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 For
each herb [clan shield, coat of arms] the blazon or verbal
description of the arms is first given in authentic heraldic style,
followed by a translation from the Polish description by Niesiecki.
The right and left sides of a shield are identified from the
standpoint of the bearer, i. e., the one holding the shield. His
right would be your left and vice versa. The tinctures (colors) in
heraldry are as follows: azure = blue, gules = red; sable
= black; or = gold, argent = silver; vert = green.
In heraldry all charges (pictures) on a shield are assumed to be
facing dexter (right side) unless otherwise specified. In Polish
heraldry all animals or birds are assumed to be in their natural
coloring unless otherwise specified.
Gules: two fleurs-de-lis addorsed in pale argent,
conjoined and banded in a fess or. Out of a crest coronet a
panaché of peacock plumes proper charged with the device of the
shield.
There should be two lilies, one upward, one
downward, joined at the roots in such a manner that they seem to be
a single lily; they are white in a red field, and the place where
they join is yellow, although not all use the arms in that form. On
the helmet are peacock feathers, and on them the same lilies. This
is how the arms are described by Paprocki in Gniazdo cnoty [Nest
of Virtues], p. 503, and in O herbach [On Clan
Shields], p. 224; by Okolski, vol. 1, p. 220; and
Bielski, p. 142. Even our Rev. Petrasancta, in describing foreign
crests, includes a similar coat of arms, differing only in the color
of the shield.
P. Bonnani in Ordines Equestres, p. 68,
writes that Sancho III, called the Great because he drove the Moors
from the Kingdom of Navarre, following in the tracks of Garcia, his
predecessor, ordered the image of the Visitation of the Holy Mother
painted on his soldiers' ensigns, with the inscription Deus
primum Christianum servet [may God Preserve the Christian
first]. This happened circa 1043. His knights supposedly wore a
double golden chain from which a lily hung, and on it a crown. They
were called Equites Lilii [Knights of the Lily], and with
these knights Sancho won many triumphs over his foes.
According to the same author, p. 69, Pope Paul III
established a cavalry of Equites lilii, and they wore a gold
coin, one side of which featured an image of the Blessed Virgin, and
the other had a lily in a gold field, around which was the
inscription Pauli III Pontificis Maximi munus [gift of Pope
Paul III, Supreme Pontiff]. This Pope was of the Farnese family,
which came from Germany to Italy and earned there the highest
honors, both of the church and state; and they bore a lily in their
arms.
When Charles VII, King of France,
wanted to express his gratitude to the famed Joan of Arc, the Maid
of Orleans, by whose actions not only the city of Orleans but all of
France was freed from the power of England, he elevated her whole
family to the nobility and conferred on them arms with a silver
sword in a blue field, and adorned the sword with gold lilies on
each side; he placed a gold crown on the end of that sword, and
ordered that, where they had previously called themselves Darc
[of Arc], they now should sign their name de Lilio. Spondanus
in Annals 1429, No. 9. [Omitted: a long section on the use
of lilies in the arms of the Kings of France].
Our genealogists say that these arms were acquired
here in Poland, and were not imported from foreign lands. For when a
knight who was heir to the Gozdawa estate acquitted himself manfully
in the king's sight in various expeditions, he took as a reward for
his services the crest described above, which was named Gozdawa for
him. None of our sources say in what year this happened; only the
manuscript of Rev. Rutka says that the arms were conferred in 1090
by the Polish duke Wladyslaw Hermann. But I am inclined to think the
arms are older than that, inasmuch as not long after that-to wit, in
1108-Szymon was named Bishop of Plock, and Paprocki, in his Gniazdo
cnoty [Nest of Virtue], mentions Krystyn Gozdawa in 1090, whose
son, also named Krystyn, flourished circa 1140.
There were many other illustrious men
named Krystyn [Christian] who bore Gozdawa arms, foremost among them
Krystyn, Palatine of Plock. His knightly deeds and victories over
the Prussians, who at that time were pagan, caused them to take him
for a god. Konrad, Duke of Mazovia, was his ward for a long time,
and Krystyn administered his lands; when Konrad came of age to rule
and Krystyn handed his lands over to him, he not only had not lost
any of Konrad's territory-he had even expanded its borders. But
others envious of Krystyn turned him over to Konrad under suspicion
of having harmed the land; he was imprisoned, his eyes were put out,
and later even his life was taken, amid much agony, in 1221. He was
a God-fearing man and just. See Cromer in Lesco or Bielski,
p. 147, and Dlugosz in Episcopi Plocen. [Bishops of Plock].
A second Krystyn was palatine of Plock in 1372.
In Archiepiscopi Leop. [Archbishops of Lvov] Scrobiszov
includes in this house Krystyn, the first archbishop of Halicz. But
he was led astray by some author, for he adds that Krystyn signed
his name as z Ostrowa ["from Ostrów" or "Ostrowo"],
just like Krystyn, castellan of Sandomierz, which would lead one
to say that he belonged
to clan Rawicz rather than to clan Gozdawa. This Krystyn erected
a cathedral in Halicz under the name of St. Mary Magdalene, and
endowed it, setting up canons there; inasmuch as the revenues of
this cathedral were initially meager, he also fed everyone at his
own table, and shared his fortune generously with others who were
poor. He was a merciful pastor to the poor and the wise; he belonged
to the Order of St. Francis.
Szymon Gozdawa, bishop of Plock, had been the
Plock archdeacon before entering that position. Out of humility he
declined his election for a long time; but at length everyone,
seeing his prudence, humble life, refined learning as judged by the
standards of the time, and other virtues suitable for pastoral
functions, began to insist that he accept his election, and he no
longer resisted the will of God. He took on this burden, and since
schism at that time was tearing apart the Church of God, he was
additionally consecrated in that rank by the Archbishop of Gniezno.
Szymon did not change his former pious life in the least, and was
all the more careful to
become a prominent example to the
flock entrusted to him. Thus he said his Matins [the morning
prayers of the Office prayed each day by priests] and his other
prayers in the church with the other priests; and he celebrated Holy
Mass every day. Of his sanctity Wincenty Kadlubek gives more
extensive proof in his Chronicle, when he ascribes the
victory of the Poles over the Prussian and Pomeranians as due to his
prayers [that victory occurred in the year 1112, according to
Dlugosz]. Amid his virtues and efforts for his flock, and high
regard for his sanctity, death took him in 1129; he had
administered that church for 21 years. I read another unusual
item about him in manuscripts, that the manor in Peplowo that this
bishop blessed, although made of wood, still stands to this day. See
Lubien. in
Vitae Episcoporum Plocen. [Lives of the Bishops of Plock].
Jan, Bishop of Plock, was only a
canon in that cathedral when he was chosen for that bishopric by its
chapter. He was already advanced in years, for having presided there
for only two years, he passed on into eternity in 1227;
he was buried in the Plock cathedral.
Dlugosz praises him as a man sensible, pious, and with due gravity
for his position, despite his modesty; yet he was subject to gout
and other illnesses. Lubien., ibid.
Filip, archbishop of Gniezno, is included by some
authors among those of clan Poronia, and by others with clan
Wieniawa. But I, with the majority of authors, including Bielski,
Damalewicz, and Paprocki, hold that he was of clan Gozdawa. Janicius
says of him that after he was elected to that position, he awaited
his confirmation from Rome for six years, and was later removed from
it by Pope Nicholas III. In Vitae Archiepiscoporum Gnesnen.
(Lives of the Archbishops of Gniezno], however, Damalewicz
asserts that after a long wait he did finally receive the pallium
[a circular band of white woolen cloth with two hanging strips, the
symbol of an archbishop's authority]; Dlugosz says of him that
he consecrated Jan I, Bishop of Poznan; he died in 1278. Spondanus
and Ruszel say his election as archbishop occurred in 1277.
Bearers of These Arms
| Baczalski |
Humnicki |
Punikowski |
| Bal |
Iwaszkiewicz |
Ramsza |
| Birecki |
Jackowski |
Reklewski |
| Boczkowski |
Jarzabkowski |
Rossowic |
| Bohuszewicz |
Jawornicki |
Secymski |
| Borowski |
Kawecki |
Sokol |
| Brzozowski |
Korff |
Sokolowski |
| Bux |
Kykierc |
Solowski |
| Chrapowiecki |
Lewon |
Stano |
| Dedynski |
Micuta |
Stawiski |
| Delpacy |
Mucharski |
Strzemeski |
| Dyszlewicz |
Nachtraba |
Strzeszkowski |
| Dzierzanowski |
Niemira |
Strzyzowski |
| Gdeszynski |
Osuchowski |
Sulimowski |
| Gizycki |
Pac |
Telezynski |
| Glowinski |
Pampowski |
Tryzna |
| Godzczewski |
Pazdziernowicz |
Trzcinski |
| Godlewski |
Peplowski |
Turkowiecki |
| Golebiowski |
Piasecki |
Wituski |
| Gostkowski |
Pieczychojski |
Zdzarski |
| Gozdowski |
Piotrowski |
|
| Grajowski |
Podbereski |
|
| Grot |
Popowski |
|
| Hanski |
Przedborski |
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[Added note to Niesiecki's text by the
19th-century editor, J. N. Bobrowicz:] Dunczewski,
Kuropatnicki, Malachowski, and Wieladek give the following families
as using these arms:
Biedrzynski, Brodnicki, Dyszel, Kormanicki,
Malowiejski, Nerka Dydynski, Reut, Rusienski, Suchszewski, Sudrawski,
Tyszkowski, Wojkunowski
Not all those, however, classified under the
Gozdawa clan shield use these arms in the same form. First of all,
the Pac family has in the helmet, not lilies, but in their place a
moon that is not full. The Podbereskis differ in that in their arms
there are three ostrich feathers in the helmet, between two banners,
and in the very middle a two-headed eagle, on the breast of which is
Gozdawa. Of the Delpacys we have spoken earlier. The Korfs have
Gozdawa, both on the shield and on the helmet, but on the helmet
there is no peacock tail, but rather three stars, each alongside the
next, over the lilies; and on the helmet they have two Sirens
holding a lily, one on each side. As it happens, I have seen a
similar coat of arms, with half a ring on a red field, and from it,
in place of a diamond, a white lily rose straight upwards. The house
of the Sapiezynskis used three lilies at one time, which they still
bear today, sometimes, among their arms; but some of them have two
of the lilies alongside each other on top, and one on the bottom
beneath them. Others have them all next to each other. And Rev.
Kojalowicz's manuscript attests that in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
many families used the lily in their arms even before the union with
the Kingdom of Poland. The Dzierzanowskis bear two lilies, next to
each other, on their shield, as I saw in Bydgoszcz on a tombstone
with the Bernardine monks. The Kykierc family also bears a variant
of these arms, of which more below [i. e., in the separate entry
for that family].
Some authors include Jan Muskata, 25th bishop of
Kraków, in this clan, and in Vitae Episcoporum Cracov. [Lives of
the Bishops of Kraków] Starowolski put him under the Gozdawa
arms. But in the biography he says Jan was a Silesian nobleman, and
bore nine lilies on a blue field in his arms. I am not sure he would
not belong rather to clan Wierzbno, inasmuch as he was from Silesia,
where the bearers of those arms flourished. But Katski described his
arms as follows: on the sides of Gozdawa two roses were added, one
on either side. He was elected bishop of Kraków in 1296, after
having been archdeacon of Leczyca. From King Waclaw of Poland he
received a castle and the city of Biecz along with its county, a
gift in perpetuity to the Kraków church in recompense for the same
King's having founded Nowy Sacz on the river Dunajec and Biala, on
the bishop's land, where there was a village called Kamienica.
Muskata left Biecz to the abbot of Tyniec abbey under certain
conditions; it was on the border with Hungary and was provided with
a very small guard, so the Hungarians attacked at night and took it.
King Waclaw, to be sure, won it back from the Hungarians not long
thereafter. But he blamed the bishop for not having guarded the
castle adequately and refused to return it to him, and kept it in
his jurisdiction, so that he could give a parish priest to the
rectory in Biecz, and in the village of Rozemberg. Seeing this
unrecoverable loss borne by his bishop, the abbot of Tyniec abbey
issued a summons to Rome, where, pressing him [the king?] by
law, he took from him, in recompense for that loss, the village of
Przeslica or Przeczyca. Lįszló, King of Hungary, also gave him the
gift of a castle and the county of Plocha, which they now call
Mussina. He bought 30 staje's of a field on the outskirts of
Kraków, where the current village of Biskupice was founded [a staje
was an ancient measure of surface area, of varying size from one
area to another]. After paying off the estates of Trabki and
Darczyce, he incorporated them into his diocese. He sided with Czech
King Vaclav against Wladyslaw Lokietek, and at his provocation
Boleslaw, duke of Opole, was admitted to Kraków. He later suffered
much for this from Lokietek; he was seized in Kunowo by members of
the Topor clan and thrown into prison. Later, however, Lokietek
relented. He not only gave him back his freedom and made good all
his losses, he also did not release from prison those who had held
him until they had made restitution to the bishop. Muskata died of
paralysis in 1320 and was buried in Mogila near Kraków.
Piano, bishop of Poznan, by birth an Italian, died in 1151. In Vitae
Episcoporum Posnan. [Lives of the Bishops of Poznan] Dlugosz
says his arms had three lilies in a band slanting downward from the
right side of the shield to the left. He held that seat only a year.
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