Warsaw Confederation

The Warsaw Confederation, also called the Compact of Warsaw, was a political-legal act signed on 28 January 1573 by the convocation sejm (Sejm konwokacyjny) in Warsaw, aimed at forming a general confederation during the convocation sejm, which prepared the election of a new king of Poland. The confederation also pursued the goal of a religious tolerance edict, while simultaneously ensuring the political equality of dissenters with Catholics. It was one of the first European acts granting religious freedoms.

It was an important development in the history of Poland and Lithuania that extended religious tolerance to the nobility and free persons (townspeople of royal cities) within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth^[1] and is considered the formal beginning of religious freedom in the Commonwealth. Although the confederation initially restricted religious freedom to the nobility, it was also embraced by the townspeople of royal cities in practice. This groundbreaking act marked a significant milestone not just for the Commonwealth but for the entire continent, as it was one of the first European acts granting broad religious freedoms.

The text of the Warsaw Confederation was originally written in multiple languages: Latin, Polish, Ruthenian, German, and French (intended for Prince Henry of Valois who would be crowned King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania). This multilingual approach ensured that the document could be understood by a diverse audience within the Commonwealth and beyond.

As a result, the confederation could not prevent all religious conflicts and tensions within the state, but it guaranteed religious tolerance, civil rights, and political equality to the religious minorities, the so-called dissenters, who did not follow the dominant Catholic state religion. At the same time, it ensured internal peace and stability in the Commonwealth, especially during a time of great religious upheavals in 16th and 17th century Europe, which culminated in events such as the bloody Huguenot Wars and the devastating Thirty Years' War.^[2]

Origin of the Warsaw Confederation

History of religious tolerance in Poland

Religious tolerance in Poland has a long tradition (e.g., Statute of Kalisz), and influenced by two significant documents issued by King Casimir III the Great. On 30 August 1356, the king approved customs, freedoms, and privileges in the realm of worship and administrative matters for the Monophysite Armenians. In a document from 1341, he guaranteed the followers of the Orthodox Church respect for their rites and customs. This stance by King Casimir made Poland the first multi-denominational state in Europe, where the royal court was Catholic. However, tolerance for schismatics did not extend to heresies that arose within the Catholic Church. The Edict of Wieluń by King Władysław II Jagiełło in 1424 recognised Hussitism as a crime against the state. Nonetheless, in the same century, the Orthodox nobility enjoyed the same privileges as the Catholic nobility, as did the Armenians. Certain restrictions on the access of Orthodox Christians to the highest offices in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were lifted by King Sigismund II of Poland in 1563 and 1568. In addition to the Orthodox and Armenians, Tatars, Jews, and Karaites living in some cities and more numerous Lithuanian villages also enjoyed tolerance in Poland.

In opposition to the prevailing principles in Western Europe, a doctrine regarding the state's relationship with pagans was formed in Poland in the 15th century, represented by Bishop Andrzej Łaskarz of Poznań and Paweł Włodkowic from the Kraków Academy (Jagiellonian University). In the early years of the Protestant Reformation, royal edicts against reformers were issued, but their implementation was far from perfect. King Sigismund I the Old himself recognised not only the secularisation of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 but also, as the first ruler, recognised Lutheranism in Prussia as an official religion, guaranteeing tolerance for Catholics. Bishop Andrzej Krzycki, defending the Treaty of Kraków of 1525, referred to the fact that in Poland, alongside Catholics, Ruthenians, Armenians, Jews, and Tatars had long lived together in harmony; in this community, there was also a place for Lutherans in the Duchy of Prussia.

Anabaptists, who arrived in Poland in 1535, and Mennonites, who appeared in Poland in 1526, also received tolerance. In the years 1557–1559, King Sigismund II Augustus guaranteed the cities of Prussia the freedom of the Augsburg Confession, and in the Treaty of Vilnius of 1561, Livonia received the same privilege, where the king guaranteed the nobility and townspeople freedom of the Lutheran Confession while simultaneously ensuring tolerance for Catholicism.

Sandomierz Agreement to the Warsaw Confederation

In 1570, representatives of Lutherans, Calvinists, and the Bohemain Brethren residing in the Commonwealth gathered in Sandomierz, where they reached an agreement to mutually recognize each other as Christian denominations and to jointly oppose the Catholic majority. They excluded the Arians from their group, deeming them heretics. The dissenters presented a draft constitution (the Sandomierz Agreement) to the Sejm (parliament) in 1570, guaranteeing freedom of religion for all, so that "everyone may believe according to their conscience" on an equal footing with Catholics and Orthodox Christians. However, this draft was not accepted at that time.

Meanwhile, on 7 July 1572, following the childless death of the last king, Sigismund II Augustus of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the Protestant camp, facing a new election for a new king, found itself without legal guarantees for their faith. The matter of choosing a new king was crucial for both sides, as in Europe, kings determined the religious character of their kingdom. Catholics rallied around Bishop Stanisław Karnkowski of Kuyavia. Primate Jakub Uchański was a supporter of church reform, which brought him closer to the Protestants. The dissenters were led by Grand Marshal Jan Firlej and Voivode of Sandomierz Piotr Zborowski. Fearing pressure from the numerous Mazovian nobility loyal to the Catholic Church, the Protestants decided that the election of the new king should take place in Bystrzyca near Lublin, hoping that the Protestant nobility of Lublin would influence the future election. The Catholics, on the other hand, aimed for the election to be held near Warsaw due to the numerous Catholic Mazovian nobility.

Religious tolerance in Poland had been de facto policy during the reign of King Sigismund II Augustus. However, the articles signed by the Confederation gave official sanction to earlier customs. In that sense, they may be considered either the beginning or the peak of Polish tolerance.^[3]

Formation of the Confederation in 1573

The legislature of high-ranking nobles (the szlachta) from Poland and Lithuania gathered at Warsaw to prevent any separatists from acting and to maintain the existing legal order. To achieve this, the citizens had to unconditionally abide by the decisions made by the body, and the confederation was a potent declaration that the two former states were still closely linked. At the convocation Sejm (January 1573), it was decided that every nobleman (viritim) would elect the king, and Warsaw was designated as the place of election. Another victory for the Catholics was the recognition of the primate as interrex, who would henceforth convene assemblies, appoint, and crown the king. The Grand Marshal, who was then the Calvinist Jan Firlej, was granted the right to announce the election of the new king.

On 28 January 1573, the legislature signed a document in which representatives of all the major religions pledged mutual support and tolerance. A new political system was arising, aided by the confederation, which contributed to its stability. Religious tolerance was an important factor in a multiethnic and multi-religious state, as the territories of the Commonwealth were inhabited by many generations of people from different ethnic backgrounds (Poles, Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Germans, Tatars, and Jews) and of different denominations (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Jewish, and even Muslim communities in Poland and in Lithuania). This kingdom became what Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius called "a place of shelter for heretics". It was a place where the most radical religious sects, trying to escape persecution in other regions of the Christian world, sought refuge.^[4]

This act was not imposed by a government or as a consequence of war but rather resulted from the actions of members of Polish-Lithuanian society. It was also influenced by the 1572 French St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, which prompted the Polish-Lithuanian nobility to ensure that no monarch would ever be able to carry out such an act in Poland.^[5]

The people most involved in preparing the articles were Mikołaj Sienicki (leader of the "execution movement"), Jan Firlej, and Jan Zborowski. Together with his brothers, Jan Zborowski became the head of the Zborowskis party. Their efforts were opposed by many dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church. Franciszek Krasiński was the only lone bishop who signed them (Szymon Starowolski claimed he did so under the "threat of the sword"), and the future legal acts containing the Articles of the Confederation were signed by Catholic bishops with the stipulation: "excepto articulo confoederationis" (except the article of the confederation).^[6] Another Catholic bishop, Wawrzyniec Goślicki, was excommunicated by the Holy See for acceding to the acts of the Sejm of 1587.^[6]

In 1573, Zborowski participated in the Polish address to Paris, which aimed to bring Henry of Valois to the Commonwealth of Both Nations. During the meeting of the envoy with the king-elect in the cathedral of Notre-Dame, he forced the Duke of Anjou, speaking loudly in his direction: "Si non iurabis, non regnabis" ("If you do not swear, you will not reign"). With these words, he addressed the future king of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Henry of Valois, who did not want to guarantee the Commonwealth freedom of faith, conscience, and word. This provision was part of the Articles of 1573, ensuring the Polish and Lithuanian nobility these freedoms.

The legitimisation of the principles of tolerance was a significant achievement. The Articles of the Warsaw Confederation were incorporated into the statutes that every newly elected king had to swear to uphold (the "Henrician Articles"), thus becoming constitutional provisions alongside the Pacta conventa, also instituted in 1573. Despite some generalities, the Warsaw Confederation provided a legal foundation for Polish Protestantism and was the first act of broad religious tolerance in Europe.

Attitude of Henry of Valois and Stephen Báthory towards the Catholic Church

The election of a new king in Poland was closely monitored by the Holy See in Rome with considerable interest and concern. This event held significant importance due to the ongoing threat of war with the Ottoman Empire and the further re-Catholicisation of Poland and other European states. Pope Gregory XIII, informed by Cardinal Hosius about the situation in Poland, ordered public prayers for the successful election of the Polish king and dispatched one of the best papal diplomats, Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone, to Poland.

Among the candidates for the Polish throne were Protestants (Duke Albert of Prussia, King John III of Sweden), the Orthodox Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and Catholics (Archduke Ernest of Habsburg, Prince Henry of Valois from France). Due to the potential war with the Ottoman Empire and the support of Catholic interests, the Pope instructed Cardinal Commendone to support the Habsburg candidacy, which he also communicated in a letter to the Polish bishops. This candidacy was opposed by both Protestants and the noble masses, who feared the loss of their Golden Liberty and war with the Ottoman Empire. It was said: "What happens to others, that is to the Hungarians, Silesians, Bohemians, would happen to the Poles [...] Poles would no longer expect an election, as they [Habsburgs] would make us their heirs."

At the electoral Sejm in April 1573, two candidacies were proposed: Archduke Ernest of Habsburg and Prince Henry of Valois from France. On 11 May 1573, Primate Uchański announced the nomination of King Henry of Valois, which the Protestants agreed to after some negotiations. The pacta conventa, which the new king had to swear to, included the provisions of the Warsaw Confederation at the request of the dissenters. The election of Prince Henry as King of Poland was received with joy in Rome, although it was unofficially said that the Ottoman Sultan Selim II contributed to this. On 11 May 1573, Prayer of Thanksgiving was held in Rome, celebrated by Cardinal Hosius in the presence of Pope Gregory XIII and 31 cardinals.

In February 1574, the young 22-year-old King Henry arrived in Poland, and in June, when news of the death of his brother King Charles IX of France reached Kraków, he escaped from Poland forever to return to France and claim the French throne. There were calls for his immediate dethronement. His departure left the throne of Poland vacant, leading to significant political turmoil and the need for a new election. After the king's abrupt departure, signs of chaos were not lacking. In Kraków, on 12 October 1574, a crowd demolished the Calvinist church known as the brog, and the Sejm in Środa demanded the expulsion of the Jesuits from Poznań as agitators against the nobility.

The ten-year reign of King Stephen Báthory (1576–1586) was of decisive importance for the religious future of Poland. The rebellious city of Gdańsk, unwilling to recognise him as King of Poland, not only submitted and paid a contribution but also had to rebuild the Cistercian abbey in Oliwa, which had been destroyed by a mob. Thanks to King Stephen's initiative, the Polish Church adopted the Tridentine decrees at the Piotrków Synod (1577). In accordance with the wishes of Pope Gregory XIII, King Báthory significantly supported the Jesuits, who expanded their ecclesiastical activities during his reign. This included the Diocese of Wenden, endowed by the king, and the newly opened Vilnius Academy, entrusted to the Jesuits (1579). Even in his will, he admonished his nephew, Prince Sigismund Báthory, to defend the Catholic religion and the Jesuits against the Protestantised Hungarian estates.

After the victorious Livonian campaign of Stephen Báthory against the Tsardom of Moscow, when a ten-year truce was concluded in the Truce of Yam-Zapolsky in 1582 through the mediation of Jesuit Antonio Possevino, King Stephen Báthory, with the cooperation of Pope Sixtus V, organised an anti-Ottoman league, which was to include the kingdoms of Spain, Germany, Poland, Republic of Venice, and the Tsardom of Moscow. The league was also supported by the nobility. The death of the king on 12 December 1586 hindered the realisation of the league's plans. Sixtus V, speaking at a public consistory on 7 January 1587, tearfully remarked on the king's death: "We had placed great hopes in him, we had already sent him financial aid for a certain undertaking [...], we consider his unexpected death as a punishment for our sins. In misfortune, however, we do not lose our heads, for we have the assurance that Christ will not abandon us." Although the king was a devout Catholic, he upheld religious tolerance. He did not allow anti-Protestant actions, adhered to the Warsaw Confederation, and upon hearing of actions against dissenters in Kraków, issued an ordinance against the perpetrators of the riots. In 1581, he sent a mandate to Vilnius, noting that he had sworn to uphold the confederation and wished to maintain it, "leaving each person's conscience in matters of faith to the judgment of God."

Importance

Late-16th-century Poland stood between the Orthodox Tsardom of Moscow in the East, the Muslim Ottoman Empire to the South, and Western Europe, torn between Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation, to the North and West. Its religious tolerance made it a welcome refuge for those escaping religious persecution elsewhere; in the words of Cardinal Hosius, it became "a place of shelter for heretics". The confederation legalised the previously unwritten customs of religious tolerance.

The debate over whether religious freedom in historical contexts was intended solely for the nobility or also for peasants and others is indeed a topic of discussion among historians. While there are differing opinions, many historians lean towards the interpretation that religious freedom was intended for all social classes, not just the nobility.

In 2003, the text of the Warsaw Confederation was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme.^[4]

Quotes

Certainly, the wording and substance of the declaration of the Confederation of Warsaw of 28 January 1573 were extraordinary with regards to prevailing conditions elsewhere in Europe; and they governed the principles of religious life in the Republic for over two hundred years.
— Norman Davies^[7]

Wax seals of the Warsaw Confederation

Among the 209 suspended seal bowls on the parchment document, as determined during the latest conservation work by Justyna Król-Próba from the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, there are 181 wax seals with the heraldic imprints of the signatories, 27 empty bowls (without imprints), and one fragment. They hang in seven horizontal rows, with each row intended to hold 32 seals across 16 vertical string cords. This suggests, according to the researcher's assumptions, that at the time of the document's creation, it could have had 224 suspended seals.^[8]^[9]

References

^ Stone, Daniel, The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386–1795, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2001.
^ Adam Zamojski, "The Polish Way", New York, Hippocrene Books, 1987.
^ "THE WARSAW CONFEDERATION (1573). THE 449TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WARSAW CONFEDERATION". Retrieved 6 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b "The Confederation of Warsaw of 28th of January 1573: Religious tolerance guaranteed | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization".
^ "WARSAW CONFEDERATION: TOLERANCE IN THE NAME OF CIVIL LIBERTIES". 14 February 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b Hillar, Marian (2009). "THE POLISH SOCINIANS: CONTRIBUTION TO FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE AND THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION" (PDF). Dialogue and Universalism. XIX (3–5). Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences: 12. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
^ Norman Davies, The Origins to 1795, vol. 1, God's Playground (New York: Columbia University, 2005), 126.
^ "Konfederacja generalna warszawska 28 stycznia 1573 r." [The General Confederation of Warsaw, 28 January 1573] (in Polish). The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
^ "Konfederacja generalna warszawska 1573 r." [The General Confederation of Warsaw, 1573] (in Polish). The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw. Retrieved 2025-01-30.

Sources

PWN Encyclopedia entry (in Polish)
UNESCO:The General Confederation of Warsaw

External links

Photo
Original text in Polish Archived 2005-02-05 at the Wayback Machine Same here
(in Polish) DWA BEZKRÓLEWIA — KONFEDERACJA WARSZAWSKA Archived 2007-02-18 at the Wayback Machine by ks. dr Tadeusz Wojak

[1] Stone, Daniel, The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386–1795, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2001.

[2] Adam Zamojski, "The Polish Way", New York, Hippocrene Books, 1987.

[3] "THE WARSAW CONFEDERATION (1573). THE 449TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WARSAW CONFEDERATION". Retrieved 6 September 2022.

[UNESCO-4] "The Confederation of Warsaw of 28th of January 1573: Religious tolerance guaranteed | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization".

[5] "WARSAW CONFEDERATION: TOLERANCE IN THE NAME OF CIVIL LIBERTIES". 14 February 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2022.

[DAU1-6] Hillar, Marian (2009). "THE POLISH SOCINIANS: CONTRIBUTION TO FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE AND THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION" (PDF). Dialogue and Universalism. XIX (3–5). Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences: 12. Retrieved 2025-01-29.

[7] Norman Davies, The Origins to 1795, vol. 1, God's Playground (New York: Columbia University, 2005), 126.

[AGAD1-8] "Konfederacja generalna warszawska 28 stycznia 1573 r." [The General Confederation of Warsaw, 28 January 1573] (in Polish). The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw. Retrieved 2025-01-30.

[AGAD2-9] "Konfederacja generalna warszawska 1573 r." [The General Confederation of Warsaw, 1573] (in Polish). The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw. Retrieved 2025-01-30.

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