|
The Titled Families of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth
by Michael Subritzky-Kusza Ct, PNA.
This paper is presented for interest in
Polish history and genealogy. Please be aware of the fact that the nominal
roll as it appears currently does not show the 'coat of arms' name. That
means that even if your own family surname appears in this roll it does
not make you a Duke or Prince. Many Polish families do share the exact
same surname, but not all of those surnames were nobility (szlachta),
nor were the families necessarily related. Please be aware of this; as
many Polish nobility surname were eroded, altered or destroyed during
the 19th century, especially in such places as Ellis Island in the United
States. The only way to establish a link to any of the titled families
shown here is to first confirm the noble status of your own forebears;
and this is done by name, region and direct descent in a legitimate family
line.
The Polish system of nobility was based on the principles
of equality amongst an exclusive caste of peers, who had forged their
bonds of brotherhood upon the battlefields of Eastern Europe. Bravery
and valour were the measure of the Polish knight (szlachta), and this
was immediately recognised by his noble surname and also his right to
bear a coat of arms. The Polish warrior knights held strenuously to the
belief that all knights were equal, and the ancient Polish code of chivalry
forbade the bearing of titles and rejected with disdain the formulation
of chivalric orders which served only to create division and give special
recognition to certain individuals within the greater body of the nobility.
The nobility of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth came
to number approximately forty thousand families, using about seven thousand
coats of arms; and variations. The reason that there are so few actual
coats of arms is that at various periods in the nations history when a
Pole was enobled for valour, if he did not posess a link with any noble
family then the King himself gave him the exclusive right to his (the
Kings) personal family arms, virtually admitting the knight into his own
family.
The nobility of Poland emerged in one of three ways:
1. Raising to the
nobility (enoblement in the pure form).
2. Acceptance to
arms by already extant families (adoption).
3. Addition to the
roll of Polish nobility of foreign noble families (naturalization). Naturalized
families were in the main persucuted Scots and Irish catholics whose arms
were western in origin.
As previously stated the nobility of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth shunned the establishment of chivalric orders and also the
conferral of titles which created an organisation of precedence among
a group of equals. The Old nobility of Poland zealously guarded the principle
of equality with very few exceptions. The majority of titles obtained
by Polish families are foreign in origin and as there are so few, these
families can be listed and dated quite accurately.
In ancient Poland, the only title that existed was that
of 'Prince' from the various dynastic lines of the Piast and Jagiellon
families. As well as these dynastic titles, three families were created
Princes by the Polish Diet (parliment), one family (Zajaczkowki) was created
Prince by Czar Alexander I in his capacity as King of Poland, one Lithuanian
family (Borkowski) received the title of Prince through the Polish fiefdom
of Samogitia, and a further five families received the title of Prince
from the Holy Roman Empire.
They are as follows:
PRINCE (Polish
Families)
Name |
Origin |
Year |
Czartoryski |
Dynastic |
1569 |
Czetwertynski |
Dynastic |
1843 |
Gedroic |
Dynastic |
1865 |
Jablonowski |
Holy Roman Empire |
1775 |
Lubecki |
Dynastic |
1488 |
Lubomirski |
Holy Roman Empire |
1647 |
Massalski |
Dynastic |
1862 |
Oginski |
Dynastic |
1486 |
Ossolinski |
Holy Roman Empire |
1633 |
Poniatowski |
Poland |
1764 |
Poninski |
Poland |
1733 |
Puzyna |
Poland |
1823 |
Radzwill |
Holy Roman Empire |
1547 |
Sanguszko |
Dynastic |
1569 |
Sapieha |
Dynastic |
1824 |
Sulkowski |
Holy Roman Empire |
1752 |
Woroniecki |
Dynastic |
1824 |
Zajaczek |
Russia |
1818 |
PRINCE (Lithuanian
Families)
Name |
Origin |
Year |
Borkowski |
Samogitia |
1499 |
Glinski |
Dynastic |
1505 |
Kurcewicz |
Dynastic |
1528 |
Lukomski |
Dynastic |
1564 |
Podhorski |
Dynastic |
1563 |
Polubinski |
Dynastic |
1399 |
Szujski |
Dynastic |
1534 |
Swirski |
Dynastic |
1508 |
There is one Polish family that was confirmed by right of
primogeniture with the title of Margrave:
MARGRAVE
Gonzaga-Myszkowski-Wielopolski* |
Russia |
1879 |
Only one Polish family was ever conferred with the title
of Count by the Polish Diet:
COUNT
At the time of the final partition of Poland in 1795,
there were only eight families who held a foreign title of Count, from
various fonts of honour. They are as follows:
Butler (1651), Krasicki (1631), Latalski (1538), Moszynski
(1730), Przerembski (1637), Sokolnicki (1683), Tarnowski (1547), Wieloposki
(1656).
After the partitions the following Polish families received
titles from a variety of fonts of honour of the various foreign monarchies
and states that existed at the time, they are:
COUNT (Papal
Title)
Brzozowski* (1897), Czonowski* (1897), Koczorowski* (1871),
Kurnatowski* (1902), Lasocki* (1869).
Note: All Papal titles are passed on by primogeniture.
COUNT (Holy Roman Empire
and Austria)
Badeni (1846), Baworowski (1779), Bielski (1895), Bobrowski
(1800), Borch (1783), Dunin-Borkowski (1819), Choloniewski (1798), Debicki
(1789), Drohojowski (1783), Dzieduszycki (1776), Goluchowski (1783), Dzieduszycki
(1776), Goluchowski (1783), Jablonowski-Grzymala (1779), Jezierski (1801),
Kalinowski (1818), Komorowski-Korczak (1793), Konarski (1783), Korytowski
(1893), Koziebrodzki (1781), Krasicki (1631), Ledochowski (1800), Lubieniecki
(1783), Los (1783), Michalowski (1885), Morsztyn (1915), Osiecimski-Czapski
(1907), Ostorog (1783), Pininski (1780), Potocki (1777), Rey (1806), Romer
(1818), Rozwadowski (1783), Russocki (1800), Rzyszczewski (1845), Siemienski-Lewicki
(1779), Sierakowski (1775), Skarbek (1778), Stadnicki (1783), Starzenski
(1780), Szeptycki (1871), Tarnowski (1547), Wielhorski (1787), Wielopolski
(1656), Wisniewski (1876), Wodzicki (1799), Wolanski (1886), Zabielski
(1808), Zabiello (1888), Zaleski (1913), Zaluski (1776), Zamoyski (1778),
Zborowski (1792).
COUNT
(Prussia)
Bninski (1798), Czapski (1804), Czarnecki* (1854), Drambski
(1825), Grabowski-Topor (1816), Gurowski (1787), Krasinski (1798), Kwilecki
(1816), Lubienski (1798), Miaczynski (1853), Mielzynski (1786), Mycielski
(1822), Ostrowski (1798), Poninski (1782), Potulicki (1780), Raczynski
(1824), Skorzewski* (1840), Sokolnicki (1817), Szembek (1816), Taczanowski/Dassanowsky*
(1857), Zoltowski* (1840).
Note: * Those families with an asterisk following
the surname received titles that are passed on by primogeniture.
COUNT (Russia)
Czacki (1897), Grocholski (1881), Kaszowski-Ilinski (1902),
Kossakowski (1843), Mostowski (1843), Moszczenski (1856), Ostorog-Wolski
(1903), Ozarowski (1838), Plater (1774), Ronikier (1850), Tyszkiewicz
(1861).
COUNT (Saxony)
Breza (1889), Suminski (1870).
COUNT (Italy)
Orlowski* (1879).
Note: This title is passed on by primogeniture.
The title of Baron appears amongst Polish families only
after the year of Our Lord 1780. Those families that hold the title of
Baron are as follows:
BARON
(Austria)
Blazowski (1780), Borowski-Jastrebiec (1808), Chledowski
(1884), Dulksi (1782), Gostowski (1782), Heydel (1826), Horoch (1791),
Lewartowski (1783).
BARON (France)
Chlapowski* (1811), Skarzynsi* (1814).
Note: These French titles are passed on by primogeniture.
BARON
(Prussia)
Grotthus (1844)
BARON (Russia)
Puszet (1826), Kosinski (1836)
In conclusion, the titled families of the Commonwealth
of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania number twenty-six
Princes, one Margrave, ninety-nine Counts and thirteen Barons.
|