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The Polish Reformation
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Poland was a country open to new religious trends.
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The Cloth Hall in Cracow's Market Square |
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| Unlike other European countries, there were no religious wars here. Not only could heterodox religionists find sanctuary here, they were also protected by the kings and lords of Poland. As a result, culture and scholarship experienced an influx of new ideas and literary works, building up an image of Poland as a country of toleration. This was particularly true as regards the Warsaw Compact, ratified in 1573, which gave Protestants equal rights with Catholics. The last Jagiellonian monarch, Zygmunt August (Sigismundus Augustus), said in Sejm, "I do not rule your consciences."
Not surprisingly contemporaries and later generations called the Jagiellonian era, especially the 16th century, their Golden Age.
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