. "POLISH NOBILITY AND ITS HERALDRY: AN INTRODUCTION". Warsaw, Masovian voivodeship, POLAND: podolska.neostrada.pl. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2017. It should not be difficult to understand then, why prince Charles de Ligne from Belgium, who in 1784 was trying to receive the Polish nobility status, supposedly commented that: It is easier to become duke in Germany, then to be counted among Polish nobles . Indeed, from the moment of the prohibition of private adoptions, Polish nobility became a closed cast [caste] ...
90. Jelinska-Marchal, D. (1988). Judycki, Z. (ed.). THE POLISH ARMORIAL POLANAIS. Château-Thierry, Aisne department, Hauts-de-France region, FRANCE: Albi Corvi. p. 12. ISBN 978-2907771009. In its primary form it was a nobiliary adoption effected by the king (who granted a fragment of his own arms testifying thus an alliance with his family) or by the knight's family who practiced an adoption under their arms, which had to be confirmed by the king.
91. Jelinska-Marchal, D. (1988). Judycki, Z. (ed.). THE POLISH ARMORIAL POLANAIS. Château-Thierry, Aisne department, Hauts-de-France region, FRANCE: Albi Corvi. p. 12. ISBN 978-2907771009. Since 1669 those who acquired the title of nobility were granted only a 'skartabellat' - that means a limited nobility conferred on foreigners - the title which limited a right to hold offices and to fulfill the duties of deputies up to the third generation only. In 1775 another obligation was imposed on them - they had to possess (to acquire) the real properties.
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134. Грушевський М. С. Барська околична шляхта до к XVIII ст. : Етнографічний нарис / М. С. Грушевський // Грушевський, Михайло Сергійович. Твори: у 50 т. / М. С. Грушевський; редкол.: П. Сохань (голов. ред.), І. Гирич та ін. – Львів: Видавництво "Світ". – 2003. Т. 5. Т. 5. – C. 323 - 336
135. Тимошенко В. У лещатах двоглавого орла (Овруцька околична шляхта ХІХ – на початок ХХ ст.) / В.Тимошенко // Українознавство. – К., 2009 – No 2. – С. 55–59.
136. Feshchenko-Chopivsky, Ivan. РІЧПОСПОЛИТСЬКА ШЛЯХТА У КИЄВО-МОГИЛЯНСЬКІЙ АКАДЕМІЇ XVIII ст [ichpospolytska shliakhta u Kyievo-Mohylianskii akademii] (PDF) – via shron1.chtyvo.org.ua. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
137. Davies, Norman (1982). GOD'S PLAYGROUND: A HISTORY OF POLAND, VOLUME I - THE ORIGINS TO 1795. New York City, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: Columbia University Press. p. 203. ISBN 0-231-05351-7. Social mobility between the estates was fraught with obstacles.
138. Boswell, Alexander Bruce (1919). POLAND AND THE POLES. New York City: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 47. It made the Polish gentleman more remote from the peasant, to whom he was not only a master, but a foreign, somewhat exotic, neighbour. The civilization of the manor, even allowing for social and cultural differences, had very little in common with the life of the cottage.
139. Aquinas, Thomas (1265–1274). "SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: SUPPLEMENT TO THE THIRD PART (SUPPLEMENTUM TERTIÆ PARTIS): QUESTION 52. THE IMPEDIMENT OF THE CONDITION OF SLAVERY". newadvent.org. Santa Sabina, Aventine Hill, Ripa rione (ward), Rome, Lazio region, ITALY; University of Paris, Paris: Thomas Aquinas. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017. Now slavery is a condition of the body, since a slave is to the master a kind of instrument in working; wherefore children follow the mother in freedom and bondage; whereas in matters pertaining to dignity as proceeding from a thing's form, they follow the father, for instance in honors, franchise, inheritance and so forth. The canons are in agreement with this (cap. Liberi, 32, qu. iv, in gloss.: cap. Inducens, De natis ex libero ventre) as also the law of Moses (Exodus 21). ... It is because the son derives honor from his father rather than from his mother that in the genealogies of Scripture, and according to common custom, children are named after their father rather than from their mother. But in matters relating to slavery they follow the mother by preference.
140. "An Introduction to The Polish Nobility Association Foundation". Polish Nobility Association Foundation. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2017. In ancient times, the nobility was the ruling class of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with the exclusive right to enjoy full citizenship. Nobility was hereditary in the male line, and the knight's shield was an outward sign of this.
141. ^ Jakub Wojas, "Porozbiorowa szlachecka drobnica" Archived 2021-04-21 at the Wayback Machine
142. "Szlachta zagrodowa w Polsce południowo-wschodniej". Ornatowski.com.
143. ^ Jolanta Sikorska-Kulesza, "Deklasacja drobnej szlachty na Litwie i Białorusi w XIX wieku "
144. "Polska Encyklopedia Historyczno-Genealogiczna".
145. Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System II: Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600–1750, With a New Prologue, p.143, 2011, ISBN 0520267583
146. p.25. Polski Instytut Historyczny. 1977.
147. "Konstytucja 3 maja -1791 r.", Polska Tradycyja
148. "Lwów i Wilno / [publ. by J. Godlewski]. (1948) nr 98".
149. Wasko, Andrzej. (2006) "Sarmatism or the Enlightenment, The Dilemma of Polish Culture". The Sarmatian Review. http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/497/wasko.html. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
150. From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans, p. 51, Yale Richmond, 1995
151. "STAROPOLSKA KONCEPCJA WOLNOŚCI I JEJ EWOLUCJA W MYŚLI POLITYCZNEJ XVIII W. p. 61" (PDF).

General bibliography

• Aleksander Brückner, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language), first edition, Kraków, Krakowska Spółka Wydawnicza, 1927 (9th edition, Warsaw, Wiedza Powszechna, 2000).
• (in English) Górecki, Piotr (1992). Economy, Society, and Lordship in Medieval Poland: 1100-1250. New York, NEW YORK: Holmes and Meier Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-8419-1318-8. OCLC 25787903.
• Manteuffel, Tadeusz (1982), The Formation of the Polish State: The Period of Ducal Rule, 963–1194, Detroit, MICHIGAN, U.S.A.: Wayne State University Press, ISBN 978-0-8143-1682-5.
• Żernicki-Szeliga Emilian v., Der Polnische Adel und die demselben hinzugetretenen andersländischen Adelsfamilien, General-Verzeichnis. Published by Verlag v. Henri Grand. Hamburg 1900. https://archive.org/details/derpolnischeade00szegoog (Ger). This is a reasonably modern and comprehensive list of 3000 Polish and settler szlachta families and their crests, sourced from, among others, Niesiecki, Paprocki and Boniecki. 598 pages. Accessed 2018-11-02.

External links

• Association of the Belarusian Nobility
• Association of Lithuanian Nobility
• Central European Superpower, Henryk Litwin, Business Ukraine Magazine (bunews.com.ua), 2016 (PDF file).
• CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS 1180-1572: The Inexorable Political Rise of the szlachta
• Digital Library of Wielkpolska
• Descendants of the Great Sejm (genealogies of the most important Polish families)
• The Elegant Downfall of the Polish Sarmatians by Wojciech Zembaty on Culture.pl
• "Ennoblement". Alphabetical Lists of ennobled persons in Polish-Litvan Commonwealth during 1569-1792 (in English)
• "Noble naturalization". Alphabetical Lists of naturalized non-citizens in Polish-Litvan Commonwealth during 1569-1792 (in English)
• The Polish Aristocracy: The Titled Families of Poland by Rafal Heydel-Mankoo
• The Polish Nobility by Margaret: Odrowąż-Sypniewska, née Knight
• The Polish Nobility Association
• Polish Nobility Association Foundation
• J. Lyčkoŭski. "Szlachta". (Alphabetical Lists) (in Polish)

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