Brest Litovsk Voivodeship ( Belarusian: ''Берасьцейскае ваяводзтва'', Polish: ''Województwo brzeskolitewskie'') was a unit of administrative territorial division and a seat of local government (voivode) within the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

(

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

) since 1566 until the May Constitution in 1791, and from 1791 to 1795 (

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

) as a voivodeship in Poland. It was constituted from Brest-Litovsk and Pinsk counties.

Overview

It was created from southern part of Trakai Voivodeship in 1566. In 1791 Kobryn and Pinsk-Zarzeche (Its center was Poltnica, now Plotnitsa) counties were created. Pinsk-Zarzeche country was renamed as Zapynsky and its seat was moved to

Stolin Stolin ( be, Сто́лін; uk, Сто́лін; russian: Сто́лин; pl, Stolin; Yiddish/Hebrew: סטולין) is a town in the Stolin District in Brest Region of Belarus. It is the centre of the largest district in Brest Region. The pop ...

. After the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian W ...

, in 1793, Pinsk and Zapynsky countries were left to

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

as part of

Minsk Governorate The Minsk Governorate (russian: Минская губерния, Belarusian: ) or Government of Minsk was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. The seat was in Minsk. It was created in 1793 from the land acquired in the partiti ...

. Finally remainder of it was dissolved in 1795 and part of

Slonim Governorate The Grodno Governorate, (russian: Гро́дненская губе́рнiя, translit=Grodnenskaya guberniya, pl, Gubernia grodzieńska, be, Гродзенская губерня, translit=Hrodzenskaya gubernya, lt, Gardino gubernija, u ...

Zygmunt Gloger Zygmunt Gloger (3 November 1845 in Tybory-Kamianka – 16 August 1910 in Warsaw) was a Polish historian, archaeologist, geographer and ethnographer, bearer of the Wilczekosy coat of arms. Gloger founded the precursor of modern and widely popu ...

in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland provides this description of the Brest Litovsk Voivodeship: “After the death of

Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was al ...

, the land located between the Bug, and the

Dniepr } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

were divided into several duchies. The

Principality of Turov and Pinsk The Principality of Turov, also called Principality of Turov and Pinsk ( be, Турава-Пінскае княства, russian: Турово-Пинское княжество, uk, Турово-Пінське князівство) or Turovian Rus ...

in the late 1310s joined the

(...) Kestutis, the son of the Grand Duke

Gediminas Gediminas ( la, Gedeminne, ; – December 1341) was the king or Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death. He is credited with founding this political entity and expanding its territory which later spanned the area ranging from t ...

, ruled western Lithuania, including

Podlasie Podlachia, or Podlasie, ( pl, Podlasie, , be, Падляшша, translit=Padliašša, uk, Підляшшя, translit=Pidliashshia) is a historical region in the north-eastern part of Poland. Between 1513 and 1795 it was a voivodeship with the c ...

Troki Voivodeship lt, Trakų vaivadija pl, Województwo trockie , conventional_long_name = Trakai Voivodeship , common_name = Trakai , subdivision = Voivodeship , nation = Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1413–1569) Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) , year_ ...

, and

Polesie Polesia, Polesie, or Polesye, uk, Полісся (Polissia), pl, Polesie, russian: Полесье (Polesye) is a natural and historical region that starts from the farthest edge of Central Europe and encompasses Eastern Europe, including East ...

, together with Pinsk. During his reign, the three regions of Polesie - those of Brzesc, Pinsk and Turow were united. After the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin ( pl, Unia lubelska; lt, Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the per ...

, due to its immense area, Polesie was separated from Troki Voivodeship. Brzesc Voivodeship was created, in a shape which remained unchanged until the 1793 Second Partition of Poland. Central and eastern parts of the voivodeship were made of former Principality of Turov and Pinsk (...) Brzesc Voivodeship was divided into two enormous counties - those of Brzesc and Pinsk. Each county had its own

starosta The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. The ...

, electing two deputies to the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

, and two deputies to the Lithuanian Tribunal. The voivodeship had two senators, who were the Castellan and the Voivode (...) Among major cities were Brzesc, Pinsk, Biala Podlaska, Koden, Wolczyn and

Kamieniec Litewski Kamieniec may refer to several places: Poland *Kamieniec, Gmina Kłecko in Greater Poland Voivodeship (west-central Poland) * Kamieniec, Gmina Trzemeszno in Greater Poland Voivodeship (west-central Poland) *Kamieniec, Grodzisk Wielkopolski County i ...

. In northeastern corner of Brzesc Voivodeship was Bialowieza Forest, where Polish kings hunted”.

Governors

Voivodeship Governor (

Wojewoda Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

) seat: *

Brest-Litovsk Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

Voivodes: * Jerzy Ilinicz (1566) * Jerzy Tyszkiewicz Łohojski (1566-1576) * Gabriel Hornostaj (1576-1587) * Mikołaj Michał Sapieha (1587-1588) * Jan Kiszka (1589—1592) * Krzysztof Zenowicz (Zienowicz) (1592—1615) * Jan Ostafi Tyszkiewicz Łohojski (1615-1631) *

Aleksander Ludwik Radziwiłł Prince Aleksander Ludwik Radziwiłł () (4 August 1594 – 30 March 1654) was a Polish–Lithuanian nobleman. He was the Ordynat of Nieśwież, Stolnik of Lithuania since 1626, Krajczy of Lithuania since 1630, governor of Brześć Lit ...

(1631–1635) * Mikołaj Sapieha (XI 1638-VII 1642) * Teofil Iwan Tryzna (1642—1644) * Andrzej Massalski (1645-1651/1652) * Jerzy Klonowski (1652—1653) * Maksymilian Brzozowski (1653-1659) * Kazimierz Ludwik Jewłaszewski (1659—1664) * Jakub Teodor Kuncewicz (1664—1666/1667) * Melchior Stanisław Sawicki (1666—1668) * Krzysztof Piekarski (1668-1672) * Stefan Kurcz (1672—1702) * Krzysztof Komorowski (1702-1708) * Władysław Jozafat Sapieha (1709-1733) * Kazimierz Leon Sapieha (1735-1738) * Adam Tadeusz Chodkiewicz (1738-1745) * Jan Michał Sołłohub (1745-1748) * Karol Józef Sapieha (1748-1768) * Jan Antoni Horain (1768-1777) * Mikołaj Tadeusz Łopaciński (1777—1778) * Jan Tadeusz Zyberg (1783—1795)

References

* Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, vol. I, pages 399-401
Brest Litovsk Voivodeship, description by Zygmunt Gloger
{{coord, 52.086630, 23.658771, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Former voivodeships of Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Voivodeship A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...

1566 establishments in Lithuania 1795 disestablishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Early Modern history of Belarus