nobility(from other Upper German slahta - genus) - the nobility in
Poland. The question of the origin of the gentry is in connection with the question of
the emergence of the Polish state. In Polish historiography there are
two theories to solve the last question: the theory of the conquest of Poland
foreign tribe and the theory of natural evolution of socio-political
relations in the life of the Polish tribes, denying the fact of conquest from outside.
Pekosinsky, a professor at the University of Krakow, is trying to prove that
the Polish state arose as a result of the conquest of Poland by the Polabian
Slavs who moved to Poland at the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century. Living at
mouths of the Laba (Elbe), they had to wage a fierce struggle with
Germanic tribes, Saxons, Normans and Franks, as a result of which in
life of the Polabian Lechites, as the historian calls them, developed
militancy; in addition, being in relations with the German world, they
submitted to German influence. Incidentally, they borrowed from
Danes Scandinavian runes, which they used in the form of military signs
on their banners. With the conquest of Poland by aliens, its population
divided into three classes: 1) the leaders of the conquerors, who belonged to one
and the same family or the same princely dynasty that ruled
Polabian Lechites, formed the upper class, from which it went
Polish Sh.; 2) simple warriors made up the class of ordinary knighthood or so
called rulers and, finally, 3) the local rural population was converted to
slave state. The fact of the resettlement of the Polabian Slavs to the east, to
banks of the Warta and the Vistula, is not noted in any historical source, so
that the conquest of Poland by these settlers is only a hypothesis
researcher. At the base of the coats of arms of the Polish gentry, Pekosinsky finds
Scandinavian runes; they are the strongest
evidence given by the historian in favor of his hypothesis. But this
the main position of Pekosinsky's research in the field of Polish
heraldry is rejected by other Polish scholars. In general, this theory
although distinguished by remarkable harmony, rests on very shaky
grounds. Researchers who accept the second theory disagree between
themselves in their views on sociopolitical factors, under the influence of
which the Polish state was created, but agree among themselves that
that it arose as a result of the struggle of the Polish tribes among themselves.
The evolution of national-political relations in primitive Poland was
most likely it is. State organization was preceded by
and among all primitive peoples, tribal, moreover, the genus represented itself and
economic union on the basis of collectivity. Further form
social integration was a group of genera corresponding to
South Slavic brotherhood and laid the foundation for a territorial union,
later called "field". The affairs of the field were managed by the council
elders, who were at the head of separate clans, of which the opole consisted.
Tribes arose from the connection of the fields, which were ruled by princes. War
strengthened princely power and contributed to the separation from the general mass
free people of a special permanent class of warriors that formed the core,
from which the gentry class gradually developed. intense fight,
which the Poles had to fight with their enemies, especially with
German Empire, imposed on the entire state organization of Poland
a strong imprint of military life. The whole country dotted with "cities"
(fortresses), in which there were detachments of knights, represented the view as
would be an extensive camp. Especially a large number of hosts in the reign
King Boleslav the Brave concentrated, according to the first Polish
chronicler Gall, in Poznan (1300 knights in armor and 7000 with shields), in
Gniezne (1500 men at arms and 5000 shield bearers), in Vladislav (800 men at arms and
2000 shield-bearers) and in Getch (300 men-at-arms and 2000 shield-bearers). Glory and
generosity of such kings as Bolesław the Brave, Bolesław the Bold and Bolesław
Krivousty, attracted to Poland and foreign knights, thirsty
acquire wealth. In the ranks of the Polish chivalry met often
knights who bore such names as Rudolf, Arnulf, Wilhelm, Odon and
etc. Relations with Germany and other Western countries led the Poles to
because they borrowed customs and institutions from there. So, already in the XI century.
the custom of knighting was known to Poland, and kings favored
a knighthood for some merit or service to people of the ignoble
origin and even slaves. The nobility was also called
"lords". Elders of knightly families, former princes of tribes that have lost
their political independence, and the descendants of these princes were in
this class is an aristocratic element, which over time
developed and grew into a special class of rich landowning nobility, so
called "majority". Pekosinsky argues that Polish chivalry before
end of the 11th table. was dependent on sovereigns and their lands not
had, and that only at the beginning of the XII century. under Prince Boleslav Krivoust, it
was endowed with land holdings and then only turned into
landowning class. But this claim is not justified.
historical data. Chivalry as a class separated from the masses
population, owned land in prehistoric times. Wherein,
of course, there were also knights who had no land; they belonged to the princely
or the royal squad and the maintenance was received from the sovereign. But, in general,
chivalry was a landowning class. The knight could own the estate,
inherited or inherited, or by virtue of an award. First view
landed property was tribal property, the second -
personal. Collective tribal property met in Poland among the gentry
as early as the 15th and even the 16th centuries. But its decomposition began early and the process
individualization developed more and more strongly. However, regarding
individual property for a long time in Poland operated
legal provisions indicating that this property
separated from the family. To alienate such an estate into the wrong hands
the consent of relatives was necessary; in addition, the latter had the right
demand the return to their possession of lands that were alienated, and
return them by paying the sale price to the person who acquired these lands.
Already in the first centuries of historical Poland, a class began to separate from the knights
large landowners or canowners. In a specific era they
represented a force on which the fate of the country depended. To Poland
penetrated Western European culture and, although it did not settle
feudal system, nevertheless, relations developed that brought
largely Polish orders with Western European ones. Higher
the clergy, and after him the owners of the property, acquired immunity from the princes,
giving them the right to supreme power over the population of their estates. Under
the influence of immunity developed and so-called. knighthood (jus
militia). The one who owned this right could dispose of his
property according to the existing law of inheritance (jus hereditarium),
exempted from certain duties, acquired some legal
power over the peasants and could demand from them in his favor the execution
duties that they carried before in relation to the sovereign. Takovo
was considered noble (nobilis), gentry. From the chivalry Sh. differed
as early as the 14th century, according to the legislation of Casimir the Great, ordinary chivalry
(miles medius, scartabellus); in addition, there were knights,
descended from peasants and Soltys (miles e sculteto vel cmetone).
Vira for the murder of a gentry was determined at 60 hryvnia, for a knight
ordinary 30 gr. and a knight of the last category - 15 gr. More than that
chivalry is simple, ignoble, did not have coats of arms. Subsequently, this
the class merged partly with the peasantry and partly with Sh. In the 13th and 14th centuries. Sh.
did not yet have political significance; she obeyed the will of the prelates and
barons, as spiritual and secular nobles were called. But as a fighting force
state, she already at that time played a very important role in the country.
Mainly with the support of the Lyakhta, King Vladislav Lokotok succeeded in
restore the Polish monarchy, create political unity,
as a result of which the national consciousness of the Poles was strengthened even more.
The bearer and spokesman of this consciousness was mainly Sh.K.
this was joined by other factors, under the influence of which it became
to develop in the gentry, the desire to take a place in the state that befits it
strength. As an estate isolated from others, it was deeply imbued with
corporate spirit, feelings of class solidarity and energetically
defended her estate interests, which were often in
conflict with the interests of other classes. fought especially hard
it was already in the Middle Ages with the clergy, whose privileges, charging
tithes, church jurisdiction, exemption from military service and taxes,
were sometimes quite unbearable for her. Get rid of various
kinds of hardships imposed by the state or stipulated
privileged position of the clergy and secular aristocracy, one can
was, of course, only by influencing the legislature of the country.
Already the privileges of the XIII century (1229 and 1291) forbid the princes to increase
duties that lie on Sh., in excess of the existing norm. In the XIV century. influence
the gentry class is even more strengthened. Already in the first half of this
centuries, the gentry are present at the national congresses of prelates and
barons or as ordinary spectators and listeners without the right to vote,
or even sometimes, probably taking an active part in the meetings of these
congresses (for example, the congresses of 1320 and 1333). Further growth of the gentry in
this century was due to the general rise of the social forces of Poland, in
reign of Casimir the Great. Events after the death of this king
accelerated the political evolution of the estate. Throne of Poland passed to
Casimir's nephew Louis, king of Hungary, who had no
sons, but only three daughters. Meanwhile, Polish customary law and
treatises concluded between Poland and Hungary excluded women from
succession to the Polish throne, as a result of which, with the death of Louis
Poland in the possession of his dynasty could not remain. It was frustrating
dynastic plans of the king and he, by bestowing various benefits
to the state officials of Poland, made them recognize one of his
daughters of the heiress of the Polish crown. But to the Kosice privilege of 1374, the gentry
released from all state duties, with the exception of payment
land tax in the amount of 2 groszy per lan, received an exclusive
the right to hold the positions of voivode, castellan, judges, podcomorikhs, etc.
From this moment on, the political evolution of the estate will be carried out very
fast. During the queenless period (1382 - 84), after the death of Louis, she
already represented the force on which the fate of the state depended. Boiled
the struggle of the parties, whose leaders had to rely on Sh.
strength. And Sh. begins to play a very important political role in this era.
In order to discuss the state of affairs, local and
general congresses, consisting of prelates, barons and gentry. At that time
strong political movement, even the beginnings of a gentry
representations. According to the modern Polish chronicler Jank from
Czarnkov, Cracovians, Sandomierians and
ambassadors of all Polish lands. But most importantly, at this time
reveals an already strong activity of an institution in which
the socio-political life of the gentry communities was concentrated on
which was shared by Sh. of all Poland: it was a sejmik, a meeting of all Sh.,
belonging to the same local community (communitas), as one
the public whole. Thus begins to organize that political
system in which Sh. was destined to dominate. However, until half of the fifteenth
century, she is still in a position of office in relation to
spiritual and secular nobility. Although its representatives, together with
representatives from spiritual chapters, universities and cities and accept
participation in diets, but the state at this time is controlled by the aristocracy.
Relations are changing from the non-Shavian legislation, which put the gentry on
the same level as canowners: to issue a new law, set
a new tax or convene a zemstvo militia, the king was obliged for
permission to apply to the gentry sejmiks. However, Sh. acquired
even earlier, important privileges that guaranteed property and personal
the inviolability of the gentry. This political growth of the estate was in
depending on economic reasons. Poland was a country
agricultural, therefore, the gentry, as a landowning estate,
was an important factor in the public life of the country. In X. IV and XV
centuries the economic conditions in which Poland found itself strongly
have changed. With the acquisition of Red Russia and the accession, at least
partial and temporary, Podolia and Volhynia, vast spaces were opened
for Polish colonization, as these lands were sparsely populated. Here
huge latifundia of Polish magnates were formed who, feeling
lack of workers, tried to attract peasants to their estates
various benefits. The emigration of the peasant population from Poland is harmful
responded to the economy of the gentry class. It was in his interest
hold the peasants in place. In addition, overall economic development
Europe by the end of the Middle Ages expanded markets for the sale of agricultural
products of Poland, which prompted the Polish landowner to strengthen
exploitation of the land, but this could, of course, only be achieved by
management changes and by increasing the exploitation
peasant labor. Having political power in their hands, the gentry limited
first self-government of peasant communities, subordinating them to their control,
what she achieved by acquiring the position of Soltys, who was at the head of
peasant community. The Statute of the Warts of 1423 concludes in its
the decision, on the basis of which the landowner could deprive Soltys
positions for disobedience and take this position himself. squeezing hard
peasant self-government, Sh. then limited the freedom of peasant
resettlement, established a corvee and, finally, turned the peasant into
fortified state. According to the Petrokovsky Statute of 1496, leave
landowner village had the right to only one peasant, only one son
the peasant family had the right to give in education; fled
peasant law allowed the landowner to pursue, seize and return
back. The diets in Bydgoszcz (1520) and in Thorn (1521) established corvée in
in the amount of one day during the week, and the Warsaw Confederation of 1573
gave the landowner power even over the life of serfs. Economic
interests prompted the gentry to issue also restrictive laws and
relation to the urban community. The aforementioned Statute of Petrokovsky
prohibited the burghers from acquiring landed estates under the pretext that
philistines do not take part in military campaigns and in all sorts of ways
try to evade military service, but meanwhile it is on
landed property was subject to conscription. Philistinism
tried to fight the gentry, but failed. In the second half of the XVI century.
the city representation had already been excluded from participation in
legislation of the country, although representatives from some cities and
sometimes appeared at the Diets as early as the 17th century. Moreover, Sh. subdued
industry and trade of the power of governors and elders, than finally
killed urban wealth. From the beginning of the 15th century Sh. was already all-powerful
master in the state, and remained such a master until the end of existence
Commonwealth. She legislated, judged, elected kings,
protected the state from enemies, waged wars, concluded peaces and treaties and
etc. Not only the political and social organization of Poland was
gentry,
The gentry world outlook reigned supreme and in
mental life of the country.
Literature. M. Bobrzynski, Geneza spoleczenstwa polskiego na
podstawie kroniki Galla i dyplomatow XII w."; Fr. Piekosinski, "O
powstaniu spoleczenstwa polskiego w wiekach srednich i jego pierwotnym
ustroju"; St. Smolka, "Uwagi o pierwotnym ustroju spolecznym Polski
Piastowskiej" (these three works are placed in "Rozprawy i sprawozd. wydz.
histor. filozof. Akad. Urn.", t . XIV); A. Malecki, "Studja heraldynne"
(Lvov, 1890, 2 v. .); A. Balzer, "Rewizja teorji about pierwotnem osadnictwie
w Polsce" ("Kwart. Hist.", 1898, t . XII); fr. Piekosinski, "Rycerstwo
polskie wiekow srednich" (t . 1 - III); A. Prochaska, "Geneza i rozwoj
parlamentaryzmu za pierwszych Jagiellonow" ("Rozpr. Akad. Um. wydz.
hist. filozof.", Vol. XXX VIII) Fr. Piekosinski, Wiece, sejmiki, sejmy i
przywileje ziemskie w Polsce wiekow srednich" (ib., vol. XXXIX); A.
Pawinski, "Sejmiki ziemskie" (Warsaw , 1895); Wl. Smolenski, "Szlachta w
swietle wlasnych opinji" ("Pisma historyczne", Krakow 1901, v. 1); R.
Hube, "Prawo polskie w w. XIII" (Warsaw, 1874); same, "Sady, ich
praktyka i stosunki prawne w Polsce etc."(Warsaw, 1886). AT.
An essential feature of the Polish gentry, like the Spanish nobility, was its large number. In the XVI century. 7.5 million people living in the Commonwealth accounted for 500 thousand nobles or 25 thousand noble families, that is, 6.6% of the total population, and in Mazovia, literally overflowing with gentry, this figure was even more impressive - 23.4%. By the time of the divisions of the Commonwealth, the Polish nobility already accounted for 8-10% of the population.
Obviously, such a significant number of nobility could not be completely homogeneous. In its midst, processes of differentiation and stratification were constantly going on, most clearly manifested in the 17th-18th centuries.
Polish researchers conditionally distinguish within the nobility of the XVI-XVIII centuries. several groups.
The following groups belonged to the landowning gentry:
magnateria(magnateria) - the richest and most influential families, the largest latifundists; they played key roles in state administration, their representatives constantly sat in the diets. Although officially none of the magnates had special rights or privileges, in reality this gentry group had power incomparable to the number of its members.
Zamozhnaya nobility(szlachta zamożna) - a wealthy gentry who owned both land and peasants; its representatives were completely independent in their socio-political and economic activities (Sobie Pan).
farm gentry(szlachta fołwarczna) - owned one or more farmsteads (a small estate, estate) and peasants on them; she could both manage her farm herself and hire housekeepers.
"Shared" gentry(szlachta cząstkowa) - owners of not whole estates, but parts of them (often large estates were divided into small shares for sale or rent); Usually, representatives of this gentry, together with their neighbors, used the labor of the peasants and the material resources of the estate.
Zastenkovaya or roundabout gentry(szlachta zaściankowa, szlachta okoliczna, szlachta zagrodowa) - small estate gentry, whose representatives owned household plots, but did not have peasants and therefore worked on their own land; often they formed entire gentry settlements - the so-called dungeons (zaścianki) or "outskirts" (okolice), isolated from the rest of the plebeian world. The name "outlying gentry" was characteristic of the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The landless gentry (szlachta bezrolna albo szaraczkowa) included:
Chinsha gentry(szlachta czynszowa) - did not have land and was forced to rent it on chinsh terms (tire) and work on it, although such work was considered shameful for a well-born person, since it was likened to a peasant. In the last two centuries of the existence of the Commonwealth, the Chinsh gentry became the most numerous group of the Polish nobility.
Serving nobility(szlachta służebna) - served in the rich estates of magnates, church hierarchs or wealthy gentry as managers, housekeepers, etc.
Golota(holota) - “bad”, impoverished gentry, who had neither land nor peasants; usually hired as workers, servants, went to the soldiers.
"Street" nobility(szlachta brukowa) - the smallest group of the gentry, leading a very poor life in the cities.
Litvinov P.
The gentry of the Rogachev region in the p.tr. XXcentury.
Category of the population that called itself at the beginning XX centuries, a former gentry, had a complex socio-economic structure, various principles of ethnic and social identification and was in the process of transformation and gradual loss of Polish-gentry identity.
Many reasons for this lie in the origin of the nobility. In addition to the actual gentry military service class, there are also armored and worthy boyars, whose legal position was between the peasantry and the gentry. Back to top XX century" descendants of all named categoriesmelt themselves with the former gentry and reluctantly merge with the peasantsstvom and philistinism".
The financial situation of this category of the population was also difficult. The gentry was divided into several strata, which were determined by their property status, differentiating from fairly large landowners to completely landless gentry. At the same time, it was important on whose land the gentry lives - state, privately owned or rented.
These factors, as well as the “parsing of the gentry” to. XVIII - XIX centuries, largely predetermined the ethnic identification and social status of this category of the population. After the divisions of the Commonwealth, “ with the transition to Russian citizenship part e that gentry managed to prove her gentry origin and was ranked among the Russian nobility; unable to imaginetestimonies should have been attributed to the petty-bourgeois class, orfell into the category of state peasants. However, this nobilityhas not forgotten about its origin and is currently highlightinghimself from the surrounding peasantry.”
Considering the last fact, i.e. that the gentry is “very proud with his semi-noble origin and looks down on the peasant, ”it is not surprising that most of the gentry tried to prove their nobility. However, due to the peculiarities of the Russian bureaucratic system, this was achieved mainly by the wealthy part of the gentry. The less prosperous tried to get into the philistine class, and the poorest and landless gentry were assigned to the state peasants.
Documentary materials of the 30s. confirm this conclusion. All the inhabitants of the outskirts of Antushi, whose economy was considered kulak, invariably answered the question of their social origin: "my father ... and mother ... come from the nobility." Moreover, their land allotments before the revolution ranged from 30 to 60 acres. It should be noted that Antushi was considered a prosperous village, in which (as well as on adjacent farms) almost the entire population was “from among the Poles-gentry, most of whom were kulaks, former nobles and strong middle peasants, and sub-kulakists”. Among the inhabitants of this outskirts, there were often kulaks who paid from 500 to 1000 rubles. and above the agricultural tax, a huge amount in those days. For comparison, a peasant who paid 70-80 rubles was already considered a fist. tax. For example,Antushevich Leon Iosifovich in 1928 paid exactly 500. tax. .
It should be noted that the statements of the residentsAntush about the nobility, were often confirmed and documented. September 7, 1929 during a search of the house of Anton Grigoryevich Zalessky, “two certificates in the name of Anton and Peter Grigoryevich Zalessky about hereditary nobility” were found. .
Unlike Antush, in the two largest outskirts of Senozhatkovsky s / s - Drawing and Senozhatki, in which the percentage of kulaks was significantly lower, the majority the population referred to themselves as philistines. . Moreover, as a rule, their economy was middle-peasant or kulak. The vast majority of the poor considered themselves peasants. The dependence of social status on property status is confirmed by the fact that among representatives of the same surname ( Antushevichi, Zalessky, Zakrzhevsky, Grokhovsky ) there are both nobles and philistines, and peasants.
Much more complicated is the issue of ethnic identification of the gentry. First, an important role was again played property position. Wealthy peasants were more traditional and conservative. And therefore, they were more inherent in the gentry self-consciousness, which, by the established tradition, was identified with Polishness. Accordingly, the less wealth there was, the more the peasant consciousness was subject to transformation, including assimilation processes. Therefore, the wealthy part of the population of the former gentry outskirts predominantly defined themselves as Poles, associating the latter with the gentry. In addition, prosperity determined the presence of a gentry life (estate, clothes, food), which also had significant differences from the peasant one and required significant financial costs. It was precisely because of their traditionalism that the prosperous neighborhood population so stubbornly held on to their Polishness, despitepowerful pressure from the tsarist and Soviet administrations, which pursued a targeted discriminatory policy against the Poles.
The poor, on the other hand, showed the greatest susceptibility to the transformation of the traditional way of life, and over time more and more often defined themselves as part of the Belarusian ethnos.
Against this background, the conclusion of the Polish historian and ethnodemographer P. Eberhardt about the Belarusianization of the Poles-colonists, who wrote that “ pocz ą tkowo przesiedle ń cy u ż ywali j ę zyka ojczystego … .” In addition, the Polish colonists were subjected to “ asymilacji , nie tylko pod wzgl ę dem j ę zyka i kultury , ale te ż ś wiadomo ś ci etnicznej "..
An even more important factor was the confessional affiliation of the outlying gentry. The fact is that for most of the descendants of the local gentry, being a Catholic meant being a Pole. The official state definition of "Poles" in relation to this part of the population of Belarus in XIX - p.tr. XX century, therefore, should be considered as an ethno-confessional community that identifies itself as Poles. That is, in this case there is a mixture of nationality with confession.
For example, in the questionnaires of those arrested in 1929. fists of Senozhatkovsky s / s in the column nationality there are answers: “Pole”, “Catholic”, “Belarusian-Catholic”, “Polish-Belarusian”, “Catholic religion”.
The gentry of Eastern Belarus was localized in two separate regions, the so-called. Drut (western) and Sozh (eastern) borders, which have a certain peculiarity in relation to confessionality. In the famous edition of A.S. Dembovetsky it is stated: “The densest and largest population of the gentry go along the Sozhsky reservoir, starting from the city of Mstiglorifying through the m. Krichev and the city of Cherikov, and beyond the m. Chechersk and the city of Rogachev, where the Dnieper and Sozh converge, the villages of the gentry gruppiruyutsya along the banks of both of these rivers, going deep into the terrainat a distance of 30 verst. . The Drut line was located to the north - from the town of Senno to Belynich.
In the Sozh group, the Orthodox faith prevailed: “Orthodox 18491, Catholics only 5927, i.e. for almost ten Orthodox people, there are only three Catholics.” In the Drut group, the opposite is true: “there are only 1741 Orthodox, while 10447 Catholics, i.e. there is one Orthodox for every six Catholics.” . Thus, the Rogachev region, being just at the junction of two frontiers, reflected the features of both.
The outskirts of Khodosovichi, Bolshie Strelki and the villages of Krasnitsa and Yanovka were located in the Dnieper basin. All of them, with the exception of the latter, were predominantly inhabited by the Orthodox nobility. The most common surnames here were: Khodosovsky, Senozhensky, Lukomsky, Usevichi, Dushkevichi, Akinchitsy, Konchitsy, Zinkevichi, Drobyshevsky, Kublitsky, Lapitsky, Shemyaki, Mezhevichi.
Within the framework of both frontiers, several local ones were also distinguished. For example, a powerful border barrier from the gentry outskirts existed in the basin of the river. A conversation that ran into Sozh. A similar barrier was located in the course of the river. Dobysna west of Rogachev and Zhlobin. Back to top XX For centuries, the outskirts of Antushi, Stary Mazalov, Dubrova, Senozhatki, Marusenka, Tertezh, Verbichev, as well as the farms of Maringof, Krivenya, Grechukhi, the Great Forest, Green Budishche, Mazalov, which were part of it, were populated almost exclusively by Catholics. In 20-30s. XX centuries, these settlements were almost completely part of the Senozhatkovsky s / s. The Antushevichs, Senozhenskys, Zholtoks, Bankovskys, Mitkevich-Zholtoks, Ryneiskys, Parkhamoviches, Zakrzhevskys, Lipskys, Baranovskys, Shatillas, Shchigelskys, Zhiznevskys, Grokhovskys, Baranovichi, Korzuns, Savitskys, Zalesskys, Zavadskys, Mikhalkeviches, Lesnevskys, Osmolovskys, Khodosovskys and others
Yanovka, inhabited by Catholics, is most likely associated with the above-mentioned region, since the Lesnevskys living in it are widely found in Tertezh and other outskirts and farms.
The division of the gentry of the Rogachev region along confessional lines was also reflected in ethnic identification. In settlements where the Orthodox prevailed, to the top XX century, a significant weakening of the gentry self-consciousness and the almost complete absence of Polishness are noticed. This led to the widespread practice of mixed marriages and to a tendency to increase the number of peasant population in them, up to complete dominance. As a result, in p.tr. XX centuries, their population identifies themselves as Belarusians.
The picture is different in the area of the Dobysna basin. It should be remembered that Catholicism was one of the defining elements in Polish culture, and therefore it played a huge role in the life of the Belarusian gentry, being, first of all, an instrument of polonization. The purposeful discriminatory policy of the Russian Empire against the nobility, especially the Catholic, led to even greater isolation and conservatism among them, which was accompanied by the strengthening of Polishness.
Dembovetsky pointed out: “The rights granted to the peasants by the regulation of February 19, 1861, the registration of the gentry to the volosts, universal military service and other measures influenced the rapprochement of the gentry with the peasants, especially the poor, landless. But the rich gentry, guided by their gentry ambition, is attributed to the burghers, sometimes distant cities from them, on the one hand, in the form of some maintenance of the former privileged position, so as not to obey the department of the local volost and not to bear any natural or worldly duties, on the other, - in order to avoid paying the poll tax, which exists in the peasant class and is abolished by law for the philistines. Thus, the gentry, having become peasants and philistines, does not currently exist as a separate estate. .
Legally losing the nobility, this category of the population all the more sought to preserve the paraphernalia, norms of life and culture, since this gave it the opportunity to preserve a sense of its otherness, difference from the peasants.
Polishness and Catholicism for the majority of the local gentry became that forbidden world that allowed them to resist the system, which sought their spiritual captivity and leveling with the surrounding peasantry. A characteristic feature of the local Poles was a heightened sense of Polishness, based not on linguistic, but on spiritual originality, which gave them increased resistance to any attempt at national or religious oppression due to the need for a constant struggle to preserve their Polishness.
It was precisely because the Senozhatkovsky s / s was one of the most powerful bastions of Polishness in the Gomel region that it was subjected to total repressions in the 30s. XX century.
Polishness, as an ethno-cultural sign of Belarusian Catholics, developed in the gentry outskirts, first of all, where churches existed, and spread the cultural influence of the Catholic church priests. In the first third XX century, two churches worked on the territory of the Rogachev region - in Antushi and Rogachev. Antushovsky church until 1933 Musteykis Kazimir Ignatievich served, who lived in Antush for a long time. In Rogachev priest Yaroshevich in 1930. Kunda was replaced by Vladislav Ignatievich, who worked until 1934. The latter was very famous in the USSR.
Catholics, in comparison with the Orthodox, have always been distinguished by greater religiosity, which, under the conditions of oppression of the church, resulted in fanaticism. Therefore, the Catholic clergy enjoyed unconditional authority among the population of the Catholic faith. This was also facilitatedhigh qualifications of priests, most of whom had higher education, and a high degree of centralization and discipline of the Catholic Church.. Priests were excellent agitators and organizers, and, moreover, many of them had a direct connection with the Vatican. Therefore, expelling the “Polishness” and liquidating the petty and most numerous gentry, the tsarist government pursued both domestic and foreign policy goals. As a result, the oppression of religion, language and the nobility, with the skillful agitation of the priests, resulted in even greater isolation and closer association around the church of the “Kres Poles”, since now only the church personified their “feature”, only the Polish speech sounded at the church, which began to be perceived as a distinctive sign of gentry among most of the gentry. In addition, it was the church that provided education.
Even in 1931, during the period of mass closure of churches and arrests of religious ministers, the reports of party workers reported that “most of the stone samostoynye gaspadars may have icons in hats. Some kamsamoltsy and kamsamolki svyatkuyutsya and religious saints and navat walking at kassels. .
Also, an important factor in the formation of the Polish ethno-identification of the gentry was the territorial compactness of the local cluster of gentry settlements. This allowed the neighborhood community, being closed in its cultural environment (marriages only between representatives of the gentry and Catholics, common life, holidays, aspirations and vectors of development), and also due to its extreme religiosity, which further isolated it from the surrounding Belarusian Orthodox population and made more conservative, to keep their “churchness”, “Polishness” and “nobility” practically unchanged, despite all the efforts of the Moscow authorities aimed at transforming the Kresian Poles. The above factors made their Polishness almost invulnerable.
A striking example is the cluster of outskirts in the Dobysna basin. An analysis of archival documents made it possible to find out that most of the gentry families of this region were relatives to one degree or another.. The strengthening of ties was also facilitated by the fact that all the outskirts and farms, with the exception of the Orthodox Verbichev, were in the parish of the Antushovsky church. Moreover, the church was under the jurisdiction of several church committees of different outskirts, alternately moving from one to another.
A completely different situation is observed in the outskirts, which were located in single settlements. The need for mixed marriages, the almost complete absence of the cultural influence of the church and the Catholic population led to a gradual erosion of the gentry worldview and a weakening of religiosity. To an even greater extent this applies to the Orthodox gentry. As a result, these outskirts were transformed in ethno-cultural terms and gradually leveled off with the population of the surrounding villages.
In Krasnitsa, the gentry substratum was still quite powerful and in p.tr. XX centuries, it was still sometimes remembered that some of the kulaks “used to be hereditary nobles.” There still remained a social gradation into “pans” and “klops”, which is confirmed by the statements of the peasants that the kulaks “always laugh at us and threaten that when the Poles come, they will hang them ... and will pave the row with the poor” [ibid.]. As for the outskirts of Khodosovichi and Bolshie Strelki, the gentry substratum in them, to the beginning XX century, even lost its quantitative dominance and practically disappeared into the Belarusian peasantry.
The presence of estates and farmsteads belonging to Catholics was also important, since the way of life in them was an example to follow. The largest number of them in the Rogachev district just fell on the Gorodetsky and Dovskaya volosts in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Orthodox outskirts of the Dnieper basin, as well as the Tikhinichskaya and Lukovskaya volosts of the Dobysna basin (in the latter there were Catholic outskirts). .
Also an important factor of Polonization was ethnic Polish colonization and emigration. XIX - n. XX century. Emigrants from Poland and Western Belarus went first of all to where there was a church and a close ethno-cultural community. They were the catalysts for the explosion of Polish patriotism, which, perhaps, was practically non-existent before them. After the outbreak of the First World War, these processes were facilitated by a large wave of refugees, as well as the Polish occupation. For example, arrested in Rogachev in 1933, a native of the outskirts of Marusenka, Kelbass Elena Kazimirovna testified during interrogation: “During this period of time I was in a narrowly national spirit, being under the influence of refugees from Poland and legionnaires. I admit that the Polish occupation of our area at that time would have pleased me ... ". As a result, Polish patriotism began to replace the “Polish-gentry regional” patriotism.
1. Russia. A complete geographical description of our Fatherland.// vol. 9, Upper Dnieper and Belarus. // St. Petersburg, 1905
2. Archive of the KGB Department of the Republic of Belarus in the Gomel region, d.14982-s
3. Archive of the KGB Department of the Republic of Belarus in the Gomel region, d.3019-s
4. Piotr Eberhardt Polska ludnosć kresowie. Rodowod, liczebnosć, rozmieszczenie. // Warszawa, 1998
5. Dembovetsky A.S. The experience of describing the Mogilev province. Book 1 // Mogilev. - 1882.
6. Before a sharp turn. (Trends in the political and spiritual life of Belarus. 1925-1928). // Collection of documents. - Mn. - 2001
7. NARB. f.701. National Commission of the CEC of the BSSR. op.1 d.101.
8. Archive of the KGB Department of the Republic of Belarus in the Gomel region, d.14342-s
9. List of populated places in the Mogilev province. // ed. G.P. Pozharova. - Mogilev, 1910
The gentry are a special caste of Poles, who justified their uniqueness not only by their status, appearance or manners, but also by their origin. There was no place for Slavic roots in the gentry's genealogy.
Other Slavs
The recent events in Ukraine have renewed lively discussions on inter-Slavic relations. Today, the ideas of pan-Slavism, born in the 18th century and strengthened in the 19th century, have fallen into devaluation as never before. But even in the middle of the 19th century, the Czechs saw in the unification of the Slavs a powerful political force capable of resisting Germanism.
The Czech initiative was supported by Russia, but Poland reacted to it at least coolly. The union of the Slavs with the dominant role of the Russian tsar meant the collapse of hopes for an independent Polish state. Religion also played a role in the resistance of the Poles to the ideas of Pan-Slavism: Catholic Poland traditionally acted as an antagonist of Orthodox Russia.
The Kingdom of Poland, of course, had its own Slavophiles. Prince Adam Czartoryski enthusiastically accepted the idea of Slavic unification, and the Decembrist Julian Lubinski headed the Society of United Slavs, the first organization that openly proclaimed the ideas of pan-Slavism.
However, among the Polish elite there have always been ideas about the special status of the Polish people, which in many ways prevented them from finding common ground with their Slavic neighbors. The ethnologist Stanislav Khatuntsev noted that in the course of their historical existence, the Poles largely lost many of the mental properties, components of the spiritual and material way of life of that ancient tribe and instead acquired the features of mental organization, material and spiritual culture, typical of the Celtic-Roman and Germanic peoples.
The Polish historian Franciszek Pekosinski, for example, put forward a theory about the dynastic origin of the Polish gentry, linking this with the reproduction of old Scandinavian runes in Polish coats of arms that he revealed, as well as with Scandinavian expressions found in the so-called “zavolan”. However, at one time the gentry themselves had a hand in proving the uniqueness of their genealogy.
We are Sarmatians
In the XV - XVII centuries, when the final stage of the formation of European peoples took place, interest in ancient literature was gaining momentum in the Old World. In ancient books, early modern thinkers searched for the origins of their states and nations. The Romance countries saw their roots in the Roman Empire, the Germans in the ancient Germanic tribes, and the Poles found their ancestors in the far East.
One of the first to put forward the idea of Sarmatism was the Polish historian Jan Dlugosz (1415-1480). He argued that the ancient writers and historians called the territory of Poland European Sarmatia, and the Poles were called "Saramats".
Later, this idea was consolidated by the astrologer Maciej Karpiga from Mechov (1457-1523) in his famous treatise "On the Two Sarmatians", which went through 14 editions in the 16th century. In his work, the author substantiated the significant difference between the Poles, as the descendants of the valiant Sarmatians from the Muscovites, descended from the barbarian tribe of the Scythians.
For the next several centuries, the idea of Sarmatism was dominant among the Polish aristocracy, turning from a fashionable romanticized hobby into a conservative political ideal - the Republic of the Szlachta, where wide democratic freedoms are available only to the elite.
The cornerstone of gentry Sarmatism was the "golden liberty", which was opposed to both servile despotic Asia and bourgeois, businesslike Europe. However, this did not prevent the gentry from combining both an oriental love of luxury and a purely European enterprise.
An echo of the ideology of Sarmatism was the so-called “Polish messianism”, which developed in the 17th-18th centuries, according to which the Poles, by virtue of their origin, should play a special role in the destinies of the world, and the Commonwealth should become “the stronghold of Christianity, the refuge of freedom and the granary of Europe.”
Emphasizing the uniqueness
The Sarmatian myth has always been an important ideological base for Poland, acting as an unofficial national idea. Polish historians have done a lot to strengthen the idea that the Sarmatian tribes really lived on the territory of Poland and laid the foundations of the Polish statehood.
The Sarmatian past served as a kind of standard, according to which the image of the ideal nobleman was cut. He, like his Sarmatian ancestor, is a courageous warrior, merciless to enemies, but at the same time a knight for whom honor and justice are not an empty phrase. Another hypostasis of the gentry is the Pole-tycoon, the custodian of the traditions of patriarchal antiquity, harmoniously fitting into the bosom of the rural idyll.
An important feature of Polish Sarmatism is the cultivation of a chivalrous attitude towards a woman, one of the components of which was the gallant custom of kissing a woman's hand. Supporters of the Sarmatian theory referred to the fact that the high position of women in society was unusual for other Slavic peoples. According to historians, the myth of the Sarmatian Amazons influenced the special status of women in gentry culture.
The image of the ideal gentry has firmly entered the genome of Polish identity over time. “Fearlessness, bordering on almost insanity, when a person goes to certain death in a white uniform, in a confederate shirt proudly shifted to one side, with a rose in his teeth, he knows that he will be shot in a minute, but he does not allow himself to leave this for a minute the image of an ideal Sarmatian knight was a reality of the Polish national character up to the 20th century,” writes journalist Tamara Lyalenkova.
We must not forget about the other side of the gentry worldview - the indefatigable arrogance with which the arrogant gentry distanced himself from the Lithuanians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians and even a significant part of the Poles who lived on the territory of the Commonwealth. In the terminological sense, this looked like a contrast between the Sarmatian elite and the peasant "cattle" (Bydło - working cattle), with which, among other things, the Slavs were associated.
Little in common
Sarmatism still exists in Polish culture today, however, being rather a form of ironic self-identification. Sometimes this word is used to emphasize the uniqueness of the Polish character, any differences from the Slavic neighbors.
Today, the divisions within the Slavic family are obvious, and there are many socio-political and cultural reasons for this. One of them dates back to about the 6th century AD - it was then, according to researchers, that the Proto-Slavic language common to all Slavs began to fall into disuse. As one thinker put it, "the Slavs used their national languages more to divide than to unite."
However, the differences between the Slavs are explained not only through history or language. The Polish anthropologist and bioarchaeologist Janusz Piontek writes that from a biological point of view, the Slavs can be attributed to different groups that originally inhabited Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, and they differ markedly from each other.
“Slavs and Poles have a lot in common. Poles with the Slavs - nothing. They are uncomfortable in their Slavism, uncomfortable to realize that they are from the same family as Ukrainians and Russians. The fact that we turned out to be Slavs is an accident,” states the Polish writer Mariusz Szczygel.
The events of the Second World War, the consequences of the collapse of the USSR in many ways alienated the Poles not only from everything Soviet, but also, to some extent, from what is the basis of the Slavic identity. The trend of recent decades, when the situation forces the citizens of Poland to look for work and better living conditions in the West, leads to the fact that the Poles began to feel more in common with the inhabitants of Great Britain and Germany than with Belarusians or Ukrainians.
Journalist Krzysztof Wasilewski in his article "Slavs against Slavs" calls the post-Soviet period in the history of Poland the years of transformation, when the Poles "at all costs tried to become like the West, dissociating themselves from everything that bore the imprint of the East."
It is quite natural that Polish historians seek out theories of common roots with anyone - with the Germans, Scandinavians, Sarmatians, with disgust regarding the words of the author of the oldest Polish chronicle Gall Anonymous: "Poland is part of the Slavic world."
I wanted to figure it out and write about the nobility. And as I started to look, I immediately noticed the parallels. So Ukrainian propaganda 1 in 1 repeats that the Poles wrote during the unification of Lithuania and Poland. And this united country immediately flourished rapidly, eventually falling apart just as quickly. But the cultural and ethnic landscape of this region emerged then.
To understand what is happening, you need to read about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Republic of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with vassals (diagonal lines) and magnate landholdings. There are many important things in this map:
nobility
The gentry was a noble class, but mostly land-poor (poor). During the war, they took up arms and became a noble militia. There is no European analogue here, it is sometimes compared with castes in India, for example, the Rajputs.
The gentry existed as a tribe, all gentry were considered brothers. Even the poorest but noble gentry, buckwheat farmers or hired workers (they were poorer than a wealthy serf - a peasant) had the same rights and golden liberty as the magnates who own the lands of more states.
The king, on the other hand, was perceived as an equal "pan-brother" and always reserved the right to refuse obedience - rokosh.
Noble gentry were distinguished by a special sense of dignity - "arrogance" (Latin honor - honor) and demonstrative courage.
But this word arose later, and at first they called themselves Lekhs. And the entire Polish state nation (Polyakhs) consisted of the gentry. They had democratic rights much greater than the citizens of most modern countries and cultivated such ideals as Honor, dignity, valor, as well as political ones: freedom, solidarity, collegiality.
The solidarity and equality of the gentry was expressed in the fact that each of those sitting in the Sejm had the right to veto.
Worthy occupations of the gentry in peacetime were considered hunting, feasts, dancing and other gallant pastimes.
Only the land tax was taxed on the gentry, corporal punishment, arbitrary courtless arrest could not be applied to them.
In separate, more poinerskie, eastern regions, the gentry could make up 1/3 of the population, for example, in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. In some areas, 1/2 of the people were gentry. In the metropolitan Krakow Voivodeship, the gentry accounted for only 1.7%.
After the partition of Poland, half of the Russian nobility was the nobility. They tried in every possible way to lower them, did not confirm their noble status and took away the economic basis. In the Russian Empire, part of the nobility was poorer than the serfs. But no matter how much money they have, this estate is not ennobled with honor, dignity and solidarity.
However, from the Commonwealth, surnames such as Chaikovsky, Miloradovsky, Dostoevsky, Razumovsky, Poltoratsky entered the Russian Empire.
In 1921, all gentry privileges were abolished in the new Poland. But this estate influenced the Polish national character.
Polonaise
"Polonaise is a royal dance that every Polish teenager should master." With sublime music. Originated in the 15th century. Dances started and ended with him, and in the middle they switched to something faster.
The earliest were group dances, then pair dances appeared. Perhaps this reflects a shift in the nature of society or another social function of dance.
Hodzon, on foot, goose, great, old-timer, old-world, slow...
Vampires dance the polonaise:
Sharashkova Gentry
Grey, tobish dressed as peasants. Chastkova gentry - the owners of part of the village. Golota gentry - landless, the lowest of the high. Walnuts and half panek.
The middle gentry - they owned at least a village or had some kind of title and position.
Commonwealth, what is it?
In Polish, the republic - "common cause" was translated as Rzhechpospolita, so that it sounded similar. The Russians could not pronounce this scary word and named it after the people.
It arose after the Union of Ljubljana, the unification of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. "Republic of both peoples" was invented after the disappearance. During its existence, there was power and not ethnic peoples.
The coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania are heraldically connected twice, so that no one is higher and lower or right and left.
German crusades
The Polish prince, Konrad of Mazovia, asked for help with the Prussian pagans. Then they scolded this help for a couple of centuries. As the Teutonic Order began to fight, it continued until the united Polish, Lithuanian and Russian troops defeated them at the Battle of Grunwald (Zalgiris).
Polish Winged Cavalry 
Grand Duchy of Lithuania- ON
As a result of the Crusades, a single Principality of Lithuania arose from the most distant Baltic lands. Pagans lived in the northwest of Lithuania (Zhmud, Samogitians), and Orthodoxy already existed in the east. After the Mongols, Russia ceased to exist and the Lithuanians seized these lands, but they took "Russian law" as laws, and the written Western Russian language, also known as Old Belorussian, self-named "Russian language" or "Russian language" became the state (clerical) language.
Lithuania has just left the tribal system and took over the already existing state organization.
At first, in the ON, the Lithuanian nobles were higher than the Russians. And then they leveled off. Know quickly passed into the language and customs of subjects. The tallest Lithuanians spoke Western Russian and were called bayars.
But even the nobility had only wealth and not rights and freedoms. In Lithuania, the harsh foundations of tribal leaderism were preserved and paganism was preserved. But on the other hand, the peasants were more equal, especially in Samogitia. Lithuania fought for the war, calling on all the people. Then Vytautas (Vytautas) the Great, following the European example, created an aristocracy - a class of professional military men.
The Lithuanian language is similar to Latvian, but in fact the peoples are completely different. Lithuanians are even more understood by Latvian Russians and Kakvazians.
In a Lithuanian folk song, it is sung that Lithuanian guys go to war to defend their country, many of them die, and then they appear like cuckoos and sing on a tree. Lithuanians also fed snakes with milk and left food at the graves, for their ancestors.
The ON was a multicultural and multi-religious country, far more so than the most liberal democracies of the EU. There were pagans, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, gentlemen Calvinists, Tatar Muslims, Litvak Jews, Karaite Jews, Russians of various nationalities and Scots.
Tatars were hired for the most difficult places in the military. Glinsky - Tatar family.
Kingdom of Poland
It existed long before Lithuania and in the opposite way. It was created according to the Western, Roman image, but rather even the ancient, republican one.
There are Western Slavs. To the west of Poland near Berlin there was even a Slavic Venice - in German wenden. In the Baltic before the Hanseatic League, mainly Scandinavians and Western Slavs traded.
Poland is not a maritime country and not a Wenden, it opposed Germany and included both Celtic and Germanic tribes. The population density there was much higher than in ON.
And where the nobility came from is not known. She often emphasized isolation, Sarmatian origin, or conquest by other Slavs. But they ruled almost like conquerors.
Galicia - Volyn Principality
After the collapse of united Russia, Galicia-Volyn principality became one of the important independent centers. It had close ties with the Golden Horde, was their vassals, moreover, the Galicians fought in alliance with the Horde. However, this did not help them, and this principality was quickly divided.
War for the Galician-Volynian inheritance - between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for possession of the territory of the weakened Galician-Volynian principality from 1340 to 1392.
But it has remained a separate entity, not quite Ukraine.
Later it was called by the mysterious name of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. (Vo)lodomeria, like Vladimir but with full publicity. And the other name is the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria with the Grand Duchy of Krakow and the principalities of Auschwitz and Zator. (Somehow, all the disgusting things came together.)
Litvins, Muscovites, well, the outskirts
In the region, the Russians were a large people, divided after the fall of Russia.
Those who lived in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were called Litvins. And the inhabitants of the Moscow Kingdom - Muscovites.
Union of Lublin
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania could not resist the growing Muscovy. In connection with the defeats, there was nothing left but to unite with the Kingdom of Poland. And the Poles offered them to unite on unequal terms and did not want to fight for nothing.
Mostly Poles were represented in the Sejm, and for military services, the Russian lands of Galicia and the outskirts (future Ukraine), including the "Wild Field" (uninhabited territory) and even Podlachie passed to the Kingdom.
And before that, the ties were close. The Lithuanian prince Jagiello (gailis - rooster) was baptized in Catholicism, taking the baptized name Vladislav, married the Polish princess Jadwiga and became the king of Poland, and thereby founded the Jagielon dynasty. But the kings were a separate estate and this did not mean that the countries were united.
During the Union of Lublin, the Polish author Stanislav Orekhovsky wrote the book "Pyramid", about the fact that in the Principality of Lithuania reigns arbitrariness, captivity and complete dependence on the owner, who can destroy the subject for the sake of a whim. And if the Lithuanians want to live like people, let them join the Kingdom of Poland:
"All principalities are a nasty thing, they do not correspond to human nature and are cursed by God."
Bondage, despotism and arbitrariness of masters dominate there, who can punish, corrupt and even destroy their subjects for the sake of all sorts of whims and not suffer any punishment for this.
The inhabitants of the principalities are beggars; they live in eternal poverty, need, being completely dependent on the owners. And only in the Kingdom does a person get real freedom and happiness. "He who does not live in the kingdom does not belong to free people. He is not a nobleman, he has no rights and lives forever in misfortune and poverty ...Every person in the principality is only a shadow of a person, not a real person."
Not a single Lithuania is free, each one depends on someone, but the Grand Duke rules over all, who from birth is the master of all. Therefore, "when we see people from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, we see slaves." None of the natives of the Principality, even the noble and rich, can compare in their rights with the free Poles.And if Lithuania wants to get out of that inborn bondage, let it carefully watch for an alliance with the Kingdom of Poland, persistently ask the Grand Duke, its hereditary master, and the Polish king about it.
And this is rather true. In the Baltic States such orders. This is probably why the population is fleeing from Lithuania and Latvia. And then the Russian nobility from the lands (Ukraine) that passed to Poland, and received a free status, became ardent enthusiasts of Polonization.
This is a very iconic story. These same slogans are heard from Ukraine. Only instead of Lithuania - "Mongolia", "Horde" or "Russian Federation" and "Putin".
After the union, the Lithuanian nobility was "adopted" into the Polish gentry families and received liberties. But the cities also received the Magdeburg Law, which guaranteed freedom. And they blossomed.
Russian nobility
The nobles of Russian families could well govern the state. Leo Sapekha was the Grand Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Samogitia. "Sapekha" sounds Ukrainian. This was even before the emergence of Ukrainians, and there were linguistic features, even from the tribes. Khodkevichi, Tisshkevichi sounds more like Belarusian, and Ilinichi already sounds Russian.
Over time, Russian nobles passed into the Polish gentry. They said: "the origin is Russian, the nation is Polish."
Many families had a crescent with a Star of David on their coats of arms. For example, the magnates Ostrogsky. At Korybutov, a cross towered over the crescent and the star of David.
Tycoons
Magnates appeared in the Republic, the same oligarchs. They were large landowners, 200 - 300 in the whole country, and of them 40 - 50 had enormous political influence. Land was then the main source of wealth. They were also called karmazins, according to crimson clothes (crimson jackets.)
More magnates were in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In Poland there was a movement "for the execution of rights", so that the King took the land from the magnates.
The Zamoyskis owned 1/4 of today's Estonia and many more possessions. The Radziwills owned vast lands. And their greatest dominance was on the territory of Ukraine: Ostrogsky, Vyshnevetsky, Zbarasky, Zaslavsky. However, even now there is the dominance of magnates Kolomoisky, Firtash, Akhmetov, and, well, Poroshenko ...
It was called magnateria, the same oligarchy.
Radziwills
In their estates in 1567, there were 28,170 households. 939 horsemen and 1586 infantrymen were put up for the troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
On the territory of Belarus, they belonged to the cities: Geraneny, David-Haradok, Kletsk, Koydanovo, Kopys, Lakhvu, Mir, Nesvizh, Chernavchitsy, Shchuchin, in Lithuania: Kedainiai, Dubingyai, Birzhai and many villages. After the Olelkoviches, the Slutsk Principality with Slutsk and Kopyl passed to the Radziwills.
In Lithuanian, Radivills, the oldest clan, according to legend, descended from Lithuanian pagan priests. Radivil, who converted to Christianity, became the founder. What could mean for the sake of forks - kindred to wolves. Motto: "God advises us."
On the coat of arms is a royal mantle. Also one of the benefits:
Surnames
The surnames of the Polish gentry were formed from the place of origin. Dambrova - oak forest, Dambrovka - oak grove. From Dambrowki or Dambrowski - from the oak grove. Later, due to prestige, other layers preferred to switch to such surnames.
In Polish Kuczynski, in Russian, a diphthong ij is added at the end.
Golden Liberty
Freedom in the old Polish way: when taking office, the king signed two documents: the constitution and the electoral promise to the Sejm.
And the golden liberty provided for rights, dignity and freedom, the opportunity to get together and choose their own policy. The gentry also had partial spiritual freedom from church clerics (freedom of opinion).
It did not provide for special rights for billionaires and the rich, as in Ukraine and the United States. Liberty was within the law and not from the law.
But they had the right to rokosh - rebellion.
Rokosh
This is the right of the nobility to a military uprising against the king. In the original, this was the name of the national assembly in Hungary, and then the general conciliarity of the gentry, not only the leash of deputies.
This measure is extraordinary. But if the king is leading the country to destruction, then why not?
Assembly, moguls in crimson 
Parliaments of all levels
The gentry locally gathered in sejmiks, in which they came to a definite opinion and then elected and instructed two ambassadors who were sent to the Sejm.
Local peasant issues were also resolved by the village assembly, in which the peasant elders, elders, etc. were represented. In them, the court was judged.
Jews and the economy
Unlike Western Europe, Rzeczpospolita and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a country of religious tolerance. And the economic life on the territory of Rzhechpospolita was determined by a bunch of gentry and Jews. The big nobility owned mills. They were sold to the Jews. Here, as in modern capitalism, on the one hand, the owner, investor and shareholder, and on the other, operational management.
The aristocracy had the exclusive right to sell alcohol. But the noble magnates themselves, of course, did not drive vodka, did not brew beer and kept taverns. These rights they handed over to the Jews. The estates received half of their income from alcohol.
A certain anti-Polish Governor-General of Belarus said that "Jews are making Russians drunk." And only to deprive the Polish aristocracy of income.
Well, there were a lot of Jews in Rzhechpospolita.
The biblical Noah had 3 sons. Shem became the forefather of the Jews. Japhet became the forefather of the nobility. And the son of Ham, cursed by Noah for sins, the forefather of the peasants. In Western Europe, it was believed that Ham became the forefather of Africans and other "black" peoples.
The Jewish religion was not an obstacle to joining the nobility. But according to some laws, the conversion to Christianity was rewarded with a nobilitation. But it was rare. It is mentioned that in the 18th century, some followers of Jakub Frank joined a certain local gentry of Jewish origin.
In addition to "nobilitation" in Polish, there was "congratulation" and a bunch of similar Slavic-Latin formations. It was considered good manners to speak both Polish and Latin at the same time.
Economic heyday
After unification in Rzhechpospolita, the country experienced rapid economic growth. To the west, the country exported food, timber, etc. Thanks to the Magdeburg Law, cities grew rapidly. In the sparsely populated territories (Ukraine), the masters attracted Mazury settlers. So is the exchange of technology and a greater space for trade.
Panshchina or corvee
But with the growth of exports, more and more were imposed on the peasants.
Initially, serfs were supposed to work day a week for the farmer. And then they increased their income by lengthening the corvee. As a result, the peasants did not even have enough time for their plots.
Polish peasants tried to emigrate to Western countries, and the authorities tried the other way around - to root. Laws were issued, if a peasant cultivates the owner's land for 10 years, he becomes a serf. Then the term was reduced by 1 year.
Nevertheless, the rich peasants had the right to pay off forced labor.
"Road corvee" in Estonia was abolished only in the 60s or 70s (in the ESSR). By law, the estates provided building materials, and the peasants provided transport and labor. Thus roads and bridges were maintained.
Duchy of Courland and Semigalle
The possessions of the Rzhechpospolita included the Prussian and Courland duchies, the lands of the crusaders. Livonia (Livonia) fell apart, Courland was annexed by the ON. And after 8 years, a condominium of Poland and Lithuania was established.
The Duchy of Courland was a vassal state and not part of the Republic, with an army limited by law. If in Livonia the state system was a theocracy, and the regions were ruled by bishops and the knightly order of the crusaders. Then the last landmaster of the order became a duke. And for the peasants they introduced the most advanced law in the world - serfdom.
Doesn't sound progressive. But during the creation of the Duchy, there were almost no cities there. And they chose the ducal castle in the center, Mittau, from die mitte - the center, now Jelgava, as the capital.
And the ducal dynasty of the Kettlers was advanced, traveled to the west and brought their children to the advanced countries. Following the example of Holland, they created a merchant fleet, opened fatcoria, where iron was smelted from marsh ore. Before that, there was only a collective farm and the military.
Courland, with 200,000 inhabitants, acquired for a short time two overseas colonies: Tobago and an African river island. These areas are shown on the map. Peasants were sent to the colony, for which they were promised to be given freedom.
These dukes are similar to Peter 1 and gradually drew closer to Russia. When Anna Romanova left Courland for St. Petersburg, the duke of another dynasty, Biron, actually ruled the Empire for some time.
The rest of Livonia (Inflandia), except for Estonia (northern Estonia), the Polish Republic owned directly. This territory was not advanced. The Republic has just issued a decree that the peasants will now have to be treated no worse than in Poland or Lithuania. During anarchy, even a craftsman had the right to hang a peasant.
I did not study about Prussia. Part of Prussia was part of Poland as a region, the other was a vassal state. It then eventually participated in the division of Poland and became that Germany.
Prussia had few war resources, but a well-trained army, so it was necessary to crush the opponents as quickly as possible - blitzkrieg.
In the coat of arms of the Dukes of Ketler, Courland and Semigallia are also connected so that not one part is not higher or on the right side:
Sarmatism
In the Kingdom of Poland, an idea similar to modern Eurasianism developed. The gentry considered themselves descendants of the Sarmatians, an ancient tribe of Iranian-speaking nomads. And so they got rid of the rest of the "simple" population. They wore deliberately oriental clothes, carried curved sabers. Used Circassian armor. But then they fought with the Middle Eastern states and adopted their methods of war.
Sarmatism strongly influenced the culture, they specially built their castles simplified, as it was assumed that this was how the Sarmatians should. There was a "Sarmatian portrait". They called the European aristocracy socks, after Western clothes.
Perhaps this ideology helped to keep many peoples and religions in one country, creating a single myth of the elites.
Sarmatism was led by the Polish historian Jan Dlugosz (1415-1480). The Sarmatians opposed themselves both to the West and to tyrannical Asia.
The Sarmatian myth is still alive. I remember the TV series "Sarmatian", where it was said, "we are all Sarmatians here." And the Ukrainians claim that they are descendants of the Sarmatians.
And to the south live the Hungarians. Although their nobility leads a genealogy from the steppe nomads with the language of Khanti and Mansi. Inhabitants of the Hungarian region of the Yasses are designated in the treaties as the descendants of the Alans, who are the descendants of the Sarmatians. In turn, the Ossetians are also descendants of the Alans.
The word "Sarmatian" remained in the Lithuanian language. In Poland, Sarmatian is already perceived somewhat ironically. In general, this is a book.
Jan Sobieski
The crown hetman and then the Polish king Jan 3 Sobieski, elected by the Sejm, completely defeated the Turkish and Crimean Tatar army in the Battle of Vienna. After that, Turkey ended the "magnificent century", which they show on TV.
A constellation is named after him, once the Shield of Sobieski, and now the Constellation of the Shield.
Cossack Hetmanate
In the outskirts, so to speak, known as the Lesser Poland region and Little Russia, there was a deserted "Wild Field". A "strange people" arose there, a kind of melting pot of specific personalities like the wild west. Russians, Tatars, gentry, some very noble families, and even Scots. Cossacks and the Ukrainian nation melted out of this cauldron.
In the Zaparozhian Sich, Slavic and Tatar culture was mainly mixed. The Cossacks are almost Slavic nomads, with Tatar weapons.
Ukraine, with the exception of the eastern regions, is a part of Russia, which the GDL transferred to the Kingdom of Poland under the Union of Lublin.
Polonization and catholization
The rapid success of the Kingdom of Poland hit them in the head. As a result, the state began to pursue a policy of Polonization. Education was in Polish and the aristocracy gradually switched to it. State texts were no longer published in Western Russian. Instead, they began to print in Lithuanian.
But Vilnius became Polonized and became a Polish city.
With the spread of the counter-reformation and the Western Jesuit order, Catholicism began to be imposed and other religions were persecuted (Jews became infidels).
For the sake of reconciliation of Orthodoxy and Catholicism, they created a common state - Greek Catholic or Uniate church.
It shook the foundations of the state.
One of the reasons for separating Ukraine and joining Russia was religious. The Russian Empire gave more rights to the common people; upon joining Russia, the Ukrainians were abolished serfdom. True, not for long - the Russian Empire, unlike the Republic, did not comply with the signed documents, everything was decided by the will of the tsar;)
It got to the point that today the Poles and Lithuanians have finally quarreled. They are united only in foreign policy, or rather American geopolitics.
End
Rapid success struck in the head and created the prerequisite for a fall.
The gentry, as an estate, crushed the estate of the townspeople, depriving them of all rights. Why did cities stop growing? For uselessness, the once good higher education has degraded. The industry did not develop either.
One part - Poland, crushed another - Lithuania, which did not help the general.
The right to veto led to the impossibility of any progressive change. Someone will always be dissatisfied. Even the convocation of the army was difficult.
The Poles believe that the Republic was ahead of its time, but in the late Middle Ages it was necessary to switch to absolutism. When decisions are made by royal decree, and although often wrong, they are quick.
True, the reason is in exclusively class solidarity. They would give the peasants a share of the liberties and dignity of the gentry, there would be fewer centripetal tendencies.
As a result, only 100 years after Jan Sobieski, the first division of the Commonwealth took place. It was followed by a second and a third, until everything was divided. And there was nothing left of the once mighty power.
Polish messianism
This philosophical current developed after the fall of the Republic. Then it was not the nobility that became the Polish people, but all Poles. The idea was created that the Polish people have special features and, relying on spiritual strength, carry a mission for the whole world. Poland as Jesus Chrestos. The heyday of this fell on the period of the uprising.
The Commonwealth was supposed to be "the stronghold of Christianity, the refuge of freedom and the granary of Europe." And the Polish people, as the descendants of the Sarmatians, must play a special role in the history of the world.
According to one version, Polish massianism developed due to close contact with Jews. In the possessions of the Polish Crown, a Jewish Hasidic movement arose, charismatic leaders appeared there, often recognized as the messiah. According to another, messianism came from the great religiosity of the Poles.
In general, in Latvia, too, some new savior appears for every election. And people believe in them. Yes, and the authorities in Latvia are mostly Polish and German and not Latvian or Swedish surnames.
The result of political messianism is rather negative than positive, there is only evil in foreign policy.
But on the other hand, if not all of these saviors relying on the power of the spirit, probably here (and in Poland) there was the same regime of thieves as in Ukraine and Moldova, who rely on the power of money.
Only they tend to start holy wars.
In Israel, too, such ideas are heard. Only there is still an ideology that all of us are enemies and wish evil (well, except for the saints of the USA), which prevents any cooperation.
In the already modern Poland there was the Jagiellonian Idea, the creation of a multicultural empire that would go to the east and impose its will there. And with this is the competing idea of the Piasts, of a nation-state at enmity with the Germans. That is the problem. (The main profession of the Poles is a historian.)
ON - Lithuania or Belarus?
Belarusian historians call the Grand Duchy of Lithuania none other than ancient Belarus. That historical figures come from the eastern part, from Belarus. And in the west there was nothing, not one city.
Lithuanian historians object to them that at that time the Lithuanians lived much to the east of present-day Lithuania. Tautwill, Vaishvilk, Goshtaut are not Slavic names and they themselves considered themselves Lithuanians.
Right somewhere in the middle. The fact that in Belarus the Balts turned into Slavs is also said by Lithuanian scientists. The state language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Western Russian had distinct features of the Belarusian language. And the first capital - Novogrudok (Novgorodik) was in Belarus.
Before the advent of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, there was Polotsk. And ON created by the example of what they saw.
No matter how big, progressively inclusive, noble and important the GDL is, the scary arrangements described in the "Pyramid" are similar to today's Lithuania and Latvia. Why is the population fleeing?
In the south of Belarus, a Slavic tribal association still lived - the Drevlyans, who fought with Kiev and the Varangians for dominance in Russia. But they lost.
Results:
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic is associated with Rzeczpospolita to me.
You can't cover everything in one article. But in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth there is an understanding of much that is happening now. Ukraine, Baltic States, Belarus and Israel. Cultures have intermingled there, and regional histories have become part of the national identity of some countries.
Modern Poland is not a very nice country with their nationalism. There are many radicals in the East. And unlike the gentry, it does not have an original culture. Is it possible to be proud that our cities, like in Germany, are only worse. Russia has its own architecture.
Favorite Polish componist Frederic Chopin does not catch on, unlike the same Chaikosvsky. This is some kind of faceless Europe.
And Lithuania, in my opinion, is a little horror movie.
ps
This post is a sword strike against tyranny, lawlessness, grassroots culture and fantasies of national purity.
