The Polish Kingdom on the road to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The history ofthe Kingdom of Poland and its subsequent heir the Polish-Lithua­ nian Commonwealth, ultimately destroyed by the three despotic empires: Russia, Austria and Prussia in the partitions of 1772, 1793, 1795, was long, complex and last but not least exceptionally dramatic and original. In some respects the Com­

monwealth was a very modem political construction despite beingfirmly embedded within the social and economic feudal structure. In some other respects, especially during the last century ofits existence the Kingdom was already woefully anach­ ronistic,trying to preserve its unique socio-economic and political system without the will and power toreform itself, a sinequa non condition of survivalwhen one was surrounded by the most aggressive and despotic empires. Butfor nearly three hundred years, roughly speaking inbetweenthe endofthe 14thcentury until theend of the 17thcentury itwasoneofthe two Europeanlargest, most powerful, culturally vibrant and bythe standards of the epoch themostoriginal, tolerant and pluralistic states. It constituted a unique civilizationin itself, even if itbecamegradually a veri­

table anomaly within an increasingly aggressive absolutist political environment and at the very same time resistant to the modernizing socio-economic tendencies pulverizing Europe, the causesof which, when combined, eventually destroyed it.

It is within thecontextof this spectacular history that the Jewish historicalnar­

rative strikingly redefined itself, developed and flourished aswell, creatingthe most original and vibrant Yiddish culture, crucial for the preservation of Jewish vital institutions, while at the very same time sharing dramatic vicissitudes of the land in which Jews resided. It would be thuswoefully inadequate to show any aspect of the Jewish life inPoland without acloser lookatthe history of the changing consti­ tutional, political, social and economic forms of lifein the Polish Kingdom, evolv­

148 3. The Polish-Lithuanian Noble Republic - the stage of the Jewish Authonomy ing into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, even if the Jews there lived their own separatelife. It is simply impossible to understandeitherthe functioning orthe uniqueness ofthe Jewish life there. From the Polish perspective the Jewish life in thePolish-Lithuanian Kingdom also constituted an indispensable part of the national historical glory and drama.1

1 This is so for several interrelated reasons. One is that this tradition of the pluralistic, multi­

ethnic, multireligious and free Commonwealth is still waiting to be fully incorporated to the pre­

sent and still very unsure Polish narrative and the Polish self-perception. The other is connected with the present position of Poland within the European Union. The republican tradition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is worth reworking and bringing into the European mainstream narrative as its legitimate, equal and non-imitating pattern of cultural and political functioning.

What this means is a chance to reassert the Polish presence within the European Union not on the basis of the now existing post-colonial pattern of dependency between the center and the periph­

ery. This pertains also to the Polish governing elites which show strikingly a post-colonial pattern of thinking and a profound inferiority complex towards the post-1968 elites of Europe which define its current dominant narrative towards “periphery” of East-Central Europe. Finally, a re­

covery within the Polish narrative of the republican tradition of the Polish past could help to break still a visible pattern of thinking about the Polish-Jewish relations in history through the lenses of the Holocaust committed by the Germans in the Polish occupied lands during the II World War, with the Poles, whose elited were nearly destroyed, reduced to a position of slaves. The three is­

sues are, despite appearances, interrelated.

The Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom underthe ruleof the unique electivemonarch, was a site ofdwellingor crisscrossing of manypeoples and nations during its his­

tory. Thiswas afeudal country, divided into estates, with the noble governing elite not much different at itscreation from therestof their European counterparts, except in one crucial exception.There wereno internal, legally separated categories within the nobility estate. As the estate it was equal under law; no legally established ar­ istocracywithin it existed. Of course, the differences in wealth, political influence and social status were enormous; themore so as time progressed.But this lack ofthe legallydelineated gradations within the nobility class wasone among many reasons, but not the least important, thatthis mass of the legally empowered and politically active nobility was able to create auniformpolitical republican culture, which did not evolve out ofthe estate monarchy into an absolute monarchy characteristic of themajorityofthewestern Europeancountries,but formed a uniquestructure ofthe noble democracy.This noble democracycreatedwithin itself a vibrant, participating politicalrepublican culture spread over a large territory.It was strong and irresistibly alluring, but at the very sametime open to many non-Polish ethnic nobility elites.

Some were accepted either bya conscious political act as wasthe case with Lithu­ anian elites, others,includingsome Jews, were individually ennobled. In the course of their history, thePolishelites not only becamegradually multiethnic, being mul­ tireligious for aconsiderable amount of time, but also due to the sheer fact of this situation created a very pluralistic culture from the bottom up.

But one areawhere suchapluralisticpolitical cultureimposed itsindelible im­

print was the political language and legal institutions operatingwithin acontextof

3. The Polish-Lithuanian Noble Republic - the stage of the Jewish Authonomy 149 the strikingly modem concept of political nationality. Polishnationality was quickly defined in terms of citizenship,loyalty tothe polity andtherepublicancultureitrep­ resented, as wellas aset of rights and dutiesbelonging to every memberofthe elite irrespective ofthenationality onecamefrom.This Commonwealth idea of aPolish nation had littleto do withthe 19th century typeof nationalism. The idea of a nation was purely politicaland gradually culturally defined by citizenship.The nobility, ir­ respective of their ethnic origins, enjoyed extensive political andcivil rights. One was either bom into the nobility, or accepted into their ranks in aprescribed legal way. Initially itwas done by an act of inclusion ofa particular individual into the ranksoftheknights’ families,since thefourteenth century by the king himself, and eventually by a legal actof the entire Sejm.2 3

2 See e.g. S. Grodziski, Obywatelstwo w szlacheckiej Rzeczypospolitej (Citizenship in the Noble Republic), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Kraków 1963, Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwer­

sytetu Jagiellońskiego, Vol. 67, Prace Prawnicze, No. 12.

3 N. Davies, Gods Playground. A History of Poland, Vol. 2, Oxford University Press, Ox­

ford 2005, p. 9. The orgin of this adage has been disputed, although there is no doubt that it captures perfectly the essence of the political, not ethnic understanding of the nobility nation.

But there is no doubt that the adage has historical roots and was used in a truncated form by a Renaissance Polish political writer Stanisław Orzechowski. Orzechowski considered himself to be a Ruthenian, and using a signature Rutenus, Roxolanus, rusin. As a historian Stanisław Kot wrote: “ Whether [Orzechowski] invented this formula ‘gente Ruthenus natione Polonus 'we do not know. But he developed it and popularized. In his speech Ad equites Polonos Stanislai Orichovii Rutheni at the beginning of the Przyluski Statute, he tries to make the Polish nobility conscious of the value of the Polish laws and the constitutional system created by the ancestors, which ena­

bled the Polish tribe to create the Polish nation by making it accepted by other peoples”, S. Kot,

‘Świadomość narodowa w Polsce w XV-XVII w.’ (National Consciousness in Poland from the 15th to the 17th century), Kwartalnik Historyczny, Vol. 52, No. 1 (1938), pp. 15-35, esp. pp. 25- -26; also A. Krzemiński “Polen im 20. Jahrhundert. Ein historischer Essay”, Verlay C. H. Beck, München 1998, p. 22.

This political understanding of nationality pertained only to the nobility itself, which had a monopoly on political rights and duties, but influenced other estates as well. They formally had no political rights,just the estate, civil rights, or rights of the groups which were separateand lived according to their ownregulations as, for instance,the Jews living in Poland. Inthis context one may addthat“therewere many Poles, who in the modern terms might not be so described; and there were massesof Polish-speaking inhabitants]...], who did not regard themselves as Poles.

Inextreme instances, as inthe case of aseventeenth century cleric, a man mightde­ scribe himself as canonicus cracoviensis, natione Polonus, genteRuthenus, origine Judaeus, a Canon ofCracow, a memberof the Polish nation of theRuthenian people, of Jewishorgin”} In general ethnicity,language,or religion werenot part and parcel ofthepolitical meaning of the Polishnation, however culture andcitizenship were definitelyso.

WiththeacceptanceofChristianity from Rome in 966, Poland emerged as aful­ ly-fledged European political player, equalin status tothe otherstates. Christianity

150 3. The Polish-Lithuanian Noble Republic - the stage of the Jetuish Authonomy was accepted from Rome via Bohemia not the German Roman Empire, the latter created ostensibly as the universal heir to first the Roman, and then, the Charles the Great Empire,and thus usurpingsolely to itself aquestofconvertingadjacent states to Christianity.Themajorityof such smallerstates in Europeremained in a condition ofpolitical fiefdomtothe German Roman Empire, the situationwhichhad signifi­ cant politicalconsequencesfor politics in the East-Central Europe. Thus, Poland’s acceptance ofChristianity from Rome viaBohemiaconstitutedadefiant move.

In the 12th century Poland disintegrated as a patrimonial monarchy into several principalities, subject toadivision ofits territorybythe monarchasprivate propri­ etor of the land overwhich he ruled. United in the 14th century again and defined as a public domain (Corona Regni Poloniae) during a reign ofthe last king from the Piast dynasty Kazimierzthe Great, it had to face a strategic dilemmato whom itshouldpass the crownand with whom to form a strategic alliance. Aftera short interlude of the Andegavenian kings from Hungary (1370-1382) the crownwas of­ fered by the Polish magnatesto the Jagiellonians, the reigning Lithuanian dynasty to form an alliance againstthe threat fromthe expansive TeutonicOrder. As a result the Union in Krewo of 1385 created a new state Poland-Lithuania united only by a common monarch. But atthe verysame time theunionconstituted a move of pro­

found strategic consequences, which pushed Poland decisively to theEastof Europe, eventually responsible for its political and cultural organization. It also changed the European balance of power forthreecenturies,with Poland-Lithuania emerging as one of the majorplayers. At the very same time, with Lithuania baptized, thesine qua non condition ofthe union with Poland,the state became the last outpost of the Latin civilization in the East, the geographical point beyond which the Orthodox civilization began, thus the soon createdconceptof Poland-Lithuaniaasthe antemu-rale Christianitas, thebulwarkoftheLatin Christianity.

During the Jagiellonian period between1385and 1572 Poland-Lithuania evolved froma classical estatemonarchytothe noble democracy,aunique form of constitu­ tional orderinEurope, avoiding atypical European pattern ofdevelopmenttowards theabsolutiststate.4 The noble democracy system divided the clergy, nobility, burgh­ ers, Jews, and thepeasantry according to theirrespective estatelaws.But among the estates,the burghersweredivided and weak. Theywere no political partners for the kingandbecame increasinglyconstrainedbythenobility.Atthe same time theposi­ tion of peasantry to theeastoftheLabaRiver began to deteriorate rapidly in the 15th century. Theywere locked in anincreasingly debilitating system of serfdom, within a feudal system of divided ownership. In the meantime under the king’ privilege Jews were becoming an indispensable element of the Polish economy within an increasingly subsidiarysystem,achievingspecial legal, economic and thuspolitical

4 A good overview of the Jagiellonian chapter of the Polish monarchy see ‘Polish Politics and Society under the Jagiellonian Monarchy’ in J. K. Fedorowicz, M. Bogucka, H. Samsono­

wicz (eds.), A Republic of Nobles. Studies in Polish History to 1864, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1982, pp. 49-68.

3. The Polish-Lithuanian Noble Republic - the stage of the Jewish Authonomy 151 position and graduallyforming a strategicalliance withthe politicallydominant no­ bility, thelatter securingtheir politicaland economic status by aseriesof extensive privilegeswrested fromtheking.

The estates were legally legitimised and defined in relation to others and their boundaries were gradually beingclosed. “Constantefforts were alsoundertaken to eliminateindependent social groups. As from 1421, the bishops closed thecathedral chapters to all but noble candidates, thus eliminating that large group of plebe­ ian clerics, who by merit and educationhad risen to occupy an influenciai position mid-waybetween the episcopate and the parish clergy. Only two prebendaries, for Doctors of Law or Medicine were reservedfor non-nobles in each Chapter. The nobility attackedthe shrinking holdingsoffreepeasantry and eliminated the special status ofesquires, forcing them to accept thefull responsibilies of a nobleman or drivingthem into towns or intoserfdom. The Guilds attacked the illegalcraftsmens’ fraternities a parte, whose membersknown as partacze or “interlopers ’contrived to evade established practices of apprenticing and licensing. By doing so, they drove a largepart of the urbanpoor into the service of thenoble estates, and fosteredthe creation oftheextra-municipal zones withinthe cities. The zones orjurydyki, subject only to the jurisdiction of their noble or ecclesiastical owner, were commonplace by themiddleof thesixteenth century. Often located on the outskirts of the ancient city wards, or beyond thewalls, they were frequently settled by poor Jews and developed intoghettos. For thispart, the Jewish Kahalattacked the separateJewish Guilds, which sought to escape from its ownrigid control”. Their policy was similar here to the Christian guilds.5

5 N. Davies, Gods Playground..., Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, p. 101.

See A. Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia, Vol. 1, p. 56. Jurydyki, (sing, jurydyka) was a name derived from Latin iurisdictio or jurisdiction. The term denoted a settlement right outside the city or an enclave within a royal city. Jurydyki were independent from the municipal laws and rulers, but immediately were subject to the jurisdiction, thus the name, of the ecclesiastic or secular lord who chartered, founded and owned it. Jurydyki were formed as a separate territorial unit and were set up between 14th and 16th centuries. This way both the church authorities and the nobility were able to avoid the rigid rules of the royal towns, including the most annoying trade laws, guild regulations concerning apprenticing and licencing, as well as strict regulations concerning access of merchants and craftsmen to the markets held in the cities. There were in time so many jurydyki that they eventually formed a ring around the cities, challenging it economi­

cally and providing a safety valve to the unruly element in towns. In time they were incorporated into the cities as their legitimate boroughs. On jurydyki see S. Kutrzeba, Historia ustroju Polski w zarysie, Vol. 1: Korona (History of Polish Government in an Outline, Vol. 1: The Crown), Gebethner i Wolff, Warszawa 1949 (8th ed.), pp. 317-318; J. Bardach, B. Leśnodorski, M. Pi­

etrzak, Historia państwa i prawa polskiego (History of the Polish State and Law), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa 1987; N. Davies, God’s Playground..., Vol. 1.

152 3. The Polish-Lithuanian Noble Republic - the stage of the Jewish Authonomp