Understand
In the early Middle Ages the region was a part of Wielkopolskie which was the central region of Poland in the 9th and 10th century. In the 11th century a bishopric was established in Kruszwica and later WÅocÅawek. Poland was devided into several duchies in 1138 unter the rule of the senior from Kraków. In the 12th century the political influence of local dukes was extended to large parts of Masovia, but in 1186 the area was conquered by Duke Mieszko III the Old of Wielkopolskie. In 1195 the region it was incorporated into Mazowieckie and Duke Konrad I of Masovia re-established the duchy in 1231. After 1267 the duchy was further divided into two separate lands with capitals in InowrocÅaw and BrzeÅÄ Kujawski. Between 1248 and 1352 Kuyavia, the sothern part, was connected with DobrzyÅ Land, the northern part of this region, which was later lost to the Teutonic Knights. In 1287 Kuyavia became a separate duchy and was conquered by the Teutonic Knights in 1332 who controlled it until the Treaty of Kalisz in 1343. As part of the Kingdom of Poland, the area retained its traditional division into two separate parts, The InowrocÅaw Voivodeship and the BrzeÅÄ Kujawski Voivodeship. During the 17th century, Dutch and Frisian colonists founded numerous towns with individualistic architecture in this region. They developed independent village communities and brought their agricultural knowledge to the region, specializing in the cultivation of lakes and rivers in moorland and fallow land. Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the northern part and following the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 also the southern part of this region was annexed by Prussia.Between 1807 and 1815 the region was a part of the Duchy of Warsaw and later split between Prussia and the Russian Kingdom of Poland. In 1918 it became part of the Second Polish Republic, was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, and was restored to Poland in 1945. Since 1999 it is included within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.
