Editing Poland (section)

=== The Golden Age ===
{{Main|History of Poland during the Jagiellonian dynasty|Polish Golden Age}}
[[File:Battle of Tannenberg.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[Battle of Grunwald]] was fought against the [[Teutonic Knights|German Order of Teutonic Knights]], and resulted in a decisive victory for the [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]], 15 July 1410.]]

In 1386, Jadwiga of Poland entered a marriage of convenience with [[Władysław II Jagiełło]], the [[Grand Duke of Lithuania]], thus forming the [[Jagiellonian dynasty]] and the [[Polish–Lithuanian union]] which spanned the late [[Middle Ages]] and early [[Modern history|Modern Era]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halecki |first=Oscar |title=Jadwiga of Anjou and the Rise of East-Central Europe |publisher=Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-88033-206-4 |pages=116–117, 152 |author-link=Oscar Halecki}}</ref> The partnership between Poles and Lithuanians brought the vast multi-ethnic [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuanian]] territories into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for its inhabitants, who coexisted in one of the largest European [[personal union|political entities]] of the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Griessler |first=Christina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=inb4DwAAQBAJ |title=The Visegrad Four and the Western Balkans |date=2020 |publisher=Nomos |isbn=978-3-7489-0113-6 |location=Baden-Baden |page=173 |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404210019/https://books.google.com/books?id=inb4DwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the Baltic Sea region, the struggle of Poland and Lithuania with the [[Teutonic Knights]] continued and culminated at the [[Battle of Grunwald]] in 1410, where a combined Polish-Lithuanian army inflicted a decisive victory against them.<ref name="Wyrozumski 1986" /> In 1466, after the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–66)|Thirteen Years' War]], king [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] gave royal consent to the [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)|Peace of Thorn]], which created the future [[Duchy of Prussia]] under Polish suzerainty and forced the Prussian rulers to pay [[Homage (feudal)|tributes]].<ref name="Dabrowski 2014" /> The Jagiellonian dynasty also established dynastic control over the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] (1471 onwards) and Hungary.<ref name="Norman Davies 1996" /> In the south, Poland confronted the [[Ottoman Empire]] (at the [[Battle of Varna|Varna Crusade]]) and the [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean Tatars]], and in the east helped Lithuania to combat [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Russia]].<ref name="Dabrowski 2014" />

Poland was developing as a [[feudalism|feudal]] state, with a predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly powerful [[landed nobility]] that confined the population to private manorial farmstead known as [[folwark|''folwarks'']].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frost |first=Robert I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=245lDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22poland%2Bfeudal%2Bagricultural%2Bfolwark%2Bnobility%22&pg=PA242 |title=The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union 1385–1569 |date=2018 |publisher=University Press |isbn=978-0-19-880020-0 |volume=1 |location=Oxford |page=242 |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002180501/https://books.google.com/books?id=245lDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA242&dq=%22poland+feudal+agricultural+folwark+nobility%22 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1493, [[John I Albert]] sanctioned the creation of a [[bicameral parliament]] (the Sejm) composed of a lower house, the chamber of deputies, and an upper house, the chamber of senators.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Graves |first=M. A. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R2rJAwAAQBAJ |title=The Parliaments of Early Modern Europe |date=2014 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-88433-0 |location=Hoboken |page=101 |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405192005/https://books.google.com/books?id=R2rJAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''[[Nihil novi]]'' act adopted by the Polish [[General Sejm]] in 1505, transferred most of the [[legislature|legislative power]] from the monarch to the parliament, an event which marked the beginning of the period known as [[Golden Liberty]], when the state was ruled by the seemingly free and equal [[szlachta|Polish nobles]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Graves|2014|pp=101, 197}}</ref>

[[File:Wawel (4).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Wawel Castle]] in [[Kraków]], seat of [[List of Polish monarchs|Polish kings]] from 1038 until the capital was moved to [[Warsaw]] in 1596]]

The 16th century saw [[Protestant Reformation]] movements making deep inroads into Polish Christianity, which resulted in the establishment of policies promoting religious tolerance, unique in Europe at that time.<ref name="Knoll 2011" /> This tolerance allowed the country to avoid the religious turmoil and [[European wars of religion|wars of religion]] that beset Europe.<ref name="Knoll 2011">{{Cite book |last=Paul W. Knoll |title=Diversity and Dissent: Negotiating Religious Difference in Central Europe, 1500–1800 |publisher=Berghahn Books |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85745-109-5 |editor-last=Howard Louthan |pages=30–45 |chapter=Religious Toleration in Sixteenth-Century Poland. Political Realities and Social Constrains. |editor-last2=Gary B. Cohen |editor-last3=Franz A.J. Szabo |chapter-url={{GBurl|id=KuzLNXpa-hYC|p=30}}}}</ref> In Poland, [[Nontrinitarianism|Nontrinitarian Christianity]] became the doctrine of the so-called [[Polish Brethren]], who separated from their [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] denomination and became the co-founders of global [[Unitarianism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Houlden |first=J. L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mf7WCQAAQBAJ |title=Jesus in History, Legend, Scripture, and Tradition: A World Encyclopedia |date=2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-804-7 |location=Denver, Colorado |pages=577–578 |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=24 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524182450/https://books.google.com/books?id=mf7WCQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The European [[Renaissance]] evoked under [[Sigismund I the Old]] and [[Sigismund II Augustus]] a sense of urgency in the need to promote a [[Renaissance in Poland|cultural awakening]].<ref name="Dabrowski 2014" /> During the [[Polish Golden Age]], the nation's economy and culture flourished.<ref name="Dabrowski 2014" /> The Italian-born [[Bona Sforza]], daughter of the [[Gian Galeazzo Sforza|Duke of Milan]] and queen consort to Sigismund I, made considerable contributions to [[Architecture of Poland|architecture]], [[Polish cuisine|cuisine]], language and court customs at [[Wawel Castle]].<ref name="Dabrowski 2014" />