Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 69. Chapters: Szlachta, Gediminas, Boyar, Mindaugas, Morta, Family of Gediminas, List of szlachta, Krupski, Stanis aw Bu ak-Ba achowicz, House of Mindaugas, Palemonids, Polish heraldry, Kazimierz Siemienowicz, Algirdas, upan, Danielewicz, Andrei of Polotsk, Vai vilkas, Princess Eugenie of Greece and Denmark, Olshanski, Magnate, Svyatopolk-Mirsky family, Konstanty Kalinowski, Yaropolk II of Kiev, Liubartas, Lew Sapieha, Traidenis, Jaunutis, Kaributas, Prince of Polotsk, Prince of Turov, Karijotas, Narimantas, Demetrius I Starshy, Skirgaila, Tautvilas, Aleksey Trubetskoy, Izyaslav of Polotsk, Pas kontuszowy, David of Hrodna, Jewna, Rogvolod, Gedvydas, Treniota, Butigeidis, Erdvilas, Butvydas, Sviatoslav Olgovich, Vainius, Aleksander S uszka, Manvydas, Vladimir Vasilkovich. Excerpt: The szlachta (Polish: , Lithuanian: ) was a privileged class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, the existing Lithuanian nobility formally joined the class. As the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795) evolved, its membership grew to include leaders of Ducal Prussia and the Ruthenian lands. The origins of the szlachta are unclear and have been the subject of a variety of theories. Traditionally, its members were owners of landed property, often in the form of folwarks. The nobility negotiated substantial and increasing political privileges for itself until the late 18th century. During the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1772 to 1795, its members lost their privileges. Until 1918, the legal status of the nobility was then dependent on policies of the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the...