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 state, exercising extensive 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."Szlachta. Szlachta w Polsce"
''Encyklopedia PWN''

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''. (Pol.)

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-Ruthenian nobility 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 close to 10% of Polish-Lithuanian society, which made it as an electorate several times larger than most noble classes in other countries.

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/Lekh, 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 ' (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. Feudalism never took root in Poland. 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

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 , 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, 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 aciborz and Albertfrom the land of reatPoland, and from the clan 'genealogia''called Jelito, with my well-disposed knowledge .e., consent and encouragementand the cry 'vocitatio'' hat is the ''godło,'' y the name of''Nagody,'' and I established them in the said land of mine, Masovia, n the military tenure described elsewhere in the charter"

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. .

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He_graduated_from__Adam_Mickiewicz_University_in_Poznań_(1953)_with_a_degree_in__...