The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles (Polish: Artykuły henrykowskie, Latin: Articuli Henriciani) were a permanent contract between the "Polish nation" (i.e., the szlachta (nobility) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a newly-elected king upon his election to the throne that stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
While pacta conventa comprised only the personal undertakings of the king-elect, the Henrician Articles were a permanent statute that all king-elects had to swear to respect.
The articles functioned, essentially, as a first constitution for Poland until the Constitution of May 3, 1791.
Read more about Henrician Articles: Origins, Provisions
Famous quotes containing the word articles:
“It was not sufficient for the disquiet of our minds that we disputed at the end of seventeen hundred years upon the articles of our own religion, but we must likewise introduce into our quarrels those of the Chinese. This dispute, however, was not productive of any great disturbances, but it served more than any other to characterize that busy, contentious, and jarring spirit which prevails in our climates.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)