Henrician Articles

The Henrician Articles were considered to be the foundation of the system.

In 1573 the Henrician Articles were introduced.

Unlike the pacta conventa, the Henrician Articles were constant and unchanging.

The provisions of the Henrician Articles stated that:

The Henrician Articles would no longer bind the monarch or give the szlachta an excuse for rebellions.

Firlej and his men agreed to the election of the Frenchman only after signing the so-called Henrician Articles.

As Henry of Valois was the first one to sign the rules, they became known as the Henrician Articles.

Henry also gave up any claims to succession and he "recognized the principle of free election" under the Henrician Articles and the pacta conventa.

Over time, the Henrician Articles were merged with the Pacta Conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect.

Each new king had to pledge to uphold the Henrician Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included near-unprecedented guarantees of religious tolerance).

Pacta conventa (Latin), "agreed-to agreements" negotiated with the king-elect, including a bill of rights, binding on the king, derived from the earlier Henrician Articles.

Due to an oversight (whether intentional or unintentional), Henrician Articles (Henry's pre-election treaty) did not include the promise to marry Anna and so he delayed.

While pacta conventa comprised only the personal undertakings of the king-elect, the Henrician Articles were a permanent statute that all kings-elect had to swear to respect.

The Henrician Articles he signed into law accepting the Polish throne established Poland as an elective monarchy subject to free election by the Polish nobility.

As a conditions to his election, he was compelled to sign the Pacta conventa and the Henrician Articles, pledging religious tolerance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

During the coronation sejm, the king-elect undertook various ceremonies and formalities, such as swearing an oath to uphold the pacta conventa and Henrician Articles.

The articles of the Warsaw Confederation were later incorporated into the Henrician Articles, and thus became constitutional provisions alongside the Pacta conventa also instituted in 1573.

They demanded Sigismund III's dethronement for breaching the Henrician Articles, and the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In addition to his own unique pacta conventa, each king-elect was required to sign the Henrician Articles, a set of privileges named after the first king who signed them, Henry of Poland.

On May 16, French envoys accepted the Henrician Articles and other demands, and on the same day Crown Marshal Jan Firlej named Henry King of Poland.

In 1573 the Senate received new rights under the Henrician Articles; these allowed the Senate to reprimand the king and instructed that the monarch must always be accompanied by an advisory body of at least four senators.

The rokosz took its authority from the right to refuse obedience to the king, as stipulated in the Privilege of Mielnik (przywilej mielnicki, signed October 23, 1501) and later in the Henrician Articles of 1573.

The next day, November 14, 1632, Władysław signed his pacta conventa and the Henrician Articles that had been required of new Polish kings since the 1573 election of France's Henri de Valois to the Polish throne.

The Henrician Articles summarized the accumulated rights of Polish nobility, including religious freedom guarantees, and introduced further restrictions on the elective king; as if that were not enough, Henry also signed the so-called pacta conventa, through which he accepted additional specific obligations.

Each king had to sign the so-called Henrician Articles (named after Henry of Valois, the first post-Jagiellon king), which were the basis of the political system of Poland, and the pacta conventa, which were various further personal obligations of the chosen king.