Zamoyski Code ( pl, Kodeks Zamoyskiego, links=no or ''Zbiór praw sądowych na mocy konstytucji roku 1776 przez J.W. Andrzeja Zamoyskiego ekskanclerza koronnego ułożony...''Kodeks Andrzeja Zamoyskiego
Encyklopedia PWN, 2 October 2008 ollection of court laws requested by constitution of 1776 designed by former chancellor Andrzej Zamoyski was a major, progressive legislation, proposed by

Andrzej Zamoyski Count Andrzej Hieronim Franciszek Zamoyski (12 February 1716 – 10 February 1792) was a Polish noble ( szlachcic). Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, awarded on 3 August 1758 in Warsaw. He was the 10th Ordynat of the ''Zamość Ordy ...

Grand Chancellor of the Crown Chancellor of Poland ( pl, Kanclerz - , from la, cancellarius) was one of the highest officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

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 ...

, in 1776. This legislation was an attempt of codification of the previously uncodified law of the Commonwealth. It was opposed by several conservative and foreign factions and eventually rejected by the

sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

of 1780.

History

In 1776, the

Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The General Sejm ( pl, sejm walny, la, comitia generalia) was the bicameral parliament of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 from the merger of the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Sei ...

, on the initiative of the

Polish king Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16th ...

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarc ...

, commissioned former

, to draft a new

legal code A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the cod ...

. A commission, headed by Zamoyski, and including other notable members, such as

Józef Wybicki Józef Rufin Wybicki (; 29 September 1747 – 10 March 1822) was a Polish szlachta, nobleman, jurist, Polish poet, poet, political and military activist of Kashubians, Kashubian descent. He is best remembered as the author of "Mazurek Dabrowskieg ...

and

Joachim Chreptowicz Joachim Chreptowicz pseud.: ''Jeden z współziomków'' (4 January 1729, Jasieniec near Navahradak – 4 March 1812), of Odrowąż Coat of Arms, was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, writer, poet, politician of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, marshal ...

, was created. By 1778, under Zamoyski's direction, a code (''Zbiór praw sądowych'', also known from his name as ''Zamoyski's Code ') had been produced and published in print. The code would have strengthened royal power, made all officials answerable to the Sejm, placed the clergy and their finances under state supervision, gave more privileges to the townsfolk, reduced

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

, and deprived landless

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 ...

of many of their legal immunities.

Opposition

Zamoyski Code was opposed by several factions. Internally, conservative szlachta were afraid that the Code would strengthen the power of the Polish king and the government and replace the anarchy-like

Golden Freedoms Golden Liberty ( la, Aurea Libertas; pl, Złota Wolność, lt, Auksinė laisvė), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( pl, Rzeczpospolita Szlachecka or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a pol ...

with absolutist rule. Representatives of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

were afraid that it would weaken the Duchy's autonomy, part of which was entailed a semi-separate legal system (the code would replace the Third Lithuanian Statue).Daniel Stone, ''A History of East Central Europe'', University of Washington Press, 2001,
Google Print, p.282-283
/ref> These sentiments were used by two foreign powers, which did not want to see the Code passed for their own separate reasons: the Vatican (

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

) opposed the Code, as it limited ecclesiastical law throughout the Commonwealth, replacing it with secular law;

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

saw the Code as going too far in reforming and strengthening the inefficient and Russia-dependent Polish governance. Working together, in an unlikely alliance between the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Russia, papal

nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...

Giovanni Andrea Archetti Giovanni Andrea Archetti (11 September 1731 – 5 November 1805) was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal. Biography Born in Brescia, Lombardy, Archetti studied canon and civil law in La Sapienza University of Rome. He was ordained priest on 10 ...

and

Russian ambassador This is a list of diplomatic missions of Russia. These missions are subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Russian Federation has one of the largest networks of embassies and consulates of any country. Russia has significant ...

Otto Magnus von Stackelberg Otto Magnus von Stackelberg may refer to: * Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (ambassador) (1736–1800), Russian diplomat * Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (archaeologist) (1786–1837), Estonian archeologist {{hndis, Stackelberg, Otto Magnus von ...

jointly bribed deputies to the Polish Sejm in exchange for their opposition to the Code.Richard Butterwick, ''Poland's Last King and English Culture: Stanisław August Poniatowski, 1732–1798'', Oxford University Press, 1998,
Print, p.158-162
/ref>Jerzy Kłoczowski, ''A History of Polish Christianity'', Cambridge University Press, 2000,
Google Print, p.186
/ref> Foreign influence, which secretly fueled the already existing internal opposition, ensured the Code was initially postponed (it was first to be presented to the Sejm in 1778) and then defeated during the Sejm in 1780.

Legacy

Zamoyski Code was one of the series of proposed progressive reforms, which would culminate in the

Constitution of May 3, 1791 The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...

. The constitution had a provision that the law was to be codified, and the new codification project, Poniatowski Code (named after King Poniatowski), drew much inspiration from the Zamoyski Code.

References

{{reflist

History

Opposition

Legacy

References

Further reading