A veche [lower-alpha 1] was a type of popular assembly in the Middle Ages. [1] In Novgorod and Pskov, where the veche acquired great prominence, the veche was broadly similar to the Norse thing or the Swiss Landsgemeinde . [2]
A veche [lower-alpha 1] was a type of popular assembly in the Middle Ages. [1] In Novgorod and Pskov, where the veche acquired great prominence, the veche was broadly similar to the Norse thing or the Swiss Landsgemeinde . [2]
The word veche is a transliteration of the Russian "вече" (pl. веча, vecha), which is in turn inherited from Proto-Slavic *vě̑ťe (lit. 'council, counsel' or 'talk'), which is also represented in the word soviet , both ultimately deriving from the Proto-Slavic verbal stem of *větiti'to talk, speak'). There is a relation to "-vice" in "advice", and somewhat more distantly to Sanskrit वेद, veda, Germanic words like "wise" (English), weten ( Dutch for 'to know'), "witch" (Slavonic: věšt-ica) and many others, which however come from a different Indo-European root. Likewise, there exists misinformation claiming that the semantic derivation that yields the meaning of the word under consideration is parallel to that of congregation .
Procopius of Caesarea mentioned Slavs gathering in popular assemblies in the 6th century: [3]
But when the report was carried about and reached the entire nation, practically all the Antae assembled to discuss the situation, and they demanded that the matter be made a public one(...). For these nations, the Sclaveni and the Antae, are not ruled by one man, but they have lived from of old under a democracy, and consequently everything which involves their welfare, whether for good or ill, is referred to the people. [4]
The veche is thought to have originated in the tribal assemblies of Eastern Europe, thus predating the state of Kievan Rus'. [5] [6] The Poliane in Kiev, according to the Primary Chronicle , are said to have consulted among themselves (s"dumavshe poliane) before deciding to ultimately pay tribute to the Khazars. [3] The words duma and dumati are used in later instances to refer to the activities of the veche. [3] The Primary Chronicle also indicates the recognition of the people as a separate political agent in a 944 treaty with the Byzantine Empire: "And our grand prince Igor and his boyars, and the whole people of Rus have sent us". [3]
The earliest mentions of the veche in chronicles refer to examples in Belgorod in 997, [3] Novgorod in 1016, Kiev in 1068, and Pskov in 1123. The assemblies discussed matters of war and peace, adopted laws, and called for and expelled rulers. In Kiev, the veche was summoned in front of the Cathedral of St. Sophia. There are not many references of a veche in towns in the 11th century, but there are significantly more in the 12th century, with such references mostly concerning Novgorod and Pskov. [3] [7] Medieval chronicles, such as the Primary Chronicle, and the Novgorod First Chronicle for Novgorod especially, are the basic source regarding the veche. [3] The next generation of Russian chronicles, including the Suzdal Chronicle, are also important sources. [3]
The Novgorod veche was the highest legislative and judicial authority in the city until 1478, after Novgorod was formally annexed by Ivan III. [8] Each of the kontsy (boroughs or "ends") of Novgorod also had their own veche to elect borough officials. [7] The veche for the city selected the prince, posadnik and archbishop. [7]
Historians debate whether the Novgorod veche consisted of entirely free males or was instead dominated by a small group of nobles known as boyars. [7] Traditional scholarship argues that a series of reforms in 1410 transformed the veche into something similar to the public assembly ( Concio ) of the Republic of Venice; it became the lower chamber of the parliament. An upper chamber knowns as the Council of Lords (sovet gospod) was also created which oversaw the veche, [7] with title membership for all former city magistrates ( posadniki and tysyatskiye ). Some sources indicate that veche membership may have become full-time, and parliament deputies were now called vechniki. Some recent scholars call this interpretation into question.
The Novgorod veche could be presumably summoned by anyone who rang the veche bell, although it is more likely that the common procedure was more complex. The whole population of the city, including boyars, merchants, and common citizens, then gathered in front of the Cathedral of Saint Sophia or at Yaroslav's Court on the Trade Side. [7]
Of all other towns of Novgorod Land, the chronicles only mention a veche in Torzhok; however they possibly existed in all other towns as well. [9] [10]
The Pskov veche had legislative powers; it could appoint military commanders and hear ambassadors' reports. It also approved expenses such as grants to princes and payments to builders of walls, towers and bridges. [11] The veche gathered at the court of the Trinity Cathedral, which held the archives of the veche and important private papers and state documents. The veche assembly included posadniki (mayors), "middle" and common people. [12] Historians differ on the extent to which the veche was dominated by the elites, with some saying that real power was held in the hands of boyars, with others considering the veche to be a democratic institution. [13] Conflicts were common and the confrontation between the veche and the posadniki in 1483–1484 led to the execution of one posadnik and the confiscation of the property of three other posadniki who fled to Moscow. [14]
The veche functioned until 1510, when the city was formally annexed by Vasili III.
The veche, known in Poland as wiec, were convened even before the beginning of the Polish statehood in the Kingdom of Poland. [15] Issues were first debated by the elders and leaders, and later presented to all the free men for a wider discussion. [15] [16]
One of the major types of wiec was the one convened to choose a new ruler. [15] There are legends of a 9th-century election of the legendary founder of the Piast dynasty, Piast the Wheelwright, and a similar election of his son, Siemowit, but sources for that time come from the later centuries and their validity is disputed by scholars. [17] [18] The election privilege was usually limited to the elites, [15] which in the later times took the form of the most powerful nobles (magnates, princes) or officials, and was heavily influenced by local traditions and strength of the ruler. [19] By the 12th or 13th century, the wiec institution likewise limited its participation to high ranking nobles and officials. [16] The nationwide gatherings of wiec officials in 1306 and 1310 can be seen as precursors of the Polish parliament (the General Sejm). [16]
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.
The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles were a permanent contract between the "Polish nation" and a newly-elected Polish king upon his election to the throne. The document stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Pospolite ruszenie is a name for the mobilisation of 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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
A posadnik was a representative of the prince in some towns during the times of Kievan Rus', and later the highest-ranking official (mayor) in Novgorod and Pskov.
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 that the king could not pass laws without its the approval.
The Pskov Republic was a medieval state in northern Russia. Originally a principality and then a part of the Novgorod Republic, Pskov became an independent republic in 1348. Its territory was roughly equivalent to modern-day Pskov Oblast. Its capital city was Pskov.
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.
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.
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.
Serfdom in Poland existed on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland during the rule of the Piast dynasty in the Middle Ages. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
