Chęciny Royal Castle was built in the late 13th century in

Chęciny Chęciny ( Yiddish: חענטשין – Khantchin or Chentshin) is a town in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, southern Poland, with 104,361 inhabitants as of December 2021. It was first mentioned in historical documents from 1275, and ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. It fell into ruin in the 18th century and remains in that state to this day.

History

The construction of the fortress probably began in the late 13th century. It is certain that the castle existed in 1306, when king

Władysław I the Elbow-high Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym *W ...

gave it to the

Archbishop of Kraków The Archbishop of Kraków is the head of the archdiocese of Kraków. A bishop of Kraków first came into existence when the diocese was created in 1000; it was promoted to an archdiocese on 28 October 1925. Due to Kraków's role as Poland's politic ...

Jan Muskata Jan Muskata (1250 – 7 February 1320) was bishop of Kraków from 1294 to 1309. Muskata was born in Wrocław, Silesia. He was the son of a German spice trader. The name Muskata is derived from Latin, for nutmeg. He had brother named Stefan (fl ...

. A year later, under the pretext of detection of a plot against the royal power, the castle returned to the king. It played a significant role as a place of concentration of troops departing for war with the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. After the death of Władysław the Elbow-high the stronghold was enlarged by

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He w ...

. At that time Chęciny become a residence of the king's second wife

Adelaide of Hesse Adelaide of Hesse ( pl, Adelajda heska) (after 1323 – after May 26, 1371) was queen consort of Poland by marriage to Casimir III of Poland. She was daughter of Henry II, Landgrave of Hesse, and his wife Elisabeth of Thuringia, daughter of F ...

. In following years it was also a residence of

Elisabeth of Poland, Queen of Hungary Elizabeth of Poland ( hu, Erzsébet, pl, Elżbieta; 1305 – 29 December 1380) was Queen of Hungary by marriage to Charles I of Hungary, and regent of Poland from 1370 to 1376 during the reign of her son Louis I. Life Early life She was a memb ...

Sophia of Halshany Sophia (Sonka) of Halshany or Sophia Holshanska ( be, Соф'я Гальшанская, translit=Sofja Halšanskaja; lt, Sofija Alšėniškė; pl, Zofia Holszańska; – September 21, 1461 in Kraków) was a princess of Halshany and was Queen ...

and her son

Władysław III of Varna Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym *W� ...

and

Bona Sforza Bona Sforza d'Aragona (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, and Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right. She was a surviving member o ...

. Later it was used for many years as a state prison. Among imprisoned here were

Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg (1360 or 1370 – 15 December 1423, Danzig (Gdańsk)) was the 28th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1414 to 1422. Biography Küchmeister was born in Silesia, as a son of Saxon nobility. ...

future Grand Master of the

Andrzej Wingold Andrei of Polotsk ( be, Андрэй Альгердавіч, lt, Andrius Algirdaitis, pl, Andrzej Olgierdowic, ca. 1325 – 12 August 1399, in the Battle of the Vorskla River) was the eldest son of Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and h ...

, Jogaila's half-brother and

Warcisław of Gotartowice Wartislaw (Polish Warcisław) is a Polish name. It may refer to: *Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania (c. 1091-1135) *Wartislaw II, Duke of Pomerania (1160-1184) * Wartislaw III, Duke of Pomerania (1210-1264) *Wartislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania (before 129 ...

. In the second half of the 16th century, the castle began to decline. In 1588 the parliament ordered to transfer the castle's inventories to the Chęciny Church and in 1607, during the Zebrzydowski Rebellion the fortifications and buildings were partially destroyed and burned. The castle briefly regained its former glory due to reconstruction initiated by Stanisław Branicki, starost of Chęciny, but in 1655-1657 it was almost completely destroyed by Swedish-

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

ian and

Transylvanian Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

troops. The destruction was completed in 1707 during another Swedish occupation. Then, the last residents left the castle. Over the next century the medieval walls become a source of building material for local villagers. Checiny plan

History

See also