Ziemia in the context of "Czersk Land"

Czersk (Polish pronunciation: [t͡ʂɛrsk] ) is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Góra Kalwaria, within Piaseczno County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. The village also lies on the Czersk Lake (size: 9 hectares), which is an oxbow lake of the Vistula.

Czersk was an important settlement in the past and is one of the oldest Mazovian cities, famous for ruins of a medieval castle constructed in the late 14th century. It was a royal town of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in the past. In 1247–1526, it was the capital of the Duchy of Czersk, one of medieval Polish duchies. After incorporation of Mazovia into Poland (1526), the duchy was turned into the Czersk Land (see ziemia), part of Masovian Voivodeship (1526–1795). The Land of Czersk was divided into four counties - those of Czersk, Grójec, Garwolin (since 1539), and Warka. Czersk itself was the seat of castellans, who also were senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Province was the largest territorial subdivision in medieval and Renaissance-era Poland, and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The term designated each of the two largest constituents of the state: depending on the period, including Greater Poland, Lesser Poland and (upon the formation of the Commonwealth) the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Ducal Prussia was often counted as part of the Greater Poland; Livonia as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Ruthenian territories were split between Lesser Poland and the Grand Duchy.

Though larger than a voivodeship (województwo), the prowincja was less important in terms of offices and power. In most respects, it was merely a titular unit of administration. The real power lay with the voivodeship—and, to a lesser extent, with ziemias (lands).

Polish landed gentry (Polish: ziemiaństwo, ziemianie, singular: zemianin, from ziemia, "land") was a social group or class of hereditary landowners who held manorial estates. Historically, ziemianie consisted of hereditary nobles (szlachta) and landed commoners (kmiecie; Latin: cmethones). The Statutes of Piotrków (1496) restricted the right to hold manorial lordships to hereditary nobility. The non-nobles thus had to either sell their estates to the lords or seek a formal ennoblement for themselves (not an easy task), or had their property taken away. A rare exception was the burgesses of certain specially privileged "ennobled" royal cities who were titled "nobilis" and were allowed to buy and inherit manorial estates and exercise their privileges (such as jurisdiction over their subjects) and monopolies (over distilleries, hunting grounds, etc.). Therefore, in the szlachta-dominated Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth there was almost no landed gentry in the English meaning of the term, i.e. commoners who owned landed estates. (However, this is merely a matter of semantics; the gentry of England were roughly equivalent to lower nobility of other countries.) With the Partitions these restrictions were loosened and finally any commoner could buy or inherit land. This made the 20th-century Polish landed gentry consist mostly of hereditary nobles, but also of others.

They were the lesser members of the szlachta, contrasting with the much smaller but more powerful group of "magnate" families (sing. magnat, plural magnaci in Polish), see "Magnates of Poland and Lithuania". Compared to the situation in England and some other parts of Europe, these two parts of the overall "nobility" to a large extent operated as different classes, and were often in conflict. After the Partitions of Poland, at least in the stereotypes of 19th-century nationalist lore, the magnates often made themselves at home in the capitals and courts of the partitioning powers, while the gentry remained on their estates, keeping the national culture alive (for a preserved, non-magnate example, see Dąbrowski Manor in Michałowice).

Zawkrze, also Zawkrze Land (Polish: ziemia zawkrzańska), is a small historic region of Poland (ziemia), located in northern Mazovia, along the border with Masuria. Its approximate area is 1,784 km (689 sq mi), and the population is about 114,000. Currently, Zawkrze has three towns, and more than 200 villages. Its name comes from the Wkra river – Zawkrze means the land behind the Wkra, from the perspective of Płock, the historic capital of Mazovia. The largest town of the region is Mława, while the historic capital of Zawkrze is Szreńsk.

Zawkrze lies between the Wkra (in the south), Działdówka (in the west), Orzyca and Łydynia (in the east) rivers, and the former border with Prussia in the north. From east to west, Zawkrze is some 55 km (34 mi), while from north to south – some 70 km (43 mi). Currently, Zawkrze is divided between five counties and two voivodeships - Mława, Żuromin, Ciechanów, Nidzica and Działdowo. It has four towns, Mława, Żuromin, Glinojeck, Lubowidz, as well as three former towns – Kuczbork-Osada, Niedzbórz and Szreńsk. There is a sports club "Zawkrze" Mława, as well as a Museum of the Zawkrze Region, also in Mława.

Sandomierz Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo Sandomierskie, Latin: Palatinatus Sandomirensis) was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Lesser Poland region and the Lesser Poland Province. Originally Sandomierz Voivodeship also covered the area around Lublin, but in 1474 its three eastern counties were organized into Lublin Voivodeship. In the 16th century, it had 374 parishes, 100 towns and 2586 villages. The voivodeship was based on the Sandomierz ziemia, which earlier was the Duchy of Sandomierz. The Duchy of Sandomierz was created in 1138 by King Bolesław III Wrymouth, who in his testament divided Poland into five principalities. One of them, with the capital at Sandomierz, was assigned to Krzywousty's son, Henry of Sandomierz. Later on, with southern part of the Seniorate Province (which emerged into the Duchy of Kraków), the Duchy of Sandomierz created Lesser Poland, divided into Kraków and Sandomierz Voivodeships.

Sandomierz Voivodeship was also one of the voivodeships of Congress Poland. Created in 1816 from the Radom Department, in 1837 it was transformed into the Sandomierz Governorate.

Masovian Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo Mazowieckie) was an administrative region of the Kingdom of Poland, and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1526 to the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to 1795. Together with Płock and Rawa Voivodeships, it formed the province of Masovia. Its area was divided into ten lands. The seat of the voivode was Warsaw, local sejmiks also convened in Warsaw, at St. Martin's church.