Golden Liberty (latin: Aurea Libertas, Polish: Złota Wolność, sometimes used in plural form; this phenomena can be also reffered to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth, Polish: Rzeczpospolita Szlachecka) refers to a unique democratic political system in the Kingdom of Poland and later, after the Union of Lublin (1569), in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under that system, all nobles (szlachta) were equal and enjoyed extensive rights and priviliges. The szlachta controled the legislature (Sejm, the Polish parliament) and the Commonwealth's elected king. Latin is the language that was originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... A phenomenon (plural: phenomena) is an observable event, especially something special (literally something that can be seen from the Greek word phainomenon = observable). ... Rzeczpospolita (pronounced: , zhech-poss-POH-lee-tah) is a Polish calque translation of the Latin expression res publica (public affair). It has been used in Poland since at least 16th century, originally to denote any democratic state. ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... A political system is a social system of politics and government. ... The state formed by Boleslaus I of Poland in 1025 during his coronation. ... The Union of Lublin, painted by Jan Matejko The Union of Lublin (Lithuanian: Liublino unija; Belarusian: Лю́блінская ву́нія; Polish: Unia lubelska) - signed on July 1, 1569 in Lublin, united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the official... Events January 11 - First recorded lottery in England. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Szlachta ( pronounced: [ʃlaxta]) was the noble class in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). ... Chamber of the Estates-General, the Dutch legislature. ... This article is about the lower chamber of Polish parliament. ... The debating chamber or hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels. ... An elective monarchy is a monarchy whose reigning king or queen is elected in some form. ...

• Nihil novi (1505).
• Pacta conventa and King Henry's Articles (1573).
• Szlachta history and political privileges.
• Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• Organization and politics of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Golden Liberty distinguished Poland and was a unique exception in times when absolutism in the main European countries on the East and the West was developing. Freedom and liberty, even if it applied only for one category of the society - the szlachta - were assets almost unknown in contemporary Europe, where monarchs hold power of life and death over all their citizens. Yet Golden Liberty meant weakness of the central administration, weaknesses that eventualy allowed Commonwealth neighbours to paralyze its political system, deteriorate it to the brink of anarchy and eventually annex the powerless country in the partitions of Poland in late 18th century. Nihil novi is a common term for Nihil novi nisi commune consensu (latin nothing new without the consensus of all), a 1505 legal act of Poland, also known as nothing about us without us. The phrase nihil novi is also used as short for the phrase, Sub sole nihil novi... Events March 5 - Papal dispensation issued for the marriage of Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon June 27 - Henry VIII of England repudiates his engagement to Catherine of Aragon, at his fathers command King Alexander_of_Poland signed Nihil_novi act - Poland became Nobles Democracy Poland prohibits peasants from leaving... External links From Polish online encyclopedia Categories: Poland-related stubs | Polish history ... King Henrys Articles - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Events January - articles of Warsaw Confederation signed, sanctioning religious freedom in Poland. ... Szlachta ( pronounced: [ʃlaxta]) was the noble class in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). ... This article is about the lower chamber of Polish parliament. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The term absolutism can mean: A belief in absolute truth moral absolutism, the belief that there is some absolute standard of right and wrong political absolutism, a political system where one person holds absolute power, also called apolytarchy from Gr. ... Statue of Liberty - Liberty is one meaning of freedom. For proper-noun uses of Freedom, see Freedom (disambiguation). ... Liberty, or freedom, is a condition in which an individual has immunity from the arbitrary exercise of authority. ... Szlachta ( pronounced: [ʃlaxta]) was the noble class in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). ... Anarchy (New Latin anarchia) is a term that has several usages. ... The Partitions of Poland ( Polish Rozbiór or Rozbiory Polski) happened in the 18th century and ended the existence of a sovereign state of Poland (or more correctly the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). ...

Politics is the process and method of making decisions for groups. ...

See also

• history of democracy.
• Sarmatism

Origins Ancient Greece Main article: Athenian democracy The word democracy was invented in Athens, Greece, to describe the revolutionary system of government used. ... Sarmatism was the prevalent mentality and ideology of szlachta in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 16th century to 19th century. ...

External links

• Golden Freedom - 1632-1648 (http://66.188.129.72:5980/History/PreModernEurope/pl-16sigismundIIIend.htm)
• Excerpts from the book "The Polish Way" by Adam Zamojski (http://www.citinet.net/ak/polska_14_f2.html)