Łowiczans () also known as the Łowicz Księżaks (, literally "Łowicz Duchy folk"; singular: ) is an

ethnographic group An ethnographic group or ethnocultural group is a group that has cultural traits that make it stand out from the larger ethnic group it is a part of. In other words, members of an ethnographic group will also consider themselves to be members of a ...

Polish people Polish people, or Poles, are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation who share a common History of Poland, history, Culture of Poland, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Central Europe. The preamble t ...

, that are part of the ethnographic subgroup of

Masovians Masovians, also spelled as Mazovians, and historically known as Masurians, is an ethnographic group of Polish people that originates from the region of Masovia, located mostly within borders of the Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. They speak the ...

. They originate from the historical region known as the () around the cities of

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,436 inhabitants (2021). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into ...

and

Skierniewice Skierniewice () is a city in central Poland with 45,184 inhabitants (2023), situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. It is the capital of Skierniewice County. Through the town runs the small river Łupia, also called Skierniewka. Located in the hist ...

in south-western

Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...

, located within borders of the

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The group speaks the

Łowicz dialect The Łowicz dialect or the Księżak dialect is a dialect of Polish spoken by the ethnic group of Łowiczans (Księżaks) inhabiting the historical region known as the around the cities of Łowicz and Skierniewice in south-western Masovia. It be ...

of the

Masovian dialect group The Masovian dialect group (), also Mazovian, is a dialect group of the Polish language spoken in Mazovia and historically related regions, in northeastern Poland. It is the most distinct of the Polish dialects and the most expansive. Mazovian ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

.G. Odoj, A. Peć: ''Dziedzictwo kulturowe – edukacja regionalna''. Dzierżoniów: Wydawnictwo Alex, 2000, p. 74, ISBN 83-85589-35-X, OCLC 749376082.

History

The group originates from the south west

, located within borders of the

. Historically, that area was part of the region known as ''Księstwo łowickie'', a private estate of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno The Archdiocese of Gniezno (, ) is the oldest Latin Catholic archdiocese in Poland, located in the city of Gniezno.

and the historical name derives from the Polish word "książę", which in this context did not mean "duke", but a respectful appellation to the local archbishop. The area had become an actual duchy when emperor

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

gave ''Księstwo łowickie'' into the ownership of Joanna Grudzińska, the second wife of

Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia Konstantin Pavlovich (; ) was a grand duke of Russia and the second son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. He was the heir-presumptive for most of his elder brother Alexander I's reign, but had secretly renounced his c ...

, and endowed her with the title "Princess of Łowicz" (). The group had enjoyed more freedoms than the neighboring people, and this contributed to them developing a separate identity. They also were freed from the

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

much earlier than other groups in the region, further building their cultural identity separate from the other groups.Janusz Kamocki: ''Zarys grup etnograficznych w Polsce''. In: ''Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze: Ziemia 1965 – Prace i materiały krajoznawcze''. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Sport i Turystyka, 1966, p. 109.

References

{{Ethnic groups in Poland Lowiczans Lowiczans Lowiczans Lowiczans Lowiczans Lowiczans

History

See also

References