Privilege of Koszyce

The Privilege of Koszyce or Privilege of Kassa[1] was a set of concessions made by Louis I of Hungary to the Polish szlachta (nobility) in 1374. The privileges were granted in Kassa, Kingdom of Hungary (Polish: Koszyce; today: Košice, Slovakia). In exchange, one of Louis' daughters (Catherine, Mary or Jadwiga) was to ascend the throne of Poland after his death.

Privilege of Koszyce

The szlachta obtained the following privileges:

  • release from the obligation to pay tribute, with the exception of a nominal or token two groschen from one field, to the monarch;
  • release from the duty to build and repair castles, except for those nobles holding territory in eastern Poland where the threat from the Russian Empire was significant;
  • the restriction of eligibility for certain offices to persons of Polish (as opposed to Lithuanian, Hungarian, or other) ethnicity;
  • payment of soldiers' wages to szlachta who personally fought in military campaigns;
  • release from the duty to build towns and bridges;
and
  • release from the duty to provide food, lodging, and other accommodations for the king and his court when he was traveling within the kingdom.

Louis' promising of these privileges was a success, as Louis' youngest daughter Jadwiga eventually succeeded her father as monarch of Poland, following the Greater Poland Civil War. Hungarian influence in Poland waned, as one of the conditions for Jadwiga's ascention to the Polish throne was the end of the Polish-Hungarian Union. While Louis might have intended for the privileges to be rescindend, his death prevented this from happening. They gave a significant power boost to the Polish nobility, influencing the Polish kingdom's government for centuries.[2]

References
  1. Clifford Rogers (editor): The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Oxford University Press, 2010
  2. Norman Davies (24 February 2005). God's Playground A History of Poland: Volume 1: The Origins to 1795. Oxford University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-19-925339-5.
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