page_title: Poles in Moldova
section_title: Polish colonization
hierarchical_section_title: Poles in Moldova / Transnistria / Polish colonization
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Фрагмент Карты Польши Рицци-Заннони 1667 года издания
context_page_description: The history of Poles in Moldova has to be examined through the longstanding border along the Dniester river which separates Bessarabia from Transnistria in Moldova. While the regions on both sides of the river were socially and culturally interconnected, the distinct political destinies of both territories resulted in different settlement patterns. The majority of Moldova is in Bessarabia, which lies east of the Dniester and was part of Moldavia. Today's Transnistria, the region west of that river, was part of Podolia in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and later the Russian Empire.
context_section_description: Because of the massive slave raids and invasions launched by the Crimean Khanate, much of the southern region of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was sparsely populated. To remedy this, the 16th and 17th centuries Polish kings, in particular Stephen Báthory and Sigismund III Vasa, sponsored large-scale Polish colonization of Podolia, which includes the territories of modern Transnistria.  Polish magnates were given large tracts of sparsely settled lands, while Polish petty gentry managed the estates and served as soldiers.  Serfs were enticed to move into these territories by a temporary 20 year exemption from serfdom.  Although most serfs were from western Ukrainian lands, a significant number of Polish serfs from central Poland also settled these estates.  The latter tended to assimilate into Ukrainian society and some of them even took part in the Cossack uprisings against the landlords. Polish magnates from Ukraine played a significant political and social role within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as did the native nobility in these areas which Polonized over time.
  Polish rule at this time involved the expansion of Jesuit schools and large scale construction of ornate castles and estates that included libraries, art collections, and archives that in many cases were the equal in importance to those in Poland itself.  By the late 18th century, approximately 11% of the population were Roman Catholics, most of them Poles.
caption: Map from 1772 CE illustrating settlements along the border between Bracław Voivodeship in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Crimean Khanate, and the Principality of Moldavia.
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