Medieval period The territory became part of the emerging Polish state under its first historic ruler
Mieszko I in the 10th century. Following the fragmentation of Poland, Wschowa initially formed part of the
Duchy of Greater Poland, and was mentioned in the
Bull of Gniezno from 1136. Later on, Wschowa was a border fortress in a region disputed by the Polish dukes of
Silesia and Greater Poland. The
Old Polish name
Veschow was first mentioned in 1248, while the
Middle High German name
Frowenstat Civitas first appeared in 1290. After
German colonists had established a settlement nearby, it received
Magdeburg rights around 1250. From the 1290s, Wschowa was part of the
Duchy of Głogów, and in 1343 it was captured by King
Casimir III the Great and reunited with Greater Poland. Since then Wschowa was a
royal town of Poland and county seat within the
Poznań Voivodeship in the
Greater Poland Province. In 1345, the town was attacked by the dukes of Głogów. In 1365, the wedding of King Casimir III and
Hedwig of Żagań was held in Wschowa. A
mint was founded in the 14th century. A municipal school was founded in 1404. In 1456, a
Bernardine monastery was established. The reign of the Jagiellonian dynasty is considered the golden age of Wschowa. The town prospered thanks to trade and crafts, especially clothmaking. Since the mid-16th century, Wschowa was one of the centres of the
Protestant Reformation in Poland. The Protestants took over the local parish church, however, by decree of King
Sigismund III Vasa of 1602, it was restored to the Catholics, and a new Protestant church was built in 1604. In the early 17th century, a new
Latin school was founded. Wschowa was a retreat for religious refugees from adjacent Lower Silesia during the
Thirty Years' War. In the 1630s,
starost founded the New Town for the refugees to the north of Wschowa. In the 17th century,
Italian Niccolo Bacaralli established in Wschowa the first paint manufacture in Poland. The 6th Polish Infantry Regiment was stationed in the town. The marches and invasions of Russian and Prussian troops during the
Seven Years' War destroyed the prosperity of Wschowa. After the
suppression of the Jesuits in 1773, local nobility opposed the sale of the Jesuit college's property and library, thus it continued operating, now administered by the Cistercians.
Late modern period In the
Second Partition of Poland in 1793, the town was annexed by the
Kingdom of Prussia Re-annexed by Prussia and made part of the initially semi-autonomous
Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań) from 1815 on, the town was again incorporated into the Prussian
Province of Posen in 1848. A large sugar factory was established in 1880. In 1894, a secret Polish student organization named after poet
Tomasz Zan was established, whose activities allowed the Polish language to survive in the town, despite the enforced policy of
Germanization. According to the 1919
Treaty of Versailles, Fraustadt remained a part of
Germany as it had a majority of German citizens and formed the southernmost district of the
Posen-West Prussia border province till 1 October 1938, when the province was dissolved. During the interwar period, the town stagnated, and some of its inhabitants emigrated to western Germany. Initially the town was part of Okręg III (comprising present
West Pomeranian and
Lubusz provinces) between 1945 and 1946. German monuments were removed from the town by the new authorities, including the Protestant cemetery. Also, in 1968, the remains of the former German-Jewish cemetery were destroyed.
Recent period Later, Wschowa was a county (powiat) center in
Poznan Voivodeship between 1946 and 1950, then in
Zielona Gora Voivodeship between 1950 and 1975. It was finally a commune (gmina) center in
Leszno Voivodeship between 1975 and 1999 before the creation of Lubusz province. It became again a county center after 24 years. ==Transport==