Historical Calendar: October 28, 1423 – giving Wartsky Privilege

Historical calendar – anniversary of the granting of the alleged Wartsky Statute by King Władysław Jagiello. It was 1 of a series of noble privileges.

Today in our calendar we will look at the situation in Poland after the triumph over the Teutonic Knights and the conclusion in 1411 of the Toruń Peace.

After the war with the Order, the relations with the Czechs were softened, culminating in exit in Lubovla in 1412. During its course, the king of the Czech Republic gave Poland 13 Spiš cities as compensation for unpaid receivables by the Teutonic Knights.

Soon fresh wars broke out with the Order. The armed conflicts of 1414 and 1422 did not lead to decisions, but confirmed the military advantage of the Polish side. The Teutonic Knights, fearing a fresh defeat in accordance with Grunwald or Crown, locked themselves in locks and avoided clashing with the Polish army in the field. Poles in turn were not willing to lead long-term sieges, so they did not take them. The situation continued until the end of Jagiello's reign.

The King of Poland focused on deepening his union with Lithuania. It was strengthened by an agreement signed in Horodle in 1413. Both parties undertook to agree on the choice of the Polish King and the Grand Duke of Lithuania at rallies.

Although Lithuania's state distinctness was preserved, it introduced a territorial division, known from Poland, into voivodships and chestnuts. Lithuanian fighters gained many fresh privileges that brought them closer to the Polish nobility. The symbol of the fresh times was the authoritative reception by 47 Polish noble families, militant families to their coat of arms.

Thanks to political stableness in the east, the Polish component has developed rapidly in trade and colonization of Russian lands. The second and 3rd decades of the 15th century were besides a period of economical change in Poland. Wood, coal, tar, fur, cattle for slaughter and another goods began to be exported to Western Europe. In particular, grain exports were steadily increasing.

Growing and wealthier land estates were formed, which were geared solely to profitable agricultural production. The increase in wealth of landowners rapidly caused centrifugal tendencies that aimed at further expanding the importance of the noble state. Collected on an expedition against the Knights, knighthood demanded fresh rights. The privilege of Czerwiński from 1422 guaranteed them immunity without a court judgement and judging only on the basis of written rights.

In addition, a ban on acting simultaneously as justice and castelain was established, i.e. the division of power into executive and judicial. In 1423, in the alleged Warti Statute, the king restricted the right of peasants to leave the village and guaranteed the right of the nobility to remove the "croward" chiefs by buying out the village. A very economically harmful provision of the statutes was the introduction of the alleged voivod tax, i.e. the right of voivods to set maximum prices for urban craft products.

This law, which existed until the times of partitions, perpetuated the dominance of the nobility over burgherhood, and in the long run hampered the improvement of craftsmanship and trade. In turn, the privileges of the Jewish-Krakowski years 1430-1433 introduced the rule neminem captivabimus It means the integrity of the nobles. Since then, no nobleman could go to prison without a court sentence.

The nobility privileges given during the time of Władysław Jagiełła became the basis on which the strategy of nobility dissmocracy was formed in Poland. Since then, power in the state was concentrated in the hands of 1 of the states, which gradually increased its advantage over others.

Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.