Editing Royal Castle, Warsaw (section)

=== Renaissance period ===
[[File:Plan Castle Warsaw 17th.jpg|thumb|left|The Royal Castle in Warsaw after the extension c 1600. Plan from the beginning of the 17th century.]]

When the [[Duchy of Masovia]] was incorporated in the [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]] in 1526, the edifice, which until then had been the Castle of the Dukes of Masovia, became one of the royal residences.<ref name="Wrede" /> From 1548 onwards Queen [[Bona Sforza]] resided in it with her daughters [[Isabella Jagiełło|Izabela]], who became Queen of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]], [[Catherine Jagiellon|Catherine]], later to become Queen of Sweden, and [[Anna Jagiellon]], later [[Queen of Poland]].<ref name="Wrede" /> In 1556–1557 and in 1564, the King of Poland, [[Sigismund II Augustus]], convened royal parliaments in [[Warsaw]]. They met in the castle.<ref name="Gessner" /> Following the [[Lublin Union]] (1569), by which the [[Polish Crown]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] – were united as a single country, Warsaw Castle was regularly the place where the [[Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|parliament]] of the Two-Nations State met.<ref name="Wrede" /> In 1569–1572, King Sigismund II Augustus started alterations in the castle, the architects being [[Giovanni Battista di Quadro]]<ref name="dziedzictwo" /> and Giacopo Pario.<ref name="Wrede" />

The ''Curia Maior'' was altered so as provide a meeting place for the Parliament, with premises for the Chamber of Deputies (''Sejm'' – delegates of the gentry) on the ground floor (''the Old Chamber of Deputies''), and the Senate Chamber (where the Senators debated in the presence of the King) on the first floor. This was one of the first attempts in Europe to create a building that would be used solely for parliamentary purposes.<ref name="Wrede" /> The parliamentary character of the ''Curia Maior'' is stressed by the paintings of the facade – the coats-of-arms of Poland, of Lithuania, and of the various regions from which the delegates were elected. A new [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance style]] building, known as the "Royal House", was erected next to the ''Curia Maior''.<ref name="Wrede" /> The king resided there when the parliament was in session.