Mstislaw Voivodeship or Mścisław Voivodeship ( be, Амсьці́слаўскае ваяво́дзтва, pl, Województwo Mścisławskie, la, Palatinatus Mscislaviensis) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

(from 1569 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 ...

), since the 15th century 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.

Zygmunt Gloger Zygmunt Gloger (3 November 1845 in Tybory-Kamianka – 16 August 1910 in Warsaw) was a Polish historian, archaeologist, geographer and ethnographer, bearer of the Wilczekosy coat of arms. Gloger founded the precursor of modern and widely popu ...

in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland provides this description of the Mscislaw Voivodeship: “Mscislaw (Mscislavia), which lies at the Wiechra river, was probably founded in the late 13th century, and named after Duke of

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

, Mstislav Romanovich the Old. In the 14th century, it was captured by the

, and for a while remained a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

(...) By 1538, the Duchy of Mscislaw was already governed by a

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. The ...

, who during the reign of 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 ruler ...

was renamed into a

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 ...

, while the Duchy was turned into a

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 ...

. First Voivode of Mscislaw was Jerzy Oscik, Traby coat of arms. The Voivodeship of Mscislaw was not divided into counties (see

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 "''powiat ...

). Its

sejmik 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 ...

s took place at Mscislaw, where two deputies to the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

were elected, and two to the Lithuanian Tribunal (...) It ceased to exist in 1772, when after the first partition of Poland, Mscislaw Voivodeship was annexed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

". 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: * Mscislaw

Voivodes

Janusz Skumin Tyszkiewicz Janusz Skumin Tyszkiewicz ( lt, Jonušas Skuminas Tiškevičius) (1570–1642) was a noble of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a politician, a sponsor of Baroque music and a writer (1610+). He held numerous political offices, including voivod ...

(1621-1626) *

Mikołaj Kiszka Mikołaj is the Polish cognate of given name Nicholas, used both as a given name and a surname. It may refer to people: In Polish (or Polish-Lithuanian) nobility: * Mikołaj Firlej (died 1526), Polish nobleman, Hetman, diplomat, and expert of sou ...

(1626-1636) *

Mikołaj Abramowicz Mikołaj Abramowicz or Abrahamowicz ( lt, Mikalojus Abrahamovičius; 1590s – 1651) was a Polish–Lithuanian soldier who was one of the leading military and diplomatic figures of his period. Life A szlachcic of Jastrzębiec coat of arms, M ...

(1643-1647) *

Fryderyk Sapieha Fryderyk Sapieha (before 1599 - 1650) was a Polish-Lithuanian noble from Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Voivode of Mścisław (1647-1650), podkomorzy of Vitebsk (from 1620), starost of Ostryń (from 1611). Studied in Vilnius and Ingolstadt ...

(VIII 1647-1650)

Administrative division

* the voivodeship was not divided into counties

References

Mscislaw Voivodeship, description by Zygmunt Gloger
{{coord, 54.018155, 31.725593, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Voivodeships of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Former voivodeships of Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1566 establishments in Europe 1566 establishments in Lithuania 1772 disestablishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Early Modern history of Belarus