In the fifth part of our Brief History of Poland series, Notes from Poland editor-at-large Stanley Bill looks at the war-torn seventeenth century and the beginnings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s decline, covering the period between 1582 and 1699. He examines the Polish occupation of the Moscow Kremlin, the Counter-Reformation and the Baroque, Sarmatian culture, Ukraine and the Khmelnytsky Uprising, conflict with the Ottoman Turks, and the Battle of Vienna.

The Brief History of Poland series will cover over a thousand years of Polish political and cultural history, from 966 until today.

Producer: Sebastian Leśniewski

 Check out the previous episode in our Brief History of Poland series.

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