The Elbląg Voivodeship, also known as the Lower Prussian Voivodeship, was a

voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate 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 ...

of the

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (; ) was a political and legal concept formed in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Poland, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. Under this idea, the state was no longer seen as the Pat ...

, with capital in the city of

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

, that existed during the Thirteen Years' War. It was established by 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 ...

in April 1454, following the incorporation of the city and the surrounding area into Poland, from the territory of the

State of the Teutonic Order The State of the Teutonic Order () was a theocratic state located along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Europe. It was formed by the knights of the Teutonic Order during the early 13th century Northern Crusades in the region ...

. Following the signing of the

Second Peace of Thorn The Peace of Thorn or Toruń of 1466, also known as the Second Peace of Thorn or Toruń (; ), was a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on 19 October 1466 between the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon and the Teutonic Knig ...

, on 19 October 1466, the area of the voivodeship was officially ceded to Poland, after which, it was replaced by the

Malbork Voivodeship The Malbork Voivodeship (), after Partitions of Poland also referred to as the Malbork Land (Polish: ''Ziemia malborska''), was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Kingdom of Poland from 1454/1466 until the Partitions ...

History

Prior to 1454, the city of

, and the surrounding area belonged to the

. In 1454, the state fought in the Thirteen Years' War, against the

and the

Prussian Confederation The Prussian Confederation (, ) was an organization formed on 21 February 1440 at Marienwerder (present-day Kwidzyn) by a group of 53 nobles and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia, to oppose the arbitrariness of the Teutonic Knights. It was based o ...

. On 12 February 1454, the inhabitants of Elbląg revolted against the Teutonic forces, and allied themselves with the Prussian Confederation. As such, the city and the surrounding area pledged its alliance to the king of Poland,

. The king established the Elbląg Voivodeship in April 1454,Zdzisław Kaczmarczyk, Bogusław Leśnodorski: ''Historia państwa i prawa Polski'', vol. 2: ''od połowy XV wieku do r. 1795''. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1966, p. 161.Wojciech Hejnosz: ''Przyczynki do dziejów ustrojowych Prus i Pomorza: o zaginionych województwach pruskich: królewieckim, elbląskim i niderlandzkim''. In: ''Zapiski Towarzystwa Naukowego w Toruniu'', vol. 15. book 3–4. 1950. p. 8–11. appointing Gabriel of Baysen as its first

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 ...

.Krzysztof Mikulski: ''Urzędnicy Prus Królewskich XV - XVIII wieku''. Wrocław, Warsaw, Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1990, p. 109. ISBN 83-04-03523-5. The city remained under the control of Poland until the end of war, which ended with the signing of the

, on 19 October 1466. In accordance to the peace treaty, the State of the Teutonic Order ceded the area to Poland, which reformed the province into the

Voivodes

The voivodeship was governed by the

s. They were: * April 1454 – December 1454: Gabriel of Baysen * 1456–1457: Stibor of BaysenPaweł Czaplewski: ''Senatorowie świeccy, podskarbiowie i starostowie Prus Królewskich 1454-1772''. In: ''Roczniki Towarzystwa Naukowego w Toruniu'', vol. 26–28 (1919–1921), p. 8, 1921. Towarzystwo Naukowe w Toruniu. * 6 July 1457 – 1466: Otto Machwicz

Citations

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elblag Voivodeship, 1454-1466 Former voivodeships of Poland Elbląg 15th century in Prussia