The Nieszawa Statutes () were a set of laws enacted in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

in 1454, in the town of

Nieszawa Nieszawa (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Nessau) is a town and a commune in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. As of June 30, 2014, the town has a population of 1,985 people. It is located in the historic region of ...

located in north-central Poland. The King

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

made a number of concessions to the Polish nobility and the gentry (

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...

) in exchange for their support in the Thirteen Years' War. Among other things, the Statutes required the King to seek the lords' approval when issuing new laws, when levying the mobilisation of armed forces (

pospolite ruszenie ''Pospolite ruszenie'' (, lit. ''mass mobilization''; "Noble Host", lat, motio belli, the French term ''levée en masse'' is also used) is a name for the mobilisation of armed forces during the period of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Li ...

), or when imposing new taxes. The Statutes strengthened the position of some of the nobility at the expense of less agreeable estates. With the Statute of Nieszawa, King Casimir (1427–1492) – who was a brother of

Władysław III of Poland Władysław III (31 October 1424 – 10 November 1444), also known as Ladislaus of Varna, was King of Poland and the Supreme Duke (''Supremus Dux'') of Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1434 as well as King of Hungary and Croatia from 1440 until h ...

(1424–1444), the new King of Hungary – also managed to take further advantage of the political split between the richest and most influential Polish families, and the much broader class of ''szlachta''. The statute substantially limited the power of the former in exchange for the new privileges bestowed upon the latter. From then on, ''szlachta'' consent was required in the passing of new laws, as well as, for the declaration of war. Equally important, was the significant reduction in the autonomy of the Church controlled by Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki (one of the most powerful magnates). It allowed the king to appoint Catholic bishops himself.

Notes and references

1450s in law 1454 in Europe 15th century in Poland Legal history of Poland {{Poland-hist-stub

See also

Notes and references