Chicken War
Rebellion in Poland
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Rodakowski_Chicken_War.png/366px-Rodakowski_Chicken_War.png)
Chicken War or Hen War ( Polish : Wojna kokosza ) is the colloquial name for a 1537 anti- royalist and anti- absolutist rokosz (rebellion) by the Polish nobility . The derisive name was coined by the magnates , who for the most part supported the King and claimed that the conflict's only effect was the near-extinction of the local chickens , which were eaten by the nobles gathered for the rokosz at Lwów , in Ruthenian Voivodeship . [1] [2] The magnates' choice of " kokosz "—meaning "an egg laying hen"—may have been inspired by a play on words between " kokosz " and the similar-sounding " rokosz ". The Chicken War was the first rokosz of the nobility in Polish history. [3]
Background
At the start of his reign, King Sigismund I the Old inherited the Kingdom of Poland with a century-long tradition of liberties of the nobility that was confirmed in numerous privileges . Sigismund faced the challenge of consolidating internal power to handle external threats to the country. During the rule of his predecessor, Alexander I , the statute of " Nihil novi " had been instituted, effectively forbidding kings of Poland to promulgate laws without the consent of the Parliament . [4] That proved crippling to Sigismund's dealings with his nobles and a serious threat to the country's stability. To strengthen royal authority, he initiated a set of reforms, establishing a permanent conscription army in 1527 and extending the bureaucratic apparatus necessary to govern the state and finance the army. [ citation needed ] Supported by his Italian consort, Bona Sforza , he began buying up land and started several agricultural reforms to enlarge the royal treasury. [5] He also initiated a process of restitution of royal properties, previously pawned or rented to the nobles.
Rokosz
In 1537, however, the King's policies led to a major conflict. The nobility, who gathered near Lwów to meet with a levée en masse , called for a military campaign against Moldavia . However, the lesser an thed middle strata of the nobility called a rokosz , or semi-legal rebellion , to force the King to abandon his reforms. According to contemporary accounts, 150,000 militia had been assembled for the rebellion. [6] The nobles presented him with 36 demands, most notably: [ citation needed ]
- Confirmation and extension of the privileges of the nobility;
- The carrying out of a law requiring the appointment of only local nobles to most important local offices;
- Lifting the toll or exempting the nobility from it;
- Exemption of the nobility from the tithes ;
- A cleanup of the treasury, rather than its expansion;
- A cessation of further land acquisitions by Queen Bona Sforza ;
- The creation of a body of permanent advisors to the king - and
- Adoption of a law concerning incompatibilitas —the incompatibility of certain offices that were not to be joined in the same hand (for instance, that of a Starosta and of a Palatine or Castellan );
Finally, the angry protesters criticized the role of Queen Bona, whom they accused for the "bad upbringing" of young Prince Sigismund Augustus (future King Sigismund II ), [7] and seeking to increase her power in the state [8] even if both involvements were generally positive. It soon transpired, however, that the nobility's leaders were divided and that achieving a compromise was almost impossible. [9] Too weak to start a civil war against the King, the protesters finally agreed to what was thought a compromise.
The King rejected most of their demands but accepted the principle of incompatibilitas the next year and agreed not to force the election of the future king vivente rege , in the lifetime of the reigning king. [8] Thereupon, the nobility returned to their homes, having achieved little. [6]
See also
References
- ↑ Early Modern Wars 1500–1775 . Amber Books Ltd. September 17, 2013. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-78274-121-3 .
- ↑ Samsonowicz, Henryk (1976). Historia Polski do roku 1795 [ History of Poland to 1795 ] (in Polish). Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne. p. 157.
- ↑ Na podstawie: Stanisław Rosik, Przemysław Wiszewski, Poczet polskich królów i książąt, Wrocław 2004, str. 215
- ↑ Wagner, W.J. (1992). "May 3, 1791, and the Polish constitutional tradition". The Polish Review . 36 (4): 383–395. JSTOR 25778591 .
- ↑ Kosior, Katarzyna (2018). "Bona Sforza and the Realpolitik of Queenly Counsel in Sixteenth-Century Poland-Lithuania". Queenship and Counsel in Early Modern Europe . Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 16, 17. doi : 10.1007/978-3-319-76974-5_2 . ISBN 978-3-319-76973-8 .
- 1 2 Bronikowski, Alexander (1834). The Court of Sigismund Augustus, Or Poland in the Sixteenth Century . Longmans, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman. p. 46.
-
↑
Kosior, Katarzyna (2016). "Outlander, Baby Killer, Poisoner? Rethinking Bona Sforza's Black Legend".
Virtuous or Villainess? The Image of the Royal Mother from the Early Medieval to the Early Modern Era
. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US. p.
208.
doi
:
10.1057/978-1-137-51315-1_10
.
ISBN
978-1-137-51314-4
.
Zborowski claimed that the young king should have a separate court rather than being a part of his mother's establishment and be taught to enjoy manly entertainments instead of spending time in the company of women.
- 1 2 Kosior, Katarzyna (2018). "Bona Sforza and the Realpolitik of Queenly Counsel in Sixteenth-Century Poland-Lithuania". Queenship and Counsel in Early Modern Europe . Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 22–23. doi : 10.1007/978-3-319-76974-5_2 . ISBN 978-3-319-76973-8 .
- ↑ Walek, Janusz (1987). Dzieje Polski w malarstwie i poezji (in Polish). Wydawn. Interpress. p. 77. ISBN 83-223-2114-7 . OCLC 246756060 .
Polish uprisings
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