Polish Golden Age in the context of "Toruń"

Sigismund II Augustus (Polish: Zygmunt II August, Lithuanian: Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the last male monarch from the Jagiellonian dynasty.

Sigismund was elder of two sons of Italian-born Bona Sforza and Sigismund the Old, and the only one to survive infancy. From the beginning he was groomed and extensively educated as a successor. In 1529 he was chosen as king in vivente rege election while his father was still alive. Sigismund Augustus continued a tolerance policy towards minorities and maintained peaceful relations with neighbouring countries, with the exception of the Northern Seven Years' War which aimed to secure Baltic trade. Under his patronage, culture flourished in Poland; he was a collector of tapestries from the Low Countries and collected military memorabilia as well as swords, armours and jewellery. Sigismund Augustus' rule is widely considered as the apex of the Polish Golden Age; he established the first regular Polish navy and the first regular postal service in Poland, known today as Poczta Polska. In 1569, he oversaw the signing of the Union of Lublin between Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and introduced an elective monarchy.

The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, and Cossack Revolution, was a successful Cossack rebellion with elements of religious war that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in Cossack victory and the creation of the Cossack Hetmanate in present-day Ukraine. Under the command of Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the Zaporozhian Cossacks, allied with the local Ruthenian (Ukrainian) peasantry and initially the Crimean Tatars, fought against the Commonwealth's forces. The war was accompanied by mass atrocities committed by Cossacks against prisoners of war and the civilian population, especially Poles, Jews, Roman Catholic and Ruthenian Uniate clergy, as well as savage reprisals by the Polish szlachta and the loyalist Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, the voivode of Ruthenian descent (military governor) of the Ruthenian Voivodeship.

The uprising has a symbolic meaning in the history of Ukraine's relationship with Poland and Russia. It ended the Polish Catholic szlachta's domination over the Ukrainian Orthodox population; at the same time, it led to the eventual incorporation of eastern Ukraine into the Tsardom of Russia initiated by the 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement, whereby the Cossacks would swear allegiance to the tsar while retaining a wide degree of autonomy. The event triggered a period of political turbulence and infighting in the Hetmanate known as the Ruin. The success of the anti-Polish rebellion, along with internal conflicts in Poland and concurrent invasions waged by Russia and Sweden against the Poles, ended the Polish Golden Age and caused a secular decline of Polish power during the period known as "the Deluge".

The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, communism, and the restoration of democracy.

The roots of Polish history can be traced to ancient times, when the territory of present-day Poland was inhabited by diverse ethnic groups, including Celts, Scythians, Sarmatians, Slavs, Balts and Germanic peoples. However, it was the West Slavic Lechites, the closest ancestors of ethnic Poles, who established permanent settlements during the Early Middle Ages. The Lechitic Western Polans, a tribe whose name denotes "people living in open fields", dominated the region and gave Poland - which lies in the North-Central European Plain - its name. The first ruling dynasty, the Piasts, emerged in the 10th century AD. Duke Mieszko I, regarded as the creator of Polish statehood, adopted Western Christianity in 966 CE. Mieszko's dominion was formally reconstituted as a medieval kingdom in 1025 by his son Bolesław I the Brave, known for his military expansions. The most successful and the last Piast monarch, Casimir III the Great, presided over a period of economic prosperity and territorial aggrandizement before his death in 1370 without male heirs.

The Renaissance in Poland (Polish: Renesans, Odrodzenie [rɛˈnɛ.sans] , [ɔd.rɔˈd͡zɛ.ɲɛ] ; lit. 'the Rebirth') lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and is widely considered to have been the Golden Age of Polish culture. Ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (from 1569 part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) actively participated in the broad European Renaissance. The multinational Polish state experienced a period of cultural growth thanks in part to a century without major wars, aside from conflicts in the sparsely populated eastern and southern borderlands. The Reformation spread peacefully throughout the country (giving rise to the Polish Brethren), and living conditions improved, cities grew, and exports of agricultural products enriched the population, especially the nobility (szlachta), who gained dominance in the new political system of Golden Liberty.