''Pacta conventa'' (Latin for "articles of agreement") was a contractual agreement, from 1573 to 1764 entered into between the "Polish nation" (i.e., the szlachta (nobility) of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

) and a newly elected

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

upon his "free election" (''wolna elekcja'') to the throne. The document was drawn up by the

convocation sejm Royal elections in Poland ( Polish: ''wolna elekcja'', lit. ''free election'') were the elections of individual kings, rather than dynasties, to the Polish throne. Based on traditions dating to the very beginning of the Polish statehood, strengt ...

. The ''pacta conventa'' affirmed the king-elect's pledge to respect the laws of the Commonwealth and specified his undertakings and promises in such realms as

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

es,

public debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...

, the military, and so on. They varied from king to king, depending on whatever particular pledges he might have made. An example of the various concrete undertakings found in a king-elect's ''pacta conventa'' is King

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa; lt, Vladislovas Vaza; sv, Vladislav IV av Polen; rus, Владислав IV Ваза, r=Vladislav IV Vaza; la, Ladislaus IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV of Poland (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of ...

's pledge to create a

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy was the navy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Early history The Commonwealth Navy was small and played a relatively minor role in the history of the Commonwealth. Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodor ...

for the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. In addition to his own unique ''pacta conventa'', each king-elect was required to sign the

Henrician Articles The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles ( Polish: ''Artykuły henrykowskie'', Latin: ''Articuli Henriciani'') were a permanent contract between the "Polish nation" (the szlachta, or nobility, of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a ...

, a set of privileges named after the first king who signed them, Henry of Poland. Unlike the ''pacta conventa'', the Henrician Articles were constant and unchanging. The distinction between the two documents gradually faded away over successive elections. Together, those two documents spelled out most of the critical details of the Commonwealth political system.

Notes

{{reflist, refs= Juliusz Bardach, Bogusław Leśnodorski and Michał Pietrzak, ''Historia państwa i prawa polskiego'' (History of the Polish State and Law), Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, pp. 216–7. Corwin, Edward Henry Lewinski (1917) ''The political History of Poland'' Polish Book Importing Company, New York
page 195
{{OCLC, 626738 {{cite book, author=Jacek Jędruch, authorlink=Jacek Jędruch, title=Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rmx8QgAACAAJ, accessdate=13 August 2011, date=1998, publisher=EJJ Books, isbn=978-0-7818-0637-4, page=74

External links

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Legal history of Poland Legal history of Lithuania Political charters

See also

Notes

External links