[5][6] The earliest mentions in historical sources give the name of the town as Beyech, Begech, Begecz, Begesz, Beyecz, Beecz, Beycz, Byecz and Beiech.

The age of the town makes further derivation from Bieniedzikt improbable, leading linguists to hypothesize that the ultimate source is Biezdziad or other Old Slavic name beginning in Bie-.

Apart from that, there are a plethora of other theories, including obvious folk etymologies, linking the name e.g. to a Carpathian tribe called Biessi, mentioned by Ptolemy; a legendary bandit called Becz; the Beskids; and a west and south-west Slavic dialectal word meaning "borough", attested e.g. as Beč/Беч in Serbo-Croatian, borrowed into Romani (Bech) and Hungarian (Bécs).

The coat of arms dates back to the 16th century, when official seals depicting the images of Saints Peter and Paul and the letter B first appeared.

Beginning in the 17th century, the town was beset by a number of natural disasters, including flooding, fires, and a plague which killed all but 30 inhabitants.

The town suffered heavy population losses during World War II, including a public massacre of 200 local Jews in the market square in 1942.

A hoard of copper alloy weapons and jewellery dating from the early Bronze Age was found in a bog in the vicinity of Biecz in the nineteenth century.

During the late 13th century, King Wenceslaus II gifted the town to Jan Muskata, bishop of Kraków, in exchange for the territory where he would later found Nowy Sącz.

In 1361 he gave orders for the construction of weighing scales and textile mills, and established a number of fairs, which were major sources of income.

Additionally, merchants entering Polish territory were required to pass through Biecz, wherein taxes and other import tariffs were levied.

As a castellany, Biecz was not only entrusted with defensive responsibilities, but also served as judicial, administrative, and economic center for southern part of Kraków Voivodeship.

Kraków, Nowy Sącz, and Biecz were the locations of the high courts that dealt with the enforcement of the Magdeburg laws as established in 1374 by the Privilege of Košice.

The royal residences remained in use by Polish monarchs until John II Casimir Vasa, who passed through the city while on his campaign to drive the Swedes from Poland.

The castle served as a center of economic exchange for many centuries, mainly due to its favorable location at the intersection of north–south and east–west trade routes.

The sheer number of executions enacted gave rise to the popular legend that there existed an executioners' school in Biecz.

Biecz was home to a number of artists, painters, poets, and writers, including Jan Matejko and Stanisław Wyspiański.

Another famous depiction is J. Janson's copperplate Widok ogólny Biecza ("General view of Biecz"), which appears in Regni Poloniæ Ducatus Lituaniæ novissima descriptio (1659).

Starting in the mid-17th century, the city began to decline due to the stationing of foreign troops, alterations in trade routes, and numerous natural disasters.

Beginning in the middle of that century, however, Biecz fell victim to a number of natural disasters which devastated both its population and infrastructure.

One of these nouveau riche, Father Jan Bochniewicz, established a charitable foundation with 50,000 PLN initial capital, a percentage of which was earmarked for distribution among the fifty poorest inhabitants of the city.

According to historical documents, destroyed buildings included twenty Jewish stores, thirty Catholic homes, the tax collector's offices, a pharmacy, the newly built Synagogue, and old city hall.

The Germans occupied the town in September 1939 and immediately began to terrorize the Jewish population, which amounted to around 600, kidnapping them for forced labor, robbing them of their possessions, and beating them at will.

[21] Nationalist and patriotic feelings were strong, and resistance forces quickly developed during both wars in the forms of National Army recruits and the Bataliony Chłopskie peasant battalions, as well as acts of violence and sabotage.

Biecz was one of the towns to host the seventh annual Małopolskie Dni Dziedzictwa Kulturowego (Lesser Poland cultural heritage day) from 20 to 21 May 2006.

On 8 June 2006, relics of Queen Jadwiga of Poland, the patron saint of Biecz, were brought to the town for a dedicated exhibition.

Biecz's importance during his medieval and renaissance heyday resulted in the city receiving administrative control over a significant amount of surrounding territory (Latin: Terra Biecensis).

On the left of the chancel is the altar of Our Lady of the Rosary, alongside sculptures of Piotr Sułowski [pl], Saint Anne, and Mikołaj Spytek Ligęza.

The originally Gothic town hall was rebuilt in the 16th century, and served as the center of administrative power for the powiat of Biecz.

The oldest exhibits include axeheads and related neolithic artefacts, as well as Roman and Byzantine coins, and medieval ceramics and weaponry.

Of the seventeen original towers, only three remain standing: In 1964, the foundations of one of Poland's best-known barbicans was discovered near Corpus Christi Church.