Brześć Kujawski (Polish pronunciation: ; or Kujawisch Brest; often anglicized to Kuyavian Brest) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland. Once a royal seat of Kuyavia, the town has been the seat of one of two small duchies into which Kuyavia has been temporarily divided. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 4,527. The name Brześć comes from the word Brzost, which is a species of elm that the area was originally covered in, while the name Kujawski is derived from the region of Kuyavia and was assigned to distinguish the town from Brześć Litewski, now capital of the Brest Region. History The earliest traces of Brześć Kujawski date back to Neolithic settlements, but it wasn't until the thirteenth century that the area became of significant importance as it was the site of a stronghold that was the seat of the Dukes of Kuyavia. Brześć was a part of fragmented Piast-ruled Poland, initially located in the Duchy of Masovia, then the Duchy of Kuyavia from 1236, and from 1267 it was the capital of a small eponymous duchy and the seat of its duke, Władysław I the Elbow-high, who later reunited most Polish duchies and was crowned King of Poland in 1320. Brześć was granted town rights by Duke Casimir I of Kuyavia before 1250, and was vested with various privileges by Władysław I the Elbow-high in 1292, 1295 and 1297. The earliest written mention of the town dates back to 23 April 1228, when a ceremony took place in Brześć granting the land to the Teutonic Order by Konrad I of Masovia. It was a temporary deal, which included four villages and the Dybów Castle. However, the relationship quickly deteriorated, leaving a significant impact on the people of Brześć as well as the surrounding lands. On 10 February 1321, a Papal verdict was announced in Brześć, which ordered the Teutonic Knights to return the coastal region of Gdańsk Pomerania to Poland, which they annexed and occupied since 1308. The Teutonic Knights rejected the verdict and in 1332, during the next Polish–Teutonic War, also invaded and occupied Brześć, which was restored to Poland in the Treaty of Kalisz (1343). Despite this, Brześć remained under the threat of raids for nearly 100 years, which occurred several times, even after the Polish victory at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. The last time the Crusaders laid siege