Grybów

History

The history of Grybów dates back to the Middle Ages, when the early settlement belonged to the Castellan of Biecz, under King Casimir III the Great of the Piast dynasty. Following the destruction caused by the Mongol invasion, a new town charter modeled on the Magdeburg law was issued by Casimir on 15 May 1340 to Hanko Bogacz, a local burgher. The new town centre was erected on a hill at the site of former Biała village. The new town attracted settlers from Silesia and Saxony (see Walddeutsche), who called the town Grynberg. Due to convenient location and several royal privileges, Grybów prospered and became a center of local trade and cloth manufacturing. In the period known as Polish Golden Age, Grybów had a renowned school of sculptors, in which the figure of Madonna of Kruzlowa was made. During the catastrophic Swedish invasion of Poland (1655-1660) Grybów was captured by the Swedish forces, who looted the town, and then set it on fire, together with ancient parish church and nearby castle. The Swedish raid was followed by a Transylvanian invasion of 1657, which brought further destruction upon the town. Furthermore, there were frequent fires and outbreaks of the plague, and by the late 17th century, Grybów turned into a small, poor town. In the summer of 1768, the area of the town witnessed Polish-Russian skirmishes, during the Bar Confederation revolt. Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772 until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy, the chief city of the district with the same name, one of the 78 provinces of Austrian Galicia. During Austrian rule, there was widespread poverty and starvation among local peasants. In 1846, several manor houses were burned in the so-called Galician slaughter. In 1849, Grybów was visited by Emperor Franz…