History UsefulNotes / PolishLithuanianCommonwealth

The political system of the free-election era Commonwealth was sometimes known as "the Golden Liberty". The noble class (some 13-15% of the population according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki) were the citizens in the full meaning of the word, furthered by the perception that the state is their "common wealth" -- in a word, a republic. With a king. This system was made of several elements:

That big blot on the map of [=15th-18th=] Century Central-Eastern Europe.

As you can guess, that wasn't the best time or place to run a business in. By 1660s, the country was in complete ruin, ''third'' of the population dead[[note]]To put it into some perspective: not even UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was this bad for Poland - and that one included a purposeful extermination of local population[[/note]] and every neighbouring country either holding a grudge or looking for a next chance to seize. The traditional tolerance began to dissipate, as various Protestant sects came to be seen as supportive of the Swedes. And finally, the [[ImpoverishedPatrician impoverished nobles]] -- retaining all the rights of a nobleman even if they were poorer than a peasant -- clung to the magnates' courts, with a predictable effect on the quality of law. In 1657, a certain nobleman figured that since ''liberum veto'' was in place, he could just show up at the Sejm, shout "veto!", and get away before anybody could "convince" him to recall it. And he did exactly that. And with minor exceptions, the next, like, 150 years went with barely a law passed.

That big blot on the map of [=15th-18th=] Century Central-Eastern Europe that you've probably never heard of if you're not a history buff about the area.

Curiously, while the country was very tolerant religiously, it was in the same time just as obsessively Catholic, particularly from the late 16th century onward and to no small part thanks to the entire education system being run by Jesuits. While infighting with other denominations and religions was close to none (especially when compared with the bloody religious wars in the Western Europe), there was still an undeniable supremacy of Catholic Church and its hierarchy. For starters, the interrex (a guy leading the country after the death of a current king and before new one was elected) was by tradition and then by law the primate of Poland. Meanwhile few of the bishops happened to be also princes - and not just in titular sense, but as actual, lay rulers of their vast domains, swearing fealty of said domains to the Crown. The so-called "union Churches", particularly in the Orthodox flavour (most famously the Union of Brest, but there were others, too), were a staple of the Commonwealth. To elaborate: while the specific Christian religious community could retain its rites, liturgy and dogmas, along with internal hierarchy, they formally agreed (with signed treaties and all that) to be "in union with Rome", by recognising the position and supremacy of the Catholic pope. This ironically offered them additional religious protection, for they were - at least formally - part of the Catholic structure and as such, it was pointless to persecute them in any way[[note]]Keep in mind this is a bit more complicated than that - while from Catholic perspective this was and still is seen as a sign of tolerance and acceptance, Orthodox churches see it as a divide et impera tactic and ''lack'' of tolerance of other faiths[[/note]]. Ultimately, this Catholic bend even ended up in the May Constitution of 1791. The very first chapter of it granted religious freedom to all other religions (explicitly citing "love thy neighbor"), ''but'' conversion ''from'' Catholicism to other denominations and religions was punishable with banishment, while Catholicism was made the state[[note]]or national, depending on how you interpreter the wording[[/note]] religion and received a special status. Keep in mind that by the standards of the era, this was still considered "dangerously jacobin" and the Catholic hierarchy opposed such statute heavily - and to make it weirder, Polish jacobin and reformist movements were lead by a canon priest, Hugo Kołłątaj.

Curiously, while the country was very tolerant religiously, it was in the same time just as obsessively Catholic, particularly from the late 16th century onward and to no small part thanks to the entire education system being run by Jesuits. While infighting with other denominations and religions was close to none (especially when compared with the bloody religious wars in the Western Europe), there was still an undeniable supremacy of Catholic Church and its hierarchy. For starters, the interrex (a guy leading the country after the death of a current king and before new one was elected) was by tradition and then by law the primate of Poland. Meanwhile few of the bishops happened to be also princes - and not just in titular sense, but as actual, lay rulers of their vast domains, swearing fealty of said domains to the Crown. The so-called "union Churches", particularly in the Orthodox flavour (most famously the Union of Brest, but there were others, too), were a staple of the Commonwealth. To elaborate: while the specific Christian religious community could retain its rites, liturgy and dogmas, along with internal hierarchy, they formally agreed (with signed treaties and all that) to be "in union with Rome", by recognising the position and supremacy of the Catholic pope. This ironically offered them additional religious protection, for they were - at least formally - part of the Catholic structure and as such, it was pointless to persecute them in any way. Ultimately, this Catholic bend even ended up in the May Constitution of 1791. The very first chapter of it granted religious freedom to all other religions (explicitly citing "love thy neighbor"), ''but'' conversion ''from'' Catholicism to other denominations and religions was punishable with banishment, while Catholicism was made the state[[note]]or national, depending on how you interpreter the wording[[/note]] religion and received a special status. Keep in mind that by the standards of the era, this was still considered "dangerously jacobin" and the Catholic hierarchy opposed such statute heavily - and to make it weirder, Polish jacobin and reformist movements were lead by a canon priest, Hugo Kołłątaj.

That big blot on the map of [=15th-18th=] Century Central Europe that you've never heard of.

* The first and third ''VideoGame/{{Cossacks}}'' RTS games had Poland (read: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) as a playable faction, with its own set of wholly unique units, including the famous Winged Hussar. They are sometimes enemies/sometimes allies in the campaign of the Ukrainian UsefulNotes/{{Cossacks}} in ''VideoGame/CossacksEuropeanWars'', and a playable faction with its own campaign in that game's first ExpansionPack, ''The Art of War''.

* The first and third ''VideoGame/{{Cossacks}}'' RTS games had Poland (read: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) as a playable faction, with its own set of wholly unique units, including the famous Winged Hussar. They are sometimes enemies/sometimes allies in the campaign of the Ukrainian UsefulNotes//{{Cossacks}} in ''VideoGame/CossacksEuropeanWars'', and a playable faction with its own campaign in that game's first ExpansionPack, ''The Art of War''.

* First and third VideoGame/{{Cossacks}} had Poland as a playable faction, with its own set of campaigns and wholly unique units.

The [=18th=] century was a time of decay -- although not to the nobles, who could be described as all too many cases of RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, except nobody was running around wearing bat ears on his cap. Political infighting caused several civil wars, while the Saxon kings (popular due to their hedonistic ruling style) led the country into UsefulNotes/TheGreatNorthernWar, with no gain at all and destruction compared to that of the Deluge. Meanwhile, [[RunningGag the tsars]] had their fun bribing nobles to veto the laws, and in some cases not even pretending they aren't enforcing their passing by force of arms. UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} -- once a vassal of Poland, since the last grand master turned Protestant and swore fealty to Polish king -- negotiated its way out of its vassal state during the many troubles the country was facing in the [=1650s=], and [[UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat by the time of the Fredericks]] too had joined the party with counterfeiting the Polish money and an occasional kidnapping of a tall man for Frederick's regiment of giants. At least, by that time Turkey was already beaten down to not cause too many problems.

This miserable time began to turn for the better after the election of Stanisław Poniatowski, UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat's former boy toy (no kidding), in 1764. While not historically the most popular of monarchs, he was a man of the Enlightenment, and took his perceived duties as the new King unexpectedly seriously (i.e. he actually tried to help restore the Commonwealth, rather than just serve Catherine's interests). He supported the redevelopment of the state's culture and economy, importing know-how from abroad and establishing schools and cultural institutions, even the below-mentioned Constitution. This resurgence was impeded by the fact that in 1772, Prussia, Austria and Russia figured they might as well take some juicier plots of land for themselves - and that they most certainly did not want a powerful semi-democratic Commonwealth on their borders. Finally, the cultural unrest achieved its peak at the Great Sejm, and with the passing of the Constitution of the [=3rd=] May in 1791. Interestingly enough, the Constitution (described as being influenced by the US Constitution and the UK's constitutional monarchy) can be argued to mark the end of the Commonwealth -- it discarded the old system in favour of a unified state under a constitutional, non-elective monarchy. In any case, it was moot anyway, as in a couple of years the "three black eagles" decided they would carve up the country wholesale rather than see it get better, and in 1795 the country ceased to be. Especially since it was far too liberal for their liking and, even worse, ''too close home'', all while everyone was already giving UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution nervous looks.

The [=18th=] century was a time of decay -- although not to the nobles, who could be described as all too many cases of RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, except nobody was running around wearing bat ears on his cap. Political infighting caused several civil wars, while the Saxon kings (popular due to their hedonistic ruling style) led the country into the Great Northern War, with no gain at all and destruction compared to that of the Deluge. Meanwhile, [[RunningGag the tsars]] had their fun bribing nobles to veto the laws, and in some cases not even pretending they aren't enforcing their passing by force of arms. UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} -- once a vassal of Poland, since the last grand master turned Protestant and swore fealty to Polish king -- negotiated its way out of its vassal state during the many troubles the country was facing in the [=1650s=], and [[UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat by the time of the Fredericks]] too had joined the party with counterfeiting the Polish money and an occasional kidnapping of a tall man for Frederick's regiment of giants. At least, by that time Turkey was already beaten down to not cause too many problems.

Some more wars (namely the Thirteen Years', 1454-1466) with the Order returned Gdańsk (German name: Danzig) to Poland and further reduced the Knights to a small vassal state, which nonetheless would turn out a bit ''too'' important in the future.

Heavy cavalry? Have them wear leopard skins and giant metal wings. Armour? A golden-plated scale armour, ridiculous and heavy, but looking just so ''Sarmatian''. Male fashion? BadassMustache or GTFO, gratuitous Turkish garments, and a crimson cape if you can afford it. A speech? Infuse it with so much GratuitousLatin there's hardly any Polish left, and don't forget to cry (the latter also works for any religious services). Political protest? Fall to the ground, block the door with your body, rip your shirt and shout you'll let no one pass and they will have to kill you. Funeral? Doesn't count if there's no fully-armed Hussar riding into the church in full gallop and breaking his lance against the coffin stand, and ritual demolition of the dead man's insignia of office. Dining? Alternating harsh fasting and lavish feasts. A party? [[StuffBlowingUp Blow up your castle]] and organize a sleigh ride in the middle of summer... with sugar in place of snow.

This miserable time began to turn for the better after the election of Stanisław Poniatowski, UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat's former boy toy (no kidding), in 1764. While not historically the most popular of monarchs, he was a man of the Enlightenment, and took his perceived duties as the new King unexpectedly seriously (i.e. he actually tried to help restore the Commonwealth, rather than just serve Catherine's interests). He supported the redevelopment of the state's culture and economy, importing know-how from abroad and establishing schools and cultural institutions, even the below-mentioned Constitution. This resurgence was impeded by the fact that in 1772, Prussia, Austria and Russia figured they might as well take some juicier plots of land for themselves - and that they most certainly did not want a powerful semi-democratic Commonwealth on their borders. Finally, the cultural unrest achieved its peak at the Great Sejm, and with the passing of the Constitution of the [=3rd=] May in 1791. Interestingly enough, the Constitution (described as being influenced by the US Constitution and the UK's constitutional monarchy) can be argued to mark the end of the Commonwealth -- it discarded the old system in favour of a unified state under a constitutional, non-elective monarchy. In any case, it was moot anyway, as in a couple of years the "three black eagles" decided they would carve up the country wholesale rather than see it get better, and in 1795 the country ceased to be, especially since it was far too liberal for their liking, as everyone was giving UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution nervous looks in the same time.

In the east, the two realms' interests were secured in the defeat of the Muscovy at Orsha (1514). As the Reformation struck, it ran along the humanist and Renaissance trends among the nobles, leading to further cultural developments as well as turning monastic states into secular duchies vassal to the kingdom. The nobles, happy with their top dog position, made it clear they didn't want any pesky Churchman running around threatening some among them, making it explicit when they gathered at the Confederation of Warsaw in 1573. Thus in times when Europe was almost perpetually struck in various religious, often also civil wars, the Commonwealth turned into a save haven of religious freedom, even if not due to any enlightened reasons.

There was a catch, however. First, house of Anjou and then Jagiełło had to earn the support of Polish nobles. Jagiełło would probably deal with this issue differently, but Louis of Hungary, the first Anjou king, started a particularly harmful precedence -- [[EveryManHasHisPrice by granting vast privileges to nobility]]. They quickly elevated the nobility compared to the other social classes, with zero catches or counter-balances to noble power typical to a late Medieval monarchy. Eventually, Jagiełło had to make further concessions to ensure that his dynasty would be accepted as the rulers of Poland. On the other hand, in Lithuania the biggest threat to him were [[BigScrewedUpFamily his own family members]]. In Poland, the nobility -- which came out of the fragmentation period with the notion that it was the people (ie. them), and not the ruler, that made Poland a country -- had a say in politics, but the ruler of Lithuania had a much stronger grasp on his country. These problems were sorted out in time, and by the time of Jagiełło's sons, both the royal and the grand ducal title stayed in the immediate family.

A good moment to begin this story is in the second half of [=14th=] Century. Within a century after UsefulNotes/TheTeutonicKnights installed themselves in the Baltic Sea basin, it turned out their ambitions went much beyond fighting for Christianity. As Poland raised herself from political fragmentation, they grew to become the reborn kingdom's most dangerous threat. Meanwhile to the east, the pagan Lithuanians found themselves on the receiving side of the Knights' ambitions as well, and the two realms gravitated towards each other, despite being on less than amicable terms for most of their history. Ironically, it was the pagan Baltic peoples that the Knights were invited to protect from and conquer.

So, when the throne of Poland [[SheIsTheKing was inherited by young Jadwiga]], a suitable candidate for her husband was found in the Lithuanian duke Jogaila. The catch? He would be baptized as a Roman Catholic, and so would his realm. And so, in 1385, did Jogaila become Władysław Jagiełło (as the Poles twisted his name), king of Poland alongside Jadwiga, bringing the two countries into a personal union. Although she soon [[DeathByChildbirth died in childbirth]], he remained on the throne and proved quite a capable ruler. (For her troubles, Jadwiga would later become a Catholic saint. Probably counts as a fair trade, eh?) The decision was further vindicated in 1410, on fifteenth of July, when [[BigBadassBattleSequence the Knights were defeated in Battle of Grunwald]].

There was a catch, however. Jagiełło had to earn the support of Polish nobles -- done easiest [[EveryManHasHisPrice by granting them privileges]]. Although not the first (for one, Jadwiga's father had to make some concessions to get her crowned), they further elevated the nobility compared to the other social classes. This way he ensured that his dynasty would be accepted as the rulers of Poland. On the other hand, in Lithuania the biggest threat to him were [[BigScrewedUpFamily his own family members]]. In Poland, the nobility -- which came out of the fragmentation period with the notion that it was the people (ie. them), and not the ruler, that made Poland a country -- had a say in politics, but the ruler of Lithuania had a much stronger grasp on his country. These problems were sorted out in time, and by the time of his sons, both the royal and the grand ducal title stayed in the immediate family.

In the east, the two realms' interests were secured in the defeat of the Muscovy at Orsha (1514). As the Reformation struck, it ran along the humanist and Renaissance trends among the nobles, leading to further cultural developments as well as turning monastic states into secular duchies vassal to the kingdom. The nobles, happy with their top dog position, made it clear they didn't want any pesky Churchman running around threatening some among them, making it explicit when they gathered at the Confederation of Warsaw in 1573.

The death of the last Jagiellon king in 1572 posed a problem of what to do next with the empty throne. But the solution was already present: the nobles said who the king was, he just happened to be the next-in-line guy from the same dynasty. Now they would just pick the one from the candidates presenting themselves at the election field. [[ElectiveMonarchy This system came to be known as the free election]]. Every new king had to swear he would uphold the noble privileges and the political system of the Commonwealth (and deal with the fact he [[PuppetKing didn't really matter]]). In essence, one could argue this was as much an elective monarchy, as a republic with a lifelong presidential term.

After a short reign of Henry de Valois (he ran back to his native France just in time to get shanked), the next election chose a king of the Transylvanian dynasty of Bathory, and he was as metal as it sounds like. In a series of successful wars, he beat back the Muscovite westward expansion. However, Muscovy was there, and it was waiting.

Next in line were elected three kings of the Swedish dynasty of Vasa, or technically, a branch of the Vasas who were staunch Catholics and for this reason left the Protestant Sweden, the kings of which they styled themselves the entire time. In the early [=17th=] century, internal troubles and the SuccessionCrisis in Moscow led to what began as [[WarForFunAndProfit a Polish magnate's private war]], and ended with a couple of years of Polish rule -- but, alas, what might have been the brightest moment in the history of the Commonwealth was wasted as king Sigismund didn't let his son become the Russian tsar. When the French agreed that "Paris is worth a Mass", he did not agree that Moscow is worth a superficial conversion to the Orthodox faith. Eventually, the Muscovites kicked out the Polish garrison, and stuff went only downhill for the Commonwealth.

As you can guess, that wasn't the best time or place to run a business in. The traditional tolerance began to dissipate, as various Protestant sects came to be seen as supportive of the Swedes. And finally, the [[ImpoverishedPatrician impoverished nobles]] -- retaining all the rights of a nobleman even if they were poorer than a peasant -- clung to the magnates' courts, with a predictable effect on the quality of law. In 1657, a certain nobleman figured that since ''liberum veto'' was in place, he could just show up at the Sejm, shout "veto!", and get away before anybody could "convince" him to recall it. And he did exactly that. And with minor exceptions, the next, like, 150 years went with barely a law passed.

The last bright period of that century was the reign of Jan Sobieski, a hero of one of the Turkish wars. The calls for help from Austria led him to [[UsefulNotes/SiegeOfVienna defeat the Turks at the gates of Vienna]], which brought him everlasting fame and us the coffeehouses (and possibly the croissant, depending on who you believe), but he could not capitalise on this victory in any meaningful way.

The [=18th=] century was a time of decay -- although not to the nobles, who could be described as all too many cases of RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, except nobody was running around wearing bat ears on his cap. Political infighting caused several civil wars, while the Saxon kings (popular due to their hedonistic ruling style) led the country into the Great Northern War, with no gain at all and destruction compared to that of the Deluge. Meanwhile, [[RunningGag the tsars]] had their fun bribing nobles to veto the laws, and in some cases not even pretending they aren't enforcing their passing by force of arms. UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} -- once a vassal of Poland, since the last grand master turned Protestant and swore fealty to Polish king -- negotiated its way out of its vassal state during the [=1650s=], and [[UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat by the time of the Fredericks]] too had joined the party with counterfeiting the Polish money and an occasional kidnapping of a tall man for Frederick's regiment of giants. At least, by that time Turkey was already beaten down to not cause too many problems.

This miserable time began to turn for the better after the election of Stanisław Poniatowski, UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat's former boy toy (no kidding), in 1764. While not historically the most popular of monarchs, he was a man of the Enlightenment, and took his perceived duties as the new King unexpectedly seriously (i.e. he actually tried to help restore the Commonwealth, rather than just serve Catherine's interests). He supported the redevelopment of the state's culture and economy, importing know-how from abroad and establishing schools and cultural institutions, even the below-mentioned Constitution. This resurgence was impeded by the fact that in 1772, Prussia, Austria and Russia figured they might as well take some juicier plots of land for themselves - and that they most certainly did not want a powerful semi-democratic Commonwealth on their borders. Finally, the cultural unrest achieved its peak at the Great Sejm, and with the passing of the Constitution of the [=3rd=] May in 1791. Interestingly enough, the Constitution (described as being influenced by the US Constitution and the UK's constitutional monarchy) can be argued to mark the end of the Commonwealth -- it discarded the old system in favour of a unified state under a constitutional, non-elective monarchy. In any case, it was moot anyway, as in a couple of years the "three black eagles" decided they would carve up the country wholesale rather than see it get better, and in 1795 the country ceased to be.

In time, the nobility developed a rather curious worldview, called "Sarmatism". Essentially it traced the nobles' descent from the ancient Sarmatians, known from Roman writings as a nomadic steppe people causing occasional troubles on their northeastern borders. According to those "Sarmatians", the ancient Sarmatians arrived in the lands of the Commonwealth in the antiquity and conquered the local peoples, becoming a ruling class from which the nobility descended. (This occasionally led to interesting developments, such as the nobles feeling more in common with BornInTheSaddle Muslim Tatars than their own peasants, because the Tatars were "more Sarmatian".) If this sounds ridiculous, it's most likely because it ''is'' ridiculous -- but interestingly enough, there's just enough eerie details that once you think of it, look as if the nobles [[LegendFadesToMyth might]], [[RightForTheWrongReasons just might]], have been onto something. But, let's now consider what it meant in practice:

As for the countryside, it's a matter of debate. On one hand, being a walking tool unable to leave your village, having to work on your master's field, and being mediated in conflicts with your master by, wait for it, [[KangarooCourt your master]] sure was a shitty position. On the other, the historical data generally seems to imply that when it comes to disenfranchisement, it was a [[HappinessInSlavery relatively passable]] kind of it. As in, you could make a decent living even with the noble bumping in at the least convenient moments, and though you could not leave by law, your lord's neighbour would by no means rat you out if you left for his lands unlawfully. A worker is a worker, after all, who cares if some other guy whines he belongs to him, eh? (Kiss my sabre! What's he gonna do, call the police?!) That is not to say there weren't peasant uprisings (Khmelnitsky uprising notwithstanding, as its reasons included ethnic and religious and even political divisions) -- they just were rather rare, and on a smaller scale than in the west of Europe. Several notable cases occurred in places where the peasants were allowed a bit more freedom to begin with -- and as such, less tolerant of noble hijinks.

* There is a Polish RPG ''Dzikie Pola'' set in the historical Commonwealth (with rules on magic provided for those who don't mind a share of HistoricalFantasy).

* The Commonwealth features as a faction in the ''With Fire and Sword'' expansion for ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'', which starts in 1655 during the Deluge.

A good moment to begin this story is in the second half of [=XIVth=] Century. Within a century after UsefulNotes/TheTeutonicKnights installed themselves in the Baltic Sea basin, it turned out their ambitions went much beyond fighting for Christianity. As Poland raised herself from political fragmentation, they grew to become the reborn kingdom's most dangerous threat. Meanwhile to the east, the pagan Lithuanians found themselves on the receiving side of the Knights' ambitions as well, and the two realms gravitated towards each other, despite being on less than amicable terms for most of their history. Ironically, it was the pagan Baltic peoples that the Knights were invited to protect from and conquer.

Next in line were elected three kings of the Swedish dynasty of Vasa, or technically, a branch of the Vasas who were staunch Catholics and for this reason left the Protestant Sweden, the kings of which they styled themselves the entire time. In the early [=XVIIth=] Century, internal troubles and the SuccessionCrisis in Moscow led to what began as [[WarForFunAndProfit a Polish magnate's private war]], and ended with a couple of years of Polish rule -- but, alas, what might have been the brightest moment in the history of the Commonwealth was wasted as king Sigismund didn't let his son become the Russian tsar. When the French agreed that "Paris is worth a Mass", he did not agree that Moscow is worth a superficial conversion to the Orthodox faith. Eventually, the Muscovites kicked out the Polish garrison, and stuff went only downhill for the Commonwealth.

The [=XVIIIth=] Century was a time of decay -- although not to the nobles, who could be described as all too many cases of RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, except nobody was running around wearing bat ears on his cap. Political infighting caused several civil wars, while the Saxon kings (popular due to their hedonistic ruling style) led the country into the Great Northern War, with no gain at all and destruction compared to that of the Deluge. Meanwhile, [[RunningGag the tsars]] had their fun bribing nobles to veto the laws, and in some cases not even pretending they aren't enforcing their passing by force of arms. UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} -- once a vassal of Poland, since the last grand master turned protestant and swore fealty to Polish king -- negotiated its way out of its vassal state during the [=1650s=], and [[UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat by the time of the Fredericks]] too had joined the party with counterfeiting the Polish money and an occasional kidnapping of a tall man for Frederick's regiment of giants. At least, by that time Turkey was already beaten down to not cause too many problems.

The political system of the free-election era Commonwealth was sometimes known as "the Golden Liberty". The noble class (some 15% of the population according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki) were the citizens in the full meaning of the word, furthered by the perception that the state is their "common wealth" -- in a word, a republic. With a king. This system was made of several elements:

* the election of the king;

Heavy cavalry? Have them wear leopard skins and giant metal wings. Armour? A golden-plated scale armour, ridiculous and heavy, but looking just so ''Sarmatian''. Male fashion? BadassMustache or GTFO, gratuitous Turkish garments, and a crimson cape if you can afford it. A speech? Infuse it with so much GratuitousLatin there's hardly any Polish left, and don't forget to cry (the latter also works for any religious services). Political protest? Fall to the ground, block the door with your body, rip your shirt and shout you'll let no one pass. Funeral? Doesn't count if there's no fully-armed Hussar riding into the church in full gallop and breaking his lance against the coffin stand, and ritual demolition of the dead man's insignia of office. Dining? Alternating harsh fasting and lavish feasts. A party? [[StuffBlowingUp Blow up your castle]] and organize a sleigh ride in the middle of summer... with sugar in place of snow.

* Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia: A segment of the Season 6 extras (also originally, somewhere in the manga) features the Battle of Grunwald, where [[spoiler:Poland performs a ISurrenderSuckers to Prussia, only for Lithuania to swoop in and hold a dagger at Prussia's throat, with the Prussian army unable to react.]]

The nobility were quite aware of their political rights. While in later years of the Commonwealth this decayed into a sense of entitlement, for the first century or two it meant a living tradition of civic activity. This citizen spirit is perhaps most strongly shown in this exchange from one of the Sejm gatherings, that occurred between king Stephen Bathory, and an unruly noble whom he wanted to silence:

In time, the nobility developed a rather curious worldview, called "Sarmatism". Essentially it traced the nobles' descent from the ancient Sarmatians, known from Roman writings as a nomadic steppe people causing occasional troubles on their northeastern borders. According to those "Sarmatians", the ancient Sarmatians arrived in the lands of the Commonwealth in the antiquity and conquered the local peoples, becoming a ruling class from which the nobility descended. (This occasionally led to interesting developments, such as the nobles feeling more in common with BornInTheSaddle Muslim Tatars than their own peasants, because the Tatars were "more Sarmatian".) If this sounds ridiculous, it's most likely because it ''is'' ridiculous. But interestingly enough, there's just enough eerie details that once you think of it, look as if the nobles [[LegendFadesToMyth might]], [[RightForTheWrongReasons just might]], have been onto something. But, let's now consider what it meant in practice:

If one wanted to concisely describe this kind of society, it would probably look this way: one part [[ThePaladin Christian knight]], one part [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica American plantation-owning Founding Father]], one part [[WackyFratboyHijinx rowdy fratboy]]. Stir, season, serve [[HotBlooded hot]].

There was a catch, however. Jagiełło had to earn the support of Polish nobles -- done easiest [[EveryManHasHisPrice by granting them privileges]]. Although not the first (for one, Jadwiga's father had to make some concessions to get her crowned), they further elevated the nobility compared to the other social classes. This way he ensured that his dynasty will be accepted as the rulers of Poland. On the other hand, in Lithuania the biggest threat to him were [[BigScrewedUpFamily his own family members]]. In Poland, the nobility -- which came out of the fragmentation period with the notion that it's the people (ie. them), and not the ruler, that make Poland a country -- had a say in politics, but the ruler of Lithuania had much stronger grasp on his country. These problems were sorted out in time, and by the time of his sons, both the royal and the grand ducal title stayed in the immediate family.

The union entered an era of prosperity. The Renaissance caught on and the land developed materially and culturally. Trade grew, but with a twist on the typical expectations, the nobles got in the business, running business ventures growing grain and selling it to the western Europe. Lithuanian nobility, once a mix of pagan Lithuanians, Orthodox Christian Lithuanians, Orthodox Christian Ruthenians and perhaps some more, followed the example of their Polish counterparts while retaining their own identity. The documents were written in Polish for the Crown (as Poland came to be known) and in the Ruthenian language for the Grand Duchy. But a common spirit began to develop among the nobility of both states, the "noble nation".

Next in line were elected three kings of the Swedish dynasty of Vasa, or technically, a branch of the Vasas who were staunch Catholics and for this reason left the Protestant Sweden, the kings of which they styled themselves the entire time. In the early [=XVIIth=] Century, internal troubles and the SuccessionCrisis in Moscow led to what began as [[WarForFunAndProfit a Polish magnate's private war]], and ended with a couple of years of Polish rule -- but, alas, what might have been the brightest moment in the history of the Commonwealth was wasted as king Sigismund didn't let his son become the Russian tsar. When the French agreed that "Paris is worth a Mass", he did not agree that Moscow is worth a superficial conversion to the Orthodox faith. Eventually, the Muscovians kicked out the Polish garrison, and stuff went only downhill for the Commonwealth.

As you can guess, that wasn't a best time to run a business in. The traditional tolerance began to dissipate, as various Protestant faiths came to be seen as supportive of the Swedes. And finally, the [[ImpoverishedPatrician impoverished nobles]] -- retaining all the rights of a nobleman even if they were poorer than a peasant -- clung to the magnates' courts, with a predictable effect on the quality of law. In 1657, a certain nobleman figured that since ''liberum veto'' was in place, he could just show up at the Sejm, shout "veto!", and get away before anybody could "convince" him to recall it. And he did exactly that. And with minor exceptions, the next, like, 150 years went with barely a law passed.

The last bright period of that century was the reign of Jan Sobieski, a hero of one of the Turkish wars. The calls for help from Austria led him to [[UsefulNotes/SiegeOfVienna defeat the Turks at the gates of Vienna]], which brought him everlasting fame and us the coffeehouses, but he could not capitalise on this victory in any meaningful way.

This miserable time began to turn for the better after the election of Stanisław Poniatowski, UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat's former boy toy (no kidding), in 1764. While not the best of monarchs objectively, he was a man of the Enlightenment, and he supported the movement which was already getting underway. Again, the state was developing culturally and economically, importing know-how from abroad and establishing schools and cultural institutions, despite the fact that in 1772, Prussia, Austria and Russia figured they might as well take some juicier plots of land for themselves. Finally, the cultural unrest achieved its peak at the Great Sejm, and with the passing of the Constitution of the [=3rd=] May in 1791. Interestingly enough, the Constitution can be argued to mark the end of the Commonwealth -- it discarded the old system in favour of a unified state under a constitutional, non-elective monarchy. In any case, it was moot anyway, as in a couple of years the "three black eagles" decided they would carve up the country wholesale rather than see it get better, and in 1795 the country ceased to be.

The Commonwealth is one of those complicated cases of historical countries that stubbornly refuse to fit into modern views of state and nationality. Until the Constitution of 3rd May, it was legally a union of two countries, Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The nobility of the Grand Duchy became for the most part polonized, but the lower classes were too busy surviving to bother with that fashion, and later nation-builders had to start from the common folk to create anything not Polish; the nobles themselves preferred to identify as "the noble nation". Thus, Poles see Poland as the successor to all of the Commonwealth, in spite of differences between the two parts, not to mention Ukraine; in Polish culture, the Commonwealth is a popular literary setting with more than a dash of GloryDays sentiment. Lithuanians picture Lithuania as the successor to Grand Duchy, even though ethnic Lithuanians were actually a minority in a country mostly made of modern-day Belarus, and (due to assimilation) their upper classes were culturally Polish anyway. Ukrainians consider themselves descendants of the Ruthenian population of the region, the Rurikid principalities and those who formed the Cossack Host, even though the Cossacks themselves were at least as much [[{{Pirates}} an occupation]] as an ethnic group. Although Belarussians have a claim to Grand Duchy not worse than the Lithuanians, they had all of their upper classes assimilated, or killed off by Hitler and Stalin, so for the most part nobody was left to argue it's not just a swampy small part of Russia. All of the latter three, somewhat expectedly, also tend to see Poland as a sort of BigBrotherBully. The opinions on the Commonwealth can thus vary pretty widely between the historians of these four countries.

In time, the nobility developed a rather curious worldview, called "Sarmatism". Essentially it traced the nobles' descent from the ancient Sarmatians, known from Roman writings as a nomadic steppe people causing occasional troubles on their northeastern borders. According to those "Sarmatians", the ancient Sarmatians arrived in the lands of the Commonwealth in the antiquity and conquered the local peoples, becoming a ruling class from which the nobility descended. (This occasionally led to interesting developments, such as the nobles feeling more in common with BornInTheSaddle Muslim Tatars than their own peasants, because the Tatars were "more Sarmatian".) If this sounds ridiculous -- it's most likely because it is ridiculous, but interestingly enough, there's just enough eerie details that once you think of it, look as if the nobles [[LegendFadesToMyth might]], [[RightForTheWrongReasons just might]], have been onto something. But, let's now consider what it meant in practice:

In the western world, the influence of the Commonwealth was rather low; Shakespeare's mention of "Polack War" in {{Theatre/Hamlet}} seems to be there just to present Fortinbras as a bit of a GloryHound fighting wars in faraway places of no importance. It played a bigger role in French politics of the era, as the French constantly schemed for an anti-Habsburg alliance, but their success was ever limited. But on the other hand, the Commonwealth's political system served as an example or inspiration in several well-known treatises on politics (''De Optimo Senatore/The Accomplished Senator'' was a widely discussed early such one actually written by a Pole), and by offering a safe haven for dissidents, its religious tolerance indirectly helped the development of non-mainstream Protestantism. Perhaps the most curious case is that of the slogan [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_About_Us_Without_Us "Nothing About Us Without Us"]] -- after several rounds of pass-the-message, these words of 1505 ''nihil novi'' constitution surfaced in the Anglophonic world as a motto in civil rights circles.

In the western world, the influence of the Commonwealth was rather low; Shakespeare's mention of "Polack War" in {{Literature/Hamlet}} seems to be there just to present Fortinbras as a bit of a GloryHound fighting wars in faraway places of no importance. It played a bigger role in French politics of the era, as the French constantly schemed for an anti-Habsburg alliance, but their success was ever limited. But on the other hand, the Commonwealth's political system served as an example or inspiration in several well-known treatises on politics (''De Optimo Senatore/The Accomplished Senator'' was a widely discussed early such one actually written by a Pole), and by offering a safe haven for dissidents, its religious tolerance indirectly helped the development of non-mainstream Protestantism. Perhaps the most curious case is that of the slogan [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_About_Us_Without_Us "Nothing About Us Without Us"]] -- after several rounds of pass-the-message, these words of 1505 ''nihil novi'' constitution surfaced in the Anglophonic world as a motto in civil rights circles.

* AxisPowersHetalia: A segment of the Season 6 extras (also originally, somewhere in the manga) features the Battle of Grunwald, where [[spoiler:Poland performs a ISurrenderSuckers to Prussia, only for Lithuania to swoop in and hold
a dagger at Prussia's throat, with the Prussian army unable to react.]]