Pyzdry

Pyzdry
Franciscan church
Coat of arms
Pyzdry
Coordinates: 52°10′N 17°41′E / 52.167°N 17.683°E / 52.167; 17.683
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Greater Poland
County	Września
Gmina	Pyzdry
Area
• Total	12.16 km2 (4.70 sq mi)
Elevation	90 m (300 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	3,188
• Density	260/km2 (680/sq mi)
Postal code	62-310
Website	http://www.pyzdry.pl/

Pyzdry [ˈpɨzdrɨ] (German: Peisern) is a town in Września County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,163 inhabitants (2004).

Pyzdry was first mentioned in 1232, when army of Silesian Piast Duke Henry I the Bearded entered Greater Poland. Pyzdry is one of the oldest town of the province, as in 1257 it was mentioned as a location governed by a vogt, which means that a well-established urban center must have already existed here. It is not known when Pyzdry received Magdeburg rights; most likely it happened during the reign of Duke Bolesław the Pious.

On June 29, 1318 Wladyslaw Lokietek called at Pyzdry a meeting of Polish nobility and bishops, during which it was agreed that a delegation be sent to Pope John XXII, asking for his permission to grant Polish Crown to Lokietek. In 1331, Pyzdry was burned to the ground by the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Pyzdry. Following the destruction, King Kazimierz Wielki ordered construction of a defensive wall with a mighty castle. In 1345, a truce between Kazimierz Wielki and John of Bohemia was signed here.

On June 6, 1346, Kazimierz Wielki presented at Pyzdry legal statutes for the province of Greater Poland. In 1390, King Wladyslaw Jagiello met here with Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania, who pledged vassalage to king of Poland. In 1562, Pyzdry was named as the location of gatherings of pospolite ruszenie for Kalisz Voivodeship. The town was in 1655 captured and looted by Swedish soldiers (see Swedish invasion of Poland), and in 1704, a battle between supporters of Stanislaw Leszczyński and August II took place here. In 1768, Pyzdry burned in a great fire.