Stara Wieś (, , ) is a village in the administrative district of

Gmina Wilamowice __NOTOC__ Gmina Wilamowice is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the town of Wilamowice, which lies approximately north-east of Bielsko-Biała and south of the r ...

, within

Bielsko County __NOTOC__ Bielsko County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. I ...

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

, in southern Poland. It lies approximately west of

Wilamowice Wilamowice (; earlier ''Willamowice''; ; , ) is a rural town in southern Poland, situated in the Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town is inhabited by a Germanic ethnic group of Vilamovians, who speak the highly endangered Wymysorys l ...

, north of

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; ; , ; ) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and towns by population, 22nd largest city in Poland, and an a ...

, and south of the regional capital

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

History

According to the tradition Stara Wieś (lit. Old Village) was established after

First Mongol invasion of Poland The Mongol invasion of Poland from late 1240 to 1241 culminated in the Battle of Legnica, where the Mongols defeated an alliance which included forces from Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth, fragmented Poland and their allies, led by Henry ...

by settlers from

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

, Holland and Scotland. Soon after they moved on to found another sister settlement, contemporary

, which was first mentioned in 1326 in the register of

Peter's Pence Peter's Pence (or ''Denarii Sancti Petri'' and "Alms of St Peter") are donations or payments made directly to the Holy See of the Catholic Church. The practice began under the Saxons in Kingdom of England, England and spread through Europe. Both ...

payment among Catholic parishes of

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

of the Diocese of Kraków as ''Novovillamowicz'', whereas Stara Wieś was mentioned as ''Antiquo Willamowicz''. In 1444 it came to be known under current name ''Stara Wieś'' (German: Altdorf, Wymysorys: Vilmesdur). Politically both villages belonged to the

Duchy of Opole and Racibórz The Duchy of Opole and Racibórz (, ) was one of the numerous Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. It was formed in 1202 from the union of the Upper Silesian duchies of Opole and the Racibórz, in a ra ...

and the

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 ...

y of

, which was in 1315 formed in the process of feudal fragmentation of Poland into the

Duchy of Oświęcim The Duchy of Oświęcim (), or the Duchy of Auschwitz (), was one of the Duchies of Silesia in the lands of Lesser Poland (Małopolska), formed in the aftermath of the fragmentation of Poland, centered around Oświęcim. It was established a ...

, ruled by a local branch of Silesian Piast dynasty. In 1327 the duchy became a

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...

of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

. In 1457

Jan IV of Oświęcim Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Nu ...

agreed to sell the duchy to the

Polish Crown 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 pa ...

, and in the accompanying document issued on 21 February the village was mentioned as ''Stara Wyesz''. The territory of the Duchy of Oświęcim was eventually incorporated into Poland in 1564 and formed

Silesian County The Silesian County (Polish language, Polish: ''powiat śląski'') was a powiat, county of the Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795), Kraków Voivodeship, within the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland, Polish–Lithuanian Comm ...

of Kraków Voivodeship. Upon the

First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

in 1772 it became part of the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

Kingdom of Galicia. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and fall of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

it became part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It was annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

at the beginning of

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 ...

, and afterwards it was restored to Poland.

Landmarks

There is a wooden Exaltation of the Holy Cross church from the early 16th century, registered as a cultural heritage monument. Another heritage monument lies nearby, a former parish school which now serves as Regional Room. File:POL Stara Wieś, Koścół Podwyższenia Krzyża Świętego, 2.JPG, Exaltation of the Holy Cross church File:POL Stara Wieś Izba Regionalna, 3.JPG, Regional Room

People

* Kazimierz Nycz (b. 1950), Roman Catholic bishop

References

{{Gmina Wilamowice Villages in Bielsko County