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Coat of Arms of the Polish Commonwealth
The Polish Commonwealth 1340-1772
Coat of Arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
© Valerie Schatzker 2016
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1340
Galicia is conquered by King Casimir the Great of Poland (reigned 1330- 1370). Some cities in Poland, Lwów among them, receive the privilege of self-rule according to the Magdeburg laws. These laws grant privileges only to Roman Catholic and polonized German citizens. Orthodox Ukrainians and Jews are restricted in the right of residence. Jews are confined to ghettos and also limited to certain activities such as money lending. These laws apply only to those few cities that adopted the Magdeburg Law.
1349
Chroniclers relate that in reaction to the Black Death, all Jews in Poland were massacred.
1356
First written reference to the Jewish Community in Lwów
1367
King Casimir extends the Statute of Kalisz to Jews throughout Poland. The Statute defined the right of Jews to work in specific professions and trades, defined legal relations between Christians and Jews, and even protected Jewish children from forced baptism.
1369
The city council of Kracow complains to Kazimierz that high interest rates charged by Jews were impoverishing their citizens.
1386
With the marriage of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Władysław II Jagiełło to Queen Jadwiga of Poland, the Jagiellonian dynasty begins
1425
Having given the Jew Wolczko the customs lease for the City of Lwów, King Władisław Jagiełło gives him a large tract of land to colonize.
1452
King Casimir IV Jagiełło gives the salt mines of Drohobycz to the Jew Natko
1453
King Casimir IV Jagiełło codifies and ratifies the Statute of Kalisz. Based on the terms of the statutes of Bolesław and Casimir, Jews are treated as servants to the royal court who are mainly in the business of money lending. The laws are attacked throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. Some towns insist on Jews' wearing distinctive badges.
1485
The growing power of Jews in trade and crafts incites accusations of unfair competition. In Kraków, the Jewish community is forced to renounce its rights to trades and crafts
1490-1492
Peasant uprising in Galicia
1495
The Jews of Kracow are forced out of the town and moved to Kazimierz. There is another peasant uprising in Galicia.
End of 14th
century
Approximately 20,000 to 30,000 Jews live in Poland
Late 15th-early
16th century
The Jews of Lwów are active in the large scale land trade between the Ottoman Empire and Europe
1500-1700
Serfdom is prevalent throughout Galicia
1502-1510
Invasion by the Turks from the East
1506-1548
Under the reign of Sigismund I, a liberal monarch, Jews hold high positions at court. The administration attempts to bring greater autonomy to Polish Jews by appointing a Chief Rabbi and chief tax collector, but this is resisted by the local Jewish communities (kehillot).
1534
3,500 Jews live in Rus Czerwona, mainly in the cities
1551
Under King Sigismund August (1548-1632), the general privileges of the Jews are renewed and a system of autonomous government created – in effect, a Jewish state within a state under the auspices of the Crown, not the Polish parliament (Seym). Each independent Jewish kahal sends a deputy to a national assembly, or Council of Lands, which meets twice a year during the fairs in Lublin and Jarosław. Hebrew is one of the six languages recognized for legal purposes. Rus Czerwona is one of the four lands of the Council. This period is one of economic advancement for the Jews especially in large towns like Lwów.
1568
With the commencement of the reign of the Vasa Kings of Poland, who are strongly influenced by the clergy, anti-Semitism increases, particularly in relation to the role the Jews play as leaseholders for the Polish nobility.
1569
The Union of Lublin unites the Kingdom of Poland and the Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1570
The Jews of Krakow number 2,000, making it the largest Jewish community in Poland. There are approximately
100,000 Jews in Poland.
1648
Bohdan Khmielnitsky (ca 1595-1659) leads a Cossack revolt. With his Tatar allies, Khmielnitsky ravages Ukraine, massacring thousands. Jews are particular targets. His army besieges Lwów and destroys its suburbs.
1655
Khmielnitsky again lays siege to Lwów. Further east in Ukraine, only 10% of Jews survive his savage pogroms
1656
Lwów is attacked by the Hungarians
1659
The Union of Lublin unites Poland and Lithuania. Their combined might impels the expansion of territory to the east and the colonization of Ukraine by the Polish nobility, in which enterprise they employ the Jews as partners. Despite the Khmielnitsky massacres, Jews begin to move into the villages of Ukraine and become involved in the arenda system, by which they manage much of the agricultural economy. The economic and personal lives of Jews improve considerably during this period and the population east of Lwów expands.
1664
Several hundred Jews are murdered in pogroms in Lwów.
1655
Khmielnitsky lays siege to Lwów
1648-1696
The courts of Jan II Casimir and Jan III Sobieski attempt to strengthen Jewish autonomy but make little progress. Anti-Semitic laws and acts increase. Approximately 300,000 Jews live in Poland.
1695
Tartars invade Lwów.
1704
The Swedes capture Lwów.
1696-1733
The reign of Augustus II of Poland begins the period of decline of the Polish Commonwealth. Political deadlock and costly wars have caused stagnation in the economy and the government. The lot of the peasants has become much more miserable. Jewish merchants also suffer as commerce declines. Many kehillot go bankrupt.
mid 18th
century
The ravages of the thirty years of war, the stagnation of the economy, and the decline of the Polish Commonwealth's relative tolerance toward the Jewish minority result in a period of religious disruption and change. Under the influence of Israel ben Eliezer (1700-1760), Hassidism is born in opposition to orthodoxy. The heresy of Jacob Frank and his followers also makes a deep impression on the population and the first influence of Haskalah (Enlightenment) is apparent at this time.
1764
The Council of Lands is abolished
