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Among the European states, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth stood out as a unique monarchical union. The united state was the result not only of the political marriage between the Polish Queen Jadwiga and the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jagail in 1385, but also the joint efforts of the Polish and Lithuanian nobility in an attempt to preserve the power of their countries. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth held its own in the international political arena despite the fact that it was surrounded by such great powers as the Holy Roman Empire, the Principality of Moscow, and the Ottoman Empire. The country was a combination of monarchical and democratic systems, where the king was elected by vote and the parliament played a key role in governance. In this video, you will learn about the history of the emergence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the political intrigues of the nobility and how they got rich at the expense of the lordship, which only became more cruel over the years.