Goniadz
Encyclopedia
Goniądz ' is a town in Poland, located at the Biebrza
Biebrza
Biebrza is a river in north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Narew river , with a length of 155 kilometres and the basin area of 7,057 km2...

 river, (pop. 1,915) in Mońki
Monki
Mońki is a town in northeastern Poland and, as of 1999, is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. From 1975 to 1998 it was part of the Białystok Voivodeship . It is the capital of Mońki County....

 county (Powiat of Mońki) in Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. It borders on Masovian Voivodeship to the west, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship to the northwest, Lublin Voivodeship to the south, the Belarusssian Voblasts of Grodno and Brest to the east, the Lithuanian Counties of Alytus and...

 in northeastern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. 80% of the town was destroyed in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Rebuilt, in modern times the town is a local centre of agriculture, as well as a tourist destination.

History

The town was founded some time in 14th century in dense forests covering the area back then. The first mention dates back to August 14, 1358, when a chronicler noted Goniądz as a seat of a powiat
Powiat
A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used...

 within the land of Wizna
Wizna
Wizna is a village in Łomża County of Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. The Biebrza River flows through town. Wizna is also known for the battle of Wizna which took place in its vicinity during the 1939 Invasion of Poland. At present, farming and food production are the primary...

. On December 2, 1382, the dukes of Mazovia (Siemowit IV and his brother and co-regent Janusz I) awarded the Wizna castle, together with the surrounding land, to the Teutonic Order. The land was bought back from the Teutons in 1402, but at the same time the order sold it to the Duke of Lithuania. Because of that, the town was disputed by both the Kingdom of Poland
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...

, Duchy of Mazovia and the Duchy of Lithuania
Duchy of Lithuania
Duchy of Lithuania was a state-territorial formation of ethnic Lithuanians, that existed from the 12th century until 1413. Most of the time it was a constituent part and a nucleus of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania...

, with the latter state briefly gaining the upper hand.

Eventually the series of Polish-Lithuanian Union
Polish-Lithuanian Union
The term Polish–Lithuanian Union sometimes called as United Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania refers to a series of acts and alliances between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that lasted for prolonged periods of time and led to the creation of the Polish–Lithuanian...

s resulted with the town being somewhat of a borderland: owned by noble houses from both sides of the border, with laws of both states applied. In 1430 the duke of Lithuania Vytautas founded a church there. Other owners of the town also expanded the small castle, the most notable of them being Prince Michał Gliński, Mikołaj Radziwiłł and Zygmunt August, the future king of Poland. In 1547 Goniądz was granted with a city charter, modelled after the Chełm law. Four years later king Zygmunt August decided that only Polish law be applied for the land surrounding Goniądz and finally in 1569 the town was annexed by Poland and remained within its borders until today.

In 1572 Goniądz became part of the starostship of Knyszyn
Knyszyn
Knyszyn is a town in north-eastern Poland, northwest of Białystok. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship , and was formerly in the Białystok Voivodeship ....

 and the following year the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....

, or the Polish parliament, confirmed the city charter. The town continued to grow rapidly and in 1579 was granted with the right to trade with salt, one of the most expensive minerals back then. On May 28, 1621 a huge fire destroyed the town, but it was quickly rebuilt and by 1667 became a seat of local administration. By 1765 the town had 243 houses and roughly 1500 inhabitants, mostly Poles, but also Jews and Tatars. In 1775 a new church was erected by bishop of Przemyśl
Przemysl
Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....

 Antoni Betański.

Linki zewnętrzne

  • http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/goniadz/goniadz.html
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