Raków, Kielce County
| Raków | ||
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| — Village — | ||
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 Raków
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| Coordinates: 50°40′25″N 21°2′44″E / 50.67361°N 21.04556°E | ||
| Country |  Poland |
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| Voivodeship | Świętokrzyskie | |
| County | Kielce County | |
| Gmina | Raków | |
| Population | 1,213 | |
| Website | http://www.rakow.pl/ | |
Raków [ˈrakuf] is a village in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Raków. It lies in historic Lesser Poland, approximately 39 km (24 mi) south-east of the regional capital Kielce.[1] The village has a population of 1,213.
Raków was founded in 1569 by the Calvinist castellan Jan Sienieński of Żarnów as the centre of the Polish Brethren, a place of religious tolerance. The coat of arms of the town, a crab (raków means "of crabs" in Polish), derives from the coat of arms of his wife, the Arian believer Jadwiga Gnoińska. The Socinian Racovian Academy (Polish Akademia Rakowska) was founded in 1602 by Jakub Sienieński (1568–1639). By the 1630s, the town had grown to 15,000 inhabitants, with businesses centering around the Academy.
As the counterreformation gathered force in Poland, pressure began to be used against the Socinians. On April 19, 1638 an incident occurred in which some young students of the Academy destroyed or removed a cross, giving the royal court the pretext needed to ban Arian activities, including printing and the schools, and sentenced teachers to exile, many heading south to Transylvania. Szymon Starowolski (1585–1650 Jesuit scholar) justified the closing of Protestant schools (in 1638 and 1640), and Protestant centers and printing presses (in 1638, the press at Raków), as the "duty of good pastors" and as a legitimate act of the King and the Republic. In 1641 the bishop Jakub Zadzik commenced construction of a magnificent Catholic church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and settled Catholic monks in Raków, with the task to convert the Polish brethren. The monks left the town around 1649. The main Arian buildings were destroyed, and more destruction was brought by Cossacks and Hungarians in 1657. By 1700 the town had only 700 inhabitants left.
After the partition of Poland Raków was initially under Austrian rule, then Russian. In 1820, Raków had 926 inhabitants, in 1864 their number rose to 2007, a significant part being Jewish. In 1869, like many other Polish towns, Raków lost its status and rights as a town.
People [edit]
- Fausto Paolo Sozzini (Latin Faustus Socinus), Italian Arian.
- Lelio Sozzini (Latin Laelius Socinus), uncle of the above.
- Stanisław Lubieniecki, Socinian
- Piotr of Goniądz(Polish Piotr z Goniądza), Socinian
- Grzegorz Paweł z Brzezin (Gregory Pauli of Brzeziny), Socinian
- Marcin Czechowic, Socinian
- Jan Niemojewski, Socinian
- Mikołaj Sienicki, Socinian
- Andrzej Wiszowaty, Socinian
References [edit]
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Plac Wolności (Liberty Square), former marketplace (Rynek)
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Plac Wolności (Liberty Square), former marketplace (Rynek)
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Plac Wolności (Liberty Square), former marketplace (Rynek). In a background, Holy Trinity Church
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Sienieńskiego street (the founder and first owner of Raków). In a background - former house of the Polish brethren
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Former house of the Polish brethren (Sienieńskiego street 6); currently a library and a home of a Society of Friends of Raków
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17th century Holy Trinity church, Kościelna street. Built upon ruins of a church of the Polish brethren.
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St. Anne's church, Klasztorna street
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Listopadowa Street, view from a marketplace
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