page_title: Włodawa
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Włodawa / History
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Włodawa, Cmentarz Żołnierzy Wojska Polskiego
context_page_description: Włodawa is a town in eastern Poland on the Bug River, close to the borders with Belarus and Ukraine. It is the seat of Włodawa County, situated in the Lublin Voivodeship since 1999. As of 2011 it has a population of 14,800.
context_section_description: Włodawa was first mentioned in historical records in 1242. The first written mention of the town in an Old Slavonic chronicle which speaks about Prince Daniel staying there, escaping from the Tartars in 1241. In 1446-1447 the surrounding territories were annexed into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the river Włodawka marked the border between the Duchy and the Polish Crown within the Polish–Lithuanian Union. In 1475 Michał and Aleksander Sanguszko received the town in exchange with the Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon. For the next 100 years the town became the home for the Sanguszko family. They built their castle here and developed the town's prosperity. The Sanguszko profited from the border crossing which was bringing good income. In 1534 the town received city rights, confirmed in 1540. At that time the influx of the Jewish population started, which promoted commerce and crafts. The location on the large river, Bug, favored the rapid development of the city as a commercial and transit center.
  By the end of the 16th century, Włodawa passed into the hands of Andrzej Leszczyński and from that time belonged to the Leszczyński family for next generations. As Leszczyński was a Calvinist, Włodawa soon became an important center of Protestantism. In 1624 a Calvinist church and a school were built here. Between 1633 and 1648, the minister of the Calvinist congregation in Włodawa was Polish historian and poet Andrzej Węgierski. In 1634 a Calvinist synod was held in Włodawa, which was attended by delegates from the entire Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Protestants from Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia also settled in Włodawa at that time. 
  In 1648, the Cossack-Tatar army plundered and destroyed the city, killing almost the entire population, including all Jews. In 1657 the city was devastated again, this time by the Swedes during the Deluge. John III Sobieski and the subsequent Polish kings granted the right to four annual fairs. Horses and, above all, oxen from nearby Volhynia were sold at these fairs, with the latter being even sold to Kraków, Poznań, Berlin and Vienna. These fairs, as well as the staple right for salt contributed to Włodawa's wealth. In the 17th century, Rafał Leszczyński, father of the future Polish King Stanisław Leszczyński, became the owner of Włodawa, but due to debts he sold it to Ludwik Pociej. Pociej brought the Paulines from the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa to Włodawa and built their monastery. In the 18th century, the city was the property of the Pociej, Flemming, Czartoryski and Zamoyski families.
  After the Partitions of Poland, Włodawa was annexed by Austria in 1795. In 1809, it briefly returned to Polish rule, being part of the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815 it became part of Congress Poland, initially autonomous, but later forcibly integrated within Imperial Russia. The inhabitants of Włodawa actively joined the January Uprising in 1863. After the fall of the uprising, bloody repressions began and the attempts at Russification intensified. During World War I, from 1915 to 1918, the city was occupied by the Germans.
  Following Poland's return to independence, Włodawa became a seat of the Włodawa County. In 1939, before the onset of World War II, the population of Włodawa was 9,293. There was a garrison of heavy artillery regiment and the division of the field artillery in the town, used by the Pomorze and the Modlin armies in the defence of Poland against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Włodawa was bombed by the Luftwaffe on 3 September 1939.
caption: Polish Military Cemetery from World War II
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