Parliament of Poland

Vladislav also established the principle that the country's land, except for its private holdings, belonged to the country rather than to the king personally.

In 1347, he convened a Sejm, or parliament, a practice begun by the nobles while the country was still fragmented, so that they could decide things for themselves.

He also commissioned the creation of a code of laws, which took 15 years to complete, and created a standardized legal system throughout the renewed country.

In 1364, Vladislav was given the honor of hosting a conference of Central European powers, which had been gathered to organize a united front against the recent expansion of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and he took advantage of the occasion to show off the wealth of his court at Krakow.

He placed one in charge of Poland and the other in charge of Lithuania, though he had to convince the nobles of both countries to accept them, as the union between the two nations had granted the nobles of each one the right to approve the ruler of the other.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the nobles of both countries gained more and more power over their kingdoms.

Poland was made into a constitutional monarchy with an elected king, known as the Golden Liberty, and the parliament, or Sejm, became the center of government and legislation.

And though the growth of independent cities populated by merchants continued, the economy became more agricultural rather than less, and its peasant farmers more like serfs who served the powerful landowning class.

Letters were further sent to the Pope, the Habsburgs, and the Danes, but these diplomatic actions mostly ended without success.

Although the Polish Sejm, the parliament of nobles that held significant power in the country, were disinterested in Sigismund's attempt to remain on the Swedish throne, their view of the conflict changed drastically when Duke Charles landed in Estonia with 14,000 troops in 1600.

Charles quickly took control of a number of cities that had previously been part of the Kingdom of Sweden, but had supported Sigismund in the civil war.

If this sounds familiar, you're probably already a podcaster.

In the fall of 1600, the Swedes launched an offensive into Latvia, which was officially part of the Commonwealth.

The Swedish army made significant gains, capturing several cities and breaking through to the western Davina river, directly threatening Riga and besieging the city of Konis.

Consequently, the Polish Sejm realized that Duke Charles was not only a threat to Sigismund in their fight for the Swedish crown, but also an enemy of the entire Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

More money was quickly allocated to the army, and Lithuanian commander Jan Karol Csotkiewicz was withdrawn from Moldova and sent to the northern front.

It's Sterling, Walter Sterling, you should be here every night.

And now our favorite member of the Polish Parliament.

How many refugees has Poland taken?

Zero.

Of midnight.

You gotta love this guy, a member of the Polish Parliament.

I, I want one of these in America.

Why do you support immigration?

That's the big one

... then would you like to hear the m- a minister, a member of the Polish Parliament explaining why they have no crime in Poland? Would you like to hear that?

I'd love to.

Why do you support for immigration now? Because I want my future daughter to be alive, not raped and killed.

Not-

We love him.

Member of the Polish parliament.

Piece of work.

Dominik Krzyminski.

He's a member of the Polish Parliament.

Dominik Krzyminski, a member of the Polish Parliament.

That was cut number one.

When you call in, you can request cart number one or cut number two.