Editing Białystok (section)

===Flourishing aristocratic residential city===
[[File:Salon ogrodowy Pałacu Branickich.jpg|thumb|left|Garden of the Branicki Palace in the 18th century]]
In 1661 it was given to [[Stefan Czarniecki]] as a reward for his service in the victory over the Swedes during the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]]. Four years later, it was given as a dowry of his daughter Aleksandra, who married Marshal of the Crown Court Jan Klemens Branicki, thus passing into the hands of the [[Branicki family (Gryf coat of arms)|Branicki family]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Hetmani Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów | publisher=Bellona |author1=Kądziela, Lukasz |author2=Nagielski, Mirosław | location=Warsaw | isbn=83-11-08275-8|language=pl| year=1995 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Stefan Czarniecki: żołnierz, obywatel, polityk | publisher=Kieleckie Towarzystwo Naukowe | author=Kowalski, Waldemar | year=1999 | location=Kielce | isbn=83-86006-28-5|language=pl}}</ref> In 1692, {{ill|Stefan Mikołaj Branicki|pl}}, the son of Jan Klemens Branicki, obtained city rights for Białystok from King [[John III Sobieski]]. He constructed the [[Branicki Palace, Białystok|Branicki Palace]] on the foundations of the castle of the Wiesiołowski family.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.um.bialystok.pl/261-history-of-the-city/lang/en-GB/default.aspx |title=History of the City |access-date=2011-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815164615/http://en.um.bialystok.pl/261-history-of-the-city/lang/en-GB/default.aspx |archive-date=2011-08-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the first half of the eighteenth century the ownership of the city was inherited by [[Hetman|Field Crown Hetman]] [[Jan Klemens Branicki]].<ref name=bialystok.polska.pl /> It was he who transformed the palace built by his father into a magnificent residence of a great noble,<ref name="podlaski">{{cite web |author=Magdalena Grassmann |url=http://palac.umwb.edu.pl/node/125 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716141555/http://palac.amb.edu.pl/node/125 |archive-date=2011-07-16 |title=Podlaski Wersal Branickich |work=palac.amb |access-date=2011-04-15|language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrotapodlasia.pl/pl/adm/powiaty_gminy/mbialystok/ |title=Miasto Białystok |work=wrotapodlasia.pl |access-date=2008-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411155312/http://www.wrotapodlasia.pl/pl/adm/powiaty_gminy/mbialystok/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2008-04-11|language=pl}}</ref> which was frequently visited by Polish kings and poets.<ref name=BST>{{cite web|url=https://www.bstok.pl/bialystok/|title=Historia Białegostoku|website=bstok.pl|date=7 April 2018 |access-date=24 October 2019|language=pl|archive-date=14 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214101047/https://www.bstok.pl/bialystok/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1745 the first military technical school in Poland was founded in Białystok,<ref name=JK164>Jacek Kusznier, ''Elektrycy w historii Politechniki Białostockiej'', "Maszyny Elektryczne - Zeszyty Problemowe", Nr 4/2018, p. 164 (in Polish)</ref> and in 1748, one of the oldest theaters in Poland, the ''Komedialnia'', was founded in the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bialystokonline.pl/plejada-gwiazd-w-nowym-teatrze-piotr-dabrowski-otwiera-komedialnie,artykul,68828,2,1.html|title=Plejada gwiazd w nowym teatrze. Piotr Dąbrowski otwiera Komedialnię|website=Białystok Online|access-date=24 October 2019|language=pl|archive-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024014139/http://www.bialystokonline.pl/plejada-gwiazd-w-nowym-teatrze-piotr-dabrowski-otwiera-komedialnie,artykul,68828,2,1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> New schools were established, including a [[ballet]] school in connection with the foundation of the theater.<ref>Jacek Kusznier, ''Elektrycy w historii Politechniki Białostockiej'', "Maszyny Elektryczne - Zeszyty Problemowe", Nr 4/2018, p. 163-164 (in Polish)</ref> In 1749, King [[Augustus III of Poland]] extended the city limits.<ref name=JK/> In 1770, under the auspices of [[Izabella Poniatowska]], a [[midwifery]] school was founded, based on which the Institute of Obstetrics was established in 1805.<ref name=JK164/> Białystok was a regional [[brewing]] center with 33 breweries as of 1771, with the Podlachian Beer now listed as a protected traditional beverage by the [[Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Poland)|Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.pl/web/rolnictwo/piwo-podlaskie-dubeltowe|title=Piwo podlaskie|website=Ministerstwo Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi - Portal Gov.pl|access-date=9 November 2024|language=pl}}</ref>

The end of the eighteenth century saw the [[Partitions of Poland|division]] of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in three partitions, among Poland's neighboring states. The [[Kingdom of Prussia]] subjugated [[Białystok Department|Białystok and the surrounding region]] during the [[Third Partition of Poland|third partition]]. The city became the capital of the [[New East Prussia]] province in 1795.<ref>{{cite book|first=Tadeusz |last=Cegielski|author2=Łukasz Kądziela|title=Rozbiory Polski 1772-1793-1795|location=Warsaw|year=1990|language=pl}}</ref> [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]]'s victory in the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]] freed the territory but as a result in the [[Treaties of Tilsit]] in 1807 the area was transferred to the [[Russian Empire]], which organized the region into the [[Belostok Oblast, Russian Empire|Belostok Oblast]],<ref name="Wandycz">{{cite book |title=The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present |url=https://archive.org/details/pricefreedomhist00wand |url-access=limited |publisher=Routledge (UK) |author=Piotr Stefan Wandycz |year=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/pricefreedomhist00wand/page/n146 133] |isbn=0-415-25491-4|author-link=Piotr Stefan Wandycz }}</ref> with the city as the regional center.<ref>{{cite book |title=The New annual register |year=1808 |pages=276 (footnotes) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T3sEAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA276}}</ref> Schooling and higher learning in Białystok, which was intensively developed in the 18th century, was stopped as a result of partitions.<ref name=JK164/>