Międzyrzec Boyars were an ethnographic group of

Polish people Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Cen ...

, that in 19th century, inhabited the rural areas near

Międzyrzec Podlaski Międzyrzec Podlaski ( la, Meserici, german: Meseritz) is a city in Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, with the population of 17,162 inhabitants . The total area of the city is . Międzyrzec is located near the Krzna river, not ...

, in the region of Podlachia, currently located at the border of the

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest c ...

and the

Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, C ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. They were a subgroup of

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

. By the end of the 19th century, the group had assimilated into the rest of

, losing its separate cultural identity.Pleszczyński, Adolf: ''Bojarzy międzyrzeccy : studjum etnograficzne przez Adolfa Pleszczyńskiego.'' 1892, Warsaw.

History

The group originated as Masovian

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s, who settled in the 19th century in the rural areas near

, in the villages of Jelnica, Kożuszki, Krzymoszyce, Łuby, Łuniew, Misie, Pościsze, Przychody, Rzeczyca, Strzakły, and Wygnanka. They spoke

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

and were of

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

faith. They were given land to settle in the area. In exchange, they had to provide horse riders for postal serices and military, and pay the rent for the land. Their community was surrounded by the

Rusyns Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic languages, East Slavi ...

, with

Rusyn language Rusyn (; rue, label=Rusyn language#Carpathian Rusyn, Carpathian Rusyn, русиньскый язык, translit=rusîn'skyj jazyk; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, руски язик, translit=ruski jazik),http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2781/1/2011Bapt ...

influencing their dialect. By the end of the 19th century, their regional culture, including traditional clothing, begun to disappear, as the group assimilated into the rest of

, eventually fully losing its separate cultural identity.

Notes

References

Miedzyrzec Boyars Miedzyrzec Boyars Miedzyrzec Boyars Miedzyrzec Boyars Miedzyrzec Boyars {{Poland-stub