Editing Polonization (section)

=== Grand Duchy of Lithuania ===
Poles reached Lithuania long before the union of the two countries. In a letter to the German Franciscans, Grand Duke Gediminas asked them to send monks who spoke Samogitian, Ruthenian or Polish. Other sources mention Polish slave carers and educators of children. This indicates the presence of Poles, probably prisoners of war or their descendants.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=544}} Polish influence increased considerably after the [[Union of Krewo]] (1386). The Lithuanian Grand Duke [[Jogaila]] was offered the Polish crown and became [[Jogaila|Władysław II Jagiełło]] (reigned 1386–1434). This marked the beginning of the gradual, voluntary Polonization of the Lithuanian nobility.<ref>Thomas Lane. ''Lithuania stepping westwards''. [[Routledge]], 2001. p. 24.&nbsp;{{Verify quote|date=January 2017}}</ref><ref>David James Smith. ''The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania''. [[Routledge]]. 2002. p. 7.</ref><ref>Romuald J. Misiunas, Rein Taagepera. ''The Baltic States, years of dependence, 1940–1980''. [[University of California Press]]. 1983. p. 3.</ref> Jagiełło built many churches in [[Lithuanian mythology|pagan]] Lithuanian land and provided them generously with estates, gave out the lands and positions to the Catholics, settled the cities and villages and granted the biggest cities and towns [[Magdeburg rights]] in their Polish variant.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=549}}

Lithuanian nobles were granted privileges modeled on those held by the Polish nobility. 47 families of Lithuanian families were adopted by 45 Polish families and endowed with Polish coats of arms. Lithuania adopted Polish political solutions and institutions. The offices of voivodes and castellans appeared, and the country was divided into [[voivodeship]]s and [[powiat]]s.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=546-547}} There was also a representation of the nobility, called Sejm, following the Polish model. However, unlike the Polish Sejm, the magnates had the deciding vote, and the petty and middle nobility only approved the decisions of the magnate's council.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=547}} Since the late 15th century marriages between Lithuanian and Polish magnates became more frequent. This brought the Lithuanians even closer to Polish culture. The first such marriage was the one between {{Ill|Mikołaj Tęczyński|pl}} and the daughter of [[Alekna Sudimantaitis]] in 1478.{{sfn|Frost|2015|p=322}}

Polish influence intensified in the period preceding the Union of Lublin. The royal court took steps to make the political and economic system of Lithuania more similar to Poland. An important step was the introduction of the hide system ([[Volok Reform]] – {{langx|pl|reforma włóczna}}), based on the Polish model. The reform was introduced by specialists from Poland, mainly from Mazovia, headed by {{ill|Piotr Chwalczewski|pl}}. ''Włóka'' was a Polish measure of land (in Ruthenian ''volok''), and in Lithuania, it became the basis for land measurement. At the same time, Polish measures of area and distance were introduced, as well as a model of farming based on the [[folwark]] and [[three-field system]].{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=548}} 

During the Reformation, voices were raised that Latin should be the language of the Lithuanians, due to the alleged proximity of the two languages and the legendary origin of the Lithuanian nobility from the Romans. However, this intention failed and Latin never reached the same position as in the Polish Crown.{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=33}} Instead, Polish quickly took the place of the official language. At the beginning of the 17th-century instructions and resolutions of [[sejmik]]s were written down in Polish. In the period 1620–1630, the Polish language supplanted Ruthenian in the books of the [[Lithuanian Metrica]].{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=33}} When in 1697 the Sejm of the Commonwealth passed a resolution to replace [[Ruthenian language]] by Polish in all official actions, it only approved the long-standing status quo.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=555}} In addition to Polish, Latin was also used in the documents of the Lithuanian chancellery referring to the Catholic Church, cities under Magdeburg Law, [[Livonia]] and foreigners.{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=34}}

Already at the beginning of the 16th century, Polish became the first language of the Lithuanian magnates. In the following century, it was adopted by the Lithuanian nobility in general. Even the nobility of Žemaitija used the Polish language already in the 17th century.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=554}} At the beginning of the 18th century, the Polish language was adopted by the entire nobility of the Grand Duchy – Lithuanian, Ruthenian, German and Tatar.{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=33-34}} The Polish language also penetrated other social strata: the clergy, the townspeople, and even the peasants.{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=34}}

Linguistic Polonization did not always mean full Polonization in the state or ethnic sense. The Lithuanian nobility felt united with the Polish nobility as part of one political nation of the Commonwealth, enjoying privileges, freedom and equality.{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=34}} In this sense, they often referred to themselves as "Polish nobility" or outright "Poles". At the same time, separatism and the defense of Lithuanian national separateness within the federation state were very strong. The Lithuanian nobility was strongly attached to the laws, traditions and symbols of the Grand Duchy.{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=34}} Moreover, the Lithuanian separateness was also defended by the members of ethnically Polish families settling in Lithuania.{{sfn|Rachuba|2010|p=34}}

==== Church and education ====
The spread of Polish culture was channelled through the Catholic Church. A large part of the Lithuanian clergy were Poles, either of Polish descent or from Polish families settled in Lithuania. Of the 123 known canons of Vilnius, only slightly more than half (66) were ethnic Lithuanians, and most of the others were of Polish origin.{{sfn|Frost|2015|p=317}} The role of the church was important because it had a monopoly on teaching. By 1550, 11 schools were established in the Samogitian diocese and 85 in the Vilnius diocese.{{sfn|Frost|2015|p=318}} In 1528 the diocese of Vilnius decreed that the language of instruction of religious texts should be Polish and Lithuanian.{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=318}} Latin was taught exclusively in Polish, so children who did not know this language were taught Polish first.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=553}} Lithuanians went to Kraków to study, in 1409 professor of theology founded a dormitory for students from Grand Duchy{{sfn|Suchecki|1983|p=60}} Overall 366 Lithuanian students studied in Kraków between 1430 and 1560.{{sfn|Frost|2015|p=318}} In the 16th-century students from Lithuania were coming to Kraków already considerably Polonized. In 1513, Lithuanian students were accused of mocking the plain Polish speech of their colleagues from Mazovia before the university court.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=552}}

Polish had the advantage over Ruthenian and Lithuanian that its vocabulary, being influenced by Latin, allowed more abstract thoughts to be expressed. Moreover, its proximity to the Ruthenian language made its adoption all the more natural.{{sfn|Frost|2015|p=318-319}} The Reformation, on the one hand, accelerated the development of literatures in Lithuanian, on the other hand, it contributed to an even faster spread of the Polish language. The Calvinist magnate [[Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł]] published in [[Brest Litovsk|Brest]] a [[Brest Bible|Polish translation]] of the Bible for the use of Lithuanian Calvinists.{{sfn|Trimonienė|2006|p=554}}

==== Royal court ====
The second important channel for the spread of the Polish language and culture was the royal and grand ducal court. After 1447, only for short periods there was a separate grand ducal court in Vilnius. But even then the Polish influence was strong. Already Grand Duke Vytautas employed Polish secretaries to run his Latin chancellery.{{sfn|Frost|2015|p=319-320}} The Krakow court was dominated by Poles who travelled with the king to Lithuania. The Lithuanian nobles who joined the court were therefore greatly influenced by Polish culture. Casimir Jagiellon was the last grand duke to know Lithuanian.{{sfn|Frost|2015|p=320}} From the time of Zygmunt August, correspondence with the Lithuanian elite was conducted almost exclusively in Polish,{{sfn|Frost|2015|p=320}} since the knowledge of Latin in Lithuania was too weak.{{cn|date=March 2023}}