Szlachta

The szlachta (Ukrainian: шляхта, Polish: szlachta, Belarusian: шляхта, šlachta, Lithuanian: šlėkta, šlėktos or bajorai ) was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333–1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, the existing Lithuanian nobility formally joined this class. As the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) evolved, its membership grew to include leaders of Ducal Prussia and Ruthenian lands.