Będkowice

History abstract

The first written record of the village dates back to 1329. At that time, a document was issued, pursuant to which Władysław the Elbow-high bestowed upon a glassblower named Herman a forest called "u Hutnicy", located between the Radwanowice, Będkowice ("Bantkowicz") and Sokolec villages, to charter the neighbouring village of Szklary under the Środa law. In the 14th century, Będkowice was divided among several petty knighthood families. Over time, the number of heirs who held parts of the village grew – the sources mention 30 heirs only in the years 1397 and 1420. They came from at least three different heraldic clans – some used the Przeginia coat of arms, others the Baranie Rogi coat of arms (Romany battle cry), still others used the Rak coat of arms (Warna battle cry). According to Długosz, the village belonged to the parish of St. Peter in Bolechowice and the residents payed the tithe to parsons from that parish. In 1498, Jan Olbracht punished 11 local heirs with confiscation of property for their refusal to participate in the Moldavian expedition. Nevertheless, the number of noble families which held land in Będkowice did not dwindle, but grew – as many as 38 heirs were recorded between 1528 and 1555. This trend was likely reversed in the second half of the 16th century. At the end of the 1620s, most of the land in the village was in the hands of Jan Panek Bzowski of the Ostoja coat of arms. In 1632, his son, also named Jan, was the heir to the village. In 1730, the village was bought by Maria Józefa Sobieska née Wessel, widow of Prince Konstanty, son of John III Sobieski. In 1751, Józef Felicjan Janota Bzowski, burgrave of Cracow, bought back the Będkowice estate of his ancestors. After the death of Józef Felicjan Janota Bzowski, the Będkowice estate was taken over by his son, Hiacynt. In 1795, the village and its surroundings became part of the Austrian Empire under the Habsburg rule, and in 1809, it was incorporated into the Duchy of Warsaw. A year earlier, Hiacynt Bzowski, who was an Arian, was buried in a tomb – a mound, in which his older son, Kazimierz, was also later buried – located within the area of Będkowice; that tomb survives to this day. At the end of the Napoleonic epic, under the Treaty of Paris of 1815, the town was incorporated into Congress Poland. At this point, Będkowice became a part of the parish of St. Nicholas in Biały Kościół and the Diocese of Kielce. The last heir to Będkowice from the Bzowski family was the younger son of Hiacynt, Cyprian, who died of cholera during the November Uprising. It is not known exactly when and under what circumstances the Czartoryski family came into possession of the village, but they were the founders of the chapel erected in the years 1935-1938, which became today's parish church, and was originally a filial structure of the parish in Biały Kościół. In 1924, a Volunteer Fire Brigade was formed in Będkowice. In the 1930s, Lech Marian Rościszewski and his wife Janina purchased the estate at the foot of the rocky slope of the Będkowska Valley. There, they built a large, two-storey villa called "Szaniec", where they gave shelter to a large group of Jews during World War II. After the end of the war, "Szaniec" was taken over by the state and became the seat of the Peasant Heroes People's University, with Jan Dec, activist of the Polish People's Party, as headmaster. In 1982, a separate parish community, under the invocation of Our Lady the Queen, was established in Będkowice. In 1998, a new Volunteer Fire Brigade building was erected, which also houses a community room and a shop. In 2004, a bus line connecting the village with Cracow was opened, operated by the public transport service provider. The Będkowice Students' Sports Club, the "Sokolica" Society of Friends of the Land of Będkowice and the "Będkowianie" folk ensemble were also established in the village at that time.