Chełmno Voivodeship

Palatinatus Culmensis Województwo chełmińskie Chełmno Voivodeship Voivodeship of Poland¹ Part of Royal Prussia (until 1772) ← 1466–1793 → Coat of arms Chełmno Voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Capital Chełmno History  - Prussian uprising 1454  - 2nd Peace of Thorn 9 October 1466  - Union of Lublin 1569  - 1st Polish partition 1772  - 2nd Polish partiton 1793 Area 4,654 km2 (1,797 sq mi) Political subdivisions Counties: 7 ¹ Voivodeship of the Polish Crown in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland before 1569.

The Chełmno Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo chełmińskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Kingdom of Poland since 1454/1466 till the Partitions of Poland in 1772/1795. Together with the Pomeranian and Malbork Voivodeships and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia it formed the historical province of Royal Prussia. Its capital was at Chełmno (German: Kulm).

History

Prussian lands in 1525

  Chełmno Voivodeship (Culmer Land)

The Land of Chełmno (later known in German as Kulmerland) had been part of the Polish Duchy of Masovia since 1138. It was occupied by pagan Old Prussian tribes in 1216, who struggled against their Christianization instigated by Bishop Christian of Oliva. After several unsuccessful attempts to reconquer Chełmno, Duke Konrad I of Masovia in 1226 called for support by the Teutonic Knights, who indeed approached and started a Prussian campaign, after the duke promised them the unshared possession of the Chełmno territory as part of the Order's State.

In the course of the Order's decline after the 1410 Battle of Grunwald, the citizens of Chełmno, Toruń (Thorn) and Lubawa (Löbau) joined the uprising of the Prussian Confederation, which sparked the Thirteen Years' War between the Knights and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Order's defeat, the Chełmno Land fell back to Poland according to the Second Peace of Thorn and together with the adjacent Michelauer land in the east formed the Chełmno Voivodeship of the Polish Crown, since the 1569 Union of Lublin part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The voivodeship was annexed by Prussia during the First Partition of Poland in 1772, except for the city of Toruń, which was not incorporated into the Province of West Prussia until the 1793 Second Partition.

Administration

Voivodeship Governor (Wojewoda) seat:

• Chełmno

Prominent Voivodes:

• Melchior Wejher (1626-1643)
• Mikołaj Wejher (1643-1647)
• Jan Działyński (1647-1648)

Regional council (sejmik generalny)

• Grudziądz

Regional councils (sejmik poselski i deputacki)

• Kowalewo
• Radzyń

Administrative division:

• Chełmno Land, (Ziemia Chełmińska), Chełmno
  • Chełmno County, (Powiat Chełmiński), Chełmno
  • Toruń County, (Powiat Toruński), Toruń
  • Grudziądz County, (Powiat Grudziądzki), Grudziądz
  • Radzyń County, (Powiat Radzyński), Radzyń
  • Kowalewo County, (Powiat Kowalewski), Kowalewo
• Michałowo Land, (Ziemia Michałowska), Lubawa
  • Brodnica County, (Powiat Brodnicki), Brodnica
  • Nowe Miasto County, (Powiat Nowomiejki), Nowe Miasto Lubawskie