Editing History of Lithuania (section)

===New union with Poland===
[[File:Irp1569.jpg|thumb|Poland and Lithuania after the Union of Lublin (1569)]]
With the [[Union of Lublin]] of 1569, Poland and Lithuania formed a new state referred to as the Republic of Both Nations, but commonly known as Poland-Lithuania or the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. The Commonwealth, which officially consisted of the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], was ruled by Polish and Lithuanian nobility, together with [[Royal elections in Poland|nobility-elected]] kings. The Union was designed to have a common foreign policy, customs and currency. Separate Polish and Lithuanian armies were retained, but parallel ministerial and central offices were established according to a practice developed by the Crown.<ref name="Grzybowski 142-146"/> The [[Lithuanian Tribunal]], a high court for the affairs of the nobility, was created in 1581.<ref name="Lukowski 85">Lukowski & Zawadzki (2001), p. 85</ref>

Following the death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572, a joint Polish–Lithuanian monarch was to be elected as agreed in the [[Union of Lublin]]. According to the treaty, the title "Grand Duke of Lithuania" would be received by a jointly elected monarch in the [[Election sejm]] on his accession to the throne, thus losing its former institutional significance. However, the treaty guaranteed that the institution and the title "Grand Duke of Lithuania" will be preserved.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |title=Didysis kunigaikštis |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/didysis-kunigaikstis/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=4 November 2023 |language=lt |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104163247/https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/didysis-kunigaikstis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |title=Gedimino kepurė |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/gedimino-kepure/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=4 November 2023 |language=lt |archive-date=23 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323183800/https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/gedimino-kepure/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 20 April 1576 the congress of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's nobles was held in [[Grodno]] which adopted an [[Universal (act)|Universal]]. It was signed by the participating Lithuanian nobles who announced that if the delegates of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania will feel pressure from the Poles in the [[Election sejm]], the Lithuanians will not be obliged by an oath of the [[Union of Lublin]] and will have the right to select a separate monarch.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kiaupinienė |first1=Jūratė |title=Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės Seimas – valstybės modernizacijos grandis (1572–1587 metai) |pages=31–32 |url=https://journals.lnb.lt/parliamentary-studies/article/download/725/720/1097 |publisher=Lithuanian Institute of History |language=lt |access-date=4 November 2023 |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028215341/https://journals.lnb.lt/parliamentary-studies/article/download/725/720/1097 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 29 May 1580 a ceremony was held in the [[Vilnius Cathedral]] during which bishop [[Merkelis Giedraitis]] presented [[Stephen Báthory]] (King of Poland since 1 May 1576) a luxuriously decorated sword and a cap adorned with [[pearl]]s (both were sanctified by [[Pope Gregory XIII]] himself). Such ceremony manifested the sovereignty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and had the meaning of [[Gediminas%27 Cap#Inaugurations of Lithuanian monarchs|elevation of the new Grand Duke of Lithuania]], thus ignoring the stipulations of the Union of Lublin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vavelio pilies lobyne – ir Lietuvos istorija: vertingiausią kolekciją buvo sukaupęs Žygimantas Augustas |url=https://www.15min.lt/gyvenimas/naujiena/keliones/vavelio-pilies-lobyne-ir-lietuvos-istorija-vertingiausia-kolekcija-buvo-sukaupes-zygimantas-augustas-1630-1905900 |website=15min.lt |access-date=4 November 2023 |language=lt |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104151214/https://www.15min.lt/gyvenimas/naujiena/keliones/vavelio-pilies-lobyne-ir-lietuvos-istorija-vertingiausia-kolekcija-buvo-sukaupes-zygimantas-augustas-1630-1905900 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Unikali proga Krokuvoje: nuo Žygimanto Augusto karūnacinių batelių skiria tik 700 kilometrų |url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/kultura/12/1744000/iki-zygimanto-augusto-karunaciniu-bateliu-siuo-metu-mus-skiria-tik-700-kilometru |website=Lithuanian National Radio and Television |access-date=4 November 2023 |language=lt |date=21 July 2022 |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104154314/https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/kultura/12/1744000/iki-zygimanto-augusto-karunaciniu-bateliu-siuo-metu-mus-skiria-tik-700-kilometru |url-status=live }}</ref>