Horodlo, Union of

Horodlo, Union of. An agreement concluded on 2 October 1413 between Duke Vytautas the Great and the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and King Jagiełło and the nobles of Poland in Horodlo, a town on the Buh River in the southern Kholm region. The agreement was intended to facilitate the complete union of Poland and Lithuania—a process begun by the Union of Krevo—by merging the administrations of the two states and by recognizing the noble claims of the Lithuanian boyars and magnates. The preservation of the distinct offices of Polish king and Lithuanian grand duke, however (although the latter was clearly subordinate), left the issue of the complete union unresolved. Under the terms of the agreement the Catholic nobles of Lithuania were granted equality with their Polish counterparts; Orthodox (mostly Ruthenian) nobles, however, were consigned to second-class status and prohibited from full participation in state affairs.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]