Geographical Aspect
The concept of Crown also had a geographical aspect, in particularly related to the indivisibility of the Polish (Crown) territory. It can be also seen as a unit of administrative division, the territories under direct administration of Polish state from middle-ages to late 18th century (currently lands of Ukraine, Poland, some border lands of inter alia: Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania). Some of them belonged to the early Kingdom of Poland, then to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until its final collapse in 1795.
At the same time, the Crown also referred to all lands that the Polish state (not the monarch) could claim to have the right to rule over, including those that were not within Polish borders.
The term distinguishes those territories from federated with the Crown Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( ) and from fiefdom territories (which enjoyed varying degrees of autonomy or semi-independence from the King) inter alia the Duchy of Prussia ( ), the Duchy of Courland ( ).
Prior to the 1569 Union of Lublin, Crown territories may be understood as those of Poland proper, inhabited by Poles or other areas under the sovereignty of Polish nobility. With the Union of Lublin, however, most of present-day Ukraine (which had a negligible Polish population and had until then been governed by Lithuania) passed under Polish administration, becoming likewise Crown territory.
In that period, a term for a Pole was koroniarz (plural: koroniarze), derived from Korona.
- Depending on context, "Crown" may also refer to "The Crown," a term used to distinguish the personal influence and private assets of the Commonwealth's current monarch from government authority and property. This often meant a distinction between persons loyal to the elected King (royalists) and persons loyal to the magnates.
Read more about this topic: Crown Of The Kingdom Of Poland
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