Kiev Voivodeship


The Kiev Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1471 until 1569 and of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1793, as part of Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown.
The voivodeship was established in 1471 upon the death of the last prince of Kiev Simeon Olelkovich and transformation of Duchy of Kiev into Voivodeship of Kiov.

Description

The voivodeship was established in 1471 under the order of King Casimir IV Jagiellon soon after the death of Semen Olelkovich. It had replaced the former Principality of Kiev, ruled by Lithuanian-Ruthenian Olelkovich princes.
Its first administrative center was Kiev, but when the city was given to Imperial Russia in 1667 by Treaty of Andrusovo, the capital moved to Zhytomyr, where it remained until 1793.
It was the biggest voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by land area, covering, among others, the land of Zaporizhian Cossacks.

Municipal government

The governor of the voivodeship was voivode. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the other two major administrative positions were castellan and bishop.
The flag on one side had Lithuanian Pogon on red field and on other side black bear on white field with his front left paw raised up.

Regional council (sejmik)

Counties

Instead of some liquidated counties in 1566 there were established elderships: Biała Cerkiew, Kaniów, Korsun, Romanówka, Czerkasy, Czigrin.

Free royal cities">Royal city in Poland">Free royal cities