Nagana szlachectwa ( la, 'Vituperatio nobilitatis'), literally reprobation/reprimand/censure of nobility, also translated by Norman Davies as Test of Nobility Norman Davies, ''

God's Playground ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'' is a history book in two volumes written by Norman Davies, covering a 1000-year history of Poland. Volume 1: ''The origins to 1795'', and Volume 2: ''1795 to the present'' first appeared as the Oxford Cl ...

''

/ref> was a legal procedure of the

revocation of nobility Revocation of nobility is the removal of the noble status of a person. It should be distinguished from the concept of dérogeance ("derogation" of nobility), which, e.g., in the context of French history, led to removal of the privileges of nob ...

in 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 Poland and Lithuania ru ...

. Due to the absence of formalized heraldry laws and lineage in early Poland, nobility of a person was tested in a regular court. The confirmation of nobility was based on calling for a certain number of witnesses. In Poland this was in accordance with a 1633 statute, in Lithuania by Chapter 3, Article 22 of a 1588 Statute. The latter demanded two witnesses each from the maternal and paternal side. The penalty for perjury was being stripped of one's own szlachta status, by the Constitution of 1601. In case of the successful ''nagana'', the accuser earned up to half of the property of the accused, with the other half going to the state. The justice was highly prone to miscarriage, in particular, to abusive

ennoblement Ennoblement is the conferring of nobility—the induction of an individual into the noble class. Currently only a few kingdoms still grant nobility to people; among them Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Vatican. Depending on time and reg ...

Therefore, this procedure was gradually restricted in various ways. After 1581, the procedures took place before either the

Crown Tribunal The Crown Tribunal ( pl, Trybunał Główny Koronny, la, Iudicium Ordinarium Generale Tribunalis Regni) was the highest appellate court in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland for most cases. Exceptions were if a noble landowner was threatened with ...

or the

Lithuanian Tribunal The Lithuanian Tribunal (; pl, Trybunał Główny Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego) was the highest appellate court for the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was established by King Stephen Báthory in 1581 as the counterpart to the Cr ...

. Norman Davies conjectures that this practice was among the factors leading to the establishment of a unique Polish practice of heraldic families ( pl, ród heraldyczny, "heraldic clans", by Davies). It is also asserted that this practice led to development of extensive personal archiving and archive research among Polish nobility.

Bibliography

* Władysław Semkowicz: ''Nagana i oczyszczenie szlachectwa w Polsce XIV i XV wieku''

References

External links

"Wywodzenie szlachectwa – kto jest szlachcicem?"
by Artur Ornatowski Polish nobility Polish heraldry Heraldry and law {{poland-hist-stub

See also

Bibliography

References

External links