Polish–Lithuanian royal election, 1573
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Election of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania |
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| Turnout | 40,000 electors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The free election of 1573 was the first ever royal election to be held in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It gathered approximately 40,000 szlachta (Polish nobility) voters (the highest turnout ever) who elected Henry of Valois king.
The free election was introduced due to the childless death of the last Jagiellonian monarch Sigismund II Augustus and the lack of a potential candidate that would satisfy most of the nobles. Even though that kind of half-democratic election soon proved to be weakening the power of both the king and the state, it was not abolished until the Constitution of May 3, 1791 was established.
Henry I of Poland ruled only for a single year after which he returned to his native France, as he had become the new french king after the death of his brother. The next election took place in 1576.
The death of King Zygmunt August (July 7, 1572), was not a surprise for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth nobility. The King had been sick since spring of that year, and probably died of pneumonia. Zygmunt August did not have a son, so Polish throne was left empty, and no legal regulations existed to specify election of a new monarch. Furthermore, several internal problems existed in the enormous country. Lithuanian nobility demanded revision of the Union of Lublin, and return of Podlasie, Volhynia, Podolia and Kiev, which had been incorporated into the Crown of Poland. Furthermore, there were conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, magnates and szlachta, and two great Polish provinces - Lesser Poland and Greater Poland.
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Wikipedia