Masovia

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Mazovia may also refer to Mazovia encoding for DOS. "Mazowsze" can also refer to a Polish folk group.

Masovia (Mazowsze) is a geographical and historical region situated in eastern Poland with historical capital and oldest city at Plock. The region has also been known in Latin as Mazovia.

History

Early history

Masovia became a part of Poland probably by Mieszko, the first historically known Piast duke of the Polans in the 10th century. After the chaos following the death of Mieszko II in 1034 and the subsequent invasion by the ruler it was subdued by Casimir I of the Kingdom of Poland in 1047 with help from Ruthenian units.

Duchy of Masovia

Following the death of Bolesław III Poland was devided in dukedoms, according to his testament (see Polish particularism). Masovia was one of these duchies, and it was governed by a branch of the Piast dynasty till 1526. Among the dukes of Masovia, Bolesław IV was high-duke of Poland for 27 years, Conrad I (duke 1199 - 1247) two times for five years in all. Konrad I was the one, who called the Teutonic Order for help against the pagan Old Prussians. When the Polish Kingdom was restored in 1295 by the coronation of Przemysł II, the Duchy of Masovia (Księstwo Mazowieckie) kept outside. But 1351 the dukes of Mazovia became vasals of the Polish kings. And the Masovian bishopric of Plock was always part of the Polish archidiocese of Gniezno. Since the Polish-Lithuanian Union of 1385 it was localized between the joined Jagiellonian states. Finally, the last Masovian piast died in 1526 and Masovia became a voivodship of the Kingdom of Poland.

Modern history

Following the partitions of Poland of the 18th century, Masovia became part of Congress Poland in 1815 and the Imperial Russia in 1831. In 1918 Masovia was included within the newly formed Second Polish Republic.

In 1999 the Masovian Voivodeship was created as one of 16 administrative regions of Poland.

See also

• Miecław
• Plock
• Warsaw
• Świdermajer - The characteristic architecture in the area

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Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 07:17:14 PDT (GMT -0700)
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