Puńców (german: Punzau) is a village in Gmina Goleszów, Cieszyn County,

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian V ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, on the border with the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It has a population of 1,508 (2008). The village lies in the

Silesian Foothills Silesian Foothills ( pl, Pogórze Śląskie, cs, Slezské podhůří, szl, Pogōrze Ślōnske) are foothills located in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It has an area of 545 km2. Its western border is Olza river, eastern Skawa. Other main r ...

and in the historical region of

Cieszyn Silesia Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( pl, Śląsk Cieszyński ; cs, Těšínské Slezsko or ; german: Teschener Schlesien or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český T� ...

. The name is probably of possessive origin derived from personal name ''Puńc'' (such a name was probably derived from

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

word , , later a nickname?).

History

It was first mentioned in a document of Bishop of Wrocław issued on 23 May 1223 for Norbertine Sisters in

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; szl, Rybńik) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 miles) from the Czech border. It is ...

among villages paying them a

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

, as ''Punzo''. In the same document another village of Radowice (Radouiza) was mentioned, which was later absorbed by Puńców. In 1228 the aforementioned Norbertine Sisters moved from Rybnik to

Czarnowąsy Czarnowąsy (german: Czarnowanz) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dobrzeń Wielki, within Opole County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Geography It is situated on the Mała Panew river near its confluence with ...

the tithe from most of the villages listed in 1223 were taken from them, however Puńców was extraordinarily given to them as a possession.I. Panic, 2010, p. 286 In that year the village was conveyed to a ''Polish law''.I. Panic, 2010, p. 425 The village was again mentioned in the document of

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

issued in 1229 as a village belonging to the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

Tyniec Tyniec is a historic village in Poland on the Vistula river, since 1973 a part of the city of Kraków (currently in the district of Dębniki). Tyniec is notable for its Benedictine abbey founded by King Casimir the Restorer in 1044. Etymology T ...

. Later in unattested circumstances the ownership of the village changed to dukes. Politically it belonged then to the

Duchy of Opole and Racibórz The Duchy of Opole and Racibórz ( pl, Księstwo opolsko-raciborskie, german: Herzogtum Oppeln und Ratibor) was one of the numerous Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. It was formed in 1202 from the ...

and the

Castellany A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; cs, Těšín ; german: Teschen; la, Tessin; szl, Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitan ...

, which was in 1290 formed in the process of feudal fragmentation of Poland into the

Duchy of Teschen The Duchy of Teschen (german: Herzogtum Teschen), also Duchy of Cieszyn ( pl, Księstwo Cieszyńskie) or Duchy of Těšín ( cs, Těšínské knížectví), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split o ...

, ruled by a local branch of

Silesian Piast dynasty The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław III of Poland. By Bolesław's testament, Władysław was granted Silesia as his h ...

. In 1327 the duchy became a

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in cont ...

of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

, which after 1526 became a part of the Habsburg monarchy. After Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire a modern municipal division was introduced in the re-established

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, (historically also ''Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien''); cs, Rakouské Slezsko; pl, Śląsk Austriacki officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, (historically ''Herzogth ...

. The village as a municipality was subscribed to the

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

and

legal district A judicial district or legal district denotes the territorial area for which a legal court (usually a district court) has jurisdiction. By region Europe Austria In texts concerning Austria, "judicial district" (german: Gerichtsbezirk) refers ...

. According to the censuses conducted in 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910 the population of the municipality grew from 1,009 in 1880 to 1,434 in 1910 with a growing majority being native Polish-speakers (from 98.1% in 1880 to 99.2% in 1910) accompanied by a small German-speaking minority (at most 17 or 3.1% in 1880) and a few Czech-speaking people (at most 8 or 0.7% in 1900). In terms of religion in 1910 the majority were Protestants (56.3%), followed by Roman Catholics (43.7%). The village was also traditionally inhabited by

Cieszyn Vlachs The Cieszyn Vlachs ( pl, Wałasi cieszyńscy, cs, Těšínští Valaši) are a Polish ethnographic group (subgroup of Silesians) living around the towns of Cieszyn and Skoczów, one of the four major ethnographic groups in Cieszyn Silesia, the on ...

, speaking

Cieszyn Silesian dialect The Cieszyn Silesian dialect or Teschen Silesian dialect (Cieszyn Silesian: ''cieszyńsko rzecz''; pl, gwara cieszyńska or '; cs, těšínské nářečí; Silesian: ''ćeszyński djalekt'') is one of the Silesian dialects. It has its roots ...

. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, fall of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Polish–Czechoslovak War The Poland–Czechoslovakia War, also known mostly in Czech sources as the Seven-day war ( cs, Sedmidenní válka) was a military confrontation between Czechoslovakia and Poland over the territory of Cieszyn Silesia in early 1919. After a vai ...

and the division of

in 1920, it became a part of

. It was then annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war it was restored to

Landmarks

There is a

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

Roman Catholic church in the village. It was built in 1518 in the late

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style.

Footnotes

External links

*
Description at the Gmina Goleszów website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puncow Villages in Cieszyn County Cieszyn Silesia