This is a sub-article to Białystok
The history of Białystok spans for over five centuries, during which time the fate of the city has passed between various political and economic forces.
From surviving documentation is it known that around 1437, a representative of the family Raczków, Jakub Tabutowicz with the coat of arms of Łabędź, received from Michael Žygimantaitis son of Sigismund Kęstutaitis, Duke of Lithuania, a wilderness area located along the river Biała that marked the beginning of Białystok as a settlement. Białystok administratively was part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship, after 1569 also part of the Lesser Poland Province of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.
During the years 1617–1626, the first brick church and a beautiful castle, on a rectangular plan with two floors, in the Gothic-Renaissance style, was built by Job Bretfus. Extension of the castle continued by Krzysztof Wiesiołowski, since 1635 Grand Marshal of Lithuania and the owner of several administrative and royal and married Aleksandra Marianna Sobieska. In 1637 he died childless, thus Bialystok came under the management of his widow. After her death in 1645 the Wiesiołowskis estate, including Białystok, passed to the Commonwealth, to maintain Tykocin Castle. In the years 1645–1659 Bialystok was managed by governors of Tykocin. of a number of countries or occupying powers;, among them New East Prussia province, Belostoksky Uyezd of the Grodno Governorate, Bialystok-Grodno District, Białystok Voivodeship, Belastok Voblast, Bezirk Białystok, Białystok Voivodeship (1945–1975) After the 1975 administrative reorganization of the People's Republic of Poland, the city was the capital of the smaller Białystok Voivodeship which lasted until 1998, Białystok Voivodeship (1975–1998) and Podlaskie Voivodeship.
Prehistory and protohistory Archaeological discoveries show that the first people settled on the territory of the present Białystok already in the Stone Age. Tombs of ancient settlers found in the district Pieczurki, Dojlidy and in some other parts of the city.
In the early Iron Age a mix of Prussians, Yotvingians and population Wielbark culture, after which the remaining kurgan – probably the tombs of the chiefs in the area in the village Rostołty.
Since then, the Białystok area has been at the crossroads of cultures. Trade routes linking the Baltic to the Black Sea favored the development of settlements with Yotvingia-Ruthenian-Polish cultural characteristics.
Middle Ages From surviving documentation we know that around 1437, a representative of the family Raczków, Jakub Tabutowicz with the coat of arms of Łabędź, received from Michael Žygimantaitis son of Sigismund Kęstutaitis, Duke of Lithuania, wilderness areas located along the river called the Biała River.
Jakub Raczków divided the land between his four sons: Nicholas, John, Wenceslas and Jundziłła. Nicholas inherited the estate in 1462 in Bialystok and erected a mansion near the current location of the Branicki Palace. After the year 1479 Białystok took good son Nicholas, Nicholas is also known as Bachelor, because he studied at Cracow Academy. He was secretary to King Alexander Jagiellon and a member of the Privy council.
Early modern era Wiesiołowski Estate (1514–1661)
It is precisely for these times comes the first written reference (1514), listing the good of Białystok. Bachelor's son Nicholas, Nicholas Bakałarzewicz, realized in 1524, his wife Catherine Wołłowiczówna, Bogoria coat of arms. After his death in 1547, according to the good will of the deceased Catherine has inherited. In the same year his widow, Catherine Wołłowiczówna, married again to Piotr Wiesiołowski (Ogończyk coat of arms) – a courtier of the Polish kings: King Sigismund the Old and Sigismund Augustus. He started in Bialystok on the borderlands of Lithuania and Polish residence. After his death in 1556, took a good Bialystok sons: Peter and John Wiesiołowski. However, after the death of the latter in 1570 became the property of Białystok Piotr Wiesiołowski (the Younger). In 1579 he married Zofia Lubomirska.
In his time began the development of Białystok. In 1581, the parish church next to the existing Piotr Wiesiołowski funded school for children. In addition, built in the years 1617–1626, the first brick church and the beautiful castle on a rectangular plan, two floors, the Gothic-Renaissance style built by Job Bretfus. Extension office continued by his son Krzysztof Wiesiołowski, since 1635 Grand Marshal of Lithuania and the owner of several administrative and royal and married Aleksandra Marianna Sobieska. In 1637 he died childless, thus Białystok came under the management of his widow. After her death in 1645 the Wiesiołowskis estate, including Białystok, passed to the Commonwealth, to maintain the castle in Tykocin. In the years 1645–1659 Bialystok managed by governors of Tykocin. It was then a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Branicki Estate (1661–1802)
In 1661 it was given to Stefan Czarniecki as a reward for his service in the victory over the Swedes. Four years later, as a dowry of his daughter Aleksandra who married Jan Klemens Branicki, thus passing into the hands of the Branicki family. The oldest known document mentioning the city of Białystok is related to the exchange of land belonging to the Branicki family and the parish church. This document is dated twice, at the beginning of the content August 27, and at the end August 30, 1691. Another document mentioning the city of Białystok is a deed issued by Stefan Mikolaj Branicki for the local Jews from July 11, 1692. The third document is a tax list prepared by the local parish priest, Father Jan Michal Głowiński on October 1, 1692.
At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, Białystok was still a small settlement connected with the manor that existed here. According to the register of conscription in 1580, there were 70 settlers here. The buildings of the settlement were concentrated around a large square, today's Kościuszko Market Square from which five roads of local importance ran; on this square one should also look for the inn mentioned in the conscription register of 1578. Although the vast crossroads was the center of a relatively small settlement, it however, ownership relations limited the possibilities of building development in its immediate vicinity. Because around the church there was a church property (Poświętne), on which a church jurydyka was established in the 18th century. On the other hand, the area to the south of the crossroads was occupied by the spacious "Pastewnik" also belonging to the Białystok church. The area, known as "Pastewnik" was a very attractive area for building development and it quickly lost its agricultural importance, transforming into a very intensively inhabited area. The Jewish population settled in this area from at least the middle of the 17th century, and in 1700 the church let the kehilla of Białystok perpetually lease the square, on which the synagogue at the former Szkolna street (between Suraska and Legionowa, at the level of "Delikatesy" branch of PSS Spolem). At the end of the 19th century, the Białystok Jewish community made a payment to the Białystok church for the lease of this square. Somewhat to the south-east. the original Jewish cemetery was located from the synagogue, with its fence facing the square. Around 1708, the management of the Białystok estates realized that the extensive church property was left behind the southern frontage of the then emerging market square; in the vicinity of a garden layout, it will hinder the reconstruction of the city. Therefore, a joint body was established: commisya ratione commutationi in melius placov of the church on certain lands, by means of which church buildings were transferred to the lands of the villages of the Białystok church. This change brought benefits to the clergy of Białystok; because as a result, the church's land properties were grouped in one uninterrupted line from the temple to today's Warszawska's Street.
In 1692 Stefan Mikołaj Branicki, the son of Jan Klemens Branicki, obtained the rights to the city of Białystok from King John III Sobieski and built Branicki Palace in the city on the foundations of former defensive castle of Wiesiołowskis' family. The project's author is a prominent architect: Tylman of Gameren. In the second half of the 18th century the ownership of the city was inherited by Field Crown Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki. It was he who transformed the previously existing palace built by his father into the magnificent residence of a great noble, which was frequently visited by Polish kings and poets. Numerous artists and scientists came to Białystok to take advantage of Branicki's patronage. In 1745 Branicki established Poland's first military technical college, School of Civil and Military Engineering and in 1748, one of the oldest theaters in Poland, the Komedialnia. New schools were established, including a ballet school in connection with the foundation of the theater. On 19 November 1748 marries Izabella Poniatowska as his third wife Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki. On 1 February 1749, King Augustus III of Poland awarded Białystok city rights, and extended the city limits.Kusznier, p. 163
Then the townspeople of Białystok through the commissar of goods Józef Wojnarowski from the Podlasie region turned to Jan Klemens Branicki, that he would obtain another royal privilege. This initiative met with understanding of the Grand Crown Hetman and it was announced in a consecutive document from 19 November 1760. the area of Bialystok was not uniform in organizational terms. Undoubtedly, the left-bank (southwest of the Biała River) part of the building was part of the city. Meanwhile, the right bank area consisting of the settlement of Bojary, Zamkowa street., Kleidorf, Nowe Miasto (the southern area of Warszawska street, not to confuse with the modern Nowe Miasto district) and Przedmieście Wasilkowski had an unspecified status. Also, a huge number of Jews and soldiers resulted in their autonomous position. In that period, only the so-called The Old Town was covered by the urban structure, the rest was treated as suburbs, villages that used municipal law. For example, A normative act on the limitation of prostitution in the city from 1752 was addressed to the hosts living "both in the city and in Bojary". However, in 1789 the Białystok local government addressed Izabela Branicka with a proposal to join the villages of Kleindorf and Nowolipie, in exchange for which he declared to participate in the market paving process. The proposal was rejected as a result of two years later, a lustration of the city of Białystok carried out by the city judge of Brahman Władysław Markowski. He noted that Bojary, Nowe Miasto (area of today's Warszawska street), Nowolipie and the palace are excluded from the city area, which entails changes in the level of tax (mainly leather tax). It was by no means a small area - in the light of a very detailed census prepared in 1793, there were 87 farms built in the right bank of Białystok. These separations were liquidated during the Prussian Partition, when the authorities of the Camera of War and Domain unified the urban structure and tried to include even the palace area into the urban area. This is confirmed by the annex to the contract of lease of the city of Białystok concluded between the Camera of the War and Domen and Izabela Branicka in 1802. According to the borders document, the entire palace and garden arrangement was excluded from urban structures, while all suburbs were already included in the city.