The
following is a direct translation from the classical genealogical
and heraldic reference "Herbarz Polski" by Kasper
Niesiecki, S. J., Lipsk edition, 1839-1846.
Neither Paprocki nor Okolski wrote about these arms. They bear a
basket adorned by various flowers. MS. o Familiach Pruskich
says that in the arms there is a basket with one handle, filled
with clusters of grapes, and in the helm are three red ostrich
feathers, separate from each other, and upon the middle one is a
yellow bugle. Of the Butlers in England, however, Cambdenus in
Britain describes the arms in his printed work thus: on the
escutcheon are five palings such as are set up on fortresses,
with the tips pointing upward, of a golden color, and above them
is a field of blue. On the helm are allegedly no ostrich
feathers. The coat of arms was brought first from England to Courland, then to Poland.
At one time the arms flourished in England; I will cite briefly
the various authors I have read on this score. First of all, Vadingus
dates Edmund Butler, a baron in Ireland, from 1269; he is
mistaken about the year, but what he relates about him is
certain. Edmund was hearing Mass at his usual service, at the
Franciscans' church in Clonmel, when he was informed that the
neighboring lords, who were quarreling with him, had attacked his
estates with a great crowd of people and were pillaging them;
Edmund, not the least disconcerted by this news and valuing more
the things of God than of this earth, heard out the Mass to the
end as if he'd been told nothing, with deep ardor, and when the
Mass was finished he set upon his enemies with a small handful of
relatives and servants and drove them away, recovering all their
loot. Vadingus tom 2. num. 12.
James Butler was declared first earl of Ormonde (or, as Cambdenus
prefers, "Ormandia," also "Ormondia") in
Ireland by Edward III, King of England, in 1326, having
previously been count of Tipperary, as Vadingus in Annal.
Minor. tom. 2 sub. ann. 1336 num. 37 claims in the history
of the Kingdom of Ireland. Cambdenus however writes this about
Edmund Butler, not James, and says it was Edward II, not Edward
III. He says also of this James that Henry VI elevated him to
Count of Sarisbury [Salisbury? - Trans.]; that this same
James was governor of all Ireland under Henry VI; and Vadingus
under the year 1300 num. 16 claims that he was royal
cupbearer in England, if there is no mistake: for in the letter
of endowment when he donated and turned his palace of Carrick
over to the Minorites' monastery, he is called not James but Pincernam. Haroldus num. 5. His son James completed this
endowment and brought it to its culmination.
Gwilhelm Butler, provincial of the order of the Minorites in
England in 1410, was a learned man known for the books he
published. Haroldus in Epit. num. 5. anno 1410. et 1414. num.
2. Thomas Butler was earl of Ormonde, about which Cambdenus
writes. They later moved to Courland; Jerzy Butler, bishop of
Samara, suffragan of Inflanty, flourished in the year 1630.
Goldonowski in Bractwo. And I had a chance to read the
letters of the prince of Courland written in 1579, in which
mention is made of the Butlers.
In our realm the first Jakób Butler, Irish nobleman, noted for
his courage in various expeditions and loyalty to King Zygmunt
III and the commonwealth, was naturalized by the Warsaw sejm in
1627, praevio juramento fidelitatis, on which see
constitution fol. 15. He was a man born for war, for he
displayed his knighthood in the Prussian war. For this in
recognition of his services the commonwealth ordered that two
hundred and five thousand be enumerated to him, Constit. fol.
1635. fol. 29. He also served in the imperial forces in the
rank of colonel; at the epugnacya of Meissen among the
loot was an almost complete bone of the apostle St. Paul
supposedly a rib, it was found by the soldiers at some point
enclosed among the ruins of the walls of the cathedral deanery -
and he got hold of it and, bringing it back to Poland, gave it to
King Wladyslaw IV. Wladyslaw, for his part, placed it in the
Kraków church of St. Peter as an eternal gift in the year 1633. Hist.
Coll. Cracovien. Soc. Jesu.
Gwalter [Walter] Butler, a colonel in the imperial forces in the
year 1634, discovered and suppressed Wallenstein's treason. Cluv.
Epit. fol. 797. Stefan z Beblu Butler, captain of the
commonwealth, signed from Inflanty for the election of Jan
Kazimierz; I assume this was the son of the Jakób of whom we
talked.
Gwilhelm Gottard Butler, chamberlain of the crown, starosta
of Preny [Prynski, could be of Pransk, but Preny seems most
likely - Trans.] and Nowe, spent his life in the crown's
forces and earned honors. A constitution in 1661 fol. 4.
mentions him as an oberszter, a second as a general, at
which point his foreign infantry is reckoned at one thousand one
hundred seventy-four. What was most laudable in him is that he
rejected heresy and embraced the true faith (Scrutin.
Veritatis P. Hacki) in which he finished his life in the
year 1678. He married Konstancya z Wodynia Wodynska of Kosciesza
arms, by whom he had sons Marek and Jan.
Marek Butler in Miedzylesie and Opole, Drohiczyn chamberlain and starosta
of Preny, was a royal colonel, of whom there is frequent mention
in crown constitutions: thus by the sejm in 1678 he was
deputed to set the borders between the royal estates and those of
the Bielsk chamberlain (Constit. fol. 7. et 38.), and by
the sejm of 1683 he was appointed commissioner to set
the boundaries and establish justice between the provinces of
Mazovia and Podlasie and the Prussian principality (Constitut.
fol. 11) as well as to deal with the Tsars of Moscow for
eternal peace (Constit. 1690, fol. 2), and in 1685 as a
representative at the sejm he was appointed to review
the royal metryka [records of births, deaths, etc. Trans.]
(Constit. fol. 8). His son Alexander was starosta
of Preny and then of Drohiczyn, and as a representative of
Podlasie province, Drohiczyn district, signed the general
confederation after the death of Jan III; he married Konstancya Krassowska, daughter of the Mielnik chamberlain, of Jastrzebiec
arms, by whom he had a son Antoni, who married Franciszka
Szczucka and had three sons, Michal Pronski, Józef Witagolski,
and Alexander Mielnicki, starostas, of whom the last
married Katarzyna Granowska, daughter of the Jablonowo starosta.
One of the Butlers was also abbot of Witów. Konstancya Butler
was the wife of Bartlomiej Gieschawa. Jan Butler, Nowe starosta,
royal colonel, was appointed by the 1678 sejm
commissioner for the recognition of Brandenburg's claims (Constit.
fol. 12.). He was later Podlasie castellan, and was married
to Zelecka, daughter of the crown master of the hunt. There are
Butlers in Great Poland as well, and supposedly they use the same
coat of arms as the Butlers in England, of whom I spoke earlier.
Alexander, count Butler, Mielnik starosta, was an
ambassador to the convocation of August III and signed from the
district of Mielnik for the election of King Stanislaw August. -
Ignacy was Wilkomierz cup-bearer. - Heraldyka Wieladka. |