Łęczyca
Łęczyca (; in full the Royal Town of Łęczyca, ; ; ) is a town of inhabitants in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the Łęczyca County. Łęczyca is a capital of the historical Łęczyca Land.
Or ...
, Poland, that was erected by
Casimir III the Great
Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...
as a fortification during 1357–1370.
History
Immediately after its completion, the Castle became a residence of king Casimir the Great, and then was the seat of the governor of Łęczyca. In 1406 it was burned by the
Teutonic Knights
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...
and rebuilt in the following years to serve as a place of a conference in 1409, where decisions were taken in connection with the approaching war with the Order. After the
Battle of Grunwald
The Battle of Grunwald was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), a ...
many of the Teutonic Knights were incarcerated here. In subsequent years, four diets were held here (1420, 1448, 1454 and 1462), and the castle became the seat of the king
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...
during another war with the Order (1454-1466).
After a great fire in the second half of the 15th century the castle remained in ruins till the early 1560s. Then, in 1563–1565, Jan Lutomirski, Grand Treasurer of the Crown completely rebuilt the castle. The cost of the entire project amounted to nearly 3,000
florin
The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time.
It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...
s, derived from the royal treasury. The disasters that struck the stronghold in the first half of the 17th century helped the Swedish General Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge to take the castle, which was defended by
starosta
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
Jakub Olbrycht Szczawiński, during the
Deluge
A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood.
The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the biblical book of Genesis.
Deluge or Le Déluge may also refer to:
History
*Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...
in 1655. The destruction was completed in 1707 during another Swedish occupation.
Over the next years local residents used the remains of the castle as a source of building materials. After the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the castle became the seat of the scout troop, and in 1964 reconstruction started.