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In the fourth part of our Brief History of Poland series, Notes from Poland editor-at-large Stanley Bill looks at the “golden age” of Poland-Lithuania in the sixteenth century, covering the period between 1505 and 1572. He examines the reign of the last two Jagiellonian kings; the establishment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; religious tolerance and conflict; the great cultural achievements of the Polish Renaissance; and the beginning of the free royal elections.
The Brief History of Poland series will cover over a thousand years of Polish political and cultural history, from 966 until today.
Producer: Sebastian Leśniewski
Check out the previous episode in our Brief History of Poland series – below.
Main image credit: Miniature of Sigismund II Augustus (c. 1553), by Lucas Cranach the Younger (under public domain).
Stanley Bill is the founder and editor-at-large of Notes from Poland. He is also Professor of Polish Studies and Director of the Polish Studies Programme at the University of Cambridge. He has spent more than ten years living in Poland, mostly based in Kraków and Bielsko-Biała.
He is the Chair of the Board of the Notes from Poland Foundation.
