Страница 721 из 788

The adoption of the elective instead of the hereditary principle

in Poland after the extinction of the Jagiello line led to

frequent civil wars, and was one cause of the country's decline

in power during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The

King was elected for life by the whole body of the gentry, and

every gentleman was theoretically eligible to the crown (p. 264).

Poland's peculiar parliamentary system also contributed to its

decay. Laws were made by a Diet of which the upper house, or

Senate, was formed by the bishops, wojewodas (see note 26),

castellans (see note 38), and ministers, while the lower house

was composed of deputies elected by district diets (p. 303). A

unanimous vote was required on all measures; more than this, any

one deputy by his veto could dissolve the Diet, even in the last

moments of its session, and undo all the work previously

accomplished.