Belarusian gentry incl. Sarmatism of the nobility as the ideology and identity of the nobility of the Great Moravian territories: the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Commonwealth, Poland, Prussia

published last name list the gentry absorbed the knighthood of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - the inhabitants of Brest, Vilna, Vitebsk, Volyn, Inflyatsky, Kyiv, Minsk, Mstislav, Novogrudok, Podolsk, Smolensk, Trotsky voivodships and the Principality of Samogitia, as well as a lennik ON- Principality of Courland and Semigallia. It was based on the database "Associations of the Belarusian nobility", which was reworked in accordance with the task. The register includes the names of only those families that were recognized by the gentry, received nobilitation, titles or indigenat before 1795.

What is Lithuanian nobility? And what is its difference from the Polish gentry? The answer to this question is given by gentry. On the basis of archival data, namely, the self-identification of the origin of families proving their gentry in the provincial noble deputations, an approximate analysis of its composition was made. The largest group (about 40-45%) are Litvins (today's Belarusians), as well as Rusyns (one of the populations of today's Ukrainians). The second largest group is formed by ethnic Poles, about 25-30%. Next come the Germans (as a rule, immigrants from Courland and Prussia) and the Samogitians (today's "flyers", an analysis of the etymology of surnames - see below). origin of the surname) - 10-15% each. No more than 5% are representatives of all other ethnic groups combined: Tatars, Swedes, Danes, Dutch, Jews, French, Scots, Italians, etc.

Summing up, we note that Polish nobility(i.e. the nobility of the Polish Crown) differed from the Lithuanian only in terms of the proportion of its ethnic composition, mainly in the more pronounced percentage predominance of the Polish ethnic group (including the ethnic groups of Masurians, Kashubians, Gorals, etc.) over the Litvino-Rusyns.

A common feature for both privileged estates of the Commonwealth was polyethnicity, which was more clearly manifested among the inhabitants of Great Lithuania. This is explained, first of all, by the extermination and deportation of the population of its eastern provinces and the subsequent migration of "crown", and not only, inhabitants to these depopulated and devastated lands after the historical events of the 17th century, described by Gennady Saganovich in the book "Unknown War".

Y. Lychkovsky.

* A cross (†) denotes extinct genera.

** For a more accurate grammatical rendering of the spelling of surnames, the letter "Ґ" was introduced, corresponding to the letter of the Latin alphabet "G". The letter "G" corresponds to the letter of the Latin alphabet "H".

"Who are the gentry? - Knightly training of the gentry in the XVI-XVII centuries."

In the literature that deals with the history of Poland, one way or another, the word "gentry" is found. Most modern people have no idea what it is, but for the Poles, the estate of the gentry has been an integral element of national pride for many centuries.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia in the third volume gives such a definition to the word "gentry" (pol. szlachta, from ancient slata - breed, origin, genus) - in a number of countries of Eastern Europe, the name of the main part of the ruling feudal class, noble families of intellectuals who belonged to the elite of society ..

In Polish society, only persons of royal blood stood above the gentry. The gentry in the history of Poland is a noble class, the knights themselves or their descendants. Nominally, at the time of its appearance, the gentry was the lowest class of secular landowners - the knights. Soon this estate began to play an important role in Polish society and the state.

The history of the formation of the gentry

At the beginning of the second millennium, a new rule for the appointment of knights appeared in Poland, which was not originally fixed in written documents. The knights had to come from a certain clan, which would accept them into their ranks. The formation of clans took place on the basis of uniting around powerful clans that had extensive territorial possessions or great power in the country. Most of these clans adopted the Polish-speaking population; foreign knights, who wanted to join a noble family and thus secure a high position in society, came mainly from German lands and came to Poland as a result of expansion. Initially, the gentry did not have a particular influence on the political life of the country and was not very numerous, but over time it was transformed into a powerful layer of citizens, and by the 16th century Poland had the largest number of privileged citizens than any other European country. There were about 25 thousand gentry families, which in general accounted for 6.7% of the total population of the country.

The Polish gentry was not homogeneous in its composition, it was divided into three unequal branches: magnates-gentry, middle gentry and petty gentry. Among the magnates there were eight to ten families who owned the most important strategic territories in the state and held high positions in government. Pototskys and Radziwills can be distinguished among such genera. In addition to direct influence through senatorial posts and financial leverage on state policy, they also had their own armies, which allowed them to actually feel unpunished, no matter what they did.
Each clan of those that belonged to the middle gentry owned from one to six family plots of land. They were not as rich as the magnates, but nevertheless, the bulk of clerical officials and other petty managers in the state apparatus came out of this branch. The average gentry made up approximately 10% of the entire gentry class.

The petty nobility did not have significant land holdings. Their possessions at times were simply part of the land. Bankrupt well-known families often fell into this category, the lowest among the gentry. The main reason why all these people, who made up about 70% of the gentry, could enjoy all the privileges of the gentry, was the nobility of their origin and a good family tree. But after the Commonwealth was divided between the Austrian state, Russian and Prussia, the gentry was obliged to document their noble origin. However, most of the representatives of the petty gentry did not have any written confirmation, and they were recorded in the list of estates subject to taxes, while losing, of course, their privileged position.

Systematic strengthening of the position of the gentry: privileges

For a long time, the gentry fought to increase their rights, in which the kings of Poland supported it with pleasure, trying, by expanding the privileges of the middle gentry class, to reduce the power of the magnates, who actually seized all power in the state. The basis on which the power of the gentry was built was royal privileges and charters (statutes).
In 1374, the ruler Louis of Anjou granted privileges to the gentry of Kosice. According to its text, when performing military service, the gentry were exempted from paying all taxes, except for the land tax, which was set within the minimum limits. Also, the gentry were granted public positions as an exclusive right, that is, any legitimate nobleman could rightfully take a seat in the government, and not because of his personal merits, but only by birthright.

In 1433, Jagiellon granted the right of personal immunity to every gentry. For murder, the death penalty was imposed or a fine ten times higher than the fine for killing a person from any other class. The Tserekvitsky privileges, which gained the final approval of the Neshava Statute in 1454, granted the gentry the right to change the country's legislative framework and influence the creation and approval of certain laws through the gentry's diets.
Jan Olbracht in 1496 proclaimed the privileges of Piotrkowski, who completely monopolized land holdings for the gentry. In addition, the enslavement of the peasants was finally introduced. Under this privilege, the gentry class was also exempted from paying tax on goods imported from abroad. In fact, this opened the way for the monopolization of trade in foreign goods in Poland.
The year 1573 was marked by one of the most important extensions of the gentry's rights: the Valois allowed them to take part in the royal elections. Thus, the political regime of Poland acquired the appearance of a gentry republic.

Throughout the history of Poland, the gentry played the role of not only a colossal political trigger, but also a cultural trigger, since all new trends penetrated the country precisely through the intellectual elite, which in Poland was the gentry.

nobility(from other Upper German slahta - genus) - the nobility in

Poland. The question of the origin of the gentry is in connection with the question of

the emergence of the Polish state. In Polish historiography there are

two theories to solve the last question: the theory of the conquest of Poland

foreign tribe and the theory of natural evolution of socio-political

relations in the life of the Polish tribes, denying the fact of conquest from outside.

Pekosinsky, a professor at the University of Krakow, is trying to prove that

the Polish state arose as a result of the conquest of Poland by the Polabian

Slavs who moved to Poland at the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century. Living at

mouths of the Laba (Elbe), they had to wage a fierce struggle with

Germanic tribes, Saxons, Normans and Franks, as a result of which in

life of the Polabian Lechites, as the historian calls them, developed

militancy; in addition, being in relations with the German world, they

submitted to German influence. Incidentally, they borrowed from

Danes Scandinavian runes, which they used in the form of military signs

on their banners. With the conquest of Poland by aliens, its population

divided into three classes: 1) the leaders of the conquerors, who belonged to one

and the same family or the same princely dynasty that ruled

Polabian Lechites, formed the upper class, from which it went

Polish Sh.; 2) simple warriors made up the class of ordinary knighthood or so

called rulers and, finally, 3) the local rural population was converted to

slave state. The fact of the resettlement of the Polabian Slavs to the east, to

banks of the Warta and the Vistula, is not noted in any historical source, so

that the conquest of Poland by these settlers is only a hypothesis

researcher. At the base of the coats of arms of the Polish gentry, Pekosinsky finds

Scandinavian runes; they are the strongest

evidence given by the historian in favor of his hypothesis. But this

the main position of Pekosinsky's research in the field of Polish

heraldry is rejected by other Polish scholars. In general, this theory

although distinguished by remarkable harmony, rests on very shaky

grounds. Researchers who accept the second theory disagree between

themselves in their views on sociopolitical factors, under the influence of

which the Polish state was created, but agree among themselves that

that it arose as a result of the struggle of the Polish tribes among themselves.

The evolution of national-political relations in primitive Poland was

most likely it is. State organization was preceded by

and among all primitive peoples, tribal, moreover, the genus represented itself and

economic union on the basis of collectivity. Further form

social integration was a group of genera corresponding to

South Slavic brotherhood and laid the foundation for a territorial union,

later called "field". The affairs of the field were managed by the council

elders, who were at the head of separate clans, of which the opole consisted.

Tribes arose from the connection of the fields, which were ruled by princes. War

strengthened princely power and contributed to the separation from the general mass

free people of a special permanent class of warriors that formed the core,

from which the gentry class gradually developed. intense fight,

which the Poles had to fight with their enemies, especially with

German Empire, imposed on the entire state organization of Poland

a strong imprint of military life. The whole country dotted with "cities"

(fortresses), in which there were detachments of knights, represented the view as

would be an extensive camp. Especially a large number of hosts in the reign

King Boleslav the Brave concentrated, according to the first Polish

chronicler Gall, in Poznan (1300 knights in armor and 7000 with shields), in

Gniezne (1500 men at arms and 5000 shield bearers), in Vladislav (800 men at arms and

2000 shield-bearers) and in Getch (300 men-at-arms and 2000 shield-bearers). Glory and

generosity of such kings as Bolesław the Brave, Bolesław the Bold and Bolesław

Krivousty, attracted to Poland and foreign knights, thirsty

acquire wealth. In the ranks of the Polish chivalry met often

knights who bore such names as Rudolf, Arnulf, Wilhelm, Odon and

etc. Relations with Germany and other Western countries led the Poles to

because they borrowed customs and institutions from there. So, already in the XI century.

the custom of knighting was known to Poland, and kings favored

a knighthood for some merit or service to people of the ignoble

origin and even slaves. The nobility was also called

"lords". Elders of knightly families, former princes of tribes that have lost

their political independence, and the descendants of these princes were in

this class is an aristocratic element, which over time

developed and grew into a special class of rich landowning nobility, so

called "majority". Pekosinsky argues that Polish chivalry before

end of the 11th table. was dependent on sovereigns and their lands not

had, and that only at the beginning of the XII century. under Prince Boleslav Krivoust, it

was endowed with land holdings and then only turned into

landowning class. But this claim is not justified.

historical data. Chivalry as a class separated from the masses

population, owned land in prehistoric times. Wherein,

of course, there were also knights who had no land; they belonged to the princely

or the royal squad and the maintenance was received from the sovereign. But, in general,

chivalry was a landowning class. The knight could own the estate,

inherited or inherited, or by virtue of an award. First view

landed property was tribal property, the second -

personal. Collective tribal property met in Poland among the gentry

as early as the 15th and even the 16th centuries. But its decomposition began early and the process

individualization developed more and more strongly. However, regarding

individual property for a long time in Poland operated

legal provisions indicating that this property

separated from the family. To alienate such an estate into the wrong hands

the consent of relatives was necessary; in addition, the latter had the right

demand the return to their possession of lands that were alienated, and

return them by paying the sale price to the person who acquired these lands.

Already in the first centuries of historical Poland, a class began to separate from the knights

large landowners or canowners. In a specific era they

represented a force on which the fate of the country depended. To Poland

penetrated Western European culture and, although it did not settle

feudal system, nevertheless, relations developed that brought

largely Polish orders with Western European ones. Higher

the clergy, and after him the owners of the property, acquired immunity from the princes,

giving them the right to supreme power over the population of their estates. Under

the influence of immunity developed and so-called. knighthood (jus

militia). The one who owned this right could dispose of his

property according to the existing law of inheritance (jus hereditarium),

exempted from certain duties, acquired some legal

power over the peasants and could demand from them in his favor the execution

duties that they carried before in relation to the sovereign. Takovo

was considered noble (nobilis), gentry. From the chivalry Sh. differed

as early as the 14th century, according to the legislation of Casimir the Great, ordinary chivalry

(miles medius, scartabellus); in addition, there were knights,

descended from peasants and Soltys (miles e sculteto vel cmetone).

Vira for the murder of a gentry was determined at 60 hryvnia, for a knight

ordinary 30 gr. and a knight of the last category - 15 gr. More than that

chivalry is simple, ignoble, did not have coats of arms. Subsequently, this

the class merged partly with the peasantry and partly with Sh. In the 13th and 14th centuries. Sh.

did not yet have political significance; she obeyed the will of the prelates and

barons, as spiritual and secular nobles were called. But as a fighting force

state, she already at that time played a very important role in the country.

Mainly with the support of the Lyakhta, King Vladislav Lokotok succeeded in

restore the Polish monarchy, create political unity,

as a result of which the national consciousness of the Poles was strengthened even more.

The bearer and spokesman of this consciousness was mainly Sh.K.

this was joined by other factors, under the influence of which it became

to develop in the gentry, the desire to take a place in the state that befits it

strength. As an estate isolated from others, it was deeply imbued with

corporate spirit, feelings of class solidarity and energetically

defended her estate interests, which were often in

conflict with the interests of other classes. fought especially hard

it was already in the Middle Ages with the clergy, whose privileges, charging

tithes, church jurisdiction, exemption from military service and taxes,

were sometimes quite unbearable for her. Get rid of various

kinds of hardships imposed by the state or stipulated

privileged position of the clergy and secular aristocracy, one can

was, of course, only by influencing the legislature of the country.

Already the privileges of the XIII century (1229 and 1291) forbid the princes to increase

duties that lie on Sh., in excess of the existing norm. In the XIV century. influence

the gentry class is even more strengthened. Already in the first half of this

centuries, the gentry are present at the national congresses of prelates and

barons or as ordinary spectators and listeners without the right to vote,

or even sometimes, probably taking an active part in the meetings of these

congresses (for example, the congresses of 1320 and 1333). Further growth of the gentry in

this century was due to the general rise of the social forces of Poland, in

reign of Casimir the Great. Events after the death of this king

accelerated the political evolution of the estate. Throne of Poland passed to

Casimir's nephew Louis, king of Hungary, who had no

sons, but only three daughters. Meanwhile, Polish customary law and

treatises concluded between Poland and Hungary excluded women from

succession to the Polish throne, as a result of which, with the death of Louis

Poland in the possession of his dynasty could not remain. It was frustrating

dynastic plans of the king and he, by bestowing various benefits

to the state officials of Poland, made them recognize one of his

daughters of the heiress of the Polish crown. But to the Kosice privilege of 1374, the gentry

released from all state duties, with the exception of payment

land tax in the amount of 2 groszy per lan, received an exclusive

the right to hold the positions of voivode, castellan, judges, podcomorikhs, etc.

From this moment on, the political evolution of the estate will be carried out very

fast. During the queenless period (1382 - 84), after the death of Louis, she

already represented the force on which the fate of the state depended. Boiled

the struggle of the parties, whose leaders had to rely on Sh.

strength. And Sh. begins to play a very important political role in this era.

In order to discuss the state of affairs, local and

general congresses, consisting of prelates, barons and gentry. At that time

strong political movement, even the beginnings of a gentry

representations. According to the modern Polish chronicler Jank from

Czarnkov, Cracovians, Sandomierians and

ambassadors of all Polish lands. But most importantly, at this time

reveals an already strong activity of an institution in which

the socio-political life of the gentry communities was concentrated on

which was shared by Sh. of all Poland: it was a sejmik, a meeting of all Sh.,

belonging to the same local community (communitas), as one

the public whole. Thus begins to organize that political

system in which Sh. was destined to dominate. However, until half of the fifteenth

century, she is still in a position of office in relation to

spiritual and secular nobility. Although its representatives, together with

representatives from spiritual chapters, universities and cities and accept

participation in diets, but the state at this time is controlled by the aristocracy.

Relations are changing from the non-Shavian legislation, which put the gentry on

the same level as canowners: to issue a new law, set

a new tax or convene a zemstvo militia, the king was obliged for

permission to apply to the gentry sejmiks. However, Sh. acquired

even earlier, important privileges that guaranteed property and personal

the inviolability of the gentry. This political growth of the estate was in

depending on economic reasons. Poland was a country

agricultural, therefore, the gentry, as a landowning estate,

was an important factor in the public life of the country. In X. IV and XV

centuries the economic conditions in which Poland found itself strongly

have changed. With the acquisition of Red Russia and the accession, at least

partial and temporary, Podolia and Volhynia, vast spaces were opened

for Polish colonization, as these lands were sparsely populated. Here

huge latifundia of Polish magnates were formed who, feeling

lack of workers, tried to attract peasants to their estates

various benefits. The emigration of the peasant population from Poland is harmful

responded to the economy of the gentry class. It was in his interest

hold the peasants in place. In addition, overall economic development

Europe by the end of the Middle Ages expanded markets for the sale of agricultural

products of Poland, which prompted the Polish landowner to strengthen

exploitation of the land, but this could, of course, only be achieved by

management changes and by increasing the exploitation

peasant labor. Having political power in their hands, the gentry limited

first self-government of peasant communities, subordinating them to their control,

what she achieved by acquiring the position of Soltys, who was at the head of

peasant community. The Statute of the Warts of 1423 concludes in its

the decision, on the basis of which the landowner could deprive Soltys

positions for disobedience and take this position himself. squeezing hard

peasant self-government, Sh. then limited the freedom of peasant

resettlement, established a corvee and, finally, turned the peasant into

fortified state. According to the Petrokovsky Statute of 1496, leave

landowner village had the right to only one peasant, only one son

the peasant family had the right to give in education; fled

peasant law allowed the landowner to pursue, seize and return

back. The diets in Bydgoszcz (1520) and in Thorn (1521) established corvée in

in the amount of one day during the week, and the Warsaw Confederation of 1573

gave the landowner power even over the life of serfs. Economic

interests prompted the gentry to issue also restrictive laws and

relation to the urban community. The aforementioned Statute of Petrokovsky

prohibited the burghers from acquiring landed estates under the pretext that

philistines do not take part in military campaigns and in all sorts of ways

try to evade military service, but meanwhile it is on

landed property was subject to conscription. Philistinism

tried to fight the gentry, but failed. In the second half of the XVI century.

the city representation had already been excluded from participation in

legislation of the country, although representatives from some cities and

sometimes appeared at the Diets as early as the 17th century. Moreover, Sh. subdued

industry and trade of the power of governors and elders, than finally

killed urban wealth. From the beginning of the 15th century Sh. was already all-powerful

master in the state, and remained such a master until the end of existence

Commonwealth. She legislated, judged, elected kings,

protected the state from enemies, waged wars, concluded peaces and treaties and

etc. Not only the political and social organization of Poland was

gentry,

The gentry world outlook reigned supreme and in

mental life of the country.

Literature. M. Bobrzynski, Geneza spoleczenstwa polskiego na

podstawie kroniki Galla i dyplomatow XII w."; Fr. Piekosinski, "O

powstaniu spoleczenstwa polskiego w wiekach srednich i jego pierwotnym

ustroju"; St. Smolka, "Uwagi o pierwotnym ustroju spolecznym Polski

Piastowskiej" (these three works are placed in "Rozprawy i sprawozd. wydz.

histor. filozof. Akad. Urn.", t . XIV); A. Malecki, "Studja heraldynne"

(Lvov, 1890, 2 v. .); A. Balzer, "Rewizja teorji about pierwotnem osadnictwie

w Polsce" ("Kwart. Hist.", 1898, t . XII); fr. Piekosinski, "Rycerstwo

polskie wiekow srednich" (t . 1 - III); A. Prochaska, "Geneza i rozwoj

parlamentaryzmu za pierwszych Jagiellonow" ("Rozpr. Akad. Um. wydz.

hist. filozof.", Vol. XXX VIII) Fr. Piekosinski, Wiece, sejmiki, sejmy i

przywileje ziemskie w Polsce wiekow srednich" (ib., vol. XXXIX); A.

Pawinski, "Sejmiki ziemskie" (Warsaw , 1895); Wl. Smolenski, "Szlachta w

swietle wlasnych opinji" ("Pisma historyczne", Krakow 1901, v. 1); R.

Hube, "Prawo polskie w w. XIII" (Warsaw, 1874); same, "Sady, ich

praktyka i stosunki prawne w Polsce etc."(Warsaw, 1886). AT.

An essential feature of the Polish gentry, like the Spanish nobility, was its large number. In the XVI century. 7.5 million people living in the Commonwealth accounted for 500 thousand nobles or 25 thousand noble families, that is, 6.6% of the total population, and in Mazovia, literally overflowing with gentry, this figure was even more impressive - 23.4%. By the time of the divisions of the Commonwealth, the Polish nobility already accounted for 8-10% of the population.

Obviously, such a significant number of nobility could not be completely homogeneous. In its midst, processes of differentiation and stratification were constantly going on, most clearly manifested in the 17th-18th centuries.

Polish researchers conditionally distinguish within the nobility of the XVI-XVIII centuries. several groups.
The following groups belonged to the landowning gentry:

magnateria(magnateria) - the richest and most influential families, the largest latifundists; they played key roles in state administration, their representatives constantly sat in the diets. Although officially none of the magnates had special rights or privileges, in reality this gentry group had power incomparable to the number of its members.

Zamozhnaya nobility(szlachta zamożna) - a wealthy gentry who owned both land and peasants; its representatives were completely independent in their socio-political and economic activities (Sobie Pan).

farm gentry(szlachta fołwarczna) - owned one or more farmsteads (a small estate, estate) and peasants on them; she could both manage her farm herself and hire housekeepers.

"Shared" gentry(szlachta cząstkowa) - owners of not whole estates, but parts of them (often large estates were divided into small shares for sale or rent); Usually, representatives of this gentry, together with their neighbors, used the labor of the peasants and the material resources of the estate.

Zastenkovaya or roundabout gentry(szlachta zaściankowa, szlachta okoliczna, szlachta zagrodowa) - small estate gentry, whose representatives owned household plots, but did not have peasants and therefore worked on their own land; often they formed entire gentry settlements - the so-called dungeons (zaścianki) or "outskirts" (okolice), isolated from the rest of the plebeian world. The name "outlying gentry" was characteristic of the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The landless gentry (szlachta bezrolna albo szaraczkowa) included:

Chinsha gentry(szlachta czynszowa) - did not have land and was forced to rent it on chinsh terms (tire) and work on it, although such work was considered shameful for a well-born person, since it likened him to a peasant. In the last two centuries of the existence of the Commonwealth, the Chinsh gentry became the most numerous group of the Polish nobility.

Serving nobility(szlachta służebna) - served in the rich estates of magnates, church hierarchs or wealthy gentry as managers, housekeepers, etc.

Golota(holota) - “bad”, impoverished gentry, who had neither land nor peasants; usually hired as workers, servants, went to the soldiers.

"Street" nobility(szlachta brukowa) - the smallest group of the gentry, leading a very poor life in the cities.

Sarmatian scaly armor. Bas-relief on Trajan's Column in Rome. Sarmatism(Polish Sarmatyzm) - the gentry ideology that dominated the Commonwealth in the 16th-19th centuries. Sarmatism elevated the gentry to the ancient Sarmatians, thereby separating itself from the mass of commoners of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth (Slavs and Lithuanians).

Portrait of Adam Sariusz Stokowski. Hood. Yakub Usashevsky. About 1783

In Polish historiography, there are two theories for resolving the issue of the origin of the gentry:

1. 1. the theory of the natural evolution of socio-political relations in the life of Polish tribes, which denies the fact of conquest from outside. The state organization was preceded, as with all primitive peoples, by a clan organization, and the clan was also an economic union on the basis of collectivity. A further form of social integration was a group of clans, which corresponded to the South Slavic brotherhood and laid the foundation for a territorial union, later called the “field”. The affairs of the field were managed by the council of foremen, who were at the head of the individual clans that made up the field. Tribes arose from the connection of the fields, which were ruled by princes. The war strengthened princely power and contributed to the separation from the general mass of free people of a special permanent class of warriors, who formed the nucleus, from which the gentry class gradually developed (see. military democracy).

1. 1. theory of Professor Pekosinsky. The conquest of Poland by the Polabian Slavs at the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century. One of the arguments in favor of this hypothesis is the presence of runes in the coats of arms of the Polish gentry. In modern historiography, it is considered unlikely due to the fact that there is no evidence of the conquest of Poland by foreigners. Nevertheless, the appearance on the territories of the Western Slavs of coats of arms with a specific eastern marking, as well as the appearance of the denarius monetary unit, coincides with the period of the accession to the Moravian princely throne of Svyatopolk, who can be identified with the descendant of Prince Svyatoslav of Kyiv, Svyatopolk Yaropolkovich. This event also echoes the legend mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years about the alien rulers of Slavic Russia, the Varangians, who were called to help local tribes during the period of war and fragmentation. Reinforced by the Sarmatian and Polovtsian squads, the nephew of Prince Rostislav Moimirovich Svyatopolk Yaropolkovich, invited by him to strengthen the Moravian state in the face of the threat of invasion by the German tribes, became the ancestor of the Moravian, Polish and Lithuanian Svyatopolkovich dynasty - the Chetvertinsky and Mirsky.

Coat of arms of princes Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky

so-called. "Goluchowska table" with types of Polish costumes and weapons, circa 1620 (National Museum in Poznań)

Sarmatism predetermined many features of the culture of the nobility of the Commonwealth and its difference from the Western European aristocracy: the conditionally “eastern” style of ceremonial clothes (zhupan (from the Arabic “jubba”, kontush, Slutsk belt, saber), special manners, and so on. A later manifestation of Sarmatism in clothes became confederate, borrowed from the lancers.

The political ideal of Sarmatism is a conservative and aristocratic gentry republic. Democracy extended only to the "chosen ones", to the gentry, while the simple, Slavic population was perceived as serfs and cattle.

nobility (Polish Szlachta from Old High German slahta - genus or German. Schlacht- battle) - a privileged estate in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, after the Union of Lublin in 1569, in the Commonwealth, as well as some other states.

Leo Sapieha. Portrait by an unknown artist. 1616

The Polish gentry was originally an exclusively military estate, which eventually managed to assert the right to an elective monarchy. The complex relationship between the monarchy and the gentry, as well as the far-reaching privileges of the gentry, became one of the main reasons for the decline of the Commonwealth in the 18th century.

Portrait of Stanislav-Antony Schuka. 1709, left. On the right is a portrait of Prince Mikhail Borisovich Konets.

The gentry are depicted in a typical national costume - in kuntush, zhupan, colored boots, with a sash and a saber. The gentry wore short hair and a mustache. Fashionable in Europe, wigs were not widely used in Poland and were worn exclusively with Western European dress.

The gentry was an open class of warring masters who opposed themselves to the common people. A true gentry was ready to die of hunger, but not to disgrace himself with physical labor. Representatives of the gentry were distinguished by the so-called "arrogance" (honor and self-esteem, from lat. honor honor) and bravery.

Among the gentry, the idea of ​​​​universal equality within the estate (“panes-brothers”) was preserved, and even the king was perceived as equal. This period went down in history as the "golden liberty". The gentry was distinguished by respect for the opinions of others, expressed in the fact that each of the assailants had the right to veto, that is, decisions had to be made by universal consent. In the future, this moment influenced the ideal of the Polish rebel-insurgent. The gentry reserved the right to revolt (rokosh).

Usually, the gentry refers to the Polish chivalry, but there was a difference between them that arose in the 14th century:

• • The gentry was strongly imbued with a corporate spirit, a sense of class solidarity and vigorously defended their class interests, which often conflicted with the interests of other classes.

• • The economic basis of the dominant position of the gentry was feudal ownership of land. The relationship between different layers of the gentry was based on the principles of hierarchy. Access to the estate of the gentry was possible only in exceptional cases for great merit through nobilitation, odoption and indigenat.

• • The gentry had immunity: they had property, were exempted from certain duties, and had judicial power over the peasants. According to the Kosice privilege of 1374, the gentry was exempted from all state duties, with the exception of the payment of land tax in the amount of 2 pennies per fief, received the exclusive right to hold the positions of governor, castellans, judges, feeders, etc. Knighthood could be ordinary (miles medius, scartabellus); in addition, there were knights who came from peasants and Solts (miles e sculteto vel cmetone). Vira for the murder of a gentry was determined at 60 hryvnia, for a private knight 30 hryvnia and a knight of the last category - 15 hryvnia.

• • The gentry had coats of arms.

The coat of arms of the gentry Byalyn of princes Svyatopolk-Mirsky (Svyatopolkovichi)

The coat of arms of the gentry Sas Leliva (Polovtsian)

Gentry coat of arms of Leliv Vysotsky (Polovtsian)

Coat of arms of Dolenga-Horseshoe-Hawk (arms of Sas Leliva)

Coat of arms of Abdank Khmelnitsky

Sarmatian coat of arms of "Vulture-Rogal" Leshko II and the Popelid dynasty

• • In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the bulk of small owners in the XIII-first half of the XVI century. called boyars. For the first time, the boyars were named gentry in the Gorodel Privilege in 1413. The then composition of the gentry in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was heterogeneous: some were almost magnates in possession of large hereditary estates; from the 15th century were called pans. Others almost did not differ from the peasants in their property status.

In the Commonwealth of the XVI-XVIII centuries, the gentry occupied a dominant position. With the weakness of royal power, the country was essentially a gentry republic. The right of a free ban (liberum veto) at the Sejm was regarded as one of the most important rights of the gentry and contributed to the gentry anarchy, which intensified in the second half of the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries.

While the Russian nobility did not exceed 1% of the population, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the time of its partition, the gentry accounted for 8-10%, reaching up to 20% in some areas (for example, in Mazovia 23.4%).

The form of organization of the nobility was the sejmik - a meeting of all the nobility, which belonged to the same local community (communitas), as one social entity.

Neshavskoe legislation put the gentry on the same level as they could own: in order to issue a new law, establish a new tax, or convene a zemstvo militia (“Commonwealth Rush”), the king was obliged to apply to the gentry sejmiks for permission. At the same time, the gentry acquired important privileges even earlier, guaranteeing the property and personal inviolability of the gentry (Tserekvik privileges).

Sarmatists opposed themselves both to servile despotic Asia and to bourgeois Europe. The category "Fatherland" is central in the ideology of Sarmatism.

"Shlyakhtich and Death". Painted relief of the 17th century.

It befits a Sarmatian to be a knight and a warrior, a good farmer-tycoon (with some neostoic traits), a man with an education and an interest in the world. The main occupations of the guardians of the "Sarmatian traditions" were: war, hunting, polonaise. The Protestant work ethic was alien to the Sarmatian ideal. The gallant custom of kissing a woman's hand was also developed, since the status of a woman was high, which indicated the myth of the Sarmatian Amazons.

The armor of the hussar of the Commonwealth in the Sarmatian style from Karacena, stylized as the armor of the Sarmatian cataphract

In the era of the dominance of the Sarmatian myth in Poland, Catholicism continued to be preserved and even strengthened on the basis of the Counter-Reformation. However, the universal religion was refracted in the Sarmatian guise. The cathedrals of the apostles were reminiscent of gentry Seims, the Sarmatian hero became the ideal of a devout Catholic. Catholicism was mostly about ethnic identification. Nevertheless, in the era of the dominance of the Sarmatian mindset, relative religious freedom reigned in Poland, which was secured by the Warsaw Confederation and the Sandomierz Treaty.

The ideology of Sarmatism was reflected in art: the corresponding style of depicting a gentry was called a Sarmatian portrait.
Sarmatian portrait- Baroque portraiture in the Commonwealth, which came into fashion under Stefan Batory in 1576. The name of the portrait is associated with the mentality of Sarmatism.

King Stefan Batory

Such a portrait was an important element of collective memory - they were exhibited in special rooms to testify to the nobility of their origin.

The distinctive features of the portrait include specific attributes: the gentry was depicted in full growth, he always wore a kuntush and a zhupan, and a saber hung from his belt. The hetman was depicted with a hetman's mace, and the chancellor - with a seal. The gentry in the portraits wore a short hairstyle and mustaches (there were no European wigs or Moscow beards). Red dominated the color.

A special kind of Sarmatian portrait was the so-called. called "traum portrait" - gravestone images of the face of the deceased, resembling the famous "Fayum portraits".

"Trumen portrait" by Stanislav Voisha, unknown. art., 1677. Warsaw, Wilanow Palace Museum

Sarmatian architecture is characterized by deliberately simplified, primitive forms, associated with the monuments of medieval antiquity.

Farny church in Novogrudok

Sarmatism was sung by many writers: steppe motifs appear in the works of Vaclav Potocki, Jan Krzysztof Pasek, Andrey Zbylitovsky and Ieronim Morshtin.