Henrician Articles

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The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles (

Polish king upon his election to the throne. The document stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[1][2]

While

king-elect, the Henrician Articles were a permanent constitution that all kings-elect had to swear to respect.[1][3]

The articles functioned essentially as a first constitution for Poland until the Constitution of 3 May 1791.[1][2]

Origins

The charter took the form of 18 articles written and adopted by the

pacta conventa, but the latter were tailored and different for each king-elect.[1] Acceptance by the king-elect of the articles was a condition for his elevation to the throne, and they formed part of the royal oath at the coronation.[1]

Provisions

  • The king was to be chosen by election by the szlachta, and his children had no right of inheritance with regard to the throne.[1][2]
  • The king's marriages had to gain the approval of the Senate.[3]
  • The king had to convene a
    general sejm (Polish Parliament) at least once every two years for six weeks.[1]
  • The king had no right to create new taxes, tariffs or such without the approval of the Sejm;[2]
  • Between sejms, 16 resident
    senators were to be at the king's side as his advisers and overseers.[1][2] The Royal Council of 16 senators was elected every two years during the Sejm's session. Four of their number (rotating every six months) were obliged to accompany the king and serve as advisers and supervisors to ensure that the king made no decision contrary to the laws of the Commonwealth.[2] All royal decrees had to be counterstamped by the chancellors or the deputy chancellors.[2]
  • The king had no right to call a pospolite ruszenie (levée en masse) without the approval of the Sejm. Further, the Articles upheld the informal tradition that the king could not send those troops to serve outside the Commonwealth's borders without compensation.[1]
  • The standing royal army (wojsko kwarciane) was provided for.[1]
  • The king had no right to declare war or peace without approval of the Sejm.[1]
  • The king had to abide by the Warsaw Confederation's guarantees of religious freedom.[2]
  • If the king transgressed the law or the
    could refuse the king's orders and act against him (in Polish, that became known as the rokosz).[1][3] Each king had to swear that "if anything has been done by Us against laws, liberties, privileges or customs, we declare all the inhabitants of the Kingdom are freed from obedience to Us".[2]

See also

Polish Wikisource has original text related to this article:

References

  1. ^
    Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe
    , 1987, pp. 216–7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k (in Polish) Artykuły henrykowskie Archived 2010-08-19 at the Wayback Machine. Trybynał Konstytucyjny. Wszechnica Konstytucyjna
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4
    . Retrieved 13 August 2011.
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