Toponymy
The exact origins of the name "Biecz" are still uncertain, but some historians have traced it back to as early as the first few centuries of the first millennium.
Early sources, such as Ptolemaeus, mention a tribe of unknown origin called Biessi (singular Biessus). The tribe resided in the Carpathian mountains.
| “ | ...Below the Venedae are the Gythones, then the Finni, then the Sulones; below whom are the Phrungundiones; then the Avarini near the source of the Vistula river; below these are the Ombrones, then the Anartophracti, then the Burgiones, then the Arsietae, then the Saboci, then the Piengitae and the Biessi near the Carpathian mountains... | ” |
Some scholars believe this Biessi tribe to be the Thracian tribe of Bessi. Other scholars believe that the name Biessi refers to Beskidy Mountains due to the influence of the Romanian ("Wallachian") shepherds who spread their culture throughout the northern Carpathian Mountains (see Gorals).
One final theory revolves around the west Slavic/Croatian dialectal word meaning "town" or "borough." The same root word is used in a variety of languages: Beč - Беч in Serbo-Croatian; Bech or Vidnya in Romani; Bécs in Hungarian; and so forth.
Read more about this topic: Biecz