Lelow County (Polish: powiat lelowski) was an administrative unit (
), which existed for over 400 years, both in the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
and 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 ...
. Its history dates back probably to the late 14th century, ending in 1837. In the 15th century, when Lelow County was part of
Kraków Voivodeship, its total area was almost . Among towns that belonged to it were
Zawiercie
Zawiercie () () is a town in southern Poland located in the Silesian Voivodeship with 49,334 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland near the source of the Warta River. The town lies near the historical region of Sil ...
,
Myszkow,
Czestochowa,
Klobuck and
Krzepice. The first known
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 ...
of Lelow County was Zbigniew of Brzezie, mentioned in documents from 1408. The seat of the county was the town of
Lelow.
Some time in late 16th century, Lelow County was expanded, and by early 17th century, it had nine towns (out of which five had the status of royal towns), and 182 villages. The county belonged to Kraków Voivodeship until the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...
. In 1795 it became part of Prussian
New Silesia, administered from
Breslau. Prussian authorities initially renamed it Lelow-
Siewierz County, and in 1807, while in the
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...
, it was renamed Lelow-Pilica County. After the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
, the county was annexed into Russian-controlled
Congress Poland
Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...
. In 1837, Lelow County was liquidated.
Sources
* Powiat Lelowski w latach 1392 - 1792, praca zbiorowa, zebrali i opracowali: Antoni Białowąs, Marian Nowak, Mirosław Skrzypczyk. Lelowskie Towarzystwo Historyczno Kulturalne
Former counties of Poland
Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795)
{{Poland-hist-stub