Smolensk Voivodeship (; ; ; ; ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

and later 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 ...

History

The territory of Smolensk was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1404, but the voivodeship was established only in 1508. Just six years later, in 1514, it was lost to the

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...

during the

Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars The Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars (also known as the Russo-Lithuanian Wars or simply Muscovite Wars or Lithuanian Wars)The conflicts are referred to as 'Muscovite wars' () in Polish historiography and as 'Lithuanian wars' in Russian one; English his ...

. The voivodeship was recaptured by the Commonwealth in 1611 during the

Polish–Muscovite War (1605–18) Polish–Muscovite War can refer to: * Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars * Polish–Muscovite War (1605–18) * Smolensk War (1631–34) * Russo-Polish War (1654–67) {{Disambiguation ...

and lost again in 1654 during the

Russo-Polish War (1654–67) Armed conflicts between Poland (including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland) and Russia (including the Soviet Union, the Russian Empire, the Tsardom of Russia and the Principality of Moscow) include: : ...

. Even when the territory was under Russian control, Poland and Lithuania claimed it as a titular voivodeship. The capital of the voivodeship, and the seat of its governor (

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 ...

), was in

Smolensk Smolensk 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 cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. It was subdivided into two

powiat A ''powiat'' (; ) is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture (Local administrative unit, LAU-1 ormerly Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-4 ...

s: Smolensk and

Starodub Starodub (, , ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets (river), Babinets River in the Dnieper basin, southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

Zygmunt Gloger Zygmunt Gloger (3November 184516August 1910) was a Polish historian, archaeologist, geographer and ethnographer, bearer of the Wilczekosy coat of arms. Gloger founded the precursor of modern and widely popular Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Socie ...

in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland provides this description of the Smolensk Voivodeship: Palatinatus Smolenskouiensis

In the 9th century, Smolensk was the main center of the

Krivichs The Krivichs or Kryvichs ( rus, кри́вичи, p=ˈkrʲivʲɪtɕɪ, krivichi, links=y; , ) were a tribal union of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 12th centuries. It is suggested that originally the Krivichi were native to the area a ...

. In the 11th century, it became the capital of a separate duchy, the

Principality of Smolensk The Principality of Smolensk (eventually Grand Principality of Smolensk) was a Ruthenian lordship from the 11th to the 16th century. Until 1127, when it passed to Rostislav Mstislavich, the principality was part of the land of Kiev. The princip ...

, which in the 14th century was conquered by the

. In 1404, it became a permanent part of Lithuania, and later on, the Principality was turned into a Voivodeship. In 1514, Smolensk was captured by

Muscovy Muscovy or Moscovia () is an alternative name for the Principality of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 *Muscovy duck (''Cairina mosch ...

, which was confirmed by a 1522 treaty. For the next 89 years Smolensk belonged to Muscovy. It was recovered by King

Sigismund III of Poland Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Relig ...

in 1611, but Smolensk Voivodeship as part of the Commonwealth existed only for 56 years. In 1654 it was recaptured by the Russians, which was confirmed by the

Truce of Andrusovo The Truce of Andrusovo (, , also sometimes known as Treaty of Andrusovo) established a thirteen-and-a-half year truce, signed on between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had fought the Russo-Polish War sin ...

in 1667. Smolensk Voivodeship had three senators: the Bishop, the Voivode, and the Castellan of Smolensk. It was divided into two counties: those of Smolensk and

. After its final annexation by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, it continued to exist as a voivodeship in exile, with

sejmik A sejmik (, diminutive of ''sejm'', occasionally translated as a ''dietine''; ) 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 Poland (before ...

s taking place at a Bernardine Church in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. Furthermore, the title of Bishop of Smolensk remained in use. The last titular Bishops before the partitions of Poland were

Adam Naruszewicz Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam si ...

, and Tymoteusz Gorzeński.

References

Smolensk Voivodeship, description by Zygmunt Gloger
{{coord, 54.782778, 32.045278, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Voivodeships of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Voivodeships of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1508 establishments in Lithuania 1654 disestablishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

History

See also

References