The Pomeranian Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo pomorskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

from 1454/1466 until the First partition of Poland in 1772. From 1613 the capital was at

Skarszewy Skarszewy ( csb, Skarszewò, german: Schöneck in Westpreußen) is a small town south of Gdańsk in Starogard Gdański County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It is located between Kościerzyna and Tczew. Population: 6 809 (30 June ...

. The name ''Pomerania'' derives from the Slavic ''po more'', meaning "by the sea" or "on the sea".''Der Name Pommern (po more) ist slawischer Herkunft und bedeutet so viel wie „Land am Meer“.''
(Pommersches Landesmuseum, German)

History

The

voivodeship A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...

comprised the westernmost part of

Royal Prussia Royal Prussia ( pl, Prusy Królewskie; german: Königlich-Preußen or , csb, Królewsczé Prësë) or Polish PrussiaAnton Friedrich Büsching, Patrick Murdoch. ''A New System of Geography'', London 1762p. 588/ref> (Polish: ; German: ) was a ...

. After the 1454 uprising of the

Prussian Confederation The Prussian Confederation (german: Preußischer Bund, pl, Związek Pruski) was an organization formed on 21 February 1440 at Kwidzyn (then officially ''Marienwerder'') by a group of 53 nobles and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia, to oppose the a ...

and the Thirteen Years' War, the area fell back to the

Polish Crown The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includ ...

according to the

Second Peace of Thorn The Peace of Thorn or Toruń of 1466, also known as the Second Peace of Thorn or Toruń ( pl, drugi pokój toruński; german: Zweiter Friede von Thorn), was a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on 19 October 1466 betwe ...

in 1466. Together with the

Chełmno Chełmno (; older en, Culm; formerly ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional impor ...

(former '' Kulmerland'') and

Malbork Malbork; ; * la, Mariaeburgum, ''Mariae castrum'', ''Marianopolis'', ''Civitas Beatae Virginis'' * Kashubian: ''Malbórg'' * Old Prussian: ''Algemin'' is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has a ...

(''Marienburg'') voivodeships and the

Prince-Bishopric of Warmia The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia ( pl, Biskupie Księstwo Warmińskie; german: Fürstbistum Ermland) was a semi-independent ecclesiastical state, ruled by the incumbent ordinary of the Warmia see and comprising one third of the then diocesan area ...

(''Ermland'') it formed the autonomous province of

. The autonomy of the region was later abolished as a result of the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin ( pl, Unia lubelska; lt, Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the pe ...

in 1569 and the area was incorporated into the Polish Crown. In older English sources and generally in German language use, for this region the appellation of

Pomerelia Pomerelia,, la, Pomerellia, Pomerania, pl, Pomerelia (rarely used) also known as Eastern Pomerania,, csb, Pòrénkòwô Pòmòrskô Vistula Pomerania, prior to World War II also known as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pome ...

(German: ''Pommerellen'' or ''Pomerellen'', rendered as ''Pomorze Gdańskie'' in Polish) prevails, because the name Pomerania (German: ''Pommern'') usually refers to the western

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (german: Herzogtum Pommern; pl, Księstwo Pomorskie; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country ha ...

(Polish: ''Księstwo Pomorskie''), ruled by the

House of Griffins The House of Griffin or Griffin dynasty (german: Greifen; pl, Gryfici, da, Grif) was a dynasty ruling the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637. The name "Griffins" was used by the dynasty after the 15th century and had been take ...

, who had become

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

s of the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

in 1181. In turn for their support in the Thirteen Years' War, the Griffin dukes in 1455 gained the Pomerelian

Lauenburg and Bütow Land Lauenburg and Bütow Land (german: Länder or , csb, Lãbòrskò-bëtowskô Zemia, pl, Ziemia lęborsko-bytowska) formed a historical region in the western part of Pomerelia (Polish and papal historiography) or in the eastern part of Farther Pom ...

as a Polish fief, which upon the extinction of the dynasty in 1637 fell back to the Polish Crown and by the 1657

Treaty of Bromberg The Treaty of Bromberg (, Latin: Pacta Bydgostensia) or Treaty of Bydgoszcz was a treaty between John II Casimir of Poland and Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia that was ratified at Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) on 6 November 1657. The tr ...

was given to the

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, 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 ar ...

margraves, who also ruled over the adjacent Imperial Pomerania Province. PomorskieIRP

For the Polish Crown the fact turned out to be fatal, that after the 1525 establishment of

Ducal Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establishe ...

on the remaining territory of the Teutonic Order, the Pomeranian Voivodeship separated two territories, which were both held by the rising

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzol ...

, since 1618 in the

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

Brandenburg-Prussia Brandenburg-Prussia (german: Brandenburg-Preußen; ) is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenz ...

. After the Polish crown had given up suzerainty over Ducal Prussia by the 1657

Treaty of Wehlau The Treaty of Bromberg (, Latin: Pacta Bydgostensia) or Treaty of Bydgoszcz was a treaty between John II Casimir of Poland and Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia that was ratified at Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) on 6 November 1657. The tr ...

and the Brandenburg margraves had assumed the title of a

King in Prussia King ''in'' Prussia (German: ''König in Preußen'') was a title used by the Prussian kings (also in personal union Electors of Brandenburg) from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently, they used the title King ''of'' Prussia (''König von Preußen''). Th ...

in 1701, the Hohenzollerns sought to link their territories. On the eve of the Polish partitions, King

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

in 1771 finally incorporated Lauenburg and Bütow into the Pomerania Province. In the course of the First Partition the next year, he furthermore annexed the Pomeranian voivodeship with Royal Prussia, then renamed as the Province of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

– except for the City of

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

(''Danzig''), which was not incorporated until the Second Partition of 1793. Today the historic administrative region roughly corresponds to the present-day

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province (Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; ( Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

of Poland, which also comprises the Lands of Słupsk (''Stolp''), that formerly belonged to the Duchy of Pomerania, as well as the territory of the former Malbork Voivodeship, that until 1230 had been part of the Prussian tribal territory.

Administration

Voivodeship Governor (

Wojewoda Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

) seat: *

Regional council (

sejmik generalny A sejmik (, diminutive of ''sejm'', occasionally translated as a ''dietine''; lt, seimelis) was one of various local parliaments in the history of Poland and history of Lithuania. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies in the Kingdom of Pol ...

) *

Starogard Gdański Starogard Gdański (; until 1950: ''Starogard''; csb, Starogarda; formerly german: Preußisch Stargard) is a city in Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004). Starogard is the capital of Starogard County. It is ...

Regional councils (sejmik poselski i deputacki) *

Człuchów Człuchów (, ''Człochòwo'', or ''Człëchòwò''; formerly ) is a town in the region of Gdańsk Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 13,350 inhabitants as of December 2021. Człuchów has been the capital of Człuchów County in the Pomerani ...

Tuchola Tuchola (german: Tuchel; csb, Tëchòlô) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The Pomeranian town, which is the seat of Tuchola County, had a population of 13,418 . Geographical location Tuchola lies about n ...

Świecie Świecie (; german: Schwetz) is a town in northern Poland with 25,968 inhabitants (2006), situated in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999); it was in Bydgoszcz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. It is the capital of Świecie County. Locatio ...

* Starogród * Puck Administrative divisions: *

Człuchów County __NOTOC__ Człuchów County ( csb, Człëchòwsczi kréz, pl, powiat człuchowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result ...

, (Powiat Człuchowski),

Gdańsk County __NOTOC__ Gdańsk County ( pl, powiat gdański) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government refo ...

, (Powiat Gdański),

* Koscierzyna County, (Powiat Kościerzyński),

Kościerzyna Kościerzyna ( Kashubian and Pomeranian: ''Kòscérzëna''; formerly german: Berent, ) is a town in Kashubia in Gdańsk Pomerania region, northern Poland, with some 24,000 inhabitants. It has been the capital of Kościerzyna County in Pomerania ...

Mirachowo County Mirachowo ( csb, Mirchòwò, german: Mirchau) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kartuzy, within Kartuzy County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Kartuzy and west of the regional c ...

, (Powiat Mirachowski),

Mirachowo Mirachowo ( csb, Mirchòwò, german: Mirchau) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kartuzy, within Kartuzy County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Kartuzy and west of the regiona ...

* Nowe County, (Powiat Nowski), Nowe *

Puck County __NOTOC__ Puck County ( pl, powiat pucki, csb, pùcczi pòwiat) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland, on the Baltic coast. The ''powiat'' of this name existed in the hist ...

, (Powiat Pucki), Puck * Skarszewy County, (Powiat Skarszewski),

Stargard County __NOTOC__ Stargard County ( pl, powiat stargardzki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local ...

, (Powiat Starogrodzki)

Świecie County __NOTOC__ Świecie County ( pl, powiat świecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local ...

, (Powiat Świecki),

Tczew County __NOTOC__ Tczew County ( pl, powiat tczewski, csb, Dërszewo kréj) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish ...

, (Powiat Tczewski),

Tczew Tczew (, csb, Dërszewò; formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in Pomerelia, Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). The city is known for its Old Town and the Vistula Bridge, or Bridge of Tczew ...

Tuchola County __NOTOC__ Tuchola County ( pl, powiat tucholski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local ...

, (Powiat Tucholski),

From 1637 to 1657, the Lębork-Bytów Land.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomeranian Voivodeship (1466-1772) Voivodeships of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Royal Prussia 1466 establishments in Europe 15th-century establishments in Poland 1772 disestablishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

History

Administration

See also

References