The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland was a political and legal idea formed in the 14th century, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. According to this concept, the state ceased to be the patrimonial property of the monarch or dynasty, but became a common good of the political community of the kingdom. Such an idea allowed the state to function even in periods of interregnum and led to the formation of a system characteristic of Poland based on the parliamentarism of the nobility and the free election of the ruler. At the same time, the idea of the crown went beyond existing political boundaries; lands lost in the past were considered to belong to it.
The Ruthenian Voivodeship was a voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1434 until the First Partition of Poland in 1772, with its center in the city of Lwów. Together with a number of other voivodeships of southern and eastern part of the Kingdom of Poland, it formed Lesser Poland Province, with its capital city in Kraków. Following the Partitions of Poland, most of Ruthenian Voivodeship, except for its northeastern corner, was annexed by the Habsburg monarchy, as part of the province of Galicia. Today, the former Ruthenian Voivodeship is divided between Poland and Ukraine.
Siewierz is a town in southern Poland, in the Będzin County in the Silesian Voivodeship, seat of Gmina Siewierz. Siewierz is located in Dąbrowa Basin, which is part of the historical and geographical region of Lesser Poland.
The Polans, also known as Polanians or Western Polans, were a West Slavic and Lechitic tribe, inhabiting the Warta River basin of the contemporary Greater Poland region starting in the 6th century. They were one of the main tribes in Central Europe and were closely related to the Vistulans, Masovians, Czechs and Slovaks. According to Zygmunt Gloger, their name was derived from the word "pole" meaning "field", thus denoting them as "men of the fields".
Bełz Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Poland from 1462 to the Partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. Together with the Ruthenian Voivodeship it was part of Red Ruthenia, Lesser Poland Province. The voivodeship was created by King Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk, and had four senators in the Senate of the Commonwealth.
The Kiev Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1471 until 1569 and of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1793, as part of Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown. On some maps Kiev Voivodeship was also named as the Lower Volhynia.
The Duchy of Silesia with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Silesian duchies. In 1327, the remaining Duchy of Wrocław as well as most other duchies ruled by the Silesian Piasts passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia as Duchies of Silesia. The acquisition was completed when King Casimir III the Great of Poland renounced his rights to Silesia in the 1335 Treaty of Trentschin.
Zbigniew Oleśnicki, known in Latin as Sbigneus, was a high-ranking Roman Catholic clergyman and an influential Polish statesman and diplomat. He served as Bishop of Kraków from 1423 until his death in 1455. He took part in the management of the country's most important affairs, initially as a royal secretary under King Władysław II Jagiełło and later as the effective regent during King Władysław III's minority. In 1439 he became the first native Polish cardinal.
Zygmunt Gloger was a Polish historian, archaeologist, geographer and ethnographer, bearer of the Wilczekosy coat of arms. Gloger founded the precursor of modern and widely popular Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society (PTTK).
Andrzej Jastrzębiec, also known as Andrzej Wasilko or Andrzej Polak, was a Polish Catholic priest and diplomat, a first bishop of Seret and of Vilnius. He was part of the Jastrzebiec ancestral line of the szlachta of Poland. He joined the Franciscans and quickly rose through the ranks of the order.
Congress Poland was subdivided several times from its creation in 1815 until its dissolution in 1918. Congress Poland was divided into departments, a relic from the times of the French-dominated Duchy of Warsaw. In 1816 the administrative divisions were changed to forms that were more traditionally Polish: voivodeships, obwóds and powiats. Following the November Uprising, the subdivisions were again changed in 1837 to bring the subdivisions closer to the structure of the Russian Empire when guberniyas (governorates) were introduced. In this way, Congress Poland was gradually transformed into the "Vistulan Country". Over the next several decades, various smaller reforms were carried out, either changing the smaller administrative units or merging/splitting various guberniyas.
The Kraków Voivodeship was a voivodeship (province) in the Kingdom of Poland from the 14th century to the partition of Poland in 1795. Located in the southwestern corner of the country, it was part of the Lesser Poland region and the Lesser Poland Province.
Jan IV of Oświęcim, was a Duke of Oświęcim during 1434–1456 and Duke of Gliwice from 1465 to 1482.
The order of precedence for members of the Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was created at the same time as the Commonwealth itself – at the Lublin Sejm in 1569. The Commonwealth was a union, in existence from 1569 to 1795, of two constituent nations: the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The union's legislative power was vested in a diet (assembly) known as the Sejm which consisted of the three Estates of the Sejm: the monarch, holding the titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania; the Senate; and the House of Deputies.
Euphemia of Masovia, was Duchess of Cieszyn by marriage to Bolesław I, Duke of Cieszyn, and regent of the Duchy of Cieszyn during the minority of her sons from 1431.
Bernard of Niemodlin, was a Duke of Strzelce and Niemodlin during 1382–1400, Duke of Opole during 1396–1400, from 1400 until 1450 sole ruler over Strzelce and Niemodlin, from 1401 ruler over Olesno and Lubliniec, from 1420 ruler over Prudnik and in 1424 ruler over Głogówek, during 1434–1450 ruler over Kluczbork and Byczyna and from 1450 ruler over only Olesno.
Lesser Poland Province was an administrative division of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1795 and the biggest province of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The name of the province comes from the historic land of Lesser Poland. The name of the province did not imply its size, but rather its lesser seniority.
Castle of Bishops in Siewierz - a castle formally housing castellans who raised the castle in the thirteenth century. The stronghold formerly fortified a hamlet in the area, which can be traced back to the origins of the Church of St. John the Baptist; now located close to the National Road No. 78 - for rapid travel to Katowice. The names of the first castellans were Jaks and Wawrzyniec. The castle is located in Siewierz, Silesian Voivodeship in Poland.
The Duchy of Głogówek and Prudnik was one of the numerous Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty.
The Kraków Land, also known as the Cracow Land, was a land of Poland in the Middle Ages. It was located in the Lesser Poland, and centered around its capital, Kraków. Since 1138, it was a main land of the Seniorate Province, that in 1227, was replaced by the Duchy of Kraków. Around 1314, the area of land was incorporated into Kraków Voivodeship, that was established within the same borders.
