Kiev Voivodeship

Kyiv Voivodeship Palatinatus Kioviensis Województwo kijowskie
Voivodeship of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth¹
← 1471–1793 →
Coat of arms
The Kiev Voivodeship in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1635.
Capital		Kiev (1471–1667), Zhytomyr (1667–1793)
History
•	Established	1471
•	Second partition	1793
Area
•	1793	200,000 km2 (77,220 sq mi)
Population
•	1793	500,000
	Density	2.5 /km2  (6.5 /sq mi)
Political subdivisions		counties: 9 (1471-1569) 7 (1569-1667) 3 (1667-1793)
¹ Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland. The kingdom was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569.

Map of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its territorial losses in the mid 17th century.

Kiev (Kiou). A fragment of Russiae, Moscoviae et Tartariae map by Anthony Jenkinson (London 1562) published by Ortelius in 1570.

Kiev (Kiow) A fragment of piece Tractus Borysthenis Vulgo Dniepr at Niepr dicti. map by Joannii Janssonii (Amsterdam, 1663).

The Kyiv Voivodeship or Kiev Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo kijowskie, Ukrainian: Київське воєводство) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1471 until 1569 and of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1793, as part of Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown.

Description

It was the biggest voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by land area, covering, among others, the land of Zaporizhian Cossacks. Under the order of King Casimir IV Jagiellon, it had replaced the former Principality of Kiev, ruled by Lithuanian-Ruthenian princes from two families (House of Algirdas and Olshansky family). Its first administrative center was Kiev, but when the city was given to Imperial Russia in 1667 by Treaty of Andrusovo, the capital moved to Zhytomyr (Polish: Żytomierz), where it remained until 1793.

Municipal government

The governor of the voivodeship was voivode (voivode of Kiev). In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the other two major administrative positions were castellan and bishop (biskup kijowski).

Voivodeship Governor (Voivode) seat

• Kyiv (Polish: Kijów), after 1667 Zhytomyr

Regional council (sejmik)

• Zhytomyr

Regional council for all Ruthenian lands

• Sudova Vyshnia

Regional council seats

• Kyiv
• Ovruch
• Zhytomyr

Administrative division

• Kyiv County, Kyiv (Bila Tserkva since 1659)
• Ovruch County, Ovruch
• Zytomierz County, Zhytomyr

Counties lost under the Treaty of Andrusovo

• Liubech County, Liubech
• Oster County, Oster
• City of Kyiv

Other losses

• Putyvl County (Powiat putywlski), Putywl (lost after the second Muscovite–Lithuanian War)
• Mozyr County (Powiat mozyrzki), Mozyrz (transferred to Minsk Voivodeship under the Union of Lublin)
• Cherkasy County (Powiat czerkaski), Czerkasy (liquidated in 1566)
• Czhornobyl County (Powiat czarnobylski), Czarnobyl (liquidated in 1566)

Neighbouring Voivodeships and regions

• Bratslav Voivodeship
• Podolian Voivodeship
• Brest Litovsk Voivodeship
• Minsk Voivodeship
• Chernihiv Voivodeship
• Grand Duchy of Moscow
• Crimean Khanate
• Yedisan

See also

• List of voivodes of Kiev

References

• Kijow Voivodeship, description by Zygmunt Gloger

Bibliography

• (Polish) Spisy pod red. Antoniego Gąsiorowskiego, t. III: Ziemie Ruskie, z. 4: Urzędnicy województw kijowskiego i czernihowskiego XV-XVIII wieku, opracowali Eugeniusz Janas i Witold Kłaczewski, Kórnik: Biblioteka Kórnicka. 2002. 343, ISBN 83-85213-37-6.
• (Polish) Witold Bobiński. Województwo kijowskie w czasach Zygmunta III Wazy: studium osadnictwa i stosunków własności ziemskiej. Warszawa. 2000.
• (Polish) Henryk Litwin. Napływ szlachty polskiej na Ukrainę 1569–1648. Semper. 2000. ISBN 83-86951-67-2 [also:] The Spatial Structure of the Kiev Voivodeship and its Impact on the Political and Social Life of the Gentry in 1569–1648. Struktura przestrzenna województwa kijowskiego i jej wpływ na życie polityczne i społeczne szlachty w latach 1569–1648.
• (Polish) Michał Kulecki. Wygnańcy ze Wschodu. Egzulanci w Rzeczypospolitej w ostatnich latach panowania Jana Kazimierza i za panowania Michała Korybuta Wiśniowieckiego. Warszawa 1997. ISBN 83-7181-001-6.
• (Polish) Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolitej. Województwo kijowskie . OSSOLINEUM. 1997. ISBN 83-04-04369-6
• (Polish) Zygmunt Gloger. Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski. Kraków. 1903.
• (Polish) Antoni Józef Rolle. Z przeszłości Polesia Kijowskiego. Warszawa. Red. Biblioteki Warszawskiej. 1882

External links

• Kyiv voivodeship in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
• Cossack era on Ukrainian Government portal
• The Zaphorozian Cossacks
• (Polish) Województwo kijowskie [in:] Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other slavic lands
• Palatinatus Kioviensis Pars. Boristhenem alias Dzikie Pola. [1].by Joannis Janssonii. Amsterdam. 1663.
• (German) Der königlichen Republik Polen Woiwodschaft Kiow das ist die obere Polnische Ukraine oder Klein Polens oestlicher Theil. Nor. 46 Vienna. Franz Johann Josef von Reilly 1791