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History Of The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648)
The history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648) covers a period in the history of Poland and Lithuania, before their joint state was subjected to devastating wars in the mid-17th century. The Union of Lublin of 1569 established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a real union, more closely unified federal state, replacing the previously existing personal union of the two countries. The Union was largely run by the Polish and increasingly Polonization, Polonized Lithuanian nobility, Lithuanian and Boyar, Ruthenian Szlachta, nobility, through the system of the general sejm, central parliament and sejmik, local assemblies, but from 1573 led by elective monarchy, elected kings. The formal rule of the nobility, which was a much greater proportion of the population than in other European countries, constituted a sophisticated early democratic system, in contrast to the absolute monarchy, absolute monarchies prevalent at that time in the rest of Europe. The Polish� ...
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Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west. The territory has a varied landscape, diverse ecosystems, and a temperate climate. Poland is composed of Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 million people, and the List of European countries by area, fifth largest EU country by area, covering . The capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city is Warsaw; other major cities include Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, Poznań, and Gdańsk. Prehistory and protohistory of Poland, Prehistoric human activity on Polish soil dates to the Lower Paleolithic, with continuous settlement since the end of the Last Gla ...
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Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.Gerald O'Collins, O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites#Churches, ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and Eparchy, eparchies List of Catholic dioceses (structured view), around the world, each overseen by one or more Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishops. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the Papal supremacy, chief pastor of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The ...
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Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Europe, between the early 16th and early 18th centuries. The empire emerged from a Anatolian beyliks, ''beylik'', or principality, founded in northwestern Anatolia in by the Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman tribal leader Osman I. His successors Ottoman wars in Europe, conquered much of Anatolia and expanded into the Balkans by the mid-14th century, transforming their petty kingdom into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the Fall of Constantinople, conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II. With its capital at History of Istanbul#Ottoman Empire, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and control over a significant portion of the Mediterranean Basin, the Ottoman Empire was at the centre of interacti ...
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Tsardom Of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew by an average of per year. The period includes the Time of Troubles, upheavals of the transition from the Rurik Dynasty, Rurik to the House of Romanov, Romanov dynasties, wars with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Swedish Empire, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian conquest of Siberia, to the reign of Peter the Great, who took power in 1689 and transformed the tsardom into an empire. During the Great Northern War, he implemented government reform of Peter I, substantial reforms and proclaimed the Russian Empire after Treaty of Nystad, victory over Sweden in 1721. Name While the oldest Endonym and exonym, endonyms of the Grand Principality of Moscow used in its documents were "Rus'" () and ...
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Magnat (Poland)
The magnates of Poland and Lithuania (, ) were an aristocracy of Polish-Lithuanian nobility (''szlachta'') that existed in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, from the 1569 Union of Lublin, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. The magnate social class arose around the 16th century and, over time, gained more and more control over Commonwealth politics. The most powerful magnates were known as "little kings" due to the extent of their power and independence. Their influence diminished with the Third Partition of Poland (1795), which ended the Commonwealth's independent existence, and came to an end with the Second World War and the communist-ruled People's Republic of Poland. Famous magnate families in the territories of the Crown of Poland included the Czartoryski, Kalinowski, Koniecpolski, Krasinski, Ostrogski, Potocki, Tarnowski, Wiśniowiecki, Zasławski and Zamoyski families; and in ...
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Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince of Poland and of Sweden, Władysław IV was the eldest son of Sigismund III House of Vasa, Vasa and Sigismund's first wife, Anna of Austria (1573–1598), Anna of Austria. Władysław was elected as the tsar of Russia by the Seven Boyars in 1610, when the Polish–Russian War (1609–1618), Polish army captured Moscow, but did not assume the throne because of his father's position and a popular uprising. Nevertheless, until 1634, he used the titular title of grand duke of Moscow. Following his Free election (Poland), election as king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania in 1632, he was largely successful in defending the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against foreign invasion, most notably in the Smolensk War of 1632–1634 in which he ...
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Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Religiously zealous, he imposed Catholicism across the vast realm, and his crusades against neighbouring states marked Poland's largest territorial expansion. As an enlightened despot, he presided over an era of prosperity and achievement, further distinguished by the transfer of the country's capital from Kraków to Warsaw. Sigismund was the son of King John III of Sweden and his first wife, Catherine Jagiellon, daughter of King Sigismund I of Poland. Elected monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1587, he sought to unify Poland and Sweden under one Catholic kingdom, and when he succeeded his deceased father in 1592 the Polish–Swedish union was created. Opposition in Protestant Sweden caused a war against Sigismund headed ...
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House Of Vasa
The House of Vasa or Wasa was a Dynasty, royal house that was founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its members ruled the Kingdom of Sweden from 1523 to 1654 and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1668. Its agnatic line became extinct with the death of King John II Casimir Vasa in 1672. The Vasa dynasty descended from a 14th-century Swedish noble family, tracing agnatic kinship to Nils Kettilsson (Vasa) (), the of Tre Kronor (castle), ''Tre Kronor'' Castle in Stockholm. Several members held high offices during the 15th century. In 1523, after the Stockholm Bloodbath, Stockholm bloodbath and the abolition of the Kalmar Union, Gustav Eriksson (Vasa) became King Gustav I of Sweden and the royal house was founded. His reign is sometimes referred to as the beginning of the modern Swedish state, which included the King's break with the Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation and the foundation of the Church of Sweden. However, his eldest son and successor Erik XIV of Sw ...
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Stephen Báthory
Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) as well as Prince of Transylvania, earlier Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576). The son of Stephen VIII Báthory and a member of the Hungarian Báthory noble family, Báthory was a ruler of Transylvania in the 1570s, defeating another challenger for that title, Gáspár Bekes. In 1576, Báthory became the husband of Queen Anna Jagiellon and the third royal election, elected king of Poland. He worked closely with chancellor Jan Zamoyski. The first years of his reign were focused on establishing power, defeating a fellow claimant to the throne, Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and quelling rebellions, most notably, the Danzig rebellion, Gdańsk rebellion. He reigned only a decade, but is considered one of the most successful Monarchs of Poland, kings in Polish history, Polish and Lithuanian history, particularly in the military realm. His signal ...
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Zaporozhia Cossack Uprisings
Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a population of Zaporizhzhia is known for the historic island of Khortytsia, multiple power stations and for being an important industrial centre. Steel, aluminium, aircraft engines, automobiles, transformers for substations, and other heavy industrial goods are produced in the region. Names and etymology The name ''Zaporizhzhia'' refers to the position of the city: "beyond the rapids"—downstream or south of the Dnieper Rapids. These were previously an impediment to navigation and the site of important portages. In 1932, the rapids were flooded to become part of the reservoir of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station.Pospelov, pp. 25–26 Before 1921, the city was called Aleksandrovsk (or Oleksandrivsk), named after the original fortress that formed a p ...
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Cossacks
The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Russia, Cossack raids, countering the Crimean-Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe, Crimean-Nogai raids, alongside economically developing steppes, steppe regions north of the Black Sea and around the Azov Sea. Historically, they were a semi-nomadic and semi-militarized people, who, while under the nominal suzerainty of various Eastern European states at the time, were allowed a great degree of self-governance in exchange for military service. Although numerous linguistic and religious groups came together to form the Cossacks, most of them coalesced and became East Slavic languages, East Slavic–speaking Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christians. The rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire en ...
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Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations further east, south or north. The term does not describe a single Communion (Christian), communion or religious denomination. Eastern Christianity is a category distinguished from Western Christianity, which is composed of those Christian traditions and churches that originally developed further west. Major Eastern Christian bodies include the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, along with those groups descended from the historic Church of the East (also called the Assyrian Church (other), Assyrian Church), as well as the Eastern Catholic Churches (which are in communion with Holy See, Rome while maintaining Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern liturgies), and the Eastern Protestant Christianity, Eastern Protest ...
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