Lublin Voivodeship (; ) was an administrative region of the Kingdom of Poland created in 1474 out of three eastern counties of Sandomierz Voivodeship and lasting until the Partitions of Poland in 1795. Together with Sandomierz Voivodeship and Kraków Voivodeship, it was part of historic Lesser Poland and the Lesser Poland Province. Lublin Voivodeship had two senators in the Senate of the Kingdom of Poland: the Voivode and the Castellan of Lublin. Local sejmiks took place in Lublin.

History The entire area of the voivodeship was located east of the Vistula river, and its boundaries did not change from the time of its creation (1474), until its dissolution by Austrian authorities in 1795, after the third and final partition of Poland. After 1795, the entire Lublin Voivodeship became part of Austrian province of West Galicia. After the Polish victory in the Austro-Polish War of 1809, the former Lublin Voivodeship was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw. After the duchy's dissolution, since 1815, it was part of the Russian-controlled Congress Kingdom. Among major towns of contemporary Poland, which belonged to the voivodeship are Biłgoraj, Kraśnik, Lubartów, Leczna, Opole Lubelskie, Łuków, Parczew, Puławy, Radzyń Podlaski, Siedlce, and Świdnik.

Zygmunt Gloger in his book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland gives a detailed description of Lublin Voivodeship together with the Land of Łuków:

The fact that the area between the Vistula and the Bug River belonged to Poland during the reign of Bolesław Chrobry, is confirmed by chronicles from the times of the Piast dynasty. Jan Długosz writes that the Land of Lublin was densely inhabited by farmers and other settlers, but its population was decimated in 1244, during a raid carried out by the Lithuanians, the Old Prussians, and the Yotvingians, after which it turned into a desert (...)

First castellans of Lublin were mentioned in 1230. They resided in a defensive castle, and this land was part of the Duchy of Sandomierz (...) King Casimir IV Jagiellon, aware of the fact that Sandomierz Voivodeship was too large, separated parts of it located behind the Vistula and the San, creating Lublin Voivodeship. This was confirmed by the Sejm in Piotrków Trybunalski in 1474. First voivode of Lublin was Dobieslaw Kmita of Wiśnicz (...)

Total area of the voivodeship was 200 sq. miles, out of which Lublin County took 105 sq. miles, Urzedow County approximately 60 sq. miles, and the Land of Łuków – 35 sq. miles. In the 16th century, it had 34 towns, 663 villages and 82 Roman Catholic parishes (...) The voivodeship had two senators, which were the Voivode and the Castellan of Lublin. The sejmiks took place in Lublin, where six deputies were elected to the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and two deputies to the Lesser Poland Tribunal. Local pospolite ruszenie met near Lublin, and the voivodeship several starostwos, located in Lublin, Łuków, Urzedow, Parczew, Kazimierz Dolny, Wawolnica, Kakolewnica, Zbuczyn and others (...)

Of the three parts of Lesser Poland proper, Lublin Voivodeship was conveniently located by three navigable rivers – the Vistula, the San, and the Wieprz. It also had fertile soil, and a number of historical monuments.

Seat and administrative division

Voivodeship Governor (Wojewoda) seat: Lublin

Administrative division: Lublin County (Powiat Lubelski), Lublin Urzędów County (Powiat Urzędowski), Urzędów Łuków County (Powiat Łukowski, also called the Land of Łuków), Łuków

Main Lublin Voivodes:

Voivode Years in office Comments Dobiesław Kmita 1474-1478 Stanisław Wątróbka 1478-1478 Jan Felix Tarnowski 1480-1484 Dobiesław Kurozwęcki 1484-1494 Mikołaj of Ostrów 1494-1499 Jan Feliks Szram Tarnowski 1499-1501 son of Jan Felix Tarnowski, (before 1494) Mikołaj Kurozwęcki 1502-1507 brother of Dobiesław Kurozwęcki Mikołaj Firlej 1507-1514 Andrzej Tęczyński 1515-1519 Jan Oleśnicki 1520-1537 Piotr Firlej 1537-1545 Andrzej Tęczyński 1545-1561 nephew of the first Andrzej Tęczyński Jan Firlej 1561-1563 son of Piotr Firlej Mikołaj Maciejowski 1563-1574 Jan Tarło (1527–1587) from 1574 Marek Sobieski from 1597 Aleksander Piotr Tarło 1631–1649 Marcin Zamoyski from 1682 Jan Tarło (1684–1750) from 1719 Tomasz Antoni Zamoyski from 1744 Antoni Lubomirski from 1778

Neighboring voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship Brest Litovsk Voivodeship Chełm Voivodeship Bełz Voivodeship Ruthenian Voivodeship Sandomierz Voivodeship

References

Sources Lublin Voivodeship with Łuków Land by Zygmunt Gloger Central European Superpower, Henryk Litwin, BUM Magazine, October 2016.