Bełk is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Czerwionka-Leszczyny __NOTOC__ Gmina Czerwionka-Leszczyny is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Rybnik County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the town of Czerwionka-Leszczyny, which lies approximately north-east of Rybnik and ...

, within

Rybnik County __NOTOC__ Rybnik County ( pl, powiat rybnicki) is a suburban county in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, created in 1999 as a result of Polish local government reforms. Its administrative seat is the city of Rybnik, although the city is not pa ...

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 ...

, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south of

Czerwionka-Leszczyny Czerwionka-Leszczyny (german: Czerwionka-Leschczin) is a town in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the only town in Rybnik county (which is separate from Rybnik city) and the seat of the larger Czerwionka-Leszczyny municipality whi ...

, north-east of

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 on ...

, and south-west of the regional capital

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

. The village has an area of 15.43 km² and a population of 3,358.

History

The village was first mentioned 1289, when it belonged to a knight ''Andrzej'' (''Andrew'') nicknamed ''Belick''. It was later also mentioned in a Latin document of

Diocese of Wrocław In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

called ''

Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis ( pl, Księga uposażeń biskupstwa wrocławskiego, ''Book of endowments of the Bishopric of Wrocław'') is a Latin manuscript catalog of documents compiled in the later 13th or in the early 14th centu ...

'' from around 1305 as ''Item apud Belconem ernut 30 mansi soluentes fertones expela libertate, de quibus prepositura Opoliensis de agris dudum cultis habet tres reliqui uero ad mensam domini episcopi pertinebunt''. The village became a seat of a Catholic parish in

Żory Żory (; german: Sohrau, szl, Żory) is a town and city county in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland with 62,462 inhabitants (2019). Previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about sout ...

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

, first mentioned in 1447 as ''Belk'', in a complete register of

Peter's Pence Peter's Pence (or ''Denarii Sancti Petri'' and "Alms of St Peter") are donations or payments made directly to the Holy See of the Catholic Church. The practice began under the Saxons in England and spread through Europe. Both before and after the ...

payment, composed by Nicholaum Wolff, an

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Opole Opole (; german: Oppeln ; szl, Ôpole) ; * Silesian: ** Silesian PLS alphabet: ''Ôpole'' ** Steuer's Silesian alphabet: ''Uopole'' * Silesian German: ''Uppeln'' * Czech: ''Opolí'' * Latin: ''Oppelia'', ''Oppolia'', ''Opulia'' is a city loc ...

References

Villages in Rybnik County {{Rybnik-geo-stub