page_title: Veche
section_title: Poland
hierarchical_section_title: Veche / Poland
context_page_description: Veche was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries.
  In Novgorod and in Pskov, where the veche acquired great prominence, the veche was broadly similar to the Norse thing or the Swiss Landsgemeinde.
context_section_description: Veches, known in Poland as wiece, were convened even before the beginning of the Polish statehood in the Kingdom of Poland. Issues were first debated by the elders and leaders, and later presented to all the free men for a wider discussion.
  One of the major types of wiec was the one convened to choose a new ruler. There are legends of a 9th-century election of the legendary founder of the Piast dynasty, Piast the Wheelwright, and a similar election of his son, Siemowit (this would place a Polish ruler's election a century before an Icelandic one's by the Althing), but sources for that time come from the later centuries and their validity is disputed by scholars. The election privilege was usually limited to the elites, which in the later times took the form of the most powerful nobles (magnates, princes) or officials, and was heavily influenced by local traditions and strength of the ruler. By the 12th or 13th centuries, the wiec institution likewise limited its participation to high ranking nobles and officials. The nationwide gatherings of wiec officials in 1306 and 1310 can be seen as precursors of the Polish parliament (the general sejm).
caption: A wiec in the time of Poland's King Casimir III (reigned 1333-70).
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