The peasants were placed under the protection of the law. Freedom of conscience and religious toleration were guaranteed. In one sense this Constitution was in the spirit of the age: in a broader sense it was the heritage of Polish history and a forecast of the future. The empire was founded by the first Polish King. Bodeslav the Great9921052was the first formidable barrier in Eastern Europe against the onrushing Asiatic hordes. Polands King John Sobeski167496saved Europe from the seemingly invincible Ottoman Turks by inflicting a crushing defeat upon them at the very gates of Vienna. Polish settlers were the most valuable aids to John Smith in colonial Virginia.