Pasłęk (pronounced ; formerly known in Polish as Holąd Pruski, , Old Prussian: Pāistlauks, ) is a historic town in northern Poland, within Elbląg County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. In 2017, the town had 12,298 registered inhabitants. History The oldest record of the name of the Pasłęk territory appears as Pozolucensis provincia in a petition of Polish Dominicans to Pope Gregory IX from 1231. Later in the 13th and 14th century the settlement was mentioned in documents as Pazluch, Pazlok, Paslok. In 1393 it was mentioned by a frater Heinricus de Castro alias Pasloci. Pasłęk is one of two historic Polish names of the town and it derives from the Old Prussian place name Passis Lukis. The second name is Holąd Pruski. The town in the place of the old settlement was founded by settlers imported from Holland by the Teutonic Order in the late 13th century — hence the name Hollant or Holland, later changed to Preußisch Holland, by adding the adjective Preußisch meaning "Prussian". It is the oldest former Dutch settlement in present-day Poland. It is located in the Prussian historical region of Pogesania. After the Polish victory at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the castle was plundered by the retreating Teutonic Knights. Then it was taken over by Poles without a fight. In 1440 the town joined the Prussian Confederation, at the request of which King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454. The town joined Poland and recognized Polish rule. During the subsequent Thirteen Years’ War (1454–1466) it was briefly captured by the Teutonic Knights, but in 1456 it returned to Poland. The town was successfully defended against the Teutonic Knights in 1463 and 1466. After the peace treaty signed in Toruń in 1466, the town became part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Order's state. During the last Polish–Teutonic War, which broke out after the newly chosen Grand Master of the Teutonic Order refused to submit to the Crown of Poland, the town was captured and held by the Poles from 1520 until the dissolution of the Teutonic state in 1525. Afterwards it became part of the secular Duchy of Prussia, a Polish fief until 1657. In 1526 a Lutheran parish was founded. In 1534 a town school was established. In 1627 the town was captured by the Swedes and