Przemyśl Land

Coat of arms of both Przemysl Land and Sanok Land

Przemyśl Land (Polish: Ziemia przemyska) was an administrative unit of both Kingdom of Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It existed from 1340 until 1772, and was one of five lands (see ziemia) of Poland’s Ruthenian Voivodeship. Its capital was at Przemysl, where local sejmiks also took place. Together with Red Ruthenia, Przemysl Land was annexed by King Kazimierz Wielki in 1340. It remained part of Poland in unchanged form until 1772, when, following the first partition of Poland, it became of Habsburg’s province of Galicia.

In the 15th century, Przemysl Land was divided into the following counties: Przemysl, Jaroslaw, Lezajsk, Lancut, Mosciska, Rzeszow, Przeworsk, Sambor, Drohobycz, Stryj, Tyczyn and Zydaczow (the last one was later thansferred to Lwow Land). By the 17th century, the number of counties was reduced to four (Przemysl, Sambor, Drohobycz, Stryj). According to the 1676 royal census, Przemysl Land had 32 towns and 980 villages.

Przemysl Land had the area of 12,070 sq. kilometers; more than half of which was County of Przemysl (almost 7,000 km².). Sambor County had the area of 2,700 km²., Stryj County - 1,600 km²., and Drohobycz County - only 700 km². In comparison to historic Lesser Polands voivodeships, Przemysl Land was quite extensive - it was larger than neighboring Lublin Voivodeship, and half the size of Sandomierz Voivodeship. Boundaries of Przemysl Land were not at first precise, so in 1541 royal commission marked its border with Lwów Land, in 1554 the border with Sanok Land was also marked. Some time in the mid-17th century, Przeworsk County was re-created out of northwestern part of Przemysl County. It was densely populated, with 237 villages and 11 towns, and had its own tax office, located at Przeworsk.

Zygmunt Gloger gave the following description of Przemysl Land: “Przemysl Land was divided into two counties: those of Przemysl and Przeworsk (...) In 1676, County of Przemysl had 18 towns and 657 villages, while County of Przeworsk had 18 towns and 221 villages.

Przemysl, known in Latin as Praemislia, and in Ruthenian as Peremysl, is located on the San river. It had an ancient castle and two cathedral churches - Roman-Catholic and Greek-Catholic. Przemysl is one of the oldest towns, mentioned by Nestor the Chronicler, who wrote that before 981, it belonged to Poland. Since in those years gords were named after their founders (Krakow after Krak, Lwow after Lew), we can assume that it was named after a Lechite Duke Przemyslaw. Among towns of Przemysl Land there also is Medyka, where in 1434 King Wladyslaw Jagiello listened to a nightingale, caught a cold and died at Grodek Jagiellonski.

Sources

• Zygmunt Gloger’s description of Przemysl Land

Coordinates: 49°47′10″N 22°46′26″E / 49.786111°N 22.773889°E / 49.786111; 22.773889