Editing Kalisz (section)

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Herb Ksiestwa Kaliskiego.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|left|Mediaeval seal of the city of Kalisz]]
 
Archaeological excavations have uncovered early medieval settlement from the [[Piast dynasty]] period, c. 9th–12th centuries.<ref name="Chrzanowski">Tadeusz Chrzanowski, "Kalisz", Sport i Turystyka, Warsaw 1978 (Polish, German, English, French, Russian).</ref> Modern Kalisz was most likely founded in the 9th century as a provincial capital [[castellany]] and a minor fort. As part of the region of [[Greater Poland]], i.e. the cradle of the Polish state, the town formed part of Poland since the country's establishment in the 10th century.

In 1106, [[Bolesław III Wrymouth]] captured the town, and made it a part of his feudal domain. Between 1253 and 1260 the town was incorporated according to the [[German town law]] called the {{ill|Środa Śląska Law|pl|Prawo średzkie}} (after [[Środa Śląska]]), a local variation of the [[Magdeburg rights|Magdeburg Law]], and soon began to grow. One of the richest towns of [[Greater Poland]], during the [[History of Poland during the Piast dynasty#Fragmentation of the realm (1138–1320)|feudal fragmentation of Poland]] it formed a separate duchy ruled by a local branch of the [[Piast dynasty]].

In 1264, the [[Statute of Kalisz]] was issued in the city by [[Bolesław the Pious]]. It was a unique protective privilege for [[Jews]] during their persecution in Western Europe, which in the following centuries made Poland the destination of Jewish migration from other countries. After Poland was reunited, the town became a centre of weaving and wood products, as well as one of the cultural centres of Greater Poland.

In 1282 the [[Town privileges|city laws]] were confirmed by [[Przemysł II|Przemysł II of Poland]], and in 1314 it was made the capital of the [[Kalisz Voivodeship (1314–1793)|Kalisz Voivodeship]] by King [[Ladislaus the Short]]. Located roughly in the centre of Poland (as its borders stood in that era), Kalisz was a centre of trade. In 1331, the city was successfully defended by the Poles during a {{ill|Siege of Kalisz|lt=siege|pl|Oblężenie Kalisza}} by the [[Teutonic Knights]]. Because of its strategic location, King [[Casimir III the Great]] signed a [[Treaty of Kalisz (1343)|peace treaty]] with the [[Teutonic Knights|Teutonic Order]] there in 1343. As a [[Royal city in Poland|royal city]], Kalisz managed to defend many of its initial privileges, and in 1426 a new [[City and town halls|town hall]] was built. The Polish Duke [[Mieszko III the Old]] was buried in Kalisz.<ref name="Woźniak"/> In the 14th century, Jews of the town were attacked during epidemics by mobs which accused them of poisoning the wells of the town.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1nM_AQAAMAAJ&dq=kalisz+jews&pg=PA422|title=The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day|year=1907|publisher=Funk & Wagnalls}}</ref>