List of Polish Coats of Arms

The Coats of Arms are listed under their most popular name, which is followed by their alternate names in brackets. List of Polish Coats of Arms - A. Abdank (Awdaniec, Białkotka, Hadbank, Łękawa, Skuba) Achinger (Aichinger, Ajchigier) Agryppa Aksak Alabanda (Alba-luna, Bielina, Koniowaszyja) Amadej (Amadejowa, Hemadejowa, Orłek bez ogona)    (top) See also:

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The creation of the Commonwealth by the Union of Lublin in 1569 was one of the signal achievements of Sigismund II Augustus, last king of the Jagiellon dynasty. His death in 1572 was followed by a three-year interregnum during which adjustments were made to the constitutional system that effectively increased the power of the nobility (the szlachta) and established a truly elective monarchy. The Commonwealth reached its Golden Age in the first half of the 17th century. Its powerful parliament (the Sejm) was dominated by nobles ...

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Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - History, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - State organization and politics, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Commonwealth military, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Golden Liberty, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - The political players, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Shortcomings of the Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Late reforms, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Economy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Culture, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Szlachta and Sarmatism, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Demographics and religion, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Provinces and geography, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Voivodships of the Commonwealth

Read more here: » Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Encyclopedia II - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - History

The economy of the Commonwealth was dominated by feudal agriculture based on exploitation of agricultural workforce (serfs). Typically a nobleman's landholding comprised a folwark, a large farm worked by serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. The peasantry's situation worsened from the late 17th century on, when the landed szlachta sought to compensate for falling grain prices by increasing the peasants' workload, thus leading to the creation of second serfdom, ...

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Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - History, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - State organization and politics, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Commonwealth military, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Golden Liberty, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - The political players, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Shortcomings of the Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Late reforms, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Economy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Culture, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Szlachta and Sarmatism, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Demographics and religion, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Provinces and geography, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Voivodships of the Commonwealth

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The lands that once belonged to the Commonwealth are now largely distributed among several Central and East European countries: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, with smaller pieces in Estonia, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova. While the term "Poland" was also commonly used to denote this whole polity, Poland was in fact only part of a greater whole — the Commonwealth, which comprised primarily two parts: the Crown of the Polish Kingdom (Poland proper), colloquially "the Crown"; a ...

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Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - History, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - State organization and politics, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Commonwealth military, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Golden Liberty, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - The political players, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Shortcomings of the Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Late reforms, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Economy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Culture, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Szlachta and Sarmatism, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Demographics and religion, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Provinces and geography, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Voivodships of the Commonwealth

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The Commonwealth was one of the important European sites for the development of modern social and political ideas. It was famous for its unique quasi-democratic political system praised by philosophers such as Erasmus, was known for a near-unparallelled religious tolerance during the Counter-Reformation, hence the numerosity of peacefuly coexisting Catholic, Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and even Muslim communities. It gave rise to the famous Christian sect of Polish Bre ...

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Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - History, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - State organization and politics, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Commonwealth military, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Golden Liberty, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - The political players, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Shortcomings of the Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Late reforms, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Economy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Culture, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Szlachta and Sarmatism, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Demographics and religion, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Provinces and geography, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Voivodships of the Commonwealth

Read more here: » Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Encyclopedia II - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Culture

The economy of the Commonwealth was dominated by feudal agriculture. Typically a nobleman's landholding comprised a folwark, a large farm worked by serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. The peasantry's situation worsened from the late 17th century on, when the landed szlachta sought to compensate for falling grain prices by increasing the peasants' workload, thus leading to the creation of second serfdom, ...

See also:

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - History, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - State organization and politics, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Commonwealth military, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Golden Liberty, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - The political players, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Shortcomings of the Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Late reforms, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Economy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Culture, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Szlachta and Sarmatism, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Demographics and religion, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Provinces and geography, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Voivodships of the Commonwealth

Read more here: » Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Encyclopedia II - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Economy

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Commonwealth military. Commonwealth armies were commanded by four hetmans. The armies comprised: Wojsko kwarciane: Regular units with wages paid from taxes (these units were later merged with the wojsko komputowe) Wojsko komputowe: Semi-regular units created for times of war (in 1652 these units were merged with the wojsko kwarciane into a new permanent army) Pospolite ruszenie: Szlachta levée en masse Piechota łanowa and pie ...

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Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - History, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - State organization and politics, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Commonwealth military, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Golden Liberty, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - The political players, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Shortcomings of the Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Late reforms, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Economy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Culture, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Szlachta and Sarmatism, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Demographics and religion, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Provinces and geography, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Voivodships of the Commonwealth

Read more here: » Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Encyclopedia II - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - State organization and politics

Although the Polish heraldic system evolved under the influence of French and German heraldry, there are many notable differences. The most striking peculiarity of the system is that a coat of arms does not belong to a single family. A number of unrelated families (sometimes hundreds of them), usually with a number of different family names, may use a coat of arms, and each coat of arms has its own name. The total number of coats of arms in this system was relatively low - less than 200 in the late Middle Ages. One side-effect of this ...

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Polish heraldry, Polish heraldry - History, Polish heraldry - Peculiarities, Polish heraldry - Shield, Polish heraldry - Tinctures, Polish heraldry - Bibliography and Listings of Coats of Arms

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The history of Polish heraldry is an integral part of the history of the szlachta, the Polish nobility. Unlike in western Europe, the Polish szlachta did not emerge from the class of knights under chivalry, but rather from a Slavic class of free warriors. These were often hired by princes to form guard units (Polish drużyna) and were eventually paid in land. Only a small number of szlachta families or clans (Polish rody) can be traced all the way back to the traditional clan system. Most szlachta since at ...

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Polish heraldry, Polish heraldry - History, Polish heraldry - Peculiarities, Polish heraldry - Shield, Polish heraldry - Tinctures, Polish heraldry - Bibliography and Listings of Coats of Arms

Read more here: » Polish heraldry: Encyclopedia II - Polish heraldry - History