History of Tarnow

In 1264 Daniel of Galicia and Bolesław V the Chaste met in the town to establish the borders of their domains (Lesser Poland and Red Ruthenia). Next documented mention of Tarnów comes from the year 1309, when the list of miracles of Kinga of Poland specifies a woman named Marta, who was resident of the settlement. In 1327, a knight named Spicymir (Leliwa coat of arms) purchased a village of Tarnów Wielki, and three years later, founded his own private town. On March 7, 1330, King Władysław I the Elbow-high granted Magdeburg rights to Tarnow. In the same year, construction of a castle on the St. Martin Hill was completed by Castellan of Kraków, Spycimir Leliwita of Leliwa coat of arms (its ruins can still be seen).

Tarnow remained in the hands of the Leliwita family, out of which in the 15th century the Tarnowski family emerged. In the 13th century, numerous German settlers immigrated from Kraków and Nowy Sącz. During the 16th century Scottish immigrants began to come in large numbers (Dun, Huyson, and Nikielson). In 1528 the exiled King of Hungary János Szapolyai lived in the town. The town prospered during the Polish Golden Age, when it belonged to Hetman Jan Tarnowski (1488-1561). In the mid-16th century, its population was app 1,200, with 200 houses located within town’s defensive wall (the wall itself had been built in the mid-15th century, and expanded in the early 16th century). In 1467, the waterworks and sewage systems were completed, with large cisterns filled with drinking water built in the main market square. In the 16th century, during the period known as Polish Golden Age, Tarnów had a school, a synagogue, a Calvinist prayer house, Roman Catholic churches, and up to twelve guilds

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