With a creation of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the XVI century its nobility received power and privileges which were effectively safeguarded under common concept of nobility’s freedom frequently referred as ever-ruling Golden Liberty or Regina Libertas. It granted Polish-Lithuanian nobility the power and right to determine matters for themselves and for their state. This way nobility formed a political nation (constituting 10 percent of the population by the XVIII century) with freedom under the law, with a right to rule through diets, freedom of speech and infamous liberum veto. However, with an influence of Enlightenment and search for the effective way to rule and (re)organize the state nobility’s liberty became a conservative element requiring re-evaluation. The paper presents the context of Polish-Lithuanian Enlightenment and discussions leading to perception of individual liberty, with deliberations to extend freedom to other social strata, which were reflected in a new Polish-Lithuanian Constitution of 1791.
