 Before the reform, the area, centered on Vilnius, was known as the Duchy of Lithuania or sometimes as the Duchy of Vilnius.Vilnius Voivodeship became the capital voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.After the Union of Lublin in 1569 which formed the Commonwealth, Grand Duchy retained much of its autonomy, and Vilnius Voivodeship remained its capital voivodeship, just as Vilnius remained its capital city, although the capital of the Commonwealth was first in Cracow (Cracow Voivodeship) and later in Warsaw (Masovian Voivodeship).