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Subdivisions Of The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Subdivisions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth evolved over for centuries of its existence from the Union of Lublin, signing of the Union of Lublin to the Third Partition of Poland, third partition. The lands that once belonged to the Commonwealth are now largely distributed among several central, eastern, and northern European countries: Poland (except Territorial evolution of Poland, western Poland), Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, most of Ukraine, parts of Russia, southern half of Estonia, and smaller pieces in Slovakia, Romania and Moldova. Terminology While the term "Poland" was also commonly used to denote this whole polity, Poland was in fact only part of a greater whole – the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which comprised primarily two parts: *the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (Poland proper), colloquially "the Crown"; and *the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, colloquially "Lithuania". The Crown in turn comprised two "prowincjas": Greater Poland and Lesser Poland. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th- to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost and as of 1618 sustained a multi-ethnic population of almost 12 million. Polish and Latin were the two co-official languages. The Commonwealth was established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569, but the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had been in a ''de facto'' personal union since 1386 with the marriage of the Polish queen Jadwiga (Hedwig) and Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila, who was crowned King '' jure uxoris'' Władys� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and the Black Sea to the southeast. It has a predominantly temperate- continental climate, and an area of , with a population of around 19 million. Romania is the twelfth-largest country in Europe and the sixth-most populous member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, followed by Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Constanța, Craiova, Brașov, and Galați. The Danube, Europe's second-longest river, rises in Germany's Black Forest and flows in a southeasterly direction for , before emptying into Romania's Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest, include Moldoveanu Peak, at an altitude of . Settlement in what is now Romania began in the Lower Pale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ziemia
Land is a historical unit of administration in Poland and Ruthenia. In the Polish language, the term is not capitalized (''ziemia chełmińska'', Chelmno Land; not ''Ziemia Chełmińska''). All ''ziemias'' are named after main urban centers (or gords) of a given area: ''ziemia krakowska'' (after Krakow), or ''ziemia lubelska'' (after Lublin). In some cases, the suffix "-szczyzna" is added to the name of a ''ziemia'': ''ziemia lubelska'' is also called '' Lubelszczyzna'', while ''ziemia opolska'' (named after Opole) - '' Opolszczyzna''. The term ''ziemia'' appeared for the first time in medieval Poland (12th-13th centuries), after the fragmentation of Poland. It referred to a former princedom or duchy, which was unified with the Polish Kingdom, and lost its political sovereignty, but retained its hierarchy of officials and bureaucracy. From around the 14th century some of the former princedoms, now ''ziemia''s, were assigned to officials known as voivodes and became primar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castellan
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 of the medieval idea of the castellan as head of the local prison. The word stems from the Latin ''Castellanus'', derived from ''castellum'' "castle". Sometimes also known as a ''constable'' of the castle district, the Constable of the Tower of London is, in fact, a form of castellan, with representative powers in the local or national assembly. A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1194, Beatrice of Bourbourg inherited her father's castellany of Bourbourg upon the death of her brother, Roger. Similarly, Agnes became the castellan of Harlech Castle upon the death of her husband John de Bonvillars in 1287. Initial functions After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, foreign tribes migrated int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Slavic root of starost translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has meant an official in a leadership position in a range of civic and social contexts throughout Central and Eastern Europe. In terms of a municipality, a ''starosta'' was historically a senior royal administrative official, equivalent to the County Sheriff or the outdated Seneschal, and analogous to a gubernator. In Poland, a ''starosta'' would administer crown territory or a delineated district called a '' starostwo''. In the early Middle Ages, the ''starosta'' could head a settled urban or rural community or other communities, such as a church starosta, or an '' artel'' starosta, etc. The starosta also functioned as the master of ceremonies. Poland Kingd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Powiat
A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powiat''" is most often translated into English as "county" or "district" (sometimes "poviat"). In historical contexts this may be confusing because the Polish term ''hrabstwo'' (an administrative unit administered/owned by a ''hrabia'' (count) is also literally translated as "county". A ''powiat'' is part of a larger unit, the voivodeship ( Polish ''województwo'') or province. A ''powiat'' is usually subdivided into '' gmina''s (in English, often referred to as " communes" or " municipalities"). Major towns and cities, however, function as separate counties in their own right, without subdivision into ''gmina''s. They are termed " city counties" (''powiaty grodzkie'' or, more formally, ''miasta na prawach powiatu'') and have roughly the sam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voivode
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 medieval rulers of the Romanian-inhabited states and of governors and military commanders of Hungarian, Balkan or some Slavic-speaking populations. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ''voivode'' was interchangeably used with '' palatine''. In the Tsardom of Russia, a voivode was a military governor. Among the Danube principalities, ''voivode'' was considered a princely title. Etymology The term ''voivode'' comes from two roots. is related to warring, while means 'leading' in Old Slavic, together meaning 'war leader' or 'warlord'. The Latin translation is for the principal commander of a military force, serving as a deputy for the monarch. In early Slavic, ''vojevoda'' meant the , the military leader in battle. The term has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voivodeships Of Poland
A voivodeship (; pl, województwo ; plural: ) is the highest-level administrative division of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term has been in use since the 14th century and is commonly translated into English as "province". The administrative divisions of Poland, Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999, created sixteen new voivodeships. These replaced the 49 subdivisions of the Polish People's Republic, former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975, and bear a greater resemblance (in territory, but not in name) to the voivodeships that existed between 1950 and 1975. Today's voivodeships are mostly named after historical and geographical regions, while those prior to 1998 generally took their names from the cities on which they were centered. The new units range in area from under (Opole Voivodeship) to over (Masovian Voivodeship), and in population from nearly one million (Opole Voivodes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 states, much as the title of voivode was equivalent to that of a duke. Other roughly equivalent titles and areas in medieval Eastern Europe included Ban_(title), ban (bojan, vojin or bayan) and Banate (other), banate. In a modern context, the word normally refers to one of the provinces ''(Voivodeships of Poland, województwa)'' of Poland. , Poland has 16 voivodeships. Terminology A voivode, voi(e)vod(e) (literally, "leader of warriors" or "war leader", equivalent to the Latin "''Dux Exercituum''" and the German language, German "''Herzog''") was originally a military commander who stood, in a state's structure, next to the ruler. Later the word came to denote an administrative official. Words for "voivodeship" in various langu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate culture featuring diverse architecture, folk costumes, dances, cuisine, traditions and a rare Lesser Polish dialect. The region is rich in historical landmarks, monuments, castles, natural scenery and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The region should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only the southwestern part of Lesser Poland. Historical Lesser Poland was much larger than the current voivodeship that bears its name. It reached from Bielsko-Biała in the southwest as far as to Siedlce in the northeast. It consisted of the three voivodeships of Kraków, Sandomierz and Lublin. It comprised almost 60,000 km2 in area; today's population in this area is about 9,000,000 inhabitants. Its land ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Poland
Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history. Since the Middle Ages, Wielkopolska proper has been split into the Poznań and Kalisz voivodeships. In the wider sense, it also encompassed Sieradz, Łęczyca, Brześć Kujawski and Inowrocław voivodeships, which were situated further eastward. After the Partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century, Greater Poland was incorporated into Prussia as the Grand Duchy of Posen. The region in the proper sense roughly coincides with the present-day Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, województwo wielkopolskie). Like the historical regions of Pomerania, Silesia, Mazovia or Lesser Poland, the Greater Poland region possesses its own distinctive folk costum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prowincja
Province was the largest territorial subdivision in medieval and Renaissance-era Poland, and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The term designated each of the two largest constituents of the state: depending on the period, including Greater Poland, Lesser Poland and (upon the formation of the Commonwealth) the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Ducal Prussia was often counted as part of the Greater Poland; Livonia as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Ruthenian territories were split between Lesser Poland and the Grand Duchy. Though larger than a voivodeship (''województwo''), the ''prowincja'' was less important in terms of offices and power. In most respects, it was merely a titular unit of administration. The real power lay with the voivodeship—and, to a lesser extent, with ''ziemia''s (lands). The Polish term "''prowincja''" has not been used to denote any part of independent Poland since the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1795) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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