The Privilege of Koszyce or Privilege of KassaClifford Rogers (editor): ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology'', Oxford University Press, 201

/ref> was a set of concessions made by

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...

to the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

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 the ...

(nobility) in 1374. The privileges were granted in Kassa,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

( pl, Koszyce; now

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

). In exchange, one of Louis's daughters (

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Jadwiga Jadwiga (; diminutives: ''Jadzia'' , ''Iga'') is a Polish feminine given name. It originated from the old German feminine given name ''Hedwig'' (variants of which include ''Hedwiga''), which is compounded from ''hadu'', "battle", and ''wig'', "fig ...

) was to ascend the throne of Poland after his death. The

obtained the following privileges: *release from the obligation to pay tribute, with the exception of a nominal or token two

groschen Groschen (; from la, grossus "thick", via Old Czech ') a (sometimes colloquial) name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in various states of the Holy Roman Empire and other parts of Europe. The word is borrowed from the late Lat ...

from one

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

, to the monarch; *release from the duty to build and repair castles, except for those nobles holding territory in eastern Poland, where the threat from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

was significant; *the restriction of eligibility for certain offices to persons of Polish (as opposed to Lithuanian, Hungarian, or other) ethnicity; *payment of soldiers' wages to the ''szlachta'' who personally fought in military campaigns; *release from the duty to build towns and bridges; *release from the duty to provide food, lodging, and other accommodations for the king and his court when he was traveling within the kingdom. Louis's promising of the privileges was a success, as his youngest daughter Jadwiga eventually succeeded her father as monarch of Poland after the

Greater Poland Civil War Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

. Hungarian influence in Poland waned, as one of the conditions for Jadwiga's ascention to the Polish throne was the end of the

Polish-Hungarian Union __NOTOC__ Personal union between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of Poland was achieved twice: under Louis I of Hungary, in 1370–1382, and under Władysław III of Poland in 1440–1444. An earlier union was also accomplished by Wencesla ...

. Louis might have intended for the privileges to be rescindend, but his death prevented that from happening. The privileges gave a significant power boost to the ''szlachta'' and influenced the Polish government for centuries.

References

External links

Multi-language translation of the document
{{DEFAULTSORT:Privilege Of Koszyce History of Košice 1370s in law 1374 in Europe 14th century in Poland 14th century in Hungary Legal history of Poland Succession acts