450 years ago, the Union of Lublin was adopted - the state union of Poland and Lithuania

Meaning of the word union

The Jesuits, thanks to their clever techniques, overpowered Protestantism, sick and weak by division; but, having mastered Protestantism, the Jesuits immediately turned their attention to a more dangerous enemy - to the ancient Eastern, or Russian, confession that had taken deep roots among the people: the efforts of the Jesuits were now directed against it; against him they have aroused the fanaticism of the Catholic population, against him, but at their suggestions, a government is acting, clouded by fanaticism, unable to discern its own interests, thinking, or at least wanting to make others think, that the church union will cement the state union: a solid hope only in if this union had been accomplished calmly, without violence.

The venerable newspaper apparently does not know that the union itself is not Latinism at all, but only a convenient transition arranged by the Jesuits from Orthodoxy to Latinism, and therefore is not capable of influencing the formation of the national spirit to the same extent as positive religion; The union, like any spiritual mixture, had a generally harmful effect on the national character, but still it gave the Russian inhabitant the opportunity to keep his Russian nationality alive, to the extent that the union itself preserved the connection with the religion of the rest of Rus'.

but at the very least, he wants to make others think that the church union will strengthen the state union: a solid hope only if this union were accomplished calmly, without violence.

This danger was one of the reasons that in 1385 a union was concluded between Lithuania and Poland, the so-called Union of Krevo, under the terms of which the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello Olgerdovich (1348–1434, became a prince in 1377), having married the Polish queen Jadwiga, took (under the name of Vladislav II) the Polish throne and pledged in return to accept Catholicism together with his pagan subjects and to forever annex to Poland all the Lithuanian-Russian lands under his rule.

What is the Union of Lublin of 1569 worth, which united the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland peacefully into one state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or the Union of Brest of 1596, which proclaimed the union of two Christian denominations on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Orthodoxy and Catholicism!

When in 1439 at the Council of Florence a union was proclaimed, the unification of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the council of Russian bishops did not recognize this union and expelled Metropolitan Isidore, who signed this union.

The reluctance of the Lithuanian-Polish kings towards Orthodoxy should have especially intensified since the last union (in 1569) of Lithuania with Poland, when the cherished dream of these kings became to merge both states into one, vast, powerful, and when they clearly realized that the main thing An obstacle to this may be the difference of faith between the Russians and the Poles, and that for a complete political union, or union, of both, it is necessary to unite them by faith - church union.

The reluctance of the Lithuanian-Polish kings towards Orthodoxy should have especially intensified since the last union (in 1569) of Lithuania with Poland, when the cherished dream of these kings became to merge both states into one, vast, powerful, and when they clearly realized that the main thing An obstacle to this may be the difference of faith between the Russians and the Poles, and that for a complete political union, or union, of both, it is necessary to unite them by faith - church union.

Literature

• Bantysh-Kamensky, Historical news about the U. that arose in Poland, 1st ed., 1805, 2nd ed., 1866;
• M. Koyalovich, Lithuanian Church U., St. Petersburg, 1859 (here an extensive bibliography is given in the notes and a chronological list of polemical literature, modern U. is given);
• Metropolitan Macarius, History of the Russian Church, vol. 8 et seq.; With T. Golubev, Peter Mogila and his associates;
• V.B. Antonovich, Monographs on the history of Western Russia, vol. 1; V.G. Vasilevsky, Essay on the history of the city of Vilna; Kostomarov, Preparation of church teaching (“Monographs”, vol. 3); him, On the meaning of U. in the West. Russia, 1842;
• Flerov, About Orthodox church brotherhoods;
• A.A. Rapkov, Essay on the history of Western Russian Orthodox brotherhoods;
• I.A. Kulish, History of the Reunification of Rus';
• I. Slivov, Jesuits in Lithuania;

Concept and difference from confederation[ | ]

A union is a community of states headed by one monarch. The international significance of the union is small, sometimes it is simply insignificant; the union has a more noticeable impact on the political system, at least on the form of government. The political significance of the union is often also invisible, but it is still felt at least in matters of war. For legal reasons, a state of war between members of the union is unthinkable. It is difficult to imagine for the reason that the act of declaring war must be sanctioned by the head of state. In other words, if a member of the union intended to fight with another, the king would have to sign an act declaring war on one of his states against his other state, that is, on himself[1].

A union cannot be classified as a confederation[2]:

• A confederation arises with the participation of both republics and monarchies. Union arises only with the participation of monarchical states.
• A confederation is established by a treaty between states, and a union arises not on the basis of a treaty, but by virtue of one monarch having the right to the throne in two or more states. An agreement is not a prerequisite for the existence of a union, although it can be concluded by its participants.
• The actual political community of countries is a prerequisite for the existence of a confederation. Union, on the contrary, can well exist without close interstate ties and allied obligations.

Participants in the union retain their statehood, and the sovereignty of the monarch leading them is doubled, tripled, etc. In other words, one person becomes the owner of sovereign rights in several states simultaneously[2].

Background of the Brest-Litovsk Union

The Union of Brest is an agreement that gave birth to a new confession and has been controversial for many centuries.

In the 16th century, the Orthodox Church could not be called a model of morality and spirituality - it was experiencing a serious crisis. The emergence of the tradition of patronage, when the temple was actually the property of the patron magnate, introduced many secular features into religion. Even the townsfolk interfered in the affairs of the church. This refers to brotherhoods - city organizations that had the right to control even bishops. The Church has lost its influence and reputation as a defender of the rights of believers.

The Uniate movement resumed due to the activation of the Jesuits in Poland. Polemical texts about the benefits of the union appeared. Their authors were preachers and philosophers - Venedikt Herbest, Peter Skarga and many others.

The Uniates became more active after the “calendar reform” of Gregory XIII - as a result, the religious holidays of Orthodox and Catholics diverged in time. This infringed on the rights of the Orthodox population living on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

As a result of the complex influence of these reasons, the Union of Brest was signed.

Lublin Sejm

On January 10, 1569, the next Polish-Lithuanian Sejm opened on the outskirts of Lublin. The main agenda was the issue of the unification of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. Initially, the negotiations were difficult. The Lithuanian side outlined its own vision of the union:

• a general diet on the border of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland to select a king;
• coronation in Vilna by the Lithuanian crown;
• alternate passage of diets in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland;
• all government positions in Lithuania should belong only to Lithuanians.

The Polish mission did not agree on any of the points, putting forward its own demands:

• election of a king in Poland;
• coronation by the Polish crown;
• a single val Diet, Senate and coin.

On March 1, the Lithuanian delegation led by Nicholas “Red” Radziwill left the Sejm in protest. However, defeats in the Livonian War of 1558-1583 and the desire to enlist Polish support in the conflict with Muscovy did their job. In addition, the discontent of the Lithuanian gentry, who were not satisfied with the dominance of large landownership in the principality, was also important. Through the Sejm they hoped to obtain the same rights as in Poland.

Relying on the dissatisfied, Sigismund II Augustus signed a universal agreement in March 1569 on the annexation of the Podlaskie and Volyn voivodeships, Podolia and Kyiv to the Kingdom of Poland. However, there was no unity among the opposition gentry either. Some supported the king’s actions, others advocated an alliance with Moscow. To deal with the latter, Sigismund II Augustus threatened with confiscation of estates and deprivation of positions, which is why many nevertheless chose to swear allegiance to him. At the same time, the success of this annexation inspired the Polish gentry. Opinions were voiced that the whole of Lithuania should be annexed in a similar way, banning the name “ON” and replacing it with the term “New Poland”.

In view of the king's actions, the Lithuanian delegation returned to the Diet. However, now she was not interested in the question of union. The gentry demanded the return of the territories taken from Lithuania. In retaliation, the Polish side began to refer to the capture of Kyiv by King Boleslav the Brave in the 11th century, thus denoting Poland's historical right to these territories. In addition, the Lithuanian delegation was reminded that it independently left the Sejm at a time when the issue of transferring the disputed lands from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Poland was being decided.

On April 5, the Lithuanian delegation, but already under the leadership of Jan Chodkiewicz, outlined new demands: the return of annexed territories, as well as the restoration of the privileges taken away from Lithuania. It was refused on all counts. Moreover, the former Lithuanian nobles, who finally received Polish liberties, expressed their disagreement especially zealously.

On May 24, 1569, using the same method, Poland annexed the Kiev and Bratslav voivodeships. Only Pinsk and Brest with their districts remained under the control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

On June 27, 1569, the Lithuanian side agreed to a union according to the Polish scenario. On June 28, the official signing took place. On July 1, both sides ratified the treaty. In addition, additional ratification was carried out by the Polish King at Lublin Castle on July 4th. However, a number of issues still required resolution. This mainly concerned the distribution of positions. Therefore, the work of the Sejm continued until August 12, 1569 inclusive.

Assessments of the Union of Lublin in historiography

Polish historians view the phenomenon of RP from a positive side. The constitutional unification made it possible to spread Catholicism, as well as the Polish language and Polish culture, among peoples who had not previously belonged to them. At the same time, the union marked the formation of a new state, which had a significant role in Europe over the next two hundred years. It is noteworthy that to this day the Poles themselves call their state “Rzeczpospolita Polska”.

However, the union also had negative consequences, not only for the Lithuanians, but also for the Poles themselves. By uniting states, the king hoped to carry out political reforms. But the provisions enshrined in the union did not strengthen royal power, which was typical of other European monarchies of the 16th century (the era of absolutism), but only weakened it, giving full powers to the gentry. This provoked an increase in corruption and decentralization of government power. In addition, the union enshrined the principle of “liberum veto”: decisions of the Sejm could come into force only after a unanimous vote. Thus, one person could paralyze the work of the entire organ, which often happened in practice, bringing the collapse of the RP closer.

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The essence of the agreement in Krevo

According to the agreement, Jagiello became the king of Poland. This imposed a number of obligations on him:

• The new ruler pledged to spread the Latin alphabet in Lithuania.
• Jagiello had to pay Duke Wilhelm of Austria compensation for a broken marriage contract, according to which the latter had to take Jadwiga as his wife.
• It was necessary to introduce Catholicism in Lithuania.
• Jagiello was supposed to return the lands of former Rus' to Poland and increase the territory of the kingdom. The Lithuanian and Polish union obliged him to increase the number of prisoners.

Simply put, Jagiello became a single ruler for Lithuania and Poland, but at the same time the monetary system and treasury, legislation, customs rules remained separate, there was a border, there were separate armies for each member state of the agreement. The Union of Krevo caused disagreement on the part of the nobility of Lithuania and former Rus', but served as the basis for the union in Lublin. The territory of Poland increased.

Literature[ | ]

• Union // Uzhi - Fidel. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1956. - P. 244. - (Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 51 volumes] / chief editor B. A. Vvedensky; 1949-1958, vol. 44).
• Aranovsky K.V. State law of foreign countries: Textbook for universities. — M.: Lawyer. 1999
• Kovachev D.A. Constitutional law of European states. — Moscow, 2005
• Gukepshokov M.Kh.
  Problems of classification of forms of state. — Abstract of the dissertation of candidate. legal Sci. - Saratov, 1999. - 28 p.

In the dictionary Dictionary of foreign words

and, f.

1. The unification of two monarchical states under the rule of one monarch.

2. The unification of some Orthodox churches with the Catholic Church under the authority of the Pope based on the recognition of Catholic dogma while preserving traditional forms of Orthodox ritual. | One of the most famous unions is the unification of the Orthodox and Catholic churches in the Ukrainian regions of Poland, which took place in the 16th century. and existed until the 40s. 20th century

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