• The king was to be chosen by election by the
szlachta, and his children had no right of inheritance with regard to the throne. • The king's marriages had to gain the approval of the
Senate. • The king had to convene a
general sejm (the Commonwealth Parliament) at least once every two years for six weeks. • The king had no right to create new taxes, tariffs or such without the approval of the
Sejm; • Between sejms, 16 resident
senators were to be at the king's side as his advisers and overseers. The Royal Council of 16 senators was elected every two years during the Sejm's session. Four of their number (rotating every six months) were obliged to accompany the king and serve as advisers and supervisors to ensure that the king made no decision contrary to the laws of the Commonwealth. All royal decrees had to be counterstamped by the
chancellors or the deputy chancellors. • The king had no right to call a
pospolite ruszenie (
levée en masse) without the approval of the Sejm. Further, the Articles upheld the informal tradition that the king could not send those troops to serve outside the Commonwealth's borders without compensation. • The standing royal army (
wojsko kwarciane) was provided for. • The king had no right to declare war or peace without the approval of the Sejm. • The king had to abide by the
Warsaw Confederation's guarantees of religious freedom. • If the king transgressed the law or the
nobility's privileges, the
szlachta could refuse the king's orders and act against him (in Polish, that became known as the
rokosz). Each king had to swear that "if anything has been done by Us against laws, liberties, privileges or customs, we declare all the inhabitants of the Kingdom are freed from obedience to Us". ==See also==