Duchy of Oświęcim
The village was first mentioned in 1404. Politically the village belonged then to the Duchy of Oświęcim, a fee of the Kingdom of Bohemia. In 1457 Jan IV of Oświęcim agreed to sell the duchy to the Polish Crown, and in the accompanying document issued on 21 February the village was mentioned as "Halcznow". This name derives from a Polonization of the original German name "Alzen" or "Alzenau". The territory of the Duchy of Oświęcim was eventually incorporated into Poland in 1564 and formed Silesian County of Kraków Voivodeship.