Polish golden age
Polish Golden Age refers to the times from 15th century Jagiellon Poland to mid-17th century, when in 1648 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was ravaged by the Chmielnicki Uprising and The Deluge and the Golden Age ended.
The sixteenth century was perhaps the most illustrious phase of Polish cultural history. During this period, Poland-Lithuania drew great artistic inspiration from the Italians, with whom the Jagiellon court cultivated close relations. Styles and tastes characteristic of the late Renaissance were imported from the Italian states. These influences survived in the renowned period architecture of Kraków, which served as the royal capital until that distinction passed to Warsaw in 1611. The University of Kraków gained international recognition as a cosmopolitan center of learning, and in 1543 its most illustrious student, Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik), literally revolutionized the science of astronomy.
The period also bore the fruit of a mature Polish literature, once again modeled after the fashion of the West European Renaissance. The talented dilettante Mikolaj Rej was the first major Polish writer to employ the vernacular, but the elegant classicist Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584) is acknowledged as the genius of the age. Accomplished in several genres and equally adept in Polish and Latin, Kochanowski is widely regarded as the finest Slavic poet before the nineteenth century.
Copernicus
The Prussian Homageor Tribute (1525) - Albert of Prussia as duke of the Polish fief of Ducal Prussia (in the market of the Polish capital Kraków, Albert resigned his position as Grand Master to become a Lutheran and receive the title "Duke of Prussia" from King Zygmunt I the Old of Poland.)
Lublin Union (1569) - united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
King Batory at Pskow
(In 1581 Polish king Stefan Batory penetrated to the very heart of Muscovy and, on August 22, laid siege to the city of Pskov)
Polish hussars