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Coin Dedicated to the 230Th Anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May and Mutual Pledge of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations

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Coin Dedicated to the 230Th Anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May and Mutual Pledge of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations Polish manuscript of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Title page of the Lithuanian manuscript of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, AGAD Biblioteka Naukowa PAU i PAN w Krakowie (The Library of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow), sign. 1261, 1 p. Collector coin Coin dedicated to the 230th Denomination: €20 anniversary of the Constitution Composition: silver Ag 925 Diameter (mm): 38.61 Weight (g): 28.28 of 3 May and Mutual Pledge of Quality: proof the Commonwealth of Designed by Giedrius Paulauskis Pre-order from 21 April 2021 Price: EUR 69.00 Release date: 28 April 2021 (inclusive of VAT) the Two Nations On the edge of the coin: 1791 Mintage: 2,500 pcs Minted at the Lithuanian Mint €20 silver coin © Lietuvos bankas, 2021. Brochure designed by Egidijus Mileris. Commercial distribution is prohibited. The Constitution of 3 May 1791 and Mutual Pledge of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations Established in 1788, the Great Sejm – the parliamentary body of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – adopted the Constitution of 3 May in 1791. It was the first written Constitution in Europe and the second in the world, surpassed only by the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of 3 May attempted to give townspeople rights almost equal to those enjoyed by the nobility. It was also the first document to offer government’s protection to peasants in their relations with landowners. Therefore, the term “nation” used in the Constitution did not only refer to noblemen but also townspeople and even peasants. The parts discussing the nation’s political system were based on Charles Louis de Montesquieu’s (1689–1755) theory of the separation of powers, whereby laws had to be passed by the parliament. Liberum veto, the right of any nobleman of the Sejm to protest against the enactment of legislation and thus halt the Sejm’s operation, was revoked. Although the Sejm had to be chaired by the king, his right to pass legislation was now limited. The king’s Oath of confirmation of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Painting by Jean Pierre Norblin influence grew in the field of executive power, election of (1791). The National Library of Poland, POLONA Stanislaus Augustus and members of the Grand Sejm entering St. John’s Cathedral to swear to the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Painting by Jan Matejko. kings was renounced and the Commonwealth was declared a Wikimedia Commons hereditary monarchy. The Constitution stated that the monarch had to be aided in governing the state by a supreme executive Guarantee of Two Nations. The document at the Great Sejm was were only religious and fiction texts available in the Lithuanian the Targowica Confederation – allied with Russia and forced body called the Guard of Laws, consisting of the king and the presented by Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha (1757–1798), whereas the language. The Constitution of 3 May solemnly reads: “With the Stanisław August Poniatowski and the Sejm to renounce chairmen (ministers) of the newly established Polish-Lithuanian author of the amendment was most likely Tadas Korsakas, judge highest dignity in our hearts, we are enacting this Constitution the Constitution. The Commonwealth as a whole was also central authorities: the Treasury, War and Police Commissions. at Vilnius Land Court. Based on this Guarantee, the key mutual for the establishment of freedom as well as protection of our defeated: in 1795, it was ultimately divided between Russia, The Constitution was the final accord in forming the idea of executive authorities that were established in accordance with the homeland and its borders”. 27 out of 33 powiat Sejmiks from Austria and Prussia. However, all the 19th-century Lithuanian the nation as the integrity and sovereignty of the state. It was Constitution of 3 May – the Army and Treasury Commissions – had the Grand Duchy of Lithuania swore an oath to the Constitution and Polish uprisings against Russia were ideologically driven not the monarch and the army but each and every one of to have an equal number of members from Poland and the Grand in February 1792, whereas the six remaining Sejmiks consented by the ideas of the Constitution of 3 May. the country’s citizens who had a duty to defend the nation’s Duchy of Lithuania, whereas their chairmen had to be Polish and to it. In this regard, the Constitution had more supporters in The Polish historian Henryk Samsonowicz has named the freedom. Therefore, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Lithuanian in succession. Although the Guarantee mentioned Lithuania than it did in Poland, where an oath was sworn by Constitution of 3 May one of the three most significant adopted the basic law conforming to the spirit of more modern “the common homeland – the Republic of Poland”, the phrase only 10 out of 45 Sejmiks (with 27 Sejmiks consenting to it). documents of the epoch, alongside the Constitution of the times and the principles of civil society which enforced the “both nations” and the name of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were Although the Constitution of 3 May did not even come close United States and France’s Declaration of the Rights of the Man regime of constitutional monarchy. broadly used as well. Hence, the principle of duality was once to radicality of the laws passed during the French Revolution, and of the Citizen. Today we are proud that it was Lithuania’s It is still disputed whether the Constitution of 3 May should again embedded in the Constitution of 3 May. The authors of the it should be considered the tipping point between the constitution as well. be considered Lithuania’s constitution. Despite all the unitary Constitution’s amendment and their contemporaries acknowledged Lithuanian and Polish old nobility regime and modern times. tendencies, the Constitution’s Articles III and IV clearly refer that this was a continuation of the ideas encompassed by the The Constitution suffered a terrible fate: the internal reaction – Prof. Dr. Alfredas Bumblauskas to “the Commonwealth”, therefore – to Poland and Lithuania. Union of Lublin, only adjusted to fit the needs of modern society. Besides common rulers, it also mentions Grand Duke of Having an equal number of Polish and Lithuanian members in Lithuania Vytautas as well as the prerogatives he granted to the Commissions surpassed even the principles of the Union of the Lithuanian nobility. Lublin because, according to Hugo Kołłątaj, Polish politician and However, there is an even more important aspect to be philosopher (1750–1812), “Lithuania, neither in the number of citizens stressed here. Right after the adoption of the Constitution, nor in its assets, amounts to even a third of the Crown”. In accordance various discussions started: Lithuania’s side thought of the with the legal system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Constitution of 3 May as a necessary compliance in order to Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations became part of the pacta strengthen the state (30 out of 50 members of the Sejm from conventa: a contractual pledge given by elected kings to the state’s the Grand Duchy of Lithuania voted for the Constitution). As nobility, valid since 1573. This meant that future rulers and their soon as on 16 May, a law was passed stipulating that every successors would also have to make a vow to follow the Guarantee. third Sejm had to be held in Grodno and that Lithuania’s Thus, in the hierarchy of legal norms, the Reciprocal Guarantee of representatives also had to hold separate sessions. From 24 Two Nations surpassed even the Constitution of 3 May. It could not June, such historical terms as “the Crown” and “the Grand be amended by extraordinary Sejms that were authorised to amend Duchy of Lithuania” were started to be used once again, the the Constitution every 25 years. term “Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth” was now used to This is the reason why the Constitution of 3 May was considered to be name commissions, whereas codification works continued to the act of Lithuania’s revival. Reforms accelerated Lithuanian society’s be carried out separately. political and social development and provided new opportunities And so, on 20 October 1791, the Lithuanian delegation to Lithuanian-language culture. It is not a coincidence that the achieved an agreement at the Great Sejm on the amendment Constitution was then translated into Lithuanian. This was the first to the Constitution, which was named the Reciprocal political and legal document of this kind, since up until then there Polish manuscript of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. The Central Archives of Title page of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Printed Historical Records in Warsaw, AGAD by Michał Gröll in Warsaw (1791). The National Library of Poland, POLONA.
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