Starostwo (literally " eldership") ; be, староства, translit=starostva; german: Starostei is an administrative unit established from the 14th century in 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 ...

and later in 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 ...

until the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

in 1795. Starostwos were established in the

crown lands Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

(''królewszczyzna''). The term is also used in modern Poland.

Starosta

Each starostwo was administered by an official known as

starosta The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...

. The starosta would receive the office from the king and would keep it until the end of his life. It usually provided a significant income for the starosta. His deputy was variously known as podstarosta, podstarości, burgrabia, włodarz, or surrogator. ''Encyklopedia staropolska'', Podstarosta i podstarości" There were several types of starosta: * ''Starosta Generalny'' was the administrative official of a specific territorial unit: either the representative of the King or Grand Duke or a person directly in charge. * ''Starosta Grodowy'' was a county (

powiat A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...

) level official responsible for fiscal duties, police and courts, and also the one responsible for the execution of judicial verdicts. * ''Starosta Niegrodowy'' was the overseer of the

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

''Powiat'' starosta

When Poland regained independence in 1918 (until the beginning of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939) and in 1944–1950, the starosta was the head of

(county) administration, subordinate to the

voivode 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 ...

. Since the local government reforms, which came into effect on 1 January 1999, the starosta is the head of the powiat executive board (''zarząd powiatu''), and the head of the (part of the powiat administration), being elected by the powiat council (''rada powiatu'').

Notes

References

Types of administrative division Legal history of Poland Subdivisions of Poland {{Poland-hist-stub