Bracław Voivodeship
The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. (August 2015) |
Bracław Voivodeship | |||||||||
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Voivodeship of Poland¹ | |||||||||
1566–1793 | |||||||||
Third partition | 24 October 1793 | ||||||||
Political subdivisions | counties: 2 (3 since 1791) | ||||||||
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Today part of | Ukraine Moldova² | ||||||||
¹ Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Voivodeship of Grand Duchy of Lithuania before 1569. ² Northern Transnistria. |
The Bracław Voivodeship (
In 1648-57 the territory of voivodeship was a part of Cossack Hetmanate following the Khmelnytsky Uprising and Truce of Andrusovo, while in 1672-99 it became part of Ottoman Ukraine which was a vassal Ottoman Empire (see: Treaty of Buchach and Treaty of Karlowitz).
Overview
Together with the Podolian Voivodeship it formed the historical region of Podolia and part of a bigger Lesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland.
Officially, the capital of the voivodeship was in Braclaw (today Bratslav), but local voivodes also resided in Winnica (Vinnytsia). It was divided into County of Braclaw and County of Winnica. The County of Braclaw itself was divided into two districts—Braclaw and Zwinogródek (some sources claim there was a separate County of Zwinogródek). In 1791, the Great Sejm also created Boh County (Polish: powiat nadbohski), but it was never created due to the Polish–Russian War of 1792. Braclaw Voivodeship had two senators—the Voivode and the Castellan of Braclaw. It also had six deputies to the Sejm—two from Braclaw County, two from Winnica County, and two from District of Zwinogródek. Local sejmiks took place in Winnica. Today the region belongs to Ukraine and Transnistria in Moldova.
Zygmunt Gloger in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland gives a detailed description of Braclaw Voivodeship:
After the
Stefan Batoryin 1584 stated that boundary line was to be marked by the Uhorski Tykicz river (...)
In the late 16th century, most of Braclaw Voivodeship was a depopulated wild field. Political and social life existed only in the agricultural belt, located in the immediate vicinity of royal castles. Settlers however began to move into the desert, even along southern border of the province, in the area called Pobereze (...) After the Union of Lublin, when Ukrainian lands were annexed by the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, life became more organized, with Polish-style starostas, voivodes, nobility, sejmiks, and courts (...)
The County of Winnica was smaller, but more populated. It had the area of 200 sq. miles, in northwestern corner of the voivodeship, along the
Stefan Batorydivided this area between Braclaw and Kijow Voivodeship, along the Uhorski Tykicz river (...)
In 1569, first
Ottoman Porte and the Crimean Khanate, solving conflicts between citizens of the two countries (...)
In 1598 the Sejm ordered that all courts and
Volhynian Governorate, and Kiev Governorate(...)
According to the 1625 census, Braclaw Voivodeship had 285 villages, but its population grew so fast that in the early 1790s, the number of villages grew to 1,500 (...) Before the Union of Lublin, there were some 30 castles, forts and strongholds in the province. Fifty years after the union, the number of castles grew significantly. Most of them were private, with the strongest one being Uman (...) In the 18th century, the voivodeship had several grand residences of Polish magnates, among them was Zofiowka of the Potocki family, located in close proximity to Uman.
Municipal government
Voivodeship Governor (
- Bracław (Bratslav)
Regional council (
- Sądowa Wisznia (Sudova Vyshnia)
Regional council (sejmik poselski i deputacki) seats:
- Winnica (Vinnytsia)
Administrative division
- Bracław County (Powiat bracławski), Bracław (Bratslav)
- Winnica County (Powiat winnicki), Winnica (Vinnytsia)
- Zwinogrodek District or Zwinogródek County (powiat zwinogrodzki),
- Boh County (powiat nadbohski), created in 1791,
Voivodes
- Roman Sanguszko (16th century)
- Aleksander Zasławski (1628–?)
- Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki (1631–1636)
- Adam Kisiel (1647–?)
- Andrzej Potocki (1662–?)
- Stanisław Lubomirski (1764–?)
Neighbouring Voivodeships and regions
- Podole Voivodeship
- Kijów Voivodeship
- Jedysan
- Moldavia
Sources
- Braclaw Voivodeship, description by Zygmunt Gloger
- Central European Superpower, Henryk Litwin, BUM Magazine, October 2016.