Ok, so for starters a few small things to clarify:
For the uninitiated this is the Polonised name under which Henry III of France is known.
This is pre-Liberum Veto, and the Sejm and Senat vote by majority, so things aren't ruined yet.
Nope, Liberum Veto existed, it just wasn't used. Parliament's acts were formally to be made by unanimous decision from the very beginning and some clever guy noticed one day, that if a single delegate was to block the proceedings, he can nullify the whole session. It's just that there was a certain sense of duty, that prevented this from being abused earlier. If someone didn't agree with the majority decision, he usually sat quiet, which of course doesn't mean that there was no hard political bickering earlier. Plus, the poor soul would be immediately threatened to recant his decision by the other delegates.
Nihil novi: no new laws or taxes can be made without the Sejm's consent via a simple majority vote.
The nobility was free from any taxation with the exception of 2 Groschen per peasant lan owned or administered and whatever taxes were established by the Sejm. Even so, it is not uncommon to greet tax collectors with loaded muskets.
Immunity from legal punishment unless a specific warrant is issued. A noble may only be arrested after being found guilty.
The courts can order a nobleman's arrest without finding him guilty in the first place. This is especially true for poor nobles, who have no holdings and may simply disappear after murdering someone. We have to differentiate between two groups of nobles: those with land and those that don't own any holdings (so called
hołota or
gołota, vaguely meaning
rabble). Landed nobles enjoy all the rights and privileges as stated. Landless nobles
can be arrested on a whim and without a warrant. Therefore owning even a small strip of land in a hamlet granted a nobleman legal protection enjoyed by the rich. Another privilege that required being a landowner was the right to be chosen as a delegate to the Sejm and various smaller Sejmiks (provincial parliaments) and to vote in said gatherings.
Hołota could only officially vote during free elections of the monarch which made them the preferred group to be showered with bribes by different delegations. The thing is, they usually took the money and then went to the other candidates for more money, so their vote wasn't certain. There are also 2 other situations that overrule legal protection even of a landed noble. Being captured
in recenti (red-handed) when committing a crime or within 48 hours after it, enables you to immediately lock the nobleman up legally to await trial. The second rule is derived from the first, that is the so-called Four Town Articles: arson, assault of a nobleman's home, rape and kidnapping of a damsel, highway robbery. A fellow captured red-handed while committing any of these crimes not only is arrested immediately, but can also be subject to summary judgement by the local Starosta. Since this means the death penalty without the right to appeal (outrageous for the freedom-loving Polish nobility), most nobles with any connections used them to get an appeal with the King or a local higher court (in 1563 such were created for each voivodeship because the royal court simply couldn't keep up).
A promise from the crown that all "high positions" would be given to them or to the clergy.
Basically every higher office required you to be a noble. Since clergy were nobles by default (or were treated as such once having been made bishop), the difference means little.
Around 15% of the population belong to the szlachta class, one of the largest proportions of nobility in Early Modern Europe.
More like 10%, but some go as high as 20%, therefore it's acceptable. In terms of raw numbers the Commonwealth had more nobility than any other country of Europe. Only Spain had a similar, yet smaller number.
All official documents are written in Polish, Latin, and sometimes Lithuanian. The primary languages of the szlachta and the court are Polish, Latin, and Lithuanian, though the Ruthenian dialects supplant the role of Polish in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Lithuanian is drastically falling out of favour with the nobility of the GDL. It's primarily the language of peasantry from the northern parts of the country. Ruthenian is much more common, besides Polish. Not only that, the official legal documents of Lithuania are written in Ruthenian as well. Latin and Polish are used in the Kingdom of Poland.
If need be, the King with the Sejm's approval may call for the pospolite ruszenie, or "mass mobilization". It is analogous to the traditional medieval levy: the szlachta are obligated to provide a force of soldiers. Magnates and wealthy nobles send portions of their own private armies, while lesser families send some of their able-bodied peasants or a well-equipped second son. Soldiers yielded from a pospolite ruszenie usually vary wildly in quality, but add a great deal of manpower.
Pospolite ruszenie proved to be inadequate as early as 100 years ago and it's quality only got worse. Right now it's only called in desperate times and usually fails miserably. It's the exact equivalent of calling medieval knights and their banners to arms. Unfortunately, war doesn't work that way anymore. Not answering the call can mean confiscation of lands and losing the status of a noble. Besides that, when used on foreign soil, PR gets paid like professional soldiers and the King is then obliged to buy the freedom of any nobles taken prisoner.
All in all I find it fantastic, that someone is willing to do a Commonwealth Quest. I do plan to eventually resurrect my own (that lost chapter really clipped my wings) and can't wait to see what will happen in this one.
[X] Cancer, the Crab. June 21-July 22, 1552.
[X] Old money.
Also, history-related, so extra points to that as well. Will partake in this as well.
