Bodzentyn (or Bodzentin, as it used to be called in documents) was founded in 1355 near the location of the ancient town of Tarczek, which belonged to the bishops of Kraków.

Its charter was granted by King Casimir III the Great; the name of the town comes from bishop of Kraków, Jan Bodzanta.

In 1380 bishop Jan Radlica founded Holy Cross church, and in the late Middle Ages, Bodzentyn was one of the most important urban centers of northern Lesser Poland.

Soon afterwards, the town burned in a fire, so bishop Wojciech Jastrzębiec managed to convince the king to grant new privileges to Bodzentyn.

He granted Bodzentyn's residents the rights to cut down forests, graze cattle, sell salt, meats and liquors.

The town enjoyed several royal privileges (1468, 1533, 1575), and together with whole Lesser Poland, it prospered in the period of Polish Golden Age.

Among notable persons who lived here were royal secretary bishop Franciszek Krasiński (who died 1577), and Crown chancellor Jakub Zadzik.

The hill of Wykus, a few kilometers from the village, served as a forest camp of local Home Army unit under Jan Piwnik.

Germans were aware of it, and on 1 June 1943, men led by Albert Hugo Schuster pacified Bodzentyn, killing 39 people.

In the fall of 1940 the Jewish community, consisting of approximately 300 families, were faced with the responsibility to absorb a great number of impoverished Jews from the city of Płock.