Polish Golden Liberty (Złota Wolność) system

Timeline

1. 1505Radom · PolandThe 1505 Nihil novi act stipulated that no new laws could be issued without the consent of the sejm, marking the institutional constraint of the Polish nobility's parliamentary sovereignty over royal power and laying the legal foundation for Golden Liberty.
2. 1569–1571Lublin · PolandThe 1569 Union of Lublin established the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; nobles shared legislative and electoral rights in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, and provincial nobles further gained privileges such as tax exemption, self-provided cavalry, and local self-government.
3. 1572–1573Warsaw · PolandAfter the death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572, the nobility held the first free royal election at Wawel and Warsaw, electing Henry of France in 1573 and compelling him to accept the Henrician Articles (Pacta conventa), which limited royal power and guaranteed religious tolerance.
4. 1576–1580Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth · Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthAfter Stefan Batory was elected king in 1576, the noble sejm further established election procedures, the rudiments of the liberum veto, and the tradition of the Vasa Articles; in the 1580s Golden Liberty spread widely as the core ideology of the republic.