The Clan of Ostoja (old Polish: Ostoya) was a powerful group of knights and lords in late-medieval Europe. The clan encompassed families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (including present-day Belarus and Ukraine), Hungary and Upper Hungary (now Slovakia), Transylvania, and Prussia. The clan crest is the Ostoja coat of arms,Prof. Józef Szymański, Herbarz rycerstwa polskiego z XVI wieku, Warsaw 2001, Klejnoty by Długosz, Armorial Gelre, Armorial Lyncenich, Codex Bergshammar, Armorial de Bellenville, Chronicle of Council of Constance, Toison d’Or and the battle cry is Ostoja ("Mainstay") or Hostoja ("Prevail"). The Ostoja family adopted the Royal-Sarmatian tamga draco (dragon) emblem.
During the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the clan adopted several Lithuanian families, generally of Ruthenian princely origin, and transformed into a clan of landlords, senators and nobility.Franciszek Ksawery Piekosinski, Heraldyka polska wieków średnich (Polish Heraldry of the Middle Ages), Kraków, 1899 Members of the clan worked together closely, often living close to each other. They held high positions, and held a great amount of land and properties in the Commonwealth and in Upper Hungary (today mostly present-day Slovakia) in medieval times, including many great gothic castles.Kaspar Niesiecki, Herbarz Polski, print Jan Bobrowicz, Leipzig 1839-1846 Members of clan Ostoja ruled several feudal lordships in Upper Hungary between 1390 and 1434 and Transylvania in 1395-1401 and again in 1410–1414, during the time of Duke Stibor of Stiboricz.László: A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig - Életrajzi Lexikon (The High Officers of the Hungarian State from Saint Stephen to the Present Days - A Biographical Encyclopedia); Magyar Könyvklub, 2000, Budapest; Bran Castle Museum official site, section about DraculaDvořáková, Daniela, Rytier a jeho kráľ. Stibor zo Stiboríc a Žigmund Lucemburský. Budmerice, Vydavateľstvo Rak 2003,
A line of the clan which included relatives of Stibor of Stiboricz who followed him to Hungary was included in Hungarian aristocracy as Imperial Barons (Reichfreiherr) of the Hungarian kingdom in 1389. Stibor of Stiboricz and his son, Stibor of Beckov, were both members of the Order of the Dragon.Magyar Arisztokracia-http://ferenczygen.tripod.com/ At the same time in Poland between 1390 and 1460, several members of clan Ostoja ruled Voivodeships and cities as castellans, voivods and senators on behalf of the king, and the clan was therefore in control of Pomerania, Kuyavia, and partly Greater Poland, which were a considerable part of the Kingdom of Poland at that time.
The clan was involved in every war Poland participated in, and after the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth clan members can be seen in every independence movement and uprising, fighting against foreign forces. The clan put high value on education and were, in general, good administrators of their properties as well as the properties of the king (starostwa). They also included inventors, poets, scientists, and great diplomats.
Background
Polish clans and surnames
Polish clans had many genealogically unrelated families, either because of families' formal adoption into various clans, or because of misattributions petrified in heraldic literature. They also had members related by male-line genealogy. The genealogically unrelated families were brought together in the Polish heraldic tradition through use of the same coat of arms and the same clan (coat-of-arms) appellation (name).
In contrast to other European countries, medieval Polish clans were unusually powerful compared to the Polish monarch. Though each clan was found in a certain territory, each clan also had family members in many other areas of Poland as they moved during medieval times also to settle down on the property(pl:posag) of their wife's or because they were assigned to settle down and serve the Crown, holding office and in some cases, were granted land in the area. Clan members supported each other in court sessions and in the battles, sharing same battle cry and later sharing same coat of arms. The powerful member was usually also the head of the clan, helping and caring for other clan members, calling for them when need for battle.
Polish family names were appended with –cki or –ski in reference to the name of their properties; for example, if a person named Chelmski acquired the town of Poniec, he would change his surname to Poniecki.http://www.poniec.pl – “Jak Chelmscy stali sie Ponieckimi” Furthermore, Jerzykowski (de Jerzykowo) that owned property of Baranowo changed his surname to Baranowski (de Baranowo) and Baranowski that owned property of Chrzastowo change the surname to Chrzastowski (de Chrzastowo). The medieval Ostoja Clan seems to have been situated in more than 163 original nests and divergent locations, reflected in various surnames.IH PANhttp://www.slownik.ihpan.edu.pl/search.php?id=3775 A clan became partly a name for the family members with different surnames.
Clan members could help both military and in the court, supporting each other in many different way.Ignacy Krasicki - Satyry (Dziela, r.1802-1804), Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warsaw 1988
Chronology
Legendary origin According to one legend,Piotr Nalecz-Malachowski, Zbior nazwisk szlachty, Lublin 1805, reprint Biblioteka narodowa w Warszawie 1985, (nr. sygn. List of ruleBN80204)M. Cetwiński i M. Derwich, Herby, legendy, dawne mity, Wrocław 1987 the coat of arms was given in 1058 to a brave feudal knight, (Colonel) Ostoja, by Bolesław II the Generous. However, there may be another, older origin: Ostoja family members often used the name of Stibor (Scibor, Czcibor), on the basis of a family origin from Czcibor, victorious in the Battle of Cedynia brother of Mieszko I of PolandK. Jasiński: Rodowód pierwszych Piastów, Poznań: 2004, pp. 185-187. . – .
Piekosinski indicates that the early crest of Ostoja was almost identical with the Piast dynasty crest. It has two "moons" and a cross, and the crest of the Piast dynasty was very similar, lacking the "moon" on top.
Another legend tells however that the Ostoja coat of arms origin from another brave Knight, Jan z Jani of Ostoja, first Polish voivode/duke of Pomerania and Gdańsk. Chased by a group Teutonic Knights, he had succeeded in crossing a river on horse despite being clad in full armor, and then raised his voice so the Lord would hear him and said "Ostałem" which means "I still stay" from which comes the name of Ostoja.Legend about Jan z Jani - http://www.gniew.pl/index.php?strona=98&breakup=14 However, this legend is undermined by the term "Ostoja" being known far before the time of Jan z Jani.
Origin
The Ostoja coat of arms evolved from Sarmatian tamga emblems.Helmut Nickel, Tamga and Runes, Magic Numbers and Magic Symbols, The Metropolitan Art Museum 1973 The dragon in the Ostoja coat of arms relates to the Sarmatian dragon that had been used by Royal Sarmatians who, according to Strabo and Ptolemy, had lived in the area between Bessarabia and the lower Danube Valley and were descendants of the Royal Scythians.Richard Brzezinski and Mariusz Mielczarek, The Sarmatians 600 BC-AD 450 (Men-At-Arms nr. 373), Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002. This dragon was adopted by Roman legions and was used by Sarmatian cataphracts (armored heavy cavalry). The term draconarius was applied to the soldier who carried the draco standard.Helmut Nickel, The Dawn of Chivalry, Metropolitan Museum of ArtHelmut Nickel, Tamga and Runes, Magic Numbers and Magic Symbols, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973.
Early history
The earliest historical records that mention the Clan use the name Stibor, which derives from Czcibor (Scibor, Czcibor, Cibor, Czesbor, Cidebur)Karol Olejnik: Cedynia, Niemcza, Głogów, Krzyszków. Kraków: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, 1988. . which comes from czcic (to honor) and borzyc (battle), thus denoting a person who “Battles for Honor” or who is the “Defender of Honor”.
An early Clan location is a village Sciborzyce, located in Lesser Poland that before 1252 was a property of Mikołaj of Ostoja. There are also notes about villages of Sciborowice and Stiborio (or Sthibor) around the same area in 1176 and 1178. Mikołaj of Ostoja ended building of the Roman church in Wysocice; on the walls of the church he cut an early sign of the Stibor family before it became a coat of arms that is called Ostoja. This sign is identical with the first known seal of Ostoja dated to 1381. Mikołaj's sons, Strachota and Stibor Sciborzyce to the church of Wysocice in 1252 and moved from Lesser Poland. Strachota moved to Mazovia and Stibor to Kujawy where in 1311 a note was found about a village called Sciborze, which become the nest of the kujawian line of Stibors that later become famous in Slovakia and Hungary.http://www.artteka.pl/www/terra/pl/wysocice/wysocice.html the Roman church in Wysocice
By 1025, when Mieszko II Lambert was crowned, the Kingdom of Poland had borders that resemble modern-day Poland. Many landlords (comes, comites) were against centralized power in the kingdom. Rivalry arose between the Lords of Greater Poland, whose capital was Poznań, and those of Lesser Poland, whose main city was Kraków.Norman Davies, Boże igrzysko, t. I, Wydawnictwo ZNAK, Kraków 1987, , p. 128Zygmunt Boras, Książęta piastowscy Wielkopolski, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, Poznań 1983, The Stibors are thought to have been a mainstay of the Piast dynasty, Poland's first ruling dynasty. The Piasts were able to expand Poland during the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century. Clan members were appointed commanding officers of the army units that protected and administered these new counties. The expansion of Poland and of Clan properties seem to have gone hand in hand; for example, when Kuyavia and Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) were incorporated, the Clan expanded into the same area. Records refer to Stibor as Comes of Poniec in 1099, and also refer to another Stibor as Comes of Jebleczna.Bartosz Parpocki, Herby Rycerstwa Polskiego, Kraków 1584, Kazimierz Jozef Turowski edition, Kraków 1858, Nakladem Wydawnictwa Bibliteki Polskiej However, Poniec property belonged to the Crown in 11-12th century and information about Stibor of Poniec year 1099 seems not correct.
According to Tadeusz Manteuffel and Andrew GoreckiManteuffel, Tadeusz (1982). The Formation of the Polish State: The Period of Ducal Rule, 963-1194. Detroit, MICHIGAN: Wayne State University Press. . OCLC 7730959 the Clan consisted of people related by blood and descending from a common ancestor in early medieval time. Before the time of Mieszko I of Poland that united different tribes, the tribes were ruled by the Clan. During the time of Bolesław I Chrobry (967 – 17 June 1025) and Bolesław III Wrymouth clans included free mercenaries from different part of Europe but especially from Normandy to defend their properties and country. The original nests of the Ostoja family were situated in Lesser Poland and the Clan expanded north to Kujawy and Pomerania during the formation of the Polish state. It is possible that part of the families in the Clan of Ostoja also originated from free mercenaries, but most, Ostoja families originated from Royal Sarmatians, the Draconarius.
Before 1226 the Ostoja Battle Cry transformed to a coat of arms when the concept of heraldry came into prominent use in Poland. Knights began to have their shields and other equipment decorated with marks of identification. These marks and colors evolved into a way to identify the bearer as a member of a certain family or Clan. The dragon in Ostoja has been used and identified by the majority of Ostoja families since the 2nd century.
Late medieval period