Warsaw Confederation (1573) guaranteeing religious freedoms

E81600

The Warsaw Confederation of 1573 was a landmark act of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that established one of Europe’s earliest formal guarantees of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence among diverse Christian denominations.


Statements (50)
Predicate Object
instanceOf legal act
political confederation
religious tolerance act
aimedAt maintaining internal peace
preventing religious civil war
alsoKnownAs Confederation of Warsaw
appliedTo burghers in royal cities
nobility of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
category History of Poland (1569–1795)
Legal history of Poland
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth law
Religious freedom
confirmedBy Henri de Valois as elected king of Poland
subsequent elected kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
considered a foundation of Polish religious tolerance tradition
one of the earliest European guarantees of religious tolerance
context interregnum after the death of King Sigismund II Augustus
country Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
date 1573
enshrined equality of Christian confessions for nobles
excluded Jews
Orthodox peasants
peasants
guaranteed freedom of conscience
peaceful coexistence of Christian denominations
religious freedom
influenced later concepts of religious tolerance in Central Europe
religious policy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
inspiredBy tradition of religious pluralism in the Commonwealth
integratedInto Polish–Lithuanian constitutional system
language Latin
Polish
legalStatus binding pact of the nobility
location General Sejm in Warsaw
precededBy death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572
prohibited religious persecution
use of force in religious disputes
recognized Calvinism
Eastern Orthodoxy among nobles
Lutheranism
Polish Brethren (Arians) in practice
Roman Catholicism
relatedTo Henrician Articles
resultedIn formalization of multi-confessional state
signatories Lithuanian nobility
Polish nobility
representatives of royal cities
signedBy Catholic nobles
Protestant nobles
signedIn Warsaw

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Poland-Lithuania in the early modern period
hasLegalDocument
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ("Warsaw Confederation")
legalAct

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