Pacta conventa (Latin for "articles of agreement") was acontractual agreement entered into between the "Polish nation" (i.e., theszlachta (nobility) of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a newly electedking upon his"free election" (wolna elekcja) to the throne from 1573 to 1764.[1][2] It declared policies the King would enact once on the throne.
The document was drawn up by theconvocation sejm, which elected the King.[3] Thepacta conventa affirmed the king-elect's pledge to respect the laws of the Commonwealth and specified policies to be enacted inforeign policy,state finances, thearmed forces,public works and other areas.[2] An example of the various concrete undertakings found in a king-elect'spacta conventa is KingWładysław IV Vasa's pledge to create aPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy for theBaltic Sea. Each King'spacta conventa was different based on the specific policies he had promised in order to be elected, making it somewhat similar to a modernpolitical platform ormanifesto.
In addition to his own uniquepacta conventa, each king-elect was required to sign theHenrician Articles, a set of privileges named after the first king who was supposed to sign it and who was the only king that didn´t,Henry of Poland.[2] Unlike thepacta conventa, the Henrician Articles were constant and unchanging.[2] The distinction between the two documents gradually faded away over successive elections. Together, those two documents spelled out most of the critical details of the Commonwealth political system.[2]