thumb|Basse Volhynia (Lower Volhynia) or Kiow Palatinate in 1665

alt=Map from 1635 covering the western part of the Kiev Voivodeship.|thumb|Map from 1635 covering the western part of the Kiev Voivodeship.

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

thumb|Kiev (Kiow) on a fragment of piece . Map by [[Jan Janssonius (Amsterdam, 1663).]]

The Kiev Voivodeship (; ; ) 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. On some maps Kiev Voivodeship was also named as the Lower Volhynia.

The voivodeship was established in 1471 upon the death of the last prince of Kiev Simeon Olelkovich and transformation of the Duchy of Kiev (appanage duchy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) into the Voivodeship of Kiev.

Description

The voivodeship was established in 1471 under the order of King Casimir IV Jagiellon soon after the death of Semen Olelkovich. It had replaced the former Principality of Kiev, ruled by Lithuanian-Ruthenian Olelkovich princes (related to House of Algirdas and Olshansky family).

Its first administrative center was Kiev, but when the city was given to Tsardom of Russia in 1667 by Treaty of Andrusovo, the capital moved to Zhytomyr (), where it remained until 1793.

It was the biggest voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by land area, covering, among others, the land of Zaporizhian Cossacks.

Municipal government

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

  • List of voivodes of Kiev
  • Castellan of Kijow (city governor)
  • Vogt of Kijow

Flag and coat of arms

The flag on one side had the Coat of arms of Lithuania on red field and on other side black bear on white field with his front left paw raised up.

Regional council (sejmik)

  • Zhytomyr

Regional council () for all Ruthenian lands

  • Sudova Vyshnia

Regional council () seats

  • Kive
  • Ovruch
  • Zhytomyr

Administrative division

Counties

  • Kijow County, Kijow (Biała Cerkiew, Bila Tserkva, since 1659)
  • Owrucz County, Owrucz
  • Żytomierz County, Żytomierz

Other former counties

  • Putywl County, Putywl (lost after the second Muscovite–Lithuanian War)
  • Mozyrz County, Mozyrz (transferred to Minsk Voivodeship under the Union of Lublin)
  • Czerkasy County, Czerkasy (liquidated in 1566)
  • Czarnobyl County, Czarnobyl (liquidated in 1566)

Former counties lost under the Treaty of Andrusovo

  • Lubecz County, Lubecz
  • Oster County, Oster
  • City of Kijow

Elderships (Starostwo)

Instead of some liquidated counties in 1566 there were established elderships: Biała Cerkiew, Kaniów, Korsun, Romanówka, Czerkasy, Czigrin.

Free royal cities

  • Berezań
  • Biała Cerkiew
  • Bohusław
  • Czehryń
  • Czerkasy
  • Jagodzin
  • Kaniów
  • Kijów
  • Korsuń
  • Myrhorod
  • Oster
  • Owrucz
  • Stebliw
  • Trechtymirów
  • Żytomierz

Neighbouring Voivodeships and regions

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

  • 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

Sources

  • Kijow Voivodeship, description by Zygmunt Gloger

Further reading

  • Central European Superpower, Henryk Litwin, BUM Magazine, October 2016.
  • 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, .
  • Witold Bobiński. Województwo kijowskie w czasach Zygmunta III Wazy: studium osadnictwa i stosunków własności ziemskiej. Warszawa. 2000.
  • Henryk Litwin. Napływ szlachty polskiej na Ukrainę 1569–1648. Semper. 2000. [also:] The Spatial Structure of the Kyiv 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.
  • Michał Kulecki. Wygnańcy ze Wschodu. Egzulanci w Rzeczypospolitej w ostatnich latach panowania Jana Kazimierza i za panowania Michała Korybuta Wiśniowieckiego. Warszawa 1997. .
  • Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolitej. Województwo kijowskie . OSSOLINEUM. 1997.
  • Zygmunt Gloger. Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski. Kraków. 1903.
  • Antoni Józef Rolle. Z przeszłości Polesia Kijowskiego. Warszawa. Red. Biblioteki Warszawskiej. 1882
  • Kyiv voivodeship in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
  • Cossack era on Ukrainian Government portal
  • The Zaphorozian Cossacks
  • Województwo kijowskie [in:] Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other slavic lands
  • Palatinatus Kioviensis Pars. Boristhenem alias Dzikie Pola. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111004154829/http://www.ocrenica.com/340_Maps_of_Dnipro_River.htm].by Joannis Janssonii. Amsterdam. 1663.
  • 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
  • Kyiv Voivodeship in the Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine