Princely houses of Poland and Lithuania

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The princely houses of Poland and Lithuania differed from other princely houses in Europe. The Polish and Lithuanian nobility (szlachta) could not be granted noble titles by the King in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as hereditary titles, with some exceptions, were largely forbidden. Therefore, the title of prince either dated to the times before the Union of Lublin, which created the Commonwealth in 1569, or was granted to some nobles (usually magnates) by foreign kings. Due to the longstanding history of common statehood, some noble families often described as "Polish" actually originated in Grand Duchy of Lithuania and are of Lithuanian or Ruthenian descent.