Zaścianek (, literally: "

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

beyond the wall") was historically a village or a part of a village where

petty nobility The minor or petty nobility is the lower nobility classes. Finland Petty nobility in Finland is dated at least back to the 13th century and was formed by nobles around their strategic interests. The idea was more capable peasants with leader role ...

(''drobna

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 ...

'') lived, who did not own peasants and cultivated their land by the hands of their own family. The derived adjective '' zaściankowy'' may mean "unsophisticated", "narrow-minded", or "out-of-the-way" and the word itself may be used in the meaning "backwater place". In historical Poland the term referred to the undistributed land in nonconvenient places, usually separated from the arable land by some natural boundaries: forest, swamp, etc. Peasants were allowed to ameliorate these lands and rent it from the landowner. Many settlements of this type arose in

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, ...

as a result of the 16th century

Volok Reform The Volok Reform (; ; ) was a 16th-century land reform in parts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuania proper, Duchy of Samogitia and parts of White Ruthenia). The reform was started by Grand Duchess Bona Sforza in her possessions to increase th ...

when the state land was consolidated and redistributed in a uniform way. The parts of the land outside the standard plots was placed into common use or leased, e.g., for manors of petty nobility.In the latter case a more specific term was used: ''zaścianek szlachecki'' ("szlachta" zaścianek). Accordingly, the term (or, more "polite", ''szlachta zagrodowa'' (see )) referred to landless szlachta who rented the land, and by extension to petty szlachta. Examles of former ''zaścianki''s include: *

Giełny Gelnai (formerly , ) is a village in Kėdainiai district municipality, in Kaunas County, in central Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, the village had a population of 47 people. It is located from Vandžiogala, by the Mėkla river and its ...

Kołodziszcze Kalodzishchy (; ) is an agrotown in Minsk District, Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Kalodzishchy rural council. As of 2023, it has a population of 19,898. History Kołodziszcze, as it was known in Polish, was a ...

, now agrotown *

Rezgiuki Rezgiukai (formerly ) is a village in Kėdainiai district municipality, in Kaunas County, in central Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, the village was uninhabited. It is located from Krakės, by the Šušvė Šušvė () is a river in cent ...

References

Polish words and phrases Types of village Polish nobility {{Poland-hist-stub

See also

References