Slavery in Poland

Last updated

Serfdom in Poland existed on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland during the rule of the Piast dynasty in the Middle Ages. [1] It continued to exist in various forms until late in the 14th century when it was supplanted by the institution of serfdom, which has often been considered a form of modified slavery.

Contents

Terminology

Polish literature refers to this group of people as "unfree people" (Polish : ludzie niewolni, Latin : servi, ancillae, familia) rather than as slaves (niewolnicy). [1]

History

The institution of slavery as practiced in the Polish territories during the Early Middle Ages played a lesser economic or cultural role than in other states such as Roman Empire where slavery played a crucial role in keeping its economy alive. [2] It existed on the territory of Kingdom of Poland during the times of the Piast dynasty; [1] with the number of slaves rising significantly when Polish state was established, as most of the slaves were owned by the king. [3]

According to Samuel Augustus Mitchell, non-free people were emancipated in Poland in 1347 under the Statutes of Casimir the Great issued in Wiślica. [4] Although there are indications that some form of slavery, in practice and law, continued at least till the end of the 14th century. [5] Throughout the remaining history of feudal Poland, particularly in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, much of the peasantry was subject to serfdom, which was often likened to slavery. [6] [7] Serfdom was abolished in Poland in the 19th century during the times of the partitions of Poland.

Features

The slaves came primarily from the ranks of prisoners of war, and were treated as a commodity destined mostly for the largest slave market of its age—Prague. Later, between the 11th and 12th century, ransom was popularised due to acceptance of Christianity, but it covered prisoners of prominence mostly. Some people could also become enslaved due to their inability to pay off their debts, and occasionally enslavement was used as substitute to a death sentence. Children of niewolni was in default categorized as part of the slavery class, since they belonged to the king or knights. Niewolni owned by the king were organized in units of tens and hundreds. [1] Those who were not owned by the monarch were among the few in the Kingdom of Poland that could not rely on royal justice. [8]

Niewolni had a limited right to relocate themselves, and could own possessions. [9] Over time, their numbers decreased due to various reasons. Some of them were able to escape and some were favored as their owners saw them to be more profitable when they are used as peasants (Polish : czeladź, Latin : servi casati) rather than servants. Czeladź would have their own house, and would be little different from regular peasants or serfs. [1]

Present day

Slavery is illegal in Poland. Poland is part of the European G6 Initiative Against Human Trafficking. [10] Contemporary slavery however still persists in Poland, just as it does in the rest of the world. According the Global Slavery Index, there were 128,000 people living in the condition of modern slavery in Poland as of 2019. [11]

Types of slavery found in Poland include forced labor, forced begging, and forced criminality. [12] [13] Sectors of the Polish economy considered most vulnerable to slavery and other forms of exploitation include agriculture, construction, food processing, housekeeping and cleaning, although problems have also been found in the industrial production and catering sectors. [14] Some of the people subject to forced labour in Poland were from temporary workers from North Korea. [15] [16] [17] Common techniques for trafficking people into slavery from other countries include false job promises, high fees or alleged debts, rape, and withholding the person's documentation. False offers of employment are usually for sales or agricultural work. Many trafficking victims from Bulgaria and Ukraine are forced into sex slavery. [18]

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<i>Pacta conventa</i>

Pacta conventa was a contractual agreement, from 1573 to 1764 entered into between the "Polish nation" and a newly elected king upon his "free election" to the throne. It declared policies the King would enact once on the

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henrician Articles</span> Contract between the King of Poland and Polish nobility

The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles were a constitution in the form of a permanent agreement made in 1573 between the "Polish nation" and a newly-elected Polish king and Lithuanian grand duke upon his election to the throne. The Articles were the primary constitutional law of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pospolite ruszenie</span> Mobilisation of armed forces in Poland–Lithuania

Pospolite ruszenie was the wartime mobilisation of all or a specific part of able-bodied male population of the state into armed forces during the period of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The tradition of wartime mobilisation of part of the population existed from before the 13th century to the 19th century. In the later era, pospolite ruszenie units were formed from the szlachta. The pospolite ruszenie was eventually outclassed by professional forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veche</span> Medieval popular assembly

A veche was a popular assembly during the Middle Ages. The veche is mentioned during the times of Kievan Rus' and it later became a powerful institution in Russian cities such as Novgorod and Pskov, where the veche acquired great prominence and was broadly similar to the Norse thing or the Swiss Landsgemeinde.

<i>Liberum veto</i> Parliamentary device in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

The liberum veto was a parliamentary device in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a form of unanimity voting rule that allowed any member of the Sejm (legislature) to force an immediate end to the current session and to nullify any legislation that had already been passed at the session by shouting either Sisto activitatem! or Nie pozwalam!. The rule was in place from the mid-17th century to the late 18th century in the Sejm's parliamentary deliberations. It was based on the premise that since all of the Polish–Lithuanian noblemen were equal, every measure that came before the Sejm had to be passed unanimously. The liberum veto was a key part of the political system of the Commonwealth, strengthening democratic elements and checking royal power and went against the European-wide trend of having a strong executive.

A rokosz originally was a gathering of all the Polish szlachta (nobility), not merely of deputies, for a sejm. The term was introduced to the Polish language from Hungary, where analogous gatherings took place at a field called Rákos. With time, "rokosz" came to signify an armed, semi-legal rebellion by the szlachta of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against the king, in the name of defending threatened liberties. The nobles who gathered for a rokosz formed a "confederation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederation (Poland–Lithuania)</span>

A konfederacja was an ad hoc association formed by Polish–Lithuanian szlachta (nobility), clergy, cities, or military forces in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for the attainment of stated aims. A konfederacja often took the form of an armed rebellion aimed at redressing perceived abuses or trespasses of some authority. Such "confederations" acted in lieu of state authority or to force their demands upon that authority. They could be seen as a primary expression of direct democracy and right of revolution in the Commonwealth, and as a way for the nobles to act on their grievances and against the state's central authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Sejm</span> 1788–1792 Polish-Lithuanian parliament

The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm was a Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Warsaw between 1788 and 1792. Its principal aim became to restore sovereignty to, and reform, the Commonwealth politically and economically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sejmik</span> One of local parliaments in the history of Poland and Lithuania

A sejmik was one of various local parliaments in the history of Poland and history of Lithuania. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies in the Kingdom of Poland, though they gained significantly more influence in the later era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sejmiks arose around the late 14th and early 15th centuries and existed until the end of the Commonwealth in 1795, following the partitions of the Commonwealth. In a limited form, some sejmiks existed in partitioned Poland (1795–1918), and later in the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939). In modern Poland, since 1999, the term has revived with the voivodeship sejmiks, referring to the elected councils of each of the 16 voivodeships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal elections in Poland</span> Individual elections of kings in Poland

Royal elections in Poland were the elections of individual kings, rather than dynasties, to the Polish throne. Based on traditions dating to the very beginning of the Polish statehood, strengthened during the Piast and Jagiellon dynasties, they reached their final form in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth period between 1572 and 1791. The "free election" was abolished by the Constitution of 3 May 1791, which established a constitutional-parliamentary monarchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth</span> Parliament of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

The General Sejm was the bicameral legislature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 following the merger of the legislatures of the two states, the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was one of the primary elements of the democratic governance in the Commonwealth. The sejm was a powerful political institution. The king could not pass laws without its approval.

The Cardinal Laws were a quasi-constitution enacted in Warsaw, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, by the Repnin Sejm of 1767–68. Enshrining most of the conservative laws responsible for the inefficient functioning of the Commonwealth, and passed under foreign duress, they have been seen rather negatively by historians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliusz Bardach</span> Polish legal historian

Juliusz Bardach was a Polish legal historian. Professor of the University of Warsaw, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He specialized in the history of governance and law of Lithuania and Poland.

Abolition of serfdom in Poland occurred over a period of time. At the end of 18th century a reform movement in Poland resulted in the Constitution of 3 May 1791 which took the peasantry under protection of state. Full abolishment of serfdom was enacted by the Proclamation of Połaniec on 7 May 1794, but it was also short-lived as Poland got partitioned by her neighbours in 1795, beginning first 12 years of Polish inexistence as an independent state (1795-1807) and later another 103 years (1815-1918). In the 19th century various reforms on Polish territories were taking place. Namely in all three of the Austrian partition, Prussian partition and the Russian partition. Serfdom was abolished in Prussia in 1807, in Austria in 1848, in Russia in 1861. Despite these facts 7 May 1794 remains the date serfdom was abolished in Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw</span> Parliament of the Duchy of Warsaw. It was created in 1807 by Napoleon

Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw was the parliament of the Duchy of Warsaw. It was created in 1807 by Napoleon, who granted a new constitution to the recently created Duchy. It had limited competences, including having no legislative initiative. It met three times: for regular sessions in 1809 and 1811, and for an extraordinary session in 1812. In the history of Polish parliament, it succeeded the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and was followed by the Sejm of the Congress Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serfdom in Poland</span> Unfree peasant class of early modern Poland

Serfdom in Poland became the dominant form of relationship between peasants and nobility in early modern Poland during the 16th-18th centuries, and was a major feature of the economy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, although its origins can be traced back to the 12th century.

The opole is a historical unit of administration in Poland. An opole was characterised by close geographical ties between a group of settlements and common legal responsibilities collectively affecting all of them. The institution of the opole predates the Kingdom of Poland, and began disappearing around the 13th to 15th centuries. It was the lowest unit of administration in the medieval Polish kingdom, subordinate to the castellany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobility privileges in Poland</span> Pre-1795 political system

The privileges of the szlachta formed a cornerstone of "Golden Liberty" in the Kingdom of Poland and, later, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795). Most szlachta privileges were obtained between the late-14th and early-16th centuries. By the end of that period, the szlachta had succeeded in garnering numerous rights, empowering themselves and limiting the powers of the elective Polish monarchy to an extent unprecedented elsewhere in Europe at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Army of Congress Poland</span>

Army of the Congress Poland (Polish: Wojsko Polskie Królestwa Kongresowego, Russian: Армия Царства Польского) refers to the military forces of the Kingdom of Poland that existed in the period 1815–1831.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland</span> Parliamentary body of the Kingdom of Poland

The General Sejm was the parliament of the Kingdom of Poland. It had evolved from the earlier institution of Curia Regis and was one of the primary elements of democratic governance in the Polish dominion.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, pp.40–41
  2. ↑ Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.18
  3. ↑ Stefan Inglot; Jan Borkowski (1992). Historia chłopów polskich. Wydawn. Uniw. Wroc·lawskiego. p. 30. ISBN   978-83-229-0756-6 . Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1859). A general view of the world: comprising a physical, political, and statistical account of its grand divisions ... with their empires, kingdoms, republics, principalities, &c.: exhibiting the history of geographical science and the progress of discovery to the present time ... Illustrated by upwards of nine hundred engravings ... H. Cowperthwait & Co. p. 335. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Anna Klubówna (1982). Ostatni z wielkich Piastów. Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza. p. 85. ISBN   978-83-205-3317-0 . Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  6. ↑ Jerzy Lukowski (3 August 2010). Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 185. ISBN   978-1-4411-4812-4 . Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  7. ↑ Larry Wolff (1 June 1996). Inventing Eastern Europe: the map of civilization on the mind of the enlightenment. Stanford University Press. p. 100. ISBN   978-0-8047-2702-0 . Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  8. ↑ Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.75
  9. ↑ Helena Radlińska (1908). Z dziejów narodu: wypisy z źródeł i streszczenia z opracowań historycznych. Nakładem i drukiem M. Arcta. p. 212. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  10. ↑ Hepburn, Stephanie; Simon, Rita J. (2013). Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 328.
  11. ↑ "Maps | Global Slavery Index". www.globalslaveryindex.org. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  12. ↑ "2017 Trafficking in Persons Report: Poland". U.S. Department of State. Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  13. ↑ Lasocik, Zbigniew; Rekosz-Cebula, Emilia; Wieczorek, Łukasz (October 2014). "Human Trafficking for Forced Labour in Poland – Effective prevention and Diagnostics of Mechanisms" (PDF). Council of the Baltic Sea States. ADSTRINGO Poland and Russia: Addressing Trafficking in Human Beings for Labour Exploitation through Partnership, Enhanced Diagnostics and Improved Organizational Approaches. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  14. ↑ Lasocik, Zbigniew; Rekosz-Cebula, Emilia; Wieczorek, Łukasz (October 2014). "Human Trafficking for Forced Labour in Poland – Effective prevention and Diagnostics of Mechanisms" (PDF). Council of the Baltic Sea States. ADSTRINGO Poland and Russia: Addressing Trafficking in Human Beings for Labour Exploitation through Partnership, Enhanced Diagnostics and Improved Organizational Approaches. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  15. ↑ Weis, Sebastian; Freundt (27 February 2017). "Cash for Kim: North Korean Forced Laborers in Poland". VICE. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  16. ↑ "Poland : A "land of possibilities" or modern slavery in Europe". Cafébabel. March 20, 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  17. ↑ Hinshaw, Drew; Ojewska, Natalia (January 26, 2018). "How Workers in Europe Earned Money for North Korea—Until Now". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  18. ↑ Hepburn, Stephanie; Simon, Rita J. (2013). Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 359.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.