Research made by the Lodz archaeologists confirms the presence of a man in the location of today's city already 12 thousand years ago. Graves, remnants of receptacles, tools and armour are traces of some subsequent cultures. They can be found in the river valleys, which used to be the places where people settled down. Lodz as a town developed from such a small settlement. We come across the first reference about it in 1332 when the Leczyca prince, Władysław, liberated Lodza village from burdens of the prince's law. Its residents moved their houses to the areas close to the trade route from Lęczyca to Piotrkow, and in 1414 the Wroclaw bishops made an attempt to establish a town out of this settlement. Granting of real and royal municipal rights to Lodz took place in 1423 and was certified by the signature of Wtadystaw Jagiełło.