Nobility in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Introduction by Piotr Nojszewski, WTG, Warsaw, Poland Legal warning 1. Plan of the lecture 2. What is szlachta 3. How to check if my ancestors were noble? 4. The verification of nobility in Russia. 5. Armorials and other sources 6. Genealogical sources for noble ancestors
Why is this topic important for researchers? If your ancestors were nobles, even very poor, you have real chances to expand your family tree to 17th Century and in some cases even further.
2 What is “szlachta”? Szlachta (Polish term for nobility) is an upper social class with certain privileges. Usually, people who served with arms for the duke or the king. Its privileges included right to own land and electing the monarch. Nobility was inherited in paternal line (later changed) How to become a noble? • Ennoblement (by King or Sejm) • Heraldic Adoption / Cooptation (by a noble family) • Indygenat / Naturalization (of a foreign noble) • Personal title (non-inherited) connected with a function or a distinction Other than in Western Europe the szlachta accounted for up to 8% of the entire population. In some regions like in Podlasie up to 25% percent of all inhabitants were nobles. Majority of nobles were poor, many not owning any land. Ród herbowy (clan) - one and the same code of arms was used by many families with no common roots. 4. Russian verification of the nobility – „Legitymacja” Russian administration started a process of verification of rights to nobility. A special office called Heroldia Królestwa Polskiego was established in Warsaw and similar in other gubernias of Russian Empire. As a result, many valuable documents were created like family trees, copies of old metrical and court records. Warning: partly faked. The Kaczanowski Information Office in Warsaw was one of the intermediaries in this process. His huge archive is now in Kiev CDIAK Historical Archive in Ukraine. Ongoing scanning project by a Polish genealogist. Supporters by a crowd funding platform get priority access. More: https://zrzutka.pl/en/64jbck
Piotr Nojszewski WTG [email protected]
3 How to prove nobility today? There are no noble surnames in Polish genealogy, but a surname can be an important clue. Most nobles had surnames with the ending -ski. But the ending -ski is not a prove. Some surnames are used by nobles and non-nobles. To proof you need to build a family tree till preferably 1800. In the Latin records your ancestor should be described as noble eg „nobilis”, „generosus”, but not „famatus” not „honestus”. In the Polish language records of XW and in Lithuania nobles are described as eg „urodzony”, „szlachcic”, „szlachcic częściowy”, „dziedzic”, „dziedzic częściowy” sometimes „Jaśnie Wielmożny”. In Prussia “von” in Austria eg Ritter or „von”. Official lists of nobles for Królestwo Polskie and Russian Gubernias. Example: https://crispa.uw.edu.pl/object/files/416383/display/PDF
Check armorials as a supportive source http://gajl.wielcy.pl/ https://wielcy.pl/boniecki/pl/ https://wielcy.pl/niesiecki/
Other important armorials include Paprocki, Wielądek, Uruski. There are many special armorials covering some areas like Kaszuby or Galicja or specific groups like Tatars or Evangelic nobility.
The information from the armorials requires professional verification. 3 Genealogical sources for noble ancestors Most valuable examples include: Teczki wywodowe – documents prepared to prove nobility. Stored in archives in former capitals of gubernias including Warsaw, Vilnius, Kiev and RGIA in St. Petersburg. Księgi grodzkie i ziemskie – old court records starting from 15th century. Examples: https://szukajwarchiwach.pl/4/270/0
Metryka Koronna I Metryka Litewska records of activity of the court and the king, includes eg information on individual nobles like donations of land, oldest from 15th century. Examples: https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/zespol/-/zespol/124778
Contact: Piotr Nojszewski [email protected],pl
Piotr Nojszewski WTG [email protected]