Crown of the Kingdom of Poland

This article is about unit of administrative division,

for "public properties, state properties" of "Polish-Lithuanian" Kings see: "Crown lands" in Poland and Lithuania (Polish: królewszczyzny, dobra królewskie)

for insignia of Polish and "Polish-Lithuanian" Kings see: Polish Crown Jewels

The Crown marked in       on high-level administration map of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its fiefdoms in 1619. Superimposed on present day political map of Central and Eastern Europe

The Crown of the Polish Kingdom (Polish: Korona, Latin: Corona Regni Poloniae), or simply the Crown, (on the map:      ), is the name for the unit of administrative division, the territories under direct administration of (mostly) Polish nobility from middle-ages to late XVIII century (currently lands of Ukraine, Poland, some border lands of inter alia: Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania). Some of them belonged yet to the Kingdom of Poland, then to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until its final collapse in 1795.

The term distinguishes those territories from federated with the Crown Grand Duchy of Lithuania (     ) and from fiefdom territories (which enjoyed varying degrees of autonomy or semi-independence from the King) inter alia the Duchy of Prussia (     ), the Duchy of Courland (     ).

Prior to the 1569 Union of Lublin, Crown territories may be understood as those of Poland proper, inhabited by Poles^{[citation needed]} and/or under administration of Polish nobility. With the Union of Lublin, however, most of present-day Ukraine (which had a negligible Polish population and had until then been governed by Lithuania) passed under Polish nobility administration, becoming likewise Crown territory.

In that period, a term for a Pole was koroniarz^{[citation needed]} (plural: koroniarze), derived from Korona.

Depending on context, "Crown" may also refer to "The Crown," a term used to distinguish the personal influence and private assets of the Commonwealth's current monarch from government authority and property. This often meant a distinction between persons loyal to the elected King (royalists) and persons loyal to the magnates.

Provinces

This section may not provide balanced geographical coverage on Crown. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Crown was divided into two provinces: Lesser Poland (Polish: Małopolska) and Greater Poland (Polish: Wielkopolska) which were further divided into administrative units known as voivodeships (Polish names of voivodships and towns below in brackets).

Greater Poland Province

(Polish) Voivodeships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations

(Polish) (English) Map showing voivodeships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations

(Polish) (English) Voivodeships of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations in 1635

• Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship (województwo brzesko-kujawskie, Brześć Kujawski)
• Gniezno Voivodeship (województwo gnieźnieńskie, Gniezno) from 1768
• Inowrocław Voivodeship (województwo inowrocławskie, Inowrocław)
• Kalisz Voivodeship (województwo kaliskie, Kalisz)
• Łęczyca Voivodeship (województwo łęczyckie, Łęczyca)
• Mazovian Voivodeship (województwo mazowieckie, of Mazowsze, Warsaw)
• Poznań Voivodeship (województwo poznańskie, Poznań)
• Płock Voivodeship (województwo płockie, Płock)
• Podlaskie Voivodeship (województwo podlaskie, Drohiczyn)
• Rawa Voivodeship (województwo rawskie, Rawa)
• Sieradz Voivodeship (województwo sieradzkie, Sieradz)
• Prince-Bishopric of Warmia

Lesser Poland Province

• Bełz Voivodeship (województwo bełzkie, Bełz)
• Bracław Voivodeship (województwo bracławskie, Bracław)
• Czernichów Voivodeship (województwo czernichowskie, Czernichów)
• Kijów Voivodeship (województwo kijowskie, Kijów)
• Kraków Voivodeship (województwo krakowskie, Kraków)
• Lublin Voivodeship (województwo lubelskie, Lublin)
• Podole Voivodeship (województwo podolskie, Kamieniec Podolski)
• Ruś Voivodeship (województwo ruskie, Lwów), divided into
• Sandomierz Voivodeship (województwo sandomierskie, Sandomierz)
• Wołyń Voivodeship (województwo wołyńskie, Łuck)
• Duchy of Siewierz (Siewierz)

Royal Prussia Province (1569 - 1772)

Royal Prussia Polish: Prusy Królewskie) was a province of the Kingdom of Poland from 1466 and then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1772. Royal Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land (Kulmerland), Malbork Voivodeship (Marienburg), Gdańsk (Danzig), Toruń (Thorn), and Elbląg (Elbing).

Towns in Spisz County (1412 - 1795)

As one of the terms of the Treaty of Lubowla, the Hungarian crown exchanged, for a loan of sixty times the amount of 37,000 Prague groschen - approximately seven tonnes of pure silver, 16 rich salt-producing towns in the area of Spisz (Zips), as well as a right to incorporate them into Poland until the debt is repaid. The towns affected were: Biała, Lubica, Wierzbów, Spiska Sobota, Poprad, Straże, Spiskie Włochy, Nowa Wieś, Spiska Nowa Wieś, Ruszkinowce, Wielka, Spiskie Podgrodzie, Maciejowce, Twarożne.

See also

• Administrative division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for more details on the historical administrative division of Poland.

v • d • e Administrative division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Province of Greater Poland Brześć Kujawski · Chełmno · Gniezno · Inowrocław · Kalisz · Łęczyca · Malbork · Masovian · Płock · Pomeranian · Poznań · Rawa · Sieradz · Prince-Bishopric of Warmia Province of Lesser Poland Bełz · Bracław · Chernihiv · Kiev · Kraków · Lublin · Podlaskie · Podole · Ruthenian · Sandomierz · Volhynia  · Duchy of Siewierz Grand Duchy of Lithuania Brest Litovsk · Minsk · Mstsislaw · Nowogródek · Polotsk · Smolensk · Trakai · Vilnius · Vitebsk · Duchy of Samogitia Polish Livonia Duchy of Livonia (1561–1621): Dorpat, Parnawa, Wenden · Inflanty (1621–1772) Fiefs Lauenburg and Bütow Land · Duchy of Prussia · Duchy of Courland and Semigallia