Łęczyca Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from the 14th century until the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of Greater Poland Province, and its capital was in

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 ...

. The voivodeship had the area of 4,080 square kilometers, divided into three counties. Local sejmiks took place at Łęczyca. The city of

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, which until the 19th century was a small town, for centuries belonged to Łęczyca Voivodeship.

History

The voivodeship was created by King Wladyslaw Lokietek, out of the territory of Duchy of Łęczyca, which had been established after the 1138 Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty. It had five senators in the Senate of the Kingdom of Poland (since 1569 the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

). These were: Voivode of Łęczyca,

Castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

of Łęczyca, Castellan of Brzeziny, Castellan of Inowlodz, and Castellan of Konary. At the sejmiks, local

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

elected four deputies to the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

of Poland, and two deputies to the Greater Poland Tribunal at

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by #Etymology, alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the capital of Piotrków County and the second-largest city in the Łódź Voi ...

. Zygmunt Gloger in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland gives a detailed description of Łęczyca Voivodeship: "Following the testament of Boleslaw Krzywousty, the Land of Łęczyca was a separate duchy, ruled by princes of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

(...) King Wladyslaw Lokietek reunited the duchy with Poland, making it a separate voivodeship. Local residents were used to their own legal system, so King

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...

decided to keep a separate official there. In 1418, the

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

of Łęczyca established its own rules, the 27 Articles of Constitutiones Terrae Lanciciensis generales (...) The voivodeship had the area of 80 square miles, stretching from Klodawa in the north, to the Pilica river in the south, where it bordered Sandomierz Voivodeship. In the 16th century, it had 74 Roman-Catholic parishes, 25 towns and 875 villages. It was the second most densely populated voivodeship of the

, behind Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship (...) Łęczyca Voivodeship had five senators: the

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

of Łęczyca, the

of Łęczyca, and the Castellans of Brzeziny, Inowlodz, and Konary (...) Of the three counties, the largest one was Łęczyca County, which covered more than half of the area of the voivodeship. Local sejmiks took place at Łęczyca, where four deputies were elected to the

, and additional two to the Greater Poland Tribunal at

. Main starostas resided at Łęczyca, Inowlodz, Zgierz and Klodawa".