At the head of each castellany stood a ducal official referred to in Polish sources from the 13th century as comes castellanus.
A castellan’s powers were very broad and encompassed the entirety of state administration (the judiciary, military affairs and treasury). Moreover, in Poland castellans were most probably also administrators of the ruler’s estates. One of the castellan’s fundamental duties concerned the military administration of the district. As commander of the fortified settlement, the castellan organized and led the district’s defense against external enemies.
The first castellan of the stronghold in Bolesławiec confirmed by sources (the remains of which survive as an earthwork at Wałowa Street) was NANKIER, mentioned as a witness—Nankerus castellanus de Bolezlauezc—in a document issued by Henry the Bearded in 1202.
Bolesławiec was certainly a castellany earlier, but we do not know the names of its individual castellans. It is difficult to believe the municipal chronicler Janowa Bergemann, who knew three castellans governing the stronghold before Nanker. They were Siebieski in 1143, Ottenreich in 1179 and Hartlich in 1193.
Nanker’s successor was Stefan, first mentioned in a document from 1208 as Stephanus Ondreyouich, meaning Stefan, son of Andrzej. Because he held the office of castellan for a long period—until 1232—the ducal scribe wrote in one of the documents: Stephano scilicet cas-tellano de Bolezlawizc—Stefan, naturally, castellan of Bolesławiec. Despite the little information we have about him, Stefan was undoubtedly an interesting figure. In a document from 1226 he is titled comite Steffano magno castellano de Boleslauce. In Stefan’s case, we should understand the epithet magnus not as equivalent to the word “great,” but as “old” or “senior,” since he presumably bore it because of the length of his tenure or his age. Stefan, son of Andrzej, is counted among the Zareba family and is even regarded as having been the under-chamberlain of Duke Konrad of Masovia.
A figure named Raclawa, the castellan of Bolesławiec, appears in the Trzebnica forgeries; for obvious reasons, it is difficult to regard him as a real historical figure.
Stefan’s next successor as lord of Bolesławiec was Mikołaj, included in a series of documents from 1243–1245. Between 1246 and 1282, the sources mention no castellan of Bolesławiec. Interruptions in their existence were characteristic of Silesian castellanies. The same occurred in the case of the castellans of Oleśnica, Żagań and many others.
The last known castellan was Jan Menczyc (Menczit, Mensiz, Menschich), mentioned in the Book of Henryków and identified with the castellan of Wrocław, the castellan of Bytom and the cupbearer of Opole bearing the same name. At that time, it was common for one person to hold several stronghold offices in succession.
After 1283, castellans of Bolesławiec no longer appear in the sources, in connection with the disappearance of the entire system of castellanies.