Oksa 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 ...

Jędrzejów County __NOTOC__ Jędrzejów County ( pl, powiat jędrzejowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish l ...

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship The Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, also known as the Świętokrzyskie Province, and the Holy Cross Voivodeship ( pl, województwo świętokrzyskie ) is a voivodeship (province) of Poland situated in southeastern part of the country, in the histo ...

, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Oksa. It lies approximately north-west of Jędrzejów and south-west of the regional capital Kielce. The village has an approximate population of 890. Oksa, which in the past was spelled Oxa and Oksza, used to be a town from 1554 to 1867. It was founded by one of the most famous Polish poets, Mikolaj Rej, and the name of the town comes from Oksza – the coat of arms of the Rej family (in the

Old Polish language The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Ol ...

, the word oksza meant axe). The name Oksa has been in use since app. late-19th century. In the location of Oksa, a village of Tworow existed in the early 16th century. It belonged to a nobleman named Hieronim Rzeszowski, who in 1554 handed Tworow over to Mikolaj Rej, in exchange for the villages of Chycza and Besk. In the same year, King

Zygmunt August Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first rule ...

allowed the writer to found the town of Oksza, in the location of Tworow. In order to attract settlers to his town, Mikolaj Rej provided those willing to come to Oksza with a land plot. Furthermore, residents were granted right to cut down parts of local forests, in order to create pastures. Oksa developed slowly, by 1573, the town had few artisans, ten houses and a mill. Due to efforts of Andrzej Rej, the son of Mikolaj Rej, a town hall and butcher shops were opened. At the same time however, Rej increased taxes, which did not help the development of Oksa. In the 17th century, the town belonged to several owners, who often argued with each other. Oksa was one of main centers of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

, with a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

prayer house, founded here by Andrzej Rej in 1570. In 1667, after the disastrous Swedish invasion of Poland, Oksa had 26 houses and the population of 179. After the Partitions of Poland, the town briefly belonged to the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

, and in 1815, it became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland. In 1827, the population of Oksa was 380, with 51 houses. During the January Uprising, a battle took place here on October 20, 1863, between Polish rebels and Russian troops. As a result, Oksa lost its town charter in 1867, and has been a village since then. In 1960, its population was 1,235.

Oksa Parish Church

The parish church at Oksa was founded by Andrzej Rej in 1570 as a

prayer house (the construction of the church had been initiated by his father Mikolaj, who intended it to serve local Roman Catholics). At that time, Oksa was an important center of Reformation, here several Calvinist synods (councils) of Lesser Poland’s Protestant szlachta took place in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In 1678, the prayer house was taken over by the Cistercians from Jędrzejów, who turned it into a Roman Catholic church, despite protests of Calvinists. In 1770, a new sacristy was built, together with a main altar. Inside the church there is a genuine, 16th century Calvinist pulpit.

References

{{Gmina Oksa Villages in Jędrzejów County Kielce Governorate Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939)