Ze studiów nad rozwojem osadnictwa w ziemi łęczyckiej w czasach Władysława Jagiełły
Streszczenie
According to the written sources it can be stated that in the territory of the
District of Łęczyce, numbered 4326 km2, there were at least 600 settlements around
the year 1400. At the end of Władysław Jagiełło' s reign, the sources reveal
approximately 800 settlements. This considerable difference in the amount of
settlements between the year 1400 and 1432, stems from the fact that many of
them were not written down in the preserved written sources before the end of the
XIV century.
For example, from 50 settlements, which belonged to the royal property at the
end of Władysław Jagiełło's reign, only a half is known from the references, coming
from the period to the end of the XIV century. Surely the great amount of others
settlements existed also before the year 1400, because the first reference about
some of them come from the beginning of the XV century. However, some of them
were found only in the first terce of the XV century. It is confirmed by the example
of royal possessions being spread along the Łęczyca and Kujawy Frontier, where
the town Dąbrowice and many villages were found.
When it come to the possessions belonging to the various Church institutions,
which included above 100 places, we can observe a bit smaller activity in founding
new settlements, compared to the XIV century. However, new settlements were still
founding in the possessions of the archbishops of Gniezno and bishops of Wrocław
(among others, founding of the town Łodź).
In the District of Łęczyce the nobility possessions predominated and included
approximately 650 places in the year 1434. The nobility economic activity was
evident, among others things, in founding new settlements. During the reign of
Władysław Jagiełło magnate's families and families of medium nobility contributed
to founding of ten towns and many villages. However, the settlements with new
names in the aftermath of the division of the so far settlements were turning up
more and more faster.