- Prowincja
A "prowincja" (plural: "prowincje"), or province, was the largest territorial subdivision in Poland, and later in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . The history of these "provinces" dates to the period of Poland's fragmentation and to Casimir III's "statuty wiślicko-piotrkowskie " (1347). Following theUnion of Lublin (1569), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was divided into three provinces:* Greater Poland Province ("prowincja wielkopolska"), comprising
Greater Poland proper,Royal Prussia ,Masovia , and Łęczyca and Sieradz Voivodeships, with the Province capital beingPoznań ;* Lesser Poland Province ("prowincja małopolska"), comprising
Lesser Poland proper,Podlachia ,Ruthenian Voivodeship ,Volhynia ,Podolia ,Kiev Voivodship and Czernihów Voivodeship, with the Province capital beingKraków ; and the
* Lithuanian Province ("prowincja litewska"), comprisingLithuania proper,Samogitia ,Livonia ,Belarus and Smoleńsk Voivodeship, with the Province capital beingWilno (now Vilnius).The Greater Poland and Lesser Poland Provinces constituted the "Crown," i.e. the "
Crown of the Polish Kingdom ." The Lithuanian Province was coterminous with theGrand Duchy of Lithuania .A "prowincja", though larger than a
voivodship , was much less important in terms of offices and power. In most respects, a "prowincja" was merely a titular unit of administration; the real power lay with thevoivodeship s (and to a lesser extent, with "ziemia "s).The term "prowincja" has not been used to denote any part of independent Poland since the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1795)—unlike "ziemia"," which has been used for certain geographical regions. Since 1795, "prowincja" has been used only for certain foreign-imposed units of administration within territories of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
English texts sometimes refer to Polish
voivodeship s as "provinces," which may lead to confusion as to whether an English text is referring to the Polish "prowincja" or to the Polish "województwo"." This confusion may be obviated by rendering the old Polish "prowincja" in English as "Region " ("Greater Poland Region," "Lesser Poland Region," "Lithuanian Region").See also
*
Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
*Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty
*Regions of Poland
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