The Union of Lublin
As the Jagiellon dynasty faced extinction, Sigismund II Augustus negotiated the Union of Lublin, signed on 1 July 1569. The Commonwealth that emerged was a constitutional oddity among European states: a single elected king governed both nations through a joint Sejm in which the nobility (szlachta) — roughly 10 per cent of the population — held ultimate sovereignty. The infamous liberum veto allowed any single nobleman to dissolve the Sejm and annul all its legislation. At its greatest extent the Commonwealth stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea, encompassing present-day Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Russia and Estonia. It was also one of the most religiously tolerant states in Europe: the Warsaw Confederation of 1573 guaranteed freedom of worship to all faiths, making it a refuge for Anabaptists, Unitarians, and Jews.
- Year: 1569 CE
- Category: Political
