Editing Gdańsk (section)

===Kingdom of Poland===
[[File:Allegory of Gdańsk trade.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[Apotheosis]] of Gdańsk'' by Izaak van den Blocke. The [[Vistula]]-borne trade of goods in Poland was the main source of prosperity during the city's Golden Age.]]

In 1440, the city participated in the foundation of the [[Prussian Confederation]] which was an organisation opposed to the rule of the Teutonic Order. The organisation in its complaint of 1453 mentioned repeated cases in which the Teutonic Order imprisoned or murdered local patricians and mayors without a court verdict.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Górski|first=Karol|title=Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych|year=1949|publisher=Instytut Zachodni|location=Poznań|language=pl|pages=16, 18}}</ref> On the request of the organisation King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon|Casimir IV of Poland]] reincorporated the territory to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454.<ref>Górski, pp. 51, 56</ref> This led to the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Thirteen Years' War]] between Poland and the [[State of the Teutonic Order]] (1454–1466). Since 1454, the city was authorized by the King to mint Polish coins.<ref>Górski, p. 63</ref> The local mayor pledged allegiance to the King during the incorporation in March 1454 in [[Kraków]],<ref>Górski, pp. 71–72</ref> and the city again solemnly pledged allegiance to the King in June 1454 in [[Elbląg]], recognizing the prior Teutonic annexation and rule as unlawful.<ref>Górski, pp. 79–80</ref> On 25 May 1457 the city gained its rights as an autonomous city.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Rotunda/2209/Gdańsk.html |title=Danzig – Gdańsk until 1920}}{{Dead link|date=April 2021|bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

On 15 May 1457, [[Casimir IV Jagiellon|Casimir IV of Poland]] granted the town the Great Privilege, after he had been invited by the town's council and had already stayed in town for five weeks.<ref name=Hess45>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |page=45}}</ref> With the Great Privilege, the town was granted full autonomy and protection by the King of Poland.<ref name=Hess45A>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |page=45}}: "Geben wir und verlehen unnsir Stadt Danczk das sie zcu ewigen geczeiten nymands for eynem herrn halden noc gehorsam zcu weszen seyn sullen in weltlichen sachen."</ref> The privilege removed tariffs and taxes on trade within Poland, Lithuania, and Ruthenia (present day [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]]), and conferred on the town independent jurisdiction, legislation and administration of her territory, as well as the right to mint her own coin.<ref name=Hess45/> Furthermore, the privilege united Old Town, Osiek, and Main Town, and legalised the demolition of New Town, which had sided with the Teutonic Order.<ref name=Hess45/> By 1457, New Town was demolished completely, no buildings remained.<ref name=Hess41/>

Gaining free and privileged access to Polish markets, the seaport prospered while simultaneously trading with the other Hanseatic cities. After the [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)]] between Poland and the Teutonic Order the warfare ended permanently; Gdańsk became part of the Polish province of [[Royal Prussia]], and later also of the [[Greater Poland Province, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Greater Poland Province]]. The city was visited by [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] in 1504 and 1526, and ''[[Narratio Prima]]'', the first printed abstract of his [[heliocentric theory]], was published there in 1540.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://szlakkopernikowski.pl/pl/gdansk|title=Gdańsk|website=Szlak Kopernikowski|access-date=11 January 2024|language=pl}}</ref> After the [[Union of Lublin]] between Poland and Lithuania in 1569 the city continued to enjoy a large degree of internal autonomy (cf. [[Danzig law]]). Being the largest and one of the most influential cities of Poland, it enjoyed voting rights during the [[Royal elections in Poland|royal election]] period in Poland.

In the 1560s and 1570s, a large [[Mennonite]] community started growing in the city, gaining significant popularity.<ref>{{cite book |last=de Graaf |first=Tjeerd |author-link= |date=2004 |title= The Status of an Ethnic Minority in Eurasia: The Mennonites and Their Relation with the Netherlands, Germany and Russia |url= |location= |publisher= |page= |isbn=}}</ref> In the 1575 election to the Polish throne, Danzig supported [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]] in his struggle against [[Stephen Báthory of Poland|Stephen Báthory]]. It was the latter who eventually became monarch but the city, encouraged by the secret support of [[Denmark]] and [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian]], shut its gates against Stephen. After the [[Siege of Danzig (1577)|Siege of Danzig]], lasting six months, the city's army of 5,000 mercenaries was utterly defeated in a field battle on 16 December 1577. However, since Stephen's armies were unable to take the city by force, a compromise was reached: [[Stephen Báthory of Poland|Stephen Báthory]] confirmed the city's special status and her [[Danzig law]] privileges granted by earlier [[List of Polish monarchs|Polish kings]]. The city recognised him as ruler of Poland and paid the enormous sum of 200,000 [[Guilder|guldens]] in gold as payoff ("apology").<ref>{{cite web |url=https://historykon.pl/bitwa-pod-lubieszowem-w-swietle-wybranych-zrodel-pisanych/ |title=Bitwa pod Lubieszowem w świetle wybranych źródeł pisanych |last=Włusek |first=Andrzej |date=23 May 2017 |website=HistoryKon |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>

During the [[Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629)|Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629]], in 1627, the naval [[Battle of Oliwa]] was fought near the city, and it is one of the greatest victories in the history of the [[Polish Navy]]. During the Swedish invasion of Poland of 1655–1660, commonly known as the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]], the city was unsuccessfully [[Siege of Danzig (1655–1660)|besieged by Sweden]]. In 1660, the war was ended with the [[Treaty of Oliwa]], signed in the present-day district of [[Oliwa]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Wojny na Bałtyku X - XIX wiek |last=Kosiarz |first=Edmund |publisher=Wydawnictwo Morskie |location=Gdańsk |year=1978|page=}}</ref> In 1677, a Polish-Swedish alliance was signed in the city.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jonasson|first=Gustav|year=1980|title=Polska i Szwecja za czasów Jana III Sobieskiego|journal=Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka|publisher=[[Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich]], Wydawnictwo [[Polish Academy of Sciences|Polskiej Akademii Nauk]]|location=Wrocław|language=pl|volume=XXXV|issue=2|page=240|issn=0037-7511}}</ref> Around 1640, [[Johannes Hevelius]] established his [[:pl:Obserwatorium Astronomiczne Jana Heweliusza w Gdańsku|astronomical observatory]] in the [[Old Town (Gdańsk)|Old Town]]. Polish King [[John III Sobieski]] regularly visited Hevelius numerous times.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://culture.pl/pl/tworca/jan-heweliusz |title=Jan Heweliusz - życie i twórczość |last= |first= |date= |website=Culture.pl |publisher=[[Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Poland)|Ministry of Culture and National Heritage]] |access-date=10 December 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

Beside a majority of German-speakers,<ref name=Zamoyski>{{cite book |last=Zamoyski |first=Adam |year=2015 |title=Poland. A History |publisher=William Collins |isbn=978-0007556212 |pages=26, 92}}</ref> whose elites sometimes distinguished their German dialect as [[Pomerelia]]n,<ref>Bömelburg, Hans-Jürgen, ''Zwischen polnischer Ständegesellschaft und preußischem Obrigkeitsstaat: vom Königlichen Preußen zu Westpreußen (1756–1806)'', München: Oldenbourg, 1995, (Schriften des Bundesinstituts für Ostdeutsche Kultur und Geschichte (Oldenburg); 5), zugl.: Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg-Univ., Diss., 1993, p. 549</ref> the city was home to a large number of Polish-speaking Poles, Jewish Poles, [[Latvian language|Latvian-speaking]] [[Kursenieki]], [[Flemish people in Poland|Flemings]], and [[Dutch people|Dutch]]. In addition, a number of [[Scots in Poland|Scots]] took refuge or migrated to and received citizenship in the city, with first Scots arriving in 1380,<ref>{{cite book|last=Wijaczka|first=Jacek|editor-last1=Kopczyński|editor-first1=Michał|editor-last2=Tygielski|editor-first2=Wojciech|year=2010|title=Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona|chapter=Szkoci|page=201|isbn=978-83-11-11724-2}}</ref> and a [[French people in Poland|French]] [[Huguenot]] commune was founded in 1686.<ref>{{cite book|last=Muret|first=Eduard|title=Geschichte der Französischen Kolonie in Brandenburg-Preußen, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Berliner Gemeinde. Aus Veranlassung der Zweihundertjährigen Jubelfeier am 29. Oktober 1885|year=1885|location=Berlin |publisher=H. Scherer |page=211}}</ref> During the [[Protestant Reformation]], most German-speaking inhabitants adopted [[Lutheranism]]. Due to the special status of the city and significance within the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], the city inhabitants largely became bi-cultural sharing both Polish and German culture and were strongly attached to the traditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref name=Chwalba>Historia Polski 1795–1815 [[Andrzej Chwalba]] Kraków 2000, p. 441</ref>

[[File:Brama św. Jakuba w Gdańsku.jpg|thumb|Old Town in the 1770s with the Saint James church on the left and Saint Bartholomew church on the right]]

The city suffered a [[The plague during the Great Northern War|last great plague]] and a slow economic decline due to the wars of the 18th century. After peace was restored in 1721, Danzig experienced steady economic recovery. As a stronghold of [[Stanisław Leszczyński]]'s supporters during the [[War of the Polish Succession]], it was taken by the [[Russian Empire|Russians]] after the [[Siege of Danzig (1734)|Siege of Danzig]] in 1734.  In the 1740s and 1750s Danzig was restored and Danzig port was again the most significant grain exporting ports in the [[Baltic region]].<ref>{{Cite book|title= The Rise of Prussia 1700-1830 | author1=Philip G. Dwyer  |publisher=  Taylor & Francis |year=2014 |isbn=9781317887034 | pages=134}}</ref> The [[Danzig Research Society]], which became defunct in 1936, was founded in 1743.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gornig/danzig/geschichte.htm |title=Geschichte der Danziger Naturforschenden Gesellschaft |last=Letkemann |first=Peter |date=2000 |website=uni-marburg.de |publisher=[[University of Marburg]] |access-date=10 December 2022 |quote= |archive-date=31 January 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050131091324/http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gornig/danzig/geschichte.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Karte_von_Danzig_(1792).tif|thumb|Map of Gdańsk (1792)]]

In 1772, the [[First Partition of Poland]] took place and [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] annexed almost all of the former Royal Prussia, which became the [[Province of West Prussia]]. However, Gdańsk remained a part of Poland as an [[exclave]] separated from the rest of the country. The [[List of monarchs of Prussia|Prussian king]] cut off Danzig with a military controlled barrier, also blocking shipping links to foreign ports, on the pretense that a [[cattle plague]] may otherwise break out. Danzig declined in its economic significance. However, by the end of the 18th century, Gdańsk was still one of the most economically integrated cities in Poland. It was well-connected and traded actively with [[German cities]], while other [[Polish cities]] became less well-integrated towards the end of the century, mostly due to greater risks for long-distance [[trade]], given the number of [[Violence|violent]] conflicts along the trade routes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baten |first1=Jörg |last2=Wallusch |first2=Jacek |date=2005 |title=Market Integration and Disintegration of Poland and Germany in the 18th Century |journal=Economies et Sociétés}}</ref>