The
Linear Pottery culture existed in the area. When Casimir's elder brother Duke
Bolesław I of Masovia died in 1248, he took the occasion and took Dobrzyń Land east of the Vistula River from the heritage of his younger brother
Siemowit I. Upon Casimir's death in 1267, the Duchy of Kuyavia was divided by his sons
Leszek II the Black (d. 1288),
Ziemomysł (d. 1287) and
Władysław I the Elbow-high, into the two separate duchies of Inowrocław and Brześć Kujawski. In 1306, Ziemomysł's son
Casimir II swore allegiance to his uncle Władysław I, who began to re-unite the
Lands of the Polish Crown under his rule. The duchy was devastated during the
Polish–Teutonic War of 1326–32, culminating in the 1331
Battle of Płowce. It was restored to Poland by the
Teutonic Knights in the 1343
Treaty of Kalisz. With the death of Casimir's son
Władysław the White in 1388, the Kuyavian line of the
Piast dynasty became extinct. At the peak of its fragmentation, the Kuyavian territories were divided in the early 14th century into
Duchy of Bydgoszcz and Wyszogród,
Duchy of Inowrocław,
Duchy of Gniewkowo and
Duchy of Brześć Kujawski. They were fully reintegrated during the reign of
Casimir III the Great.
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ,
Casimir IV, and
John I Albert. After the reunification of Polish lands in the late 14th century, the division into provinces and counties was introduced. That division finalized in the 15th century and existed until the dissolution of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. Kuyavia was divided into the two administrative divisions of
Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship and
Inowrocław Voivodeship. The Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship was further divided into five
powiats (counties): Brześć,
Kowal,
Kruszwica,
Przedecz and
Radziejów. The Inowrocław Voivodeship was divided into the Bydgoszcz and Inowrocław powiats and Dobrzyń Land east of the Vistula. Both voivodeships formed part of the larger
Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland and the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The
Battle of Koronowo of the
Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War was fought in the region on 10 October 1410, and ended in a Polish victory. The long period of prosperity ended in the late 17th century during
Northern Wars with the Swedish troops destroying and plundering many cities, including Bydgoszcz, Inowrocław, and Włocławek.
Partitions of Poland As a result of the
First Partition of Poland in 1772 the
Kingdom of Prussia took a considerable part of Inowrocław Voivodeship and the western part of Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship, and included it within its newly formed
Netze District with the capital in
Bydgoszcz. After the
Second Partition of 1793 the whole of Kuyavia was taken by Prussia and incorporated into the newly formed province of
South Prussia. Upon the 1807
Treaties of Tilsit, it was part of the Napoleonic
Duchy of Warsaw and administered within the
Bydgoszcz Department. , the largest city of Kuyavia In 1815 under the provisions of the
Congress of Vienna, Kuyavia was divided between the
Kingdom of Poland and the Kingdom of Prussia. Congress Poland remained in a
personal union with the
Russian Empire, from 1831 direct part of Russian Empire. The Brześć Kujawski province (counties: Aleksandrów, Radziejów and Włocławek) remained with the
Masovia Governorate of Congress Poland in Russian Empire. Inowrocław (
Hohensalza) and Bydgoszcz (
Bromberg) was incorporated into the Prussian
Grand Duchy of Posen. The Polish population
resisted anti-Polish policies, which included forced
Germanisation and
Russification, and took part in several uprisings incl. the
Greater Poland uprising of 1848 and
January Uprising of 1863–1864. That division outlasted the 1871
unification of Germany until the end of
World War I.
Republic of Poland Following
World War I, Poland regained independence and control of the region. Within the
Second Polish Republic, from 1918, the western part of Kuyavia belonged to
Poznań Voivodeship, and the eastern part belonged to the
Warsaw Voivodeship. In 1938 almost all Kuyavia became a part of
Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 1934 the Muzeum Nadgoplańskie in Kruszwica was built. It was opened in 1939, and it had valuable collection of ethnographical objects, inter alia: furniture and clothing. in
Bydgoszcz Following the joint German-Soviet
invasion of Poland, which started
World War II in September 1939, it was occupied by
Nazi Germany. During the
occupation, almost all of Kuyavia was annexed into the newly formed province of
Reichsgau Wartheland, except the northwestern part with the city of Bydgoszcz that was annexed to the newly formed province of
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia. The
Polish population was subjected to
various crimes, such as mass arrests, imprisonment,
slave labor,
expulsions,
kidnapping of children, deportations to
Nazi concentration camps and extermination, incl. the
Intelligenzaktion. Major sites of massacres of Poles in the region included
Gniewkowo,
Fordon,
Otorowo,
Buszkowo,
Tryszczyn,
Odolion and
Borówno. The Germans operated subcamps of the
Potulice and
Stutthof concentration camps in Bydgoszcz, and the large
Stalag XX-A prisoner-of-war camp for Polish, British, French, Australian and Soviet POWs in southern
Toruń. In 1945, the German occupation ended and the region was restored to Poland. Between 1945-1975, Kuyavia was in the borders of
Bydgoszcz Voivodeship. The
Włocławek Voivodeship was created in 1975, and the western part of Kuyavia remained in the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship. In 1999 almost the whole of Kuyavia was joined to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Small parts of the region were included in the borders of the
Masovian Voivodeship (regions between the border of the province and Skrwa Lewa River) and
Greater Poland Voivodeship (
Przedecz,
Wierzbinek). == Cities and towns ==