Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791

E1016995

constitution fundamental law legal document

The Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791 was a pioneering Enlightenment-era fundamental law of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, often regarded as Europe’s first modern written national constitution and the world’s second after the U.S. Constitution.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Constitution of 3 May 1791	23
Constitution of 3 May	2
Polish Constitution of 1791	1
Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791	1
Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791 canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T12741284 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791
Context triple: [Poland’s Constitution Day, relatedDocument, Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791]

A. Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland (1815)
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland (1815) was a liberal charter granted by Tsar Alexander I that established a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament and extensive civil liberties in the semi-autonomous Congress Poland under Russian rule.
B. Polish Constitution of 1921
The Polish Constitution of 1921 was the interwar Second Polish Republic’s fundamental law, establishing a democratic parliamentary system with extensive civil liberties and a framework for regional autonomy.
C. Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland
The Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland was an 1832 imperial charter imposed by Tsar Nicholas I that curtailed Polish autonomy and effectively transformed the Kingdom of Poland into a more tightly controlled part of the Russian Empire.
D. Polish constitution of 1935
The Polish constitution of 1935 was an authoritarian-leaning interwar constitution that significantly strengthened the powers of the president and shaped the legal framework of the Polish state on the eve of World War II.
E. Warsaw Confederation
The Warsaw Confederation was a landmark 1573 Polish–Lithuanian act that guaranteed religious freedom and tolerance for the nobility, becoming one of Europe’s earliest formal protections of religious liberty.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791
Target entity description: The Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791 was a pioneering Enlightenment-era fundamental law of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, often regarded as Europe’s first modern written national constitution and the world’s second after the U.S. Constitution.

A. Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland (1815)
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland (1815) was a liberal charter granted by Tsar Alexander I that established a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament and extensive civil liberties in the semi-autonomous Congress Poland under Russian rule.
B. Polish Constitution of 1921
The Polish Constitution of 1921 was the interwar Second Polish Republic’s fundamental law, establishing a democratic parliamentary system with extensive civil liberties and a framework for regional autonomy.
C. Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland
The Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland was an 1832 imperial charter imposed by Tsar Nicholas I that curtailed Polish autonomy and effectively transformed the Kingdom of Poland into a more tightly controlled part of the Russian Empire.
D. Polish constitution of 1935
The Polish constitution of 1935 was an authoritarian-leaning interwar constitution that significantly strengthened the powers of the president and shaped the legal framework of the Polish state on the eve of World War II.
E. Warsaw Confederation
The Warsaw Confederation was a landmark 1573 Polish–Lithuanian act that guaranteed religious freedom and tolerance for the nobility, becoming one of Europe’s earliest formal protections of religious liberty.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	constitution ⓘ fundamental law ⓘ legal document ⓘ
abolished	1792 ⓘ
abolishedBy	Targowica Confederation ⓘ
affirmed	Roman Catholicism as dominant religion ⓘ
aimedTo	limit the abuses of the liberum veto ⓘ reform the political system ⓘ strengthen the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Constitution of 3 May ⓘ linked to: Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of 3 May 1791 May 3rd Constitution ⓘ
author	Hugo Kołłątaj ⓘ Ignacy Potocki ⓘ King Stanisław II August ⓘ linked to: Stanisław II Augustus Poniatowski
commemoratedIn	Lithuania ⓘ Poland ⓘ
commemoratedOn	3 May ⓘ
country	Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ⓘ
dateAdopted	1791-05-03 ⓘ
describedAs	Europe’s first modern written national constitution ⓘ world’s second modern written national constitution ⓘ
established	a bicameral legislature ⓘ a separate executive branch ⓘ a separate judiciary ⓘ
follows	Henrician Articles ⓘ Pacta conventa ⓘ
guaranteed	religious tolerance ⓘ
hasSignificance	milestone in European constitutionalism ⓘ symbol of Polish and Lithuanian statehood ⓘ
historicalPeriod	Enlightenment ⓘ
inception	1791 ⓘ
inspiredBy	Enlightenment ⓘ French Enlightenment political thought ⓘ United States Constitution ⓘ
introduced	constitutional monarchy ⓘ hereditary monarchy in place of elective monarchy ⓘ separation of powers ⓘ
language	French ⓘ Polish ⓘ
legislativeBody	Great Sejm ⓘ linked to: Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
limited	political power of the nobility ⓘ
placeOfAdoption	Warsaw ⓘ
provided	state protection for peasants ⓘ
restricted	use of liberum veto ⓘ
strengthened	rights of townspeople ⓘ

How these facts were elicited