Castellans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were the lowest rank of territorial official who could sit in the Senate of Poland. Their numbers varied over time and with the shifting borders of the Commonwealth. In the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Castellans usually deferred to the higher ranking Voivodes (Polish: Wojewoda), excepting three Distinguished Castellans of the cities of Trakai, Vilnius, and of Kraków - who ranked higher than the Voivodes.

Competences

With the exception of the Castellan of Kraków, whose seat was representative of the Commonwealth's capital until 1596, Castellans were usually considered subordinate to Voivodes. Two castellans in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - those of Vilnius and Trakai - were also considered privileged, and had a status equal to a voivode. Castellans were in charge of a subdivision of a Voivodship called a Castellany (Polish: Kasztelania) until the late 15th century when domains were administratively divided into provinces in the case of larger castellanies and powiats for smaller castellanies. From 1565, the principle of "incompatibilitas" - "incompatibility" - precluded Voivodes and Castellans from holding a second ministerial role, except for the post of Hetman.

List

The list below is based on data from 1569. The number of castellans changed in later centuries.