Sanok Land (, ) was a historical administrative division unit (''
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 (o ...
'') of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
from the 14th-18th centuries. It consisted of land that now belongs to the
(counties) of:
Sanok
Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — , , ''Sanok'', , ''Sianok'' or ''Sianik'', , , ''Sūnik'' or ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of southeastern Poland with 38,397 inhabitants, as of June 2016. Located on the San ...
,
Brzozów,
Lesko and partially
Krosno
Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', ) is a historical town and Krosno County, county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of 2014.
The functional ...
and
Rzeszów
Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...
. Ziemia Sanocka was a part of the
Ruthenian Voivodeship
The Ruthenian Voivodeship (; ; ) was a voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1434 until the First Partition of Poland in 1772, with its center in the city of Lwów (lat. Leopolis) (modern day Lviv). Together with a number of ot ...
(
Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia, also called Red Rus or Red Russia, is a term used since the Middle Ages for the south-western principalities of Kievan Rus', namely the Principality of Peremyshl and the Duchy of Belz, Principality of Belz. It is closely related to ...
of
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), 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 cult ...
) with the capital at
Lwów
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
(now
Lviv
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
).
Little is known about the area of Sanok in the early years of Polish history. According to archaeological findings, a number of
gords already existed here when the region was under possible control of
Great Moravia
Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...
. Following several Polish - Ruthenian conflicts, Sanok became part of
Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia, also called Red Rus or Red Russia, is a term used since the Middle Ages for the south-western principalities of Kievan Rus', namely the Principality of Peremyshl and the Duchy of Belz, Principality of Belz. It is closely related to ...
, and in 1150, the town was ransacked in a Hungarian raid. Until 1340, Sanok was part of various Ruthenian duchies, and later the
Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia. In 1340, the Land of Sanok, together with whole Red Ruthenia, was annexed by King
Kazimierz Wielki. The King introduced Polish administrative structure here, dividing Red Ruthenia into four lands (see
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 (o ...
), one of which was the Land of Sanok, consisting of the County
of Sanok. The existence of Sanok County is confirmed by sources from 1423, and by that time, Sanok also was the seat of a
starosta
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
, who resided in a castle.
The term Sanok Land, used to describe a separate administrative unit, appears for the first time in the mid-14th century, after the annexation of Red Ruthenia by the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
. In 1359, the
Latin language
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
term ''castellania Sanocensi'' was used, while in 1363, the village of Radoszyce was mentioned as the one which belonged to “districtu Sanocensi”. In 1369, the term ''terra Sanocensi'' was used in documents. In 1384, several local villages were described as being under jurisdiction of ''castrum Sanocense''.
The Land of Sanok remained a separate administrative unit within the
Ruthenian Voivodeship
The Ruthenian Voivodeship (; ; ) was a voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1434 until the First Partition of Poland in 1772, with its center in the city of Lwów (lat. Leopolis) (modern day Lviv). Together with a number of ot ...
until the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...
, when it became part of Austrian
Galicia. It had its own
starosta
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
, and its borders changed several times. Historians argue whether
Krosno
Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', ) is a historical town and Krosno County, county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of 2014.
The functional ...
was at first part of
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), 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 cult ...
, or Red Ruthenia. Furthermore, the area of
Tyczyn belonged to the Land of Sanok, but some time in the 15th century, it was transferred to the
Przemyśl Land. Another example is the town of
Bircza.
Since Sanok Land was sparsely populated, it was not divided into
s. Most of its territory was covered by forests of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
, and the population was a mix of Poles, Ruthenians, Germans, Hungarians, Slovaks and Wallachians.
See also
*
Lendians
The Lendians () were a Lechitic tribe who lived in the area of East Lesser Poland and Cherven Cities between the 7th and 11th centuries. Since they were documented primarily by foreign authors whose knowledge of Central and East Europe geogra ...
*
Lwów Voivodeship
Lwów Voivodeship () was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939). Because of the Nazi invasion of Poland in accordance with the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, it became occupied by both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army in Septem ...
*
Pogórzanie
Polish Uplanders (; also known as Western Pogorzans and Eastern Pogorzans), form a distinctive subethnic group of Polish people, Poles that mostly live in the Central Beskidian Range of the Polish Subcarpathia, Subcarpathian highlands. The Polish ...
*
Muzeum Budownictwa Ludowego w Sanoku
Sources
Bibliography
*
Adam Fastnacht, Slownik Historyczno-Geograficzny Ziemi Sanockiej w Średniowieczu (Historic-Geographic Dictionary of the Sanok District in the Middle Ages), Kraków, (II edition 2002), .
{{Coord missing, Poland
Ziemias
Regions of Poland