Vilnius Voivodeship

:"This is an article about a voivodeship in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. For the voivodeship in 20th century Poland, see Wilno Voivodeship."

Infobox Former Subdivision
native_name = Vilniaus vaivadija
conventional_long_name = Vilnius Voivodeship
common_name = Vilnius
subdivision = Voivodeship
nation = the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
year_start = 1413
event_start = Union of Horodło
date_start =
event_end = Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
date_end =
year_end = 1795
event1 =
event1_date =
p1 = Duchy of Lithuania
image_p1 =
s1 = Vilna Governorate
flag_s1 = Vilna Governorate COA.gif

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image_map_caption = Vilnius Voivodeship in red. Voivodeship's borders did not change since the Union of Lublin.
capital = Vilnius
political_subdiv =

The Vilnius Voivodeship ( _la. Palatinatus Vilnensis, _lt. Vilniaus vaivadija, _be. Віленскае вайводзтва, _pl. województwo wileńskie) was one of voivodeships in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, created in 1413, from the Duchy of Lithuania and neighbouring lands.

Geography and administrative division

Geographically the area was centered around the city of Vilnius, which has always been the capital of the entity and the seat of a voivode. However, the actual territory of the voivodeship varied over time. Together with the Trakai Voivodeship it was known as "Lithuania propria". Until the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth the voivodeship was composed of five smaller units of administrative division named powiat (in Lithuanian: plural - "pavietai", singular - "pavietas"), similar to British counties:
* Powiat of Vilnius-Trakai
* Powiat of Ašmiany
* Powiat of Lida
* Powiat of Vilkmergė
* Powiat of Brasłaŭ

History

In 1413 the Union of Horodło introduced the title of voivode to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Before the reform, the area, centered around Vilnius, was known as the Duchy of Lithuania or sometimes as the Duchy of Vilnius. Vilnius Voivodeship became the capital voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

After the Union of Lublin in 1569 which formed the Commonwealth, Grand Duchy retained much of its autonomy, and Vilnius Voivodeship remained its capital voivodeship, just as Vilnius remained its capital city, although the capital of the Commonwealth was first in Kraków (Kraków Voivodeship) and later in Warsaw (Masovian Voivodeship).

After the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the territory of Vilnius Voivodeship was incorporated into the Russian Empire, most of the territory becoming a part of Vilna Governorate. After World War I former Vilnius Voivodeship was divided between Lithuania and Poland. After World War II, Soviet Union transferred Polish portion of the former voivodeship to Belarus SSR.

Voivodes

* Albertas Vaitiekus Manvydas (since 1413)
* Jonas Goštautas (since 1443)
* Mikalojus Radvila (since 1480)
* Mikolaj Radziwiłł (since 1507)
* Albertas Goštautas (since 1522)
* Jan Hlebowicz (since 1542)
* Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł (since 1551)
* Krzysztof Mikołaj "Piorun" Radziwiłł (since 1584)
* Mikołaj Krzysztof "Sierotka" Radziwiłł (since 1604)
* Lew Sapieha (since 1621 or 1623)
* Krzysztof Radziwiłł (since 1633)
* Janusz Skumin Tyszkiewicz (1640–1642)
* Krzysztof Chodkiewicz (since 1642)
* Janusz Radziwiłł (since 1653)
* Jan Paweł Sapieha (since 1656)
* Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł (since 1667)
* Michał Kazimierz Pac (since 1669)
* Kazimierz Jan Sapieha (since 1705)
* Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki (1706–1707 and 1735–1744)
* Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł (since 1744)
* Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł (since 1755)
* Karol Stanisław "Panie Kochanku" Radziwiłł (1762–1764 and 1768–1790)

See also

* Administrative divisions of Lithuania