Nihil novi

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Nihil novi is Latin for "Nothing new" (or "nothing of the new".)

Nihil novi is a common term for Nihil novi nisi commune consensu ("Nothing new without the consensus of all"), a 1505 legal act of Poland, also known as "nothing about us without us".

(The phrase, "nihil novi," is also short for the Latin phrase, "nihil novi sub sole," or "sub sole nihil novi est" — "There is nothing new under the sun.")

[edit] Nihil novi nisi commune consensu

It was an important victory for Polish noblemen (szlachta) over the kings. This act (called a constitution in Poland) forbade the king to pass new laws without the agreement from szlachta representatives (Sejm and Senat), with the exceptions of laws regarding royal cities, crown lands (królewszczyzny), mines, fiefdoms, peasants, and Jews.

This act replaced the act of Mielno (akt mielnicki, which strengthened the magnates only) and thus tipped the balance of power in favour of the Sejm (parliament), where lesser nobility held much power. This act is often considered the beginning of Nobles' Democracy period in Poland.

The act was signed by King Alexander the Jagiellonian during the Sejm session in Radom on 3rd May of 1505.

In the same year, the szlachta further expanded their powers by eliminating the voting rights of most towns and by forbidding peasants from leaving their lands without permission from their feudal lords, thus firmly establishing Polish serfdom.

[edit] Text of the act

Since general laws and public acts apply not to a single person but to the whole nation, therefore at this general diet in Radom, together with all prelates, councils and land deputies of our kingdom, we have considered rightful and just, as well as decided, that from now on nothing new may be decided by us and our successors, without a common consensus of senators and land deputies, that would be detrimental or burdensome to the Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita), and harmful or injurious to anyone, or that would alter the general law and public freedom.

[edit] See also

• Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth