List of szlachta
The szlachta (Polish: szlachta, [ˈʂlaxta]) was a privileged social class in the Kingdom of Poland. The term szlachta was also used for the Lithuanian nobility after the union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with Poland as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Union of Lublin, 1569) and for the increasingly Polonized nobilities of territories controlled by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Ducal Prussia and the Ruthenian lands.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a semi-confederated, semi-federated monarchic republic from 1569 until 1795, comprising the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The head of state was an elected monarch. The Commonwealth's dominant social class was the nobility. This article chiefly lists the nobility's magnate segment (the wealthier nobility), as they were the most prominent, famous, and notable. These families would receive non-hereditary 'central' and Land dignities and titles under the Commonwealth law that forbade (with minor exceptions) any hereditary legal distinctions within the peerage. They would later be 'approximated' to honorary hereditary titles in the Partition period with little real-power privileges but would still be venerated among the Polish upper class and the rest of the society as 'senatorial', 'palatinal', 'castellanial' or "dignitarial' families.
Szlachta
The szlachta ([ˈʂlaxta], exonym: Nobility) was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges between 1333 and 1370 during the reign of King Casimir III the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown Kingdom of Poland, the existing Lithuanian nobility formally joined this class. As the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) evolved and expanded in territory, its membership grew to include the leaders of Ducal Prussia, Podolian and Ruthenian lands.
The origins of the szlachta are shrouded in obscurity and mystery and have been the subject of a variety of theories. Traditionally, its members were owners of landed property, often in the form of "manor farms" or so-called folwarks. The nobility negotiated substantial and increasing political and legal privileges for itself throughout its entire history until the decline of the Polish Commonwealth in the late 18th century.
Podcasts:
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by Connells
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by The Conells
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by Gölä
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by Da Weasel
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by Coda
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by Kreepdowns
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by Blue Sky Riders
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by A Day Away
Slackjawed
by: ConnellsWords and Music: Mike Connell
Someone tells me somethin' --
Well I'm prepared to listen.
Nothin's goin' on, nothin's goin' on.
Standing next to no one,
Well that was my intention.
Nothin's goin' on, nothin's goin' on.
But then you're back and I'm guessing it's not so bad at all.
And I've been standing slackjawed since you were here.
Yeah, I've been standing slackjawed.
Something says this may be the strangest light I'll mention --
Someone left you on, someone left you on.
Saying next to nothing -- the words were my invention.
Someone left you on, someone left you on.
And now you're here and I'm thinking it's not so bad at all.
And I've been standing slackjawed since you were here.