The Polish Way - A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and their Culture by Adam Zamoyski is an intelligently written summary of Polish history from the year 1000 AD to current. It is possible this author is a descendant of a previous Polish Chancellor, so is in a good position to be well aware of Polish history.
Polish history is highly intermingled with European history but often from the opposite point of view from traditional Western European history. For instance while Germany, France, and Britain were consolidating absolute dynastic power; Poland was transferring power from the elected king to the Polish Sejm (parliament) where "The King reigns but does not govern".
Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, founder of the
city of Zamosc.
Wikipedia: Polish-Lithuanian_Commonwealth
The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the "Golden Liberty" (Polish: Zlota Wolnosc, a term used from 1573 on), included:
- free election of the king by all nobles wishing to participate;
- Sejm, the Commonwealth parliament which the king was required to hold every two years;
- pacta conventa (Latin), "agreed-to agreements" negotiated with the king-elect, including a bill of rights, binding on the king, derived from the earlier King Henry's Articles.
- rokosz (insurrection), the right of szlachta to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated their guaranteed freedoms;
- liberum veto (Latin), the right of an individual Sejm deputy to oppose a decision by the majority in a Sejm session; the voicing of such a "free veto" nullified all the legislation that had been passed at that session; during the crisis of the second half of the 17th century, Polish nobles could also use the liberum veto in provincial sejmiks;
- konfederacja (from the Latin confederatio), the right to form an organization to force through a common political aim.
Much current republic and democratic thought is built off the trials and tribulations the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth endured through tools such as the free veto, weakening Poland's ability to govern itself when it was the largest and most powerful European nation through the 1500's and 1600's. Thereby creating the need to
ask Russia for police control, allowing Russia to step in and develop into the relatively stronger, meddlesome, and controlling nation we know today.
Polish noble heritage embodies Sarmation history from the 5th century BC to 4th century AD, opening an older historical subject. The Polish noble with Sarmation fashion developed the rich and opulent Polish Knight with jeweled golden sword hilts, eagle feathers, furs, with steeds dyed numerous rich colors for show. In battle, the
Polish Hussar cavalry with the eagle feathers extending behind and above were the most formidable of their time until gunpowder and firearms ruined their effectiveness. All of this extravagant gallantry was in stark contrast to the brutal British knights we are more familiar with, as well as the German Teutonic Knights who gave up all personal belongings upon joining the monastic ranks to hold back the pagans from the northeastern regions of Poland in what is now Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the exclave of Russia's Kaliningrad. Much of Hitler's propaganda to motivate his soldiers in WWII referred to the Spartan-like discipline and battle effectiveness of the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Knights were based in
Malbork Castle, supposedly the largest castle in Europe. The Teutonic Knights controlled most of the amber trade through Europe since most amber comes from the southern shores of the Baltic Sea and this was the area controlled by the Knights.
Wikipedia: History of Poland (1569–1795) - My favorite Polish artwork is on this page.
Wikipedia: History_of_Poland
Wikipedia: Polish-Lithuanian_Commonwealth
Wikipedia: Polish_hussars
Wikipedia: Teutonic_Knights
Wikipedia: Sarmatism
Wikipedia: Sarmatians
Wikipedia: Royal Castle in Warsaw
Wikipedia: History of the Royal Castle in Warsaw
The best Polish artwork of the time is displayed by
Jan Matejko. His works are proudly displayed in the Royal Castle and National Museum in Warsaw, Poland on large canvases often 10'x40' in size.
Google Images - Matejko
Google Images - Royal Castle Warsaw
More Polish artwork
Much is described in the book, The Polish Way, with many entertaining stories. One such story involves an early Polish King forced to flee an insurrection when the people crushed his testicles to prevent him from having any children to inherit the throne. Then there is the story of the elected French King who abdicated the Polish throne in the middle of a cold winter night without telling anyone to claim his inherited throne in France, forcing the Polish people to track him down and humbly ask him to be king of both France and a remote king of Poland at the same time.
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