Editing Białystok (section)

===Early history===
[[File:20230711 172515 July 2023 in Białystok.jpg|thumb|left|[[Branicki Palace, Białystok|Branicki Palace]], also known as the "Polish Versailles".]]

Archaeological discoveries show that the first settlements in the area of present-day Białystok occurred during the [[Stone Age]]. Tombs of ancient settlers can be found in the district of [[Osiedle Dojlidy, Białystok|Dojlidy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitbialystok.com/index.php?op=disco_bialystok&site=museums |title=Museums (Podlaskie Museum) |publisher=visitbialystok.com |access-date=2011-07-18 |archive-date=2016-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916170947/http://www.visitbialystok.com/index.php?op=disco_bialystok&site=museums |url-status=live }}</ref> In the early [[Iron Age]], people settled in the area producing [[kurgan]]s, the tombs of the chiefs in the area located in the current village of [[Rostołty]].<ref name="mhzp">{{cite web |url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/bialystok/3,local-history/ |title=Białystok – Local history |publisher=Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich |access-date=2011-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007151704/http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/bialystok/3,local-history/ |archive-date=2011-10-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since then, the Białystok area has been at the crossroads of cultures. Trade routes linking the Baltic to the Black Sea favored the development of settlements with [[Yotvingia]]-[[Ruthenians|Ruthenian]]-Polish cultural characteristics.<ref name="mhzp" />

The city of Białystok has existed for five centuries and during this time the fate of the city has been affected by various political and economic forces.

Surviving documents attest that around 1437 a representative of the Raczków family, Jakub Tabutowicz of the coat of arms [[Łabędź coat of arms|Łabędź]], received from [[Michael Žygimantaitis]], son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania [[Sigismund Kęstutaitis]], a wilderness area along the river Biała that marked the beginning of Białystok as a settlement.<ref name=bialystok.polska.pl>{{cite web |url=http://bialystok.polska.pl/miastodawniej/article,Do_rozbiorow,id,323459.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319205652/http://bialystok.polska.pl/miastodawniej/article%2CDo_rozbiorow%2Cid%2C323459.htm |archive-date=2012-03-19 |title=Miasta w Dokumencie Archiwalnym |access-date=2011-04-05 |language=pl |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="legend">{{cite book |title=Legendy województwa białostockiego, łomżyńskiego, suwalskiego |publisher=Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna im. Stefana Górnickiego w Białymstoku |author=Niewińska, Walentyna |year=1995 |location=Białystok|language=pl}}</ref> Thereafter, Białystok was part of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]] for 132 years until the [[Union of Lublin]] in 1569, when it was restored to [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Poland]] but remained very close to its border with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the [[Third Partition of Poland|last partition]] of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in 1795. Białystok was administratively part of the [[Podlaskie Voivodeship (1513–1795)|Podlaskie Voivodeship]], after 1569 also part of the [[Lesser Poland Province, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Lesser Poland Province]] of the Kingdom of Poland.

From 1547, the settlement was owned by the Wiesiołowski family, which founded the first school.<ref name=JK>Jacek Kusznier, ''Elektrycy w historii Politechniki Białostockiej'', "Maszyny Elektryczne - Zeszyty Problemowe", Nr 4/2018, p. 163 (in Polish)</ref> The first brick church and a castle were built between 1617 and 1826. The two-floor castle, designed on a rectangular plan in the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]]-[[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] style, was the work of {{ill|Job Bretfus|pl|Hiob Bretfus|vertical-align=sup}}. Extension of the castle was continued by [[Krzysztof Wiesiołowski]], [[starost]] of Tykocin, Grand Marshal of Lithuania since 1635, and husband of Aleksandra Marianna Sobieska.<ref name=wiesiolowscy /> In 1637 he died childless, and as a result, Białystok came under the management of his widow. After her death in 1645 the Wiesiołowski estate, including Białystok, passed to the Crown to cover the costs of maintaining [[Tykocin Castle]]. In the years 1645–1659 Białystok was managed by the [[starost]]s of [[Tykocin]].<ref name=wiesiolowscy>{{cite web |url=http://www.info.bialystok.pl/historia/wiesiolowscy/obiekt.php |title=Czasy rodu Wiesiołowskich |access-date=2011-05-17 |language=pl |archive-date=2013-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192043/http://www.info.bialystok.pl/historia/wiesiolowscy/obiekt.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://edukacja.sejm.gov.pl/historia-sejmu/marszalkowie-sejmu/i-rzeczpospolita.html |title=Marszałkowie Sejmu |access-date=2011-05-17 |language=pl |archive-date=2011-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815122108/http://edukacja.sejm.gov.pl/historia-sejmu/marszalkowie-sejmu/i-rzeczpospolita.html |url-status=live }}</ref>