Mstsislaw Voivodeship Explained

Native Name:Mstislaw Voivodeship
Województwo Mścisławskie
Conventional Long Name:Mstislaw Voivodeship
Common Name:Mstislaw
Subdivision:Voivodeship
Year Start:1566
Event End:First partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Year End:1772
P1:Duchy of Lithuania
S1:Russian Empire
Image Map Caption:Mstislaw Voivodeship in red. Voivodeship's borders did not change since the Union of Lublin.
Image Map2:RON województwo mścisławskie map.svg
Image Map2 Caption:Mścisław Voivodeship in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Capital:Mstislaw
Stat Area1:22600
Political Subdiv:none

Mstislaw Voivodeship or Mścisław Voivodeship (Belarusian: Амсьціслаўскае ваяводзтва; Polish: Województwo Mścisławskie; Latin: Palatinatus Mscislaviensis) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (from 1569 the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), since the 15th century until the Partitions of Poland in 1795.

Zygmunt Gloger in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland provides this description of the Mscislaw Voivodeship:

“Mscislaw (Mscislavia), which lies at the Wiechra river, was probably founded in the late 13th century, and named after Duke of Smolensk, Mstislav Romanovich the Old. In the 14th century, it was captured by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and for a while remained a fief (...) By 1538, the Duchy of Mscislaw was already governed by a starosta, who during the reign of King Zygmunt August was renamed into a voivode, while the Duchy was turned into a voivodeship. First Voivode of Mscislaw was Jerzy Oscik, Traby coat of arms.

The Voivodeship of Mscislaw was not divided into counties (see powiat). Its sejmiks took place at Mscislaw, where two deputies to the Sejm were elected, and two to the Lithuanian Tribunal (...) It ceased to exist in 1772, when after the first partition of Poland, Mscislaw Voivodeship was annexed by the Russian Empire".

Voivodeship Governor (Wojewoda) seat:

Voivodes

Administrative division

References

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