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149-510: Myślenice [mɨɕlɛˈɲit͡sɛ] is a town in southern Poland , situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship . The town is divided into six districts. One of them, Zarabie, is a popular local tourist destination. It is located behind the Raba river (Zarabie meaning "Beyond the (River) Raba"), and it has Chełm mountain, with a view tower, a landscape park and ski lifts . Myślenice is located on

298-494: A Fellowship of the Royal Society . In 1791, Great Sejm parliament adopted the 3 May Constitution , the first set of supreme national laws, and introduced a constitutional monarchy . The Targowica Confederation , an organisation of nobles and deputies opposing the act, appealed to Catherine and caused the 1792 Polish–Russian War . Fearing the reemergence of Polish hegemony, Russia and Prussia arranged and in 1793 executed,

447-484: A citadel. Former imperial capitals such as Cologne and Trier lived on in diminished form as administrative centres of the Franks . In Britain most towns and cities had been in decline, apart from a brief period of recovery during the fourth century, well before the withdrawal of Roman governors and garrisons but the process might well have stretched well into the fifth century. Historians emphasizing urban continuities with

596-668: A coastline spanning 770 km (480 mi); extending from the shores of the Baltic Sea, along the Bay of Pomerania in the west to the Gulf of Gdańsk in the east. The beach coastline is abundant in sand dune fields or coastal ridges and is indented by spits and lagoons, notably the Hel Peninsula and the Vistula Lagoon , which is shared with Russia. The largest Polish island on the Baltic Sea

745-520: A combined area of 312,696 km (120,733 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Warsaw ; other major cities include Kraków , Wrocław , Łódź , Poznań , Gdańsk , and Szczecin . Prehistoric human activity on Polish soil dates to the Lower Paleolithic , with continuous settlement since the end of the Last Glacial Period . Culturally diverse throughout late antiquity , in

894-412: A general decline in urban populations. As a whole, the period of late antiquity was accompanied by an overall population decline in almost all Europe, and a reversion to more of a subsistence economy. Long-distance markets disappeared, and there was a reversion to a greater degree of local production and consumption, rather than webs of commerce and specialized production. Concurrently, the continuity of

1043-548: A leading power and a major cultural entity, exercising political control over parts of Central, Eastern , Southeastern and Northern Europe. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied approximately 1 million km (390,000 sq mi) at its peak and was the largest state in Europe. Simultaneously, Poland imposed Polonisation policies in newly acquired territories which were met with resistance from ethnic and religious minorities. In 1573, Henry de Valois of France ,

1192-645: A legendary ruler of the Lechites , or from the Lendians , a West Slavic tribe that dwelt on the south-easternmost edge of Lesser Poland . The origin of the tribe's name lies in the Old Polish word lęda (plain). Initially, both names Lechia and Polonia were used interchangeably when referring to Poland by chroniclers during the Middle Ages . The first Stone Age archaic humans and Homo erectus species settled what

1341-400: A local commercial center. Among visitors who came here, were Mikolaj Rej , who wrote part of his Life of an Honest Man during his stay there; King Władysław II Jagiełło and Queen Jadwiga ; German emperor Sigismund ; and other personalities. In 1557, Myślenice came under the jurisdiction of Kraków castellans , who were much more concerned with their city. The town began to decline, and it

1490-646: A new provisional pro-Communist coalition government in Moscow, which ignored the Polish government-in-exile based in London. This action angered many Poles who considered it a betrayal by the Allies. In 1944, Stalin had made guarantees to Churchill and Roosevelt that he would maintain Poland's sovereignty and allow democratic elections to take place. However, upon achieving victory in 1945,

1639-469: A partial revival of classicism). Nearly all of these more abstracted conventions could be observed in the glittering mosaics of the era, which during this period moved from being decoration derivative from painting used on floors (and walls likely to become wet) to a major vehicle of religious art in churches. The glazed surfaces of the tesserae sparkled in the light and illuminated the basilica churches. Unlike their fresco predecessors, much more emphasis

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1788-515: A period of dynamic religious experimentation and spirituality with many syncretic sects, some formed centuries earlier, such as Gnosticism or Neoplatonism and the Chaldaean oracles , some novel, such as hermeticism . Culminating in the reforms advocated by Apollonius of Tyana being adopted by Aurelian and formulated by Flavius Claudius Julianus to create an organized but short-lived pagan state religion that ensured its underground survival into

1937-548: A political force. Despite persecution and imposition of martial law in 1981 by General Wojciech Jaruzelski , it eroded the dominance of the Polish United Workers' Party and by 1989 had triumphed in Poland's first partially free and democratic parliamentary elections since the end of the Second World War. Lech Wałęsa , a Solidarity candidate, eventually won the presidency in 1990 . The Solidarity movement heralded

2086-559: A population of 800,000 in the beginning of the period to a population of 30,000 by the end of the period, the most precipitous drop coming with the breaking of the aqueducts during the Gothic War . A similar though less marked decline in urban population occurred later in Constantinople, which was gaining population until the outbreak of the Plague of Justinian in 541. In Europe there was also

2235-517: A proliferation of various ascetic or semi-ascetic practices. Holy Fools and Stylites counted among the more extreme forms but through such personalities like John Chrysostom , Jerome , Augustine or Gregory the Great monastic attitudes penetrated other areas of Christian life. Late antiquity marks the decline of Roman state religion , circumscribed in degrees by edicts likely inspired by Christian advisors such as Eusebius to 4th-century emperors, and

2384-729: A rival Habsburg electoral candidate, Archduke Maximilian III , in the War of the Polish Succession (1587–1588) . In 1592, Sigismund succeeded his father and John Vasa , in Sweden . The Polish-Swedish union endured until 1599, when he was deposed by the Swedes. In 1609, Sigismund invaded Russia which was engulfed in a civil war , and a year later the Polish winged hussar units under Stanisław Żółkiewski occupied Moscow for two years after defeating

2533-516: A shade exotic," observes H. R. Loyn , "owing their reason for being more to the military and administrative needs of Rome than to any economic virtue". The other institutional power centre, the Roman villa , did not survive in Britain either. Gildas lamented the destruction of the twenty-eight cities of Britain; though not all in his list can be identified with known Roman sites, Loyn finds no reason to doubt

2682-845: A tribal federation and later a centralised monarchical state. Poland began to form into a recognisable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the 10th century under the Piast dynasty . In 966, ruler of the Polans Mieszko I accepted Christianity under the auspices of the Roman Church with the Baptism of Poland . In 968, a missionary bishopric was established in Poznań . An incipit titled Dagome iudex first defined Poland's geographical boundaries with its capital in Gniezno and affirmed that its monarchy

2831-506: A vehicle for the last group of powerful pagans to resist Christianity, as in the late 4th century Symmachi–Nicomachi diptych . Extravagant hoards of silver plate are especially common from the 4th century, including the Mildenhall Treasure , Esquiline Treasure , Hoxne Hoard , and the imperial Missorium of Theodosius I . In the field of literature, late antiquity is known for the declining use of classical Greek and Latin , and

2980-564: Is Baiyara (perhaps modern Montoro ), mentioned as founded by Reccared in the 15th-century geographical account, Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar . The arrival of a highly urbanized Islamic culture in the decade following 711 ensured the survival of cities in the Hispaniae into the Middle Ages. Beyond the Mediterranean world, the cities of Gaul withdrew within a constricted line of defense around

3129-728: Is Mount Rysy at 2,501 metres (8,205 ft) in elevation, located in the Tatras. The highest summit of the Sudetes massif is Mount Śnieżka at 1,603.3 metres (5,260 ft), shared with the Czech Republic. The lowest point in Poland is situated at Raczki Elbląskie in the Vistula Delta , which is 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) below sea level. Late antiquity The term Spätantike , literally "late antiquity", has been used by German-speaking historians since its popularization by Alois Riegl in

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3278-803: Is Wolin , located within Wolin National Park . Poland also shares the Szczecin Lagoon and the Usedom island with Germany. The mountainous belt in the extreme south of Poland is divided into two major mountain ranges ; the Sudetes in the west and the Carpathians in the east. The highest part of the Carpathian massif are the Tatra Mountains , extending along Poland's southern border. Poland's highest point

3427-661: Is twinned with: Poland – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  –  [ Legend ] Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to

3576-693: Is a founding member state of the United Nations and a member of the World Trade Organization , OECD , NATO , and the European Union (including the Schengen Area ). The native Polish name for Poland is Polska . The name is derived from the Polans , a West Slavic tribe who inhabited the Warta River basin of present-day Greater Poland region (6th–8th century CE). The tribe's name stems from

3725-590: Is debated . Constantine confirmed the legalization of the religion through the so-called Edict of Milan in 313, jointly issued with his rival in the East, Licinius (r. 308–324). By the late 4th century, Emperor Theodosius the Great had made Christianity the State religion, thereby transforming the Classical Roman world, which Peter Brown characterized as "rustling with the presence of many divine spirits ." Constantine I

3874-435: Is internal waters and 8,783 km (3,391 sq mi) is territorial sea. Topographically, the landscape of Poland is characterised by diverse landforms , water bodies and ecosystems . The central and northern region bordering the Baltic Sea lie within the flat Central European Plain , but its south is hilly and mountainous. The average elevation above the sea level is estimated at 173 metres. The country has

4023-516: Is the end of the polis model. While there was a decline of urban life in late antiquity (especially in the West) the epoch brought with it new forms of political participation in the urban spaces as well. Especially the role of crowds and masses in cities has increased, leading to new levels of tension. In the cities the strained economies of Roman over-expansion arrested growth. Almost all new public building in late antiquity came directly or indirectly from

4172-564: The Augustus . The later Roman Empire was in a sense a network of cities. Archaeology now supplements literary sources to document the transformation followed by collapse of cities in the Mediterranean Basin . Two diagnostic symptoms of decline—or as many historians prefer, 'transformation'—are subdivision, particularly of expansive formal spaces in both the domus and the public basilica , and encroachment, in which artisans' shops invade

4321-565: The Anglo-Saxon period depend largely on the post-Roman survival of Roman toponymy . Aside from a mere handful of its continuously inhabited sites, like York and London and possibly Canterbury , however, the rapidity and thoroughness with which its urban life collapsed with the dissolution of centralized bureaucracy calls into question the extent to which Roman Britain had ever become authentically urbanized: "in Roman Britain towns appeared

4470-457: The Arab invasions marked—through conquest and the disruption of Mediterranean trade routes—the cataclysmic end of late antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages . On the other hand, there is a more recent thesis, associated with scholars in the tradition of Peter Brown, in which Islam is seen to be a product of the late antique world, not foreign to it. This school suggests that its origin within

4619-482: The Armia Krajowa ( Home Army ), fought against German occupation. It was one of the three largest resistance movements of the entire war, and encompassed a range of clandestine activities, which functioned as an underground state complete with degree-awarding universities and a court system . The resistance was loyal to the exiled government and generally resented the idea of a communist Poland; for this reason, in

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4768-533: The Battle of Vienna . The Saxon era, under Augustus II and Augustus III , saw neighboring powers grow in strength at the expense of Poland. Both Saxon kings faced opposition from Stanisław Leszczyński during the Great Northern War (1700) and the War of the Polish Succession (1733) . The royal election of 1764 resulted in the elevation of Stanisław II Augustus Poniatowski to the monarchy. His candidacy

4917-632: The Byzantine military manuals achieving great renown and influence: the most famous of which is the Strategikon attributed to Emperor Maurice , written in the 6th century. One genre of literature among Christian writers in this period was the Hexaemeron , dedicated to the composition of commentaries, homilies, and treatises concerned with the exegesis of the Genesis creation narrative . The first example of this

5066-563: The Curzon Line by Stalin . The western border became the Oder-Neisse line . As a result, Poland's territory was reduced by 20%, or 77,500 square kilometres (29,900 sq mi). The shift forced the migration of millions of other people , most of whom were Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, and Jews. At the insistence of Joseph Stalin , the Yalta Conference sanctioned the formation of

5215-468: The De arithmetica , De musica , and De consolatione philosophiae of Boethius —both later key works in medieval education). The 4th and 5th centuries also saw an explosion of Christian literature , of which Greek writers such as Eusebius of Caesarea , Basil of Caesarea , Gregory of Nazianzus and John Chrysostom and Latin writers such as Ambrose of Milan , Jerome and Augustine of Hippo are only among

5364-610: The Duke of Milan and queen consort to Sigismund I, made considerable contributions to architecture , cuisine , language and court customs at Wawel Castle . The Union of Lublin of 1569 established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , a unified federal state with an elective monarchy , but largely governed by the nobility. The latter coincided with a period of prosperity; the Polish-dominated union thereafter becoming

5513-642: The European Spring of Nations , Poles took up arms in the Greater Poland Uprising of 1848 to resist Germanisation , but its failure saw duchy's status reduced to a mere province ; and subsequent integration into the German Empire in 1871. In Russia, the fall of the January Uprising (1863–1864) prompted severe political, social and cultural reprisals , followed by deportations and pogroms of

5662-578: The Grand Duke of Lithuania , thus forming the Jagiellonian dynasty and the Polish–Lithuanian union which spanned the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era . The partnership between Poles and Lithuanians brought the vast multi-ethnic Lithuanian territories into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for its inhabitants, who coexisted in one of the largest European political entities of

5811-637: The Greek East and Latin West became more pronounced. The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the early 4th century was ended by Galerius and under Constantine the Great , Christianity was made legal in the Empire. The 4th century Christianization of the Roman Empire was extended by the conversions of Tiridates the Great of Armenia , Mirian III of Iberia , and Ezana of Axum , who later invaded and ended

5960-447: The Kingdom of Kush . During the late 4th century reign of Theodosius I , Nicene Christianity was proclaimed the state church of the Roman Empire . The city of Constantinople became the permanent imperial residence in the East by the 5th century and superseded Rome as the largest city in the Late Roman Empire and the Mediterranean Basin . The longest Roman aqueduct system, the 250 km (160 mi)-long Aqueduct of Valens

6109-435: The Late Antique Little Ice Age ) and a disastrous pandemic (the Plague of Justinian in 541). The effects of these events in the social and political life are still under discussion. In the 7th century the disastrous Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 and the campaigns of Khosrow II and Heraclius facilitated the emergence of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula during the lifetime of Muhammad . Subsequent Muslim conquest of

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6258-399: The Ostrogoths and Visigoths saw themselves as perpetuating the "Roman" tradition. While the usage "Late Antiquity" suggests that the social and cultural priorities of classical antiquity endured throughout Europe into the Middle Ages , the usage of "Early Middle Ages" or "Early Byzantine" emphasizes a break with the classical past, and the term " Migration Period " tends to de-emphasize

6407-417: The Polish People's Republic was a founding signatory of the Warsaw Pact . Through the emergence and contributions of the Solidarity movement , the communist government was dissolved and Poland re-established itself as a democratic state in 1989, as the first of its neighbors, initiating the fall of the Iron Curtain . Poland is a parliamentary republic with its bicameral legislature comprising

6556-420: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . At the time, the Commonwealth was one of the great powers of Europe, with an elective monarchy and a uniquely liberal political system, which adopted Europe's first modern constitution in 1791. With the passing of the prosperous Polish Golden Age , the country was partitioned by neighbouring states at the end of the 18th century. Poland regained its independence at

6705-553: The Proto-Slavic noun pole meaning field, which in-itself originates from the Proto-Indo-European word *pleh₂- indicating flatland. The etymology alludes to the topography of the region and the flat landscape of Greater Poland. During the Middle Ages , the Latin form Polonia was widely used throughout Europe. The country's alternative archaic name is Lechia and its root syllable remains in official use in several languages, notably Hungarian , Lithuanian , and Persian . The exonym possibly derives from either Lech ,

6854-402: The Republican senatorial class was replaced with the silk court vestments and jewelry associated with Byzantine imperial iconography. Also indicative of the times is the fact that the imperial cabinet of advisors came to be known as the consistorium , or those who would stand in courtly attendance upon their seated emperor, as distinct from the informal set of friends and advisors surrounding

7003-477: The Second Partition , which left the country deprived of territory and incapable of independent existence. On 24 October 1795, the Commonwealth was partitioned for the third time and ceased to exist as a territorial entity. Stanisław Augustus, the last King of Poland, abdicated the throne on 25 November 1795. The Polish people rose several times against the partitioners and occupying armies. An unsuccessful attempt at defending Poland's sovereignty took place in

7152-438: The Sejm and the Senate . Considered a middle power , it is a developed market and high-income economy that is the sixth largest in the EU by nominal GDP and the fifth largest by GDP (PPP) . Poland enjoys a very high standard of living , safety, and economic freedom , as well as free university education and universal health care . The country has 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites , 15 of which are cultural. Poland

7301-558: The Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September. On 28 September 1939, Warsaw fell . As agreed in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , Poland was split into two zones, one occupied by Nazi Germany , the other by the Soviet Union . In 1939–1941, the Soviets deported hundreds of thousands of Poles. The Soviet NKVD executed thousands of Polish prisoners of war (among other incidents in the Katyn massacre ) ahead of Operation Barbarossa . German planners had in November 1939 called for "the complete destruction of all Poles" and their fate as outlined in

7450-419: The Teutonic Knights to aid in combating the Baltic Prussians; a decision that later led to centuries of warfare with the Knights. In the first half of the 13th century, Henry I the Bearded and Henry II the Pious aimed to unite the fragmented dukedoms, but the Mongol invasion and the death of Henry II in battle hindered the unification. As a result of the devastation which followed, depopulation and

7599-454: The University of Kraków , one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Europe. Upon his death in 1370, the Piast dynasty came to an end. He was succeeded by his closest male relative, Louis of Anjou , who ruled Poland, Hungary , and Croatia in a personal union . Louis' younger daughter Jadwiga became Poland's first female monarch in 1384. In 1386, Jadwiga of Poland entered a marriage of convenience with Władysław II Jagiełło ,

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7748-421: The War of the Fourth Coalition . In accordance with the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit , Napoleon proclaimed the Duchy of Warsaw , a client state ruled by his ally Frederick Augustus I of Saxony . The Poles actively aided French troops in the Napoleonic Wars , particularly those under Józef Poniatowski who became Marshal of France shortly before his death at Leipzig in 1813. In the aftermath of Napoleon's exile,

7897-459: The armistice with Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic . The Second Polish Republic reaffirmed its sovereignty after a series of military conflicts , most notably the Polish–Soviet War , when Poland inflicted a crushing defeat on the Red Army at the Battle of Warsaw . The inter-war period heralded a new era of Polish politics. Whilst Polish political activists had faced heavy censorship in

8046-472: The collapse of communist regimes and parties across Europe . A shock therapy program, initiated by Leszek Balcerowicz in the early 1990s, enabled the country to transform its Soviet-style planned economy into a market economy . As with other post-communist countries , Poland suffered temporary declines in social, economic, and living standards, but it became the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 GDP levels as early as 1995, although

8195-420: The early medieval period the region became inhabited by the West Slavic tribal Polans , who gave Poland its name . The process of establishing statehood coincided with the conversion of a pagan ruler of the Polans to Christianity, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church in 966. The Kingdom of Poland emerged in 1025, and in 1569 cemented its long-standing association with Lithuania , thus forming

8344-411: The "Good Shepherd", resembling the traditional iconography of Hermes. He was increasingly given Roman elite status, and shrouded in purple robes like the emperors with orb and scepter in hand — this new type of depiction is variously thought to be derived from either the iconography of Jupiter or of classical philosophers. As for luxury arts, manuscript illumination on vellum and parchment emerged from

8493-484: The 1794 Kościuszko Uprising , where a popular and distinguished general Tadeusz Kościuszko , who had several years earlier served under George Washington in the American Revolutionary War , led Polish insurgents. Despite the victory at the Battle of Racławice , his ultimate defeat ended Poland's independent existence for 123 years . In 1806, an insurrection organised by Jan Henryk Dąbrowski liberated western Poland ahead of Napoleon's advance into Prussia during

8642-424: The 1950s. Despite widespread objections, the new Polish government accepted the Soviet annexation of the pre-war eastern regions of Poland (in particular the cities of Wilno and Lwów ) and agreed to the permanent garrisoning of Red Army units on Poland's territory. Military alignment within the Warsaw Pact throughout the Cold War came about as a direct result of this change in Poland's political culture. In

8791-505: The 3rd century was a major step in the development of Christian spirituality. While it initially operated outside the episcopal authority of the Church, it would become hugely successful and by the 8th century it became one of the key Christian practices. Monasticism was not the only new Christian movement to appear in late antiquity, although it had perhaps the greatest influence and it achieved unprecedented geographical spread. It influenced many aspects of Christian religious life and led to

8940-441: The 5th century, with a few manuscripts of Roman literary classics like the Vergilius Vaticanus and the Vergilius Romanus , but increasingly Christian texts, of which Quedlinburg Itala fragment (420–430) is the oldest survivor. Carved ivory diptychs were used for secular subjects, as in the imperial and consular diptychs presented to friends, as well as religious ones, both Christian and pagan – they seem to have been especially

9089-409: The Allies, providing much of the intelligence from Europe and beyond, Polish code breakers were responsible for cracking the Enigma cipher and Polish scientists participating in the Manhattan Project were co-creators of the American atomic bomb . In the east, the Soviet-backed Polish 1st Army distinguished itself in the battles for Warsaw and Berlin . The wartime resistance movement , and

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9238-417: The Balkans and Persian destructions in Anatolia in the 620s. City life continued in Syria, Jordan and Palestine into the 8th. In the later 6th century street construction was still undertaken in Caesarea Maritima in Palestine, and Edessa was able to deflect Chosroes I with massive payments in gold in 540 and 544, before it was overrun in 609. The stylistic changes characteristic of late antique art mark

9387-455: The Balkans, 'where inhabited centres contracted and regrouped around a defensible acropolis , or were abandoned in favour of such positions elsewhere." In the western Mediterranean, the only new cities known to be founded in Europe between the 5th and 8th centuries were the four or five Visigothic "victory cities". Reccopolis in the province of Guadalajara is one: the others were Victoriacum , founded by Leovigild , which may survive as

9536-441: The Brave . In 1000, at the Congress of Gniezno , Bolesław obtained the right of investiture from Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor , who assented to the creation of additional bishoprics and an archdioceses in Gniezno. Three new dioceses were subsequently established in Kraków , Kołobrzeg , and Wrocław . Also, Otto bestowed upon Bolesław royal regalia and a replica of the Holy Lance , which were later used at his coronation as

9685-405: The Byzantine age and beyond. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India and along the Silk Road in Central Asia , while Manichaeism , a Dualist faith, arose in Mesopotamia and spread both East and West, for a time contending with Christianity in the Roman Empire. Many of the new religions relied on the emergence of the parchment codex (bound book) over the papyrus volumen (scroll),

9834-469: The Duchy of Warsaw was abolished at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and its territory was divided into Russian Congress Kingdom of Poland , the Prussian Grand Duchy of Posen , and Austrian Galicia with the Free City of Kraków . In 1830, non-commissioned officers at Warsaw's Officer Cadet School rebelled in what was the November Uprising . After its collapse, Congress Poland lost its constitutional autonomy , army and legislative assembly. During

9983-427: The Early Middle Ages. The Roman Empire underwent considerable social, cultural and organizational changes starting with the reign of Diocletian , who began the custom of splitting the Empire into Eastern and Western portions ruled by multiple emperors simultaneously . The Sasanian Empire supplanted the Parthian Empire and began a new phase of the Roman–Persian Wars, the Roman–Sasanian Wars . The divisions between

10132-451: The Eastern Roman Empire at Constantinople meant that the turning-point for the Greek East came later, in the 7th century, as the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire centered around the Balkans , North Africa ( Egypt and Carthage ), and Asia Minor . The cities in the East were still lively stages for political participation and remained important for background for religious and political disputes. The degree and extent of discontinuity in

10281-400: The European Union were dismantled, allowing for full freedom of movement within most of the European Union. On 10 April 2010, the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński , along with 89 other high-ranking Polish officials died in a plane crash near Smolensk , Russia. In 2011, the ruling Civic Platform won parliamentary elections . In 2014, the Prime Minister of Poland , Donald Tusk ,

10430-543: The European scene, it came to characterise the full-fledged integration of Poland into the brotherhood of communist nations. The new communist government took control with the adoption of the Small Constitution on 19 February 1947. The Polish People's Republic ( Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa ) was officially proclaimed in 1952 . In 1956, after the death of Bolesław Bierut , the régime of Władysław Gomułka became temporarily more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. Collectivisation in

10579-405: The German occupation of Poland , including between 50,000 and 100,000 members of the Polish intelligentsia – academics, doctors, lawyers, nobility and priesthood. During the Warsaw Uprising alone, over 150,000 Polish civilians were killed, most were murdered by the Germans during the Wola and Ochota massacres. Around 150,000 Polish civilians were killed by Soviets between 1939 and 1941 during

10728-709: The Great led to the fall of the Ostrogothic and Vandal Kingdoms, and their reincorporation into the Empire, when the city of Rome and much of Italy and North Africa returned to imperial control. Though most of Italy was soon part of the Kingdom of the Lombards , the Roman Exarchate of Ravenna endured, ensuring the so-called Byzantine Papacy . Justinian constructed the Hagia Sophia , a great example of Byzantine architecture , and

10877-688: The Levant and Persia overthrew the Sasanian Empire and permanently wrested two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire's territory from Roman control, forming the Rashidun Caliphate . The Byzantine Empire under the Heraclian dynasty began the middle Byzantine period , and together with the establishment of the later 7th century Umayyad Caliphate , generally marks the end of late antiquity. One of

11026-578: The Middle Ages . The continuities between the later Roman Empire , as it was reorganized by Diocletian (r. 284–305), and the Early Middle Ages are stressed by writers who wish to emphasize that the seeds of medieval culture were already developing in the Christianized empire, and that they continued to do so in the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire at least until the coming of Islam . Concurrently, some migrating Germanic tribes such as

11175-547: The Polish People's Republic failed. A similar situation repeated itself in the 1970s under Edward Gierek , but most of the time persecution of anti-communist opposition groups persisted. Despite this, Poland was at the time considered to be one of the least oppressive states of the Eastern Bloc. Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union " Solidarity " (" Solidarność "), which over time became

11324-599: The Polish-Jewish population. Towards the end of the 19th century, Congress Poland became heavily industrialised; its primary exports being coal, zinc , iron and textiles. In the aftermath of World War I , the Allies agreed on the reconstitution of Poland, confirmed through the Treaty of Versailles of June 1919. A total of 2 million Polish troops fought with the armies of the three occupying powers, and over 450,000 died. Following

11473-682: The Prussian rulers to pay tributes . The Jagiellonian dynasty also established dynastic control over the kingdoms of Bohemia (1471 onwards) and Hungary. In the south, Poland confronted the Ottoman Empire (at the Varna Crusade ) and the Crimean Tatars , and in the east helped Lithuania to combat Russia . Poland was developing as a feudal state, with a predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly powerful landed nobility that confined

11622-555: The Russians at Klushino . Sigismund also countered the Ottoman Empire in the southeast; at Khotyn in 1621 Jan Karol Chodkiewicz achieved a decisive victory against the Turks, which ushered the downfall of Sultan Osman II . Sigismund's long reign in Poland coincided with the Silver Age . The liberal Władysław IV effectively defended Poland's territorial possessions but after his death

11771-769: The Soviet Union's occupation of eastern Poland ( Kresy ), and another estimated 100,000 Poles were murdered by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) between 1943 and 1944 in what became known as the Wołyń Massacres . Of all the countries in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of its citizens: around 6 million perished – more than one-sixth of Poland's pre-war population – half of them Polish Jews. About 90% of deaths were non-military in nature. In 1945, Poland's borders were shifted westwards . Over two million Polish inhabitants of Kresy were expelled along

11920-561: The Third Century the military, political and economic demands made by the Empire made the service in local government to be an onerous duty, often imposed as punishment. Harassed urban dwellers fled to the walled estates of the wealthy to avoid taxes, military service, famine and disease. In the Western Roman Empire especially, many cities destroyed by invasion or civil war in the 3rd century could not be rebuilt. Plague and famine hit

12069-598: The apocalypticism of Islamic theology and in the way the Quran seems to react to contemporary religious and cultural issues shared by the late antique world at large. Further indication that Arabia (and thus the environment in which Islam first developed) was a part of the late antique world is found in the close economic and military relations between Arabia, the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanian Empire. In recent years,

12218-450: The beauty and movement of the body, but rather, hints at the spiritual reality behind its subjects . Additionally, mirroring the rise of Christianity and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, painting and freestanding sculpture gradually fell from favor in the artistic community. Replacing them were greater interests in mosaics, architecture, and relief sculpture. As the soldier emperors such as Maximinus Thrax (r. 235–238) emerged from

12367-551: The building is not architecturally a basilica. In the former Western Roman Empire almost no great buildings were constructed from the 5th century. A most outstanding example is the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna constructed c.  530 at a cost of 26,000 gold solidi or 360 Roman pounds of gold. City life in the East, though negatively affected by the plague in the 6th–7th centuries, finally collapsed due to Slavic invasions in

12516-580: The chair in the apse reserved in secular structures for the magistrate—or the Emperor himself—as the representative here and now of Christ Pantocrator , the Ruler of All, his characteristic late antique icon . These ecclesiastical basilicas (e.g., St. John Lateran and St. Peter's in Rome) were themselves outdone by Justinian's Hagia Sophia , a staggering display of later Roman/Byzantine power and architectural taste, though

12665-600: The city of Vitoria , though a 12th-century (re)foundation for this city is given in contemporary sources; Lugo id est Luceo in the Asturias , referred to by Isidore of Seville , and Ologicus (perhaps Ologitis ), founded using Basque labour in 621 by Suinthila as a fortification against the Basques, modern Olite . All of these cities were founded for military purposes and at least Reccopolis, Victoriacum, and Ologicus in celebration of victory. A possible fifth Visigothic foundation

12814-403: The decades up until World War I , a new political tradition was established in the country. Many exiled Polish activists, such as Ignacy Jan Paderewski , who would later become prime minister, returned home. A significant number of them then went on to take key positions in the newly formed political and governmental structures. Tragedy struck in 1922 when Gabriel Narutowicz , inaugural holder of

12963-552: The demand for craft labour spurred a migration of German and Flemish settlers into Poland, which was encouraged by the Polish dukes. In 1264, the Statute of Kalisz introduced unprecedented autonomy for the Polish Jews , who came to Poland fleeing persecution elsewhere in Europe. In 1320, Władysław I the Short became the first king of a reunified Poland since Przemysł II in 1296, and

13112-570: The disruptions in the former Western Roman Empire caused by the creation of Germanic kingdoms within her borders beginning with the foedus with the Goths in Aquitania in 418. The general decline of population, technological knowledge and standards of living in Europe during this period became the archetypal example of societal collapse for writers from the Renaissance . As a result of this decline, and

13261-538: The doctrine of the so-called Polish Brethren , who separated from their Calvinist denomination and became the co-founders of global Unitarianism . The European Renaissance evoked under Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II Augustus a sense of urgency in the need to promote a cultural awakening . During the Polish Golden Age , the nation's economy and culture flourished. The Italian-born Bona Sforza , daughter of

13410-686: The earliest evidence of European cheesemaking (5500 BC) was discovered in Polish Kuyavia , and the Bronocice pot is incised with the earliest known depiction of what may be a wheeled vehicle (3400 BC). The period spanning the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (1300 BC–500 BC) was marked by an increase in population density, establishment of palisaded settlements ( gords ) and the expansion of Lusatian culture . A significant archaeological find from

13559-606: The early 20th century. It was given currency in English partly by the writings of Peter Brown , whose survey The World of Late Antiquity (1971) revised the Gibbon view of a stale and ossified Classical culture, in favour of a vibrant time of renewals and beginnings, and whose The Making of Late Antiquity offered a new paradigm of understanding the changes in Western culture of the time in order to confront Sir Richard Southern 's The Making of

13708-584: The elections organised by the occupying Soviet authorities were falsified and were used to provide a veneer of legitimacy for Soviet hegemony over Polish affairs. The Soviet Union instituted a new communist government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc . As elsewhere in Communist Europe , the Soviet influence over Poland was met with armed resistance from the outset which continued into

13857-410: The emperors or imperial officials. Attempts were made to maintain what was already there. The supply of free grain and oil to 20% of the population of Rome remained intact the last decades of the 5th century. It was once thought that the elite and rich had withdrawn to the private luxuries of their numerous villas and town houses. Scholarly opinion has revised this. They monopolized the higher offices in

14006-581: The end of World War I in 1918 with the creation of the Second Polish Republic , which emerged victorious in various conflicts of the interbellum period. In September 1939, the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union marked the beginning of World War II , which resulted in the Holocaust and millions of Polish casualties . Forced into the Eastern Bloc in the global Cold War ,

14155-478: The end of classical Roman art and the beginnings of medieval art . As a complicated period bridging between Roman art and later medieval styles (such as that of the Byzantines ), the late antique period saw a transition from the classical idealized realism tradition largely influenced by ancient Greek art to the more iconic, stylized art of the Middle Ages. Unlike classical art, late antique art does not emphasize

14304-495: The essential truth of his statement. Classical antiquity can generally be defined as an age of cities; the Greek polis and Roman municipium were locally organised, self-governing bodies of citizens governed by written constitutions. When Rome came to dominate the known world, local initiative and control were gradually subsumed by the ever-growing Imperial bureaucracy; by the Crisis of

14453-408: The expense of amphitheaters, temples, libraries, porticoes, gymnasia, concert and lecture halls, theaters and other amenities of public life. In any case, as Christianity took over, many of these buildings which were associated with pagan cults were neglected in favor of building churches and donating to the poor. The Christian basilica was copied from the civic structure with variations. The bishop took

14602-494: The far-away centralized administration (in concert with the great landowners ), and those who did not; although they were well-born and thoroughly educated, a classical education and the election by the Senate to magistracies was no longer the path to success. Room at the top of late antique society was more bureaucratic and involved increasingly intricate channels of access to the emperor; the plain toga that had identified all members of

14751-497: The first King of Poland in c.  1025 , when Bolesław received permission for his coronation from Pope John XIX . Bolesław also expanded the realm considerably by seizing parts of German Lusatia , Czech Moravia , Upper Hungary , and southwestern regions of the Kievan Rus' . The transition from paganism in Poland was not instantaneous and resulted in the pagan reaction of the 1030s . In 1031, Mieszko II Lambert lost

14900-625: The first elected king, approbated the Henrician Articles which obliged future monarchs to respect the rights of nobles. When he left Poland to become King of France , his successor, Stephen Báthory , led a successful campaign in the Livonian War , granting Poland more lands across the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. State affairs were then headed by Jan Zamoyski , the Crown Chancellor . Stephen's successor, Sigismund III , defeated

15049-502: The first outbreak of the centuries-long first plague pandemic took place. At Ctesiphon , the Sasanians completed the Taq Kasra , the colossal iwan of which is the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world and the triumph of Sasanian architecture . The middle of the 6th century was characterized by extreme climate events ( the volcanic winter of 535–536 and

15198-468: The first to be crowned at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. Beginning in 1333, the reign of Casimir III the Great was marked by developments in castle infrastructure , army, judiciary and diplomacy . Under his authority, Poland transformed into a major European power; he instituted Polish rule over Ruthenia in 1340 and imposed quarantine that prevented the spread of Black Death . In 1364, Casimir inaugurated

15347-523: The former allowing for quicker access to key materials and easier portability than the fragile scroll, thus fueling the rise of synoptic exegesis , papyrology . Notable in this regard is the topic of the Fifty Bibles of Constantine . Within the recently legitimized Christian community of the 4th century, a division could be more distinctly seen between the laity and an increasingly celibate male leadership. These men presented themselves as removed from

15496-635: The genocidal Generalplan Ost . Poland made the fourth-largest troop contribution in Europe, and its troops served both the Polish Government in Exile in the west and Soviet leadership in the east . Polish troops played an important role in the Normandy , Italian , North African Campaigns and Netherlands and are particularly remembered for the Battle of Britain and Battle of Monte Cassino . Polish intelligence operatives proved extremely valuable to

15645-436: The imperial administration, but they were removed from military command by the late 3rd century. Their focus turned to preserving their vast wealth rather than fighting for it. The basilica , which had functioned as a law court or for imperial reception of foreign dignitaries, became the primary public building in the 4th century. Due to the stress on civic finances, cities spent money on walls, maintaining baths and markets at

15794-530: The medieval period. Justinian rebuilt his birthplace in Illyricum , as Justiniana Prima , more in a gesture of imperium than out of an urbanistic necessity; another "city", was reputed to have been founded, according to Procopius ' panegyric on Justinian's buildings, precisely at the spot where the general Belisarius touched shore in North Africa: the miraculous spring that gushed forth to give them water and

15943-453: The most important transformations in late antiquity was the formation and evolution of the Abrahamic religions : Christianity , Rabbinic Judaism and, eventually, Islam . A milestone in the spread of Christianity was the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) in 312, as claimed by his Christian panegyrist Eusebius of Caesarea , although the sincerity of his conversion

16092-461: The most renowned representatives. On the other hand, authors such as Ammianus Marcellinus (4th century) and Procopius of Caesarea (6th century) were able to keep the tradition of classical Hellenistic historiography alive in the Byzantine empire. Due to several factors of the era, among them the political instability and the constant military threats, treatises on war became a popular genre with

16241-426: The new Prime Minister leading a coalition made up of Civic Coalition , Third Way , and The Left . Law and Justice became the leading opposition party. Poland covers an administrative area of 312,722 km (120,743 sq mi), and is the ninth-largest country in Europe . Approximately 311,895 km (120,423 sq mi) of the country's territory consists of land, 2,041 km (788 sq mi)

16390-449: The new style, shows the contrast especially clearly. In nearly all artistic media, simpler shapes were adopted and once natural designs were abstracted. Additionally hierarchy of scale overtook the preeminence of perspective and other classical models for representing spatial organization. From c.  300 Early Christian art began to create new public forms, which now included sculpture , previously distrusted by Christians as it

16539-571: The nobility. The failed attempts at government restructuring as well as the domestic turmoil provoked its neighbours to invade. In 1772, the First Partition of the Commonwealth by Prussia, Russia and Austria took place; an act which the Partition Sejm , under considerable duress, eventually ratified as a fait accompli . Disregarding the territorial losses, in 1773 a plan of critical reforms

16688-559: The northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west. The territory is characterised by a varied landscape, diverse ecosystems, and temperate transitional climate. Poland is composed of sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 million people, and the fifth largest EU country by land area, covering

16837-484: The period known as Golden Liberty , when the state was ruled by the seemingly free and equal Polish nobles . The 16th century saw Protestant Reformation movements making deep inroads into Polish Christianity, which resulted in the establishment of policies promoting religious tolerance, unique in Europe at that time. This tolerance allowed the country to avoid the religious turmoil and wars of religion that beset Europe. In Poland, Nontrinitarian Christianity became

16986-466: The period of late antiquity has become a major focus in the fields of Quranic studies and Islamic origins. The late antique period also saw a wholesale transformation of the political and social basis of life in and around the Roman Empire . The Roman citizen elite in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, under the pressure of taxation and the ruinous cost of presenting spectacular public entertainments in

17135-563: The population to private manorial farmstead known as folwarks . In 1493, John I Albert sanctioned the creation of a bicameral parliament composed of a lower house, the Sejm , and an upper house, the Senate . The Nihil novi act adopted by the Polish General Sejm in 1505, transferred most of the legislative power from the monarch to the parliament, an event which marked the beginning of

17284-473: The presence of Roman Legions sent to protect the amber trade . The Polish tribes emerged following the second wave of the Migration Period around the 6th century AD; they were Slavic and may have included assimilated remnants of peoples that earlier dwelled in the area. Beginning in the early 10th century, the Polans would come to dominate other Lechitic tribes in the region, initially forming

17433-621: The presidency, was assassinated at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw by a painter and right-wing nationalist Eligiusz Niewiadomski . In 1926, the May Coup , led by the hero of the Polish independence campaign Marshal Józef Piłsudski , turned rule of the Second Polish Republic over to the nonpartisan Sanacja ( Healing ) movement to prevent radical political organisations on both the left and

17582-515: The protohistory of Poland is a fortified settlement at Biskupin , attributed to the Lusatian culture of the Late Bronze Age (mid-8th century BC). Throughout antiquity (400 BC–500 AD), many distinct ancient populations inhabited the territory of present-day Poland, notably Celtic , Scythian , Germanic , Sarmatian , Baltic and Slavic tribes. Furthermore, archaeological findings confirmed

17731-723: The provinces in the 3rd century, they brought with them their own regional influences and artistic tastes. For example, artists jettisoned the classical portrayal of the human body for one that was more rigid and frontal. This is markedly evident in the combined porphyry Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs in Venice . With these stubby figures clutching each other and their swords, all individualism , naturalism , Roman verism , and Greek idealism diminish. The Arch of Constantine in Rome, which re-used earlier classicising reliefs together with ones in

17880-449: The public thoroughfare, a transformation that was to result in the souk (marketplace). Burials within the urban precincts mark another stage in dissolution of traditional urbanistic discipline, overpowered by the attraction of saintly shrines and relics. In Roman Britain , the typical 4th- and 5th-century layer of dark earth within cities seems to be a result of increased gardening in formerly urban spaces. The city of Rome went from

18029-472: The relative scarcity of historical records from Europe in particular, the period from roughly the early fifth century until the Carolingian Renaissance (or later still) was referred to as the " Dark Ages ". This term has mostly been abandoned as a name for a historiographical epoch, being replaced by "Late Antiquity" in the periodization of the late Western Roman Empire, the early Byzantine Empire and

18178-494: The right from destabilizing the country. By the late 1930s, due to increased threats posed by political extremism inside the country, the Polish government became increasingly heavy-handed, banning a number of radical organisations, including communist and ultra-nationalist political parties, which threatened the stability of the country. World War II began with the Nazi German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, followed by

18327-402: The rise of Islam, two main theses prevail. On the one hand, there is the traditional view, as espoused by most historians prior to the second half of the twentieth century (and after) and by Muslim scholars. This view, the so-called "out of Arabia"-thesis, holds that Islam as a phenomenon was a new, alien element in the late antique world. Related to this is the Pirenne Thesis , according to which

18476-439: The rise of literary cultures in Syriac , Armenian , Georgian , Ethiopic , Arabic , and Coptic . It also marks a shift in literary style, with a preference for encyclopedic works in a dense and allusive style, consisting of summaries of earlier works (anthologies, epitomes) often dressed up in elaborate allegorical garb (e.g., De nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae [The Marriage of Mercury and Philology] of Martianus Capella and

18625-670: The rural population that straightway abandoned their ploughshares for civilised life within the new walls, lend a certain taste of unreality to the project. In mainland Greece, the inhabitants of Sparta , Argos and Corinth abandoned their cities for fortified sites in nearby high places; the fortified heights of Acrocorinth are typical of Byzantine urban sites in Greece. In Italy, populations that had clustered within reach of Roman roads began to withdraw from them, as potential avenues of intrusion, and to rebuild in typically constricted fashion round an isolated fortified promontory, or rocca ; Cameron notes similar movement of populations in

18774-486: The shared cultural horizon of the late antique world explains the character of Islam and its development. Such historians point to similarities with other late antique religions and philosophies—especially Christianity—in the prominent role and manifestations of piety in Islam, in Islamic asceticism and the role of "holy persons", in the pattern of universalist, homogeneous monotheism tied to worldly and military power, in early Islamic engagement with Greek schools of thought, in

18923-451: The smaller cities of the Greek East is a moot subject among historians. The urban continuity of Constantinople is the outstanding example of the Mediterranean world; of the two great cities of lesser rank, Antioch was devastated by the Persian sack of 540, followed by the plague of Justinian (542 onwards) and completed by earthquake, while Alexandria survived its Islamic transformation, to suffer incremental decline in favour of Cairo in

19072-502: The so-called Zakopianka Road, which is a popular name of the European route E77 road, connecting Kraków with Zakopane (the E77 itself separates itself from the Zakopianka at Rabka ). Myślenice does not have a train station. First mentions of Myślenice come from 1253 - 1258. At that time, it was a defensive settlement, with a castle and fortifications, designed to protect Kraków from the south. In 1342, Myślenice received its Magdeburg rights town charter, and it started to develop into

19221-562: The summer of 1944 it initiated Operation Tempest , of which the Warsaw Uprising that began on 1 August 1944 is the best-known operation. Nazi German forces under orders from Adolf Hitler set up six German extermination camps in occupied Poland, including Treblinka , Majdanek and Auschwitz . The Germans transported millions of Jews from across occupied Europe to be murdered in those camps. Altogether, 3 million Polish Jews – approximately 90% of Poland's pre-war Jewry – and between 1.8 and 2.8 million ethnic Poles were killed during

19370-442: The time. In the Baltic Sea region, the struggle of Poland and Lithuania with the Teutonic Knights continued and culminated at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, where a combined Polish-Lithuanian army inflicted a decisive victory against them. In 1466, after the Thirteen Years' War , king Casimir IV Jagiellon gave royal consent to the Peace of Thorn , which created the future Duchy of Prussia under Polish suzerainty and forced

19519-561: The title of king and fled amidst the violence. The unrest led to the transfer of the capital to Kraków in 1038 by Casimir I the Restorer . In 1076, Bolesław II re-instituted the office of king, but was banished in 1079 for murdering his opponent, Bishop Stanislaus . In 1138, the country fragmented into five principalities when Bolesław III Wrymouth divided his lands among his sons. These were Lesser Poland , Greater Poland, Silesia , Masovia and Sandomierz , with intermittent hold over Pomerania . In 1226, Konrad I of Masovia invited

19668-429: The traditional cursus honorum , had found under the Antonines that security could be obtained only by combining their established roles in the local town with new ones as servants and representatives of a distant emperor and his traveling court. After Constantine centralized the government in his new capital of Constantinople (dedicated in 330), the late antique upper classes were divided among those who had access to

19817-406: The traditional Roman motivations of public and private life marked by pride, ambition and kinship solidarity, and differing from the married pagan leadership. Unlike later strictures on priestly celibacy , celibacy in late antique Christianity sometimes took the form of abstinence from sexual relations after marriage, and it came to be the expected norm for urban clergy . Celibate and detached,

19966-433: The unemployment rate increased. Poland became a member of the Visegrád Group in 1991, and joined NATO in 1999. Poles then voted to join the European Union in a referendum in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member on 1 May 2004, following the consequent enlargement of the organisation . Poland has joined the Schengen Area in 2007, as a result of which, the country's borders with other member states of

20115-423: The upper clergy became an elite equal in prestige to urban notables, the potentes or dynatoi . Islam appeared in the 7th century, spurring Arab armies to invade the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanian Empire of Persia , destroying the latter. After conquering all of North Africa and Visigothic Spain , the Islamic invasion was halted by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in modern France . On

20264-423: The urban class in greater proportion, and thus the people who knew how to keep civic services running. Perhaps the greatest blow came in the wake of the extreme weather events of 535–536 and subsequent Plague of Justinian , when the remaining trade networks ensured the Plague spread to the remaining commercial cities. The impact of this outbreak of plague has recently been disputed. The end of classical antiquity

20413-405: The vast Commonwealth began declining from internal disorder and constant warfare. In 1648, the Polish hegemony over Ukraine sparked the Khmelnytsky Uprising , followed by the decimating Swedish Deluge during the Second Northern War , and Prussia's independence in 1657. In 1683, John III Sobieski re-established military prowess when he halted the advance of an Ottoman Army into Europe at

20562-419: Was a key figure in many important events in Christian history , as he convened and attended the first ecumenical council of bishops at Nicaea in 325, subsidized the building of churches and sanctuaries such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem , and involved himself in questions such as the timing of Christ's resurrection and its relation to the Passover . The birth of Christian monasticism

20711-494: Was chosen to be President of the European Council , and resigned as prime minister. The 2015 and 2019 elections were won by the national-conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) led by Jarosław Kaczyński , resulting in increased Euroscepticism and increased friction with the European Union. In December 2017, Mateusz Morawiecki was sworn in as the Prime Minister, succeeding Beata Szydlo , in office since 2015. President Andrzej Duda , supported by Law and Justice party,

20860-432: Was constructed to supply it with water, and the tallest Roman triumphal columns were erected there. Migrations of Germanic , Hunnic , and Slavic tribes disrupted Roman rule from the late 4th century onwards, culminating first in the Sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 and subsequent Sack of Rome by the Vandals in 455, part of the eventual collapse of the Empire in the West itself by 476. The Western Empire

21009-415: Was destroyed in the deluge . In 1772 (see Partitions of Poland ), Myślenice was annexed by Austria, and until 1918, it belonged to the province of Galicia . After World War I , the town became part of the Second Polish Republic . On 22 January 1945, Myślenice was liberated by the troops of 38th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front . Between 1975-1998 the city was part of the Kraków Voivodeship . Myślenice

21158-410: Was established, in which the Commission of National Education , the first government education authority in Europe, was inaugurated. Corporal punishment of schoolchildren was officially prohibited in 1783. Poniatowski was the head figure of the Enlightenment , encouraged the development of industries, and embraced republican neoclassicism . For his contributions to the arts and sciences he was awarded

21307-454: Was extensively funded by his sponsor and former lover, Empress Catherine II of Russia . The new king maneuvered between his desire to implement necessary modernising reforms, and the necessity to remain at peace with surrounding states. His ideals led to the formation of the 1768 Bar Confederation , a rebellion directed against the Poniatowski and all external influence, which ineptly aimed to preserve Poland's sovereignty and privileges held by

21456-459: Was placed on demonstrating a symbolic fact rather than on rendering a realistic scene. As time progressed during the late antique period, art become more concerned with biblical themes and influenced by interactions of Christianity with the Roman state. Within this Christian subcategory of Roman art, dramatic changes were also taking place in the Depiction of Jesus . Jesus Christ had been more commonly depicted as an itinerant philosopher, teacher or as

21605-432: Was re-elected in the 2020 presidential election . As of November 2023 , the Russian invasion of Ukraine had led to 17 million Ukrainian refugees crossing the border to Poland. As of November 2023 , 0.9 million of those had stayed in Poland. In October 2023, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party won the largest share of the vote in the election , but lost its majority in parliament. In December 2023, Donald Tusk became

21754-412: Was replaced by the so-called barbarian kingdoms , with the Arian Christian Ostrogothic Kingdom ruling Rome from Ravenna . The resultant cultural fusion of Greco-Roman , Germanic, and Christian traditions formed the foundations of the subsequent culture of Europe . In the 6th century, Roman imperial rule continued in the East, and the Byzantine-Sasanian wars continued. The campaigns of Justinian

21903-441: Was so important in pagan worship. Sarcophagi carved in relief had already become highly elaborate, and Christian versions adopted new styles, showing a series of different tightly packed scenes rather than one overall image (usually derived from Greek history painting ) as was the norm. Soon the scenes were split into two registers, as in the Dogmatic Sarcophagus or the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (the last of these exemplifying

22052-447: Was to become Poland approximately 500,000 years ago, though the ensuing hostile climate prevented early humans from founding more permanent encampments. The arrival of Homo sapiens and anatomically modern humans coincided with the climatic discontinuity at the end of the Last Glacial Period ( Northern Polish glaciation 10,000 BC), when Poland became habitable. Neolithic excavations indicated broad-ranging development in that era;

22201-412: Was under the protection of the Apostolic See . The country's early origins were described by Gallus Anonymus in Gesta principum Polonorum , the oldest Polish chronicle. An important national event of the period was the martyrdom of Saint Adalbert , who was killed by Prussian pagans in 997 and whose remains were reputedly bought back for their weight in gold by Mieszko's successor, Bolesław I

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