page_title: Bełżyce
section_title: Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Bełżyce / History / Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Pieczęć Bełżyc XV wiek English: Seal of Bełżyce XV cent
context_page_description: Bełżyce is a town in eastern Poland, in the Lublin Voivodeship, in Lublin County, and about 20 km to the west of the city of Lublin. Bełżyce belongs to Lesser Poland.
context_section_description: Presumably, in the early 13th century, a minor royal castle was in the area of the present city. The building was transferred to local magnates, who provided ability to settle a town according to Magdeburg Rights in 1349. In 1416 town settlement process began and next year king Władysław Jagiełło gave an official document, allowing Bełżyce to improve. First, town was populated by farmers, craftsmen, merchants and alcohol producers. A wooden church was built and a Catholic parish of St. Paul's conversion was created. Since 1432, while two new privileges were acquired, major growth has been noticeable – representatives of four religions lived here together. Catholics and Eastern Christians as farmers, Protestant craftsmen, and Jewish merchants. Bełżyce was a private town located in the Lublin Voivodeship, later also in the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown.
caption: 15th-century town seal of Bełżyce
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