166 SZLACHTA
of 'Feudalism' was never used in so-called feudal times. Lelewel held that
Feudalism was contrary to the Polish tradition, and had never existed in Poland
at all. Most later historians would maintain that it only existed for a short time
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and 'as an influence not a system', or
sui generis. Certainly, there was no simple transference of West European mod-
els. Whatever definition of Feudalism one cares to take, and to whatever aspect
of social life one applies it, one always finds that historical practices fail to fit the
modern theory. In the realm of land law, for instance, the ius feudale did exist
alongside the ius terrestre. It operated in relation to land held subject to royal
assent, and to the normal feudal practices of escheat, wardship, and homage.
Yet, after 1450, in the very period when the Nobility were establishing their
supremacy, it rapidly declined. In the sixteenth century, a series of Sejm statutes
between 1562 and 1588 converted feudal holdings into hereditary, allodial prop-
erty. In the military sphere, the obligation to serve lay not just on the Nobility
but on every free man. It was not channelled through a network of tenants-in-
chief and vassals but directly from King to subject. The jurisdictional structure,
in contrast, was neatly divided into two. The great offices of state were not tied
to the land, and, until the introduction of life-tenure in the seventeenth century,
were entirely at the King's disposal. Yet at the local level, jurisdiction was tied
to the land, and justice was administered by the Nobility. In finance, the King
never abandoned his legal right to tax the entire population directly, despite the
practical constraints placed on him by the Sejm. Taking into consideration con-
stantly shifting conditions, therefore, and wide geographical divergences, it is
not very easy to decide whether Polish Feudalism is myth or reality.^10
At all events, by 1569 when the united Republic of Poland—Lithuania was
formed, the supremacy of the Nobility was secure. By general European stand-
ards, they were extremely numerous. Some 25,000 noble families, including at
least 500,000 persons, represented 6.6 per cent of the total population of 7.5 mil-
lion. In the later seventeenth century, this was to rise to about 9 per cent, and in
the eighteenth century still further. Not even Spain or Hungary, whose nobility
represented up to 5 per cent of the population, could rival them on this score;
whilst France with 1 per cent, or England with 2. per cent, stood in marked con-
trast.^11 The formal privileges of the Nobility protected them from the political
pretensions of the king, and from the growth of a modern state. Their relative
prosperity was guaranteed by a mass of detailed legislation. They were a closed
estate, in control of their own destiny and that of everyone else in their Republic.
Their obligations as a military caste were minimal. Their civic duty as a ruling
class was governed by their private inclinations. By 1569, they had won their
'Golden Freedom'. It held them all in bondage for as long as their Republic lasted.
In Lithuania, the Nobility reached a similar destination by a somewhat different
route. In the period of the personal union with Poland, from 1386 to 1569, the