The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles (Polish: Artykuły henrykowskie, Latin: Articuli Henriciani) were a permanent contract between the "Polish nation" (i.e., the szlachta (nobility) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a newly-elected king upon his election to the throne that stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
While pacta conventa comprised only the personal undertakings of the king-elect, the Henrician Articles were a permanent statute that all king-elects had to swear to respect.
The articles functioned, essentially, as a first constitution for Poland until the Constitution of May 3, 1791.
Read more about Henrician Articles: Origins, Provisions
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“How many things served us but yesterday as articles of faith, which today we deem but fables?”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)