Sandomierz Voivodeship (, ) was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Lesser Poland region. Originally Sandomierz Voivodeship also covered the area around Lublin, but in 1474 its three eastern counties were organized into Lublin Voivodeship. In the 16th century, it had 374 parishes, 100 towns and 2586 villages. The voivodeship was based on the Sandomerz ziemia, which earlier was the Duchy of Sandomierz. The Duchy of Sandomierz was created in 1138 by King Bolesław III Wrymouth, who in his testament divided Poland into five principalities. One of them, with the capital at Sandomierz, was assigned to Krzywousty's son, Henry of Sandomierz. Later on, with southern part of the Seniorate Province (which emerged into the Duchy of Krakow), the Duchy of Sandomierz created Lesser Poland, divided into Kraków and Sandomierz Voivodeships. Sandomierz Voivodeship was also one of the voivodeships of Congress Poland. Created in 1816 from the Radom Department, in 1837 it was transformed into the Sandomierz Governorate. 14th century-1795 Boundaries Sandomierz Voivodeship in its original shape was one of the largest provinces of the Kingdom of Poland. After Lublin Voivodeship was created out of its eastern territories, the province stretched from Białobrzegi in the north, to the area north of Krosno in the south (the town of Krosno itself belonged to Red Ruthenia). It included such cities and towns of contemporary Poland, as Dębica, Dęblin, Iłża, Kielce, Kolbuszowa, Końskie, Kozienice, Lipsko, Mielec, Nisko, Opoczno, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Pińczów, Pionki, Radom, Ropczyce, Ryki, Stalowa Wola, Starachowice, Staszów, Szydłowiec, Tarnów, Tarnobrzeg and Włoszczowa. The shape of the voivodeship remained unchanged from 1474 to the first partition of Poland (1772), when the Habsburg monarchy annexed the area south of the Vistula, with Dębica, Kolbuszowa, Mielec, Nisko and Tarnów. Zygmunt Gloger in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland gives a detailed description of Sandomierz Voivodeship: “Duke Boleslaw Krzywousty, before his death in 1138, divided Poland between his four sons, giving Henryk the Land of Sandomierz together with the Land of Lublin. The Duchy of Sandomierz was thus created (...) During the reign of Wladyslaw Lokietek, the duchy was turned into a large voivodeship. In ca. 1471, the Land of Lublin was separated from it (...) The area of Sandomierz Voivodeship was 467 square miles, with 374 Roman Catholic parishes, 100 towns,