Wschowa

History

The territory became part of the emerging Polish state under its first historic ruler Mieszko I in the 10th century. Following the fragmentation of Poland, Wschowa initially formed part of the Duchy of Greater Poland, and was mentioned in the Bull of Gniezno from 1136. Later on, Wschowa was a border fortress in a region disputed by the Polish dukes of Silesia and Greater Poland. The Old Polish name Veschow was first mentioned in 1248, while the Middle High German name Frowenstat Civitas first appeared in 1290. After German colonists had established a settlement nearby, it received Magdeburg rights around 1250. From the 1290s, Wschowa was part of the Duchy of Głogów, and in 1343 it was captured by King Casimir III the Great and reunited with Greater Poland. Since then Wschowa was a royal town of Poland and county seat within the Poznań Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. In 1345, the town was attacked by the dukes of Głogów. In 1365, the wedding of King Casimir III and Hedwig of Żagań was held in Wschowa. A mint was founded in the 14th century. A municipal school was founded in 1404. In 1456, a Bernardine monastery was established. The reign of the Jagiellonian dynasty is considered the golden age of Wschowa. The town prospered thanks to trade and crafts, especially clothmaking. Since the mid-16th century, Wschowa was one of the centres of the Protestant Reformation in Poland. The Protestants took over the local parish church, however, by decree of King Sigismund III Vasa of 1602, it was restored to the Catholics, and a new Protestant church was built in 1604. In the early 17th century, a new Latin school was founded. Wschowa was a retreat for religious refugees from adjacent Lower Silesia during the Thirty Years' War. In the 1630s, starost founded the New…