Princely houses of Poland and Lithuania

The princely houses of Poland and Lithuania differed from other princely houses in Europe. Most importantly, Polish nobility (szlachta) could not be granted nobility titles by the Polish kings in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Therefore, the title of prince either dated to the times before the Union of Lublin, which created the Commonwealth in 1569, or was granted to some nobles (usually magnates) by foreign kings. Due to the longstanding history of common statehood, some noble families often described as "Polish" actually originated in Grand Duchy of Lithuania and are of Lithuanian or Ruthenian descent. Some houses are more correctly described as being of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Kingdom of Poland

#	Name	Coat of Arms	Title recognition	Remarks
Royal Houses
1	Piast dynasty		c. 960 The first historical dynasty prevailing in Poland from about 960 to 1370. Their progenitor, the semi-legendary Piast the Wheelwright, son of Chościsko, came from Gniezno. According to the chronicles of Gallus Anonymus, the son of Piast the Wheelwright and his wife Rzepicha – Siemowit, became the first ruler of the Piast dynasty. Followed by Lestek and Siemomysł. The first ruler of the Piast dynasty and Civitas Schinesghe (the first recorded name related to Poland as a political entity), who historically is not questioned, was Mieszko I of Poland.	died out in 1370 in the Kingdom of Poland with the death of king Casimir III the Great; the last Silesian Piasts, who formed the oldest branch of the first Polish royal Piast dynasty, were George William, Duke of Liegnitz in 1675, and the last Silesian Piast female was Karolina, Duchess of Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau in 1707, in the Duchies of Silesia
2	Jagiellonian dynasty		1386 Princely (grand ducal) roots of this family are older, but only connected with Lithuania. Previously also known as the Gediminid dynasty in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The dynasty takes its name from Władysław II Jagiełło who was the Grand Duke of Lithuania between 1377–1434 and then alongside his wife queen regnant Jadwiga of Poland (reign 1384–1399) became king of Poland between 1386 and 1434.	died out in 1596

Duchy of Pomerania

#	Name	Coat of Arms	Title recognition	Remarks
Dukes of Pomerania
1	House of Griffins		1106	died out in 1660
2	House of Sobiesław		1227	died out in 1317 (Duchy of Pomerelia)

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

#	Name	Coat of Arms	Title recognition	Estates	Remarks
"Ancient" Princely Houses (Rody „stare”)
1	Olelkowicz		1569	Duchy of Kopylsko-Słuck	title expired in 1592
2	Ostrogski		1569	Ordynacja and Duchy of Ostroróg, Jarosław, Tarnów	title expired in 1620
4	Borkowski		1499	Duchy of Samogitia[1]	family exists
5	Borowski		~1528	Princely family of Rurikid origin, Kniaz, Kśiestwo Żmudzkie	family exists [2]
6	Zasławski		1569	Duchy of Zasław, Ordynacja and Duchy of Ostroróg	title expired in 1682
7	Zbaraski		1569	Duchy of Zbaraż	title expired in 1631
8	Wiśniowiecki		1569	Duchy of Wiśniowiec, Duchy of Łubniów, Duchy of Zbaraż	title expired in 1744
9	Korecki		1569	Duchy of Korets	title expired in 1651
10	Sanguszko		1569	Duchy of Koszyrsk, Ordynacja Ostrogska, Duchy of Zasław	family exists
11	Czartoryski		1569	Duchy of Czartorysk, Duchy of Klewań, Puławy, Sieniawa	family exists
12	Czetwertyński		1569	Duchy of Czetwertynia	family exists
13	Radziwiłł		1569	Duchy of Birżańsk, Ordynacja and Duchy of Nieświez, Duchy of Dubienica, Ordynacja and Duchy of Ołyka, Ordynacja Kleck, Duchy of Kopylsko-Słuck	family exists
14	Tarczyński		1569	Duchy of Tarczyn,	family exists
"New" Princely Houses (Rody „nowe”)
14	Lubomirski		1682	Wiśnicz, Kolbuszowa, Jarosław, Przeworsk, Ordynacja Ostrogska	family exists
15	Poniatowski		1764	Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, Jabłonna, Kozienice, Grodno, Wołczyn	family exists
16	Sapieha		1768	Różana, Kodeń, Horki, Zelwa	family exists
Princes of the Partition Sejm
17	Poniński		1773	Września	title expired in 1920
18	Sułkowski		1774	Leszno, Ordynacja Rydzyńska	family exists
19	Jabłonowski		1775	Duchy of Ostrog	title expired in 1926
20	Massalski (Hetmans-Bishops line)		1775	Lachowicze, Mysz, Werki, Druja	title expired in 1794
Ordynacja families
21	Zamoyski (Hetman line)		1588	Ordynacja Zamojska, Szarogród	title expired in 1665
22	Zamoyski (Younger line)		1676	Ordynacja Zamojska	family exists
23	Gonzaga-Myszkowski		1601	Ordynacja Pińczowska	title expired in 1727
24	Gonzaga-Myszkowski-Wielopolski		1729	Ordynacja Pińczowska	family exists
Lords of Principalities
25	Potocki family		1696	Duchy of Zbaraz	family exists
26	Mniszech		1744	Duchy of Wiśniowiec	died out in 1905
Royal Houses
27	Sobieski		1674	Żółkiew	died out in 1737
28	Leszczyński		1705	Leszno	died out in 1766
Dukes of Polish fiefs
29	Hohenzollern		1525	Duchy of Prussia, Lębork, Bytów, Taurogi, Sereje	family exists
30	Kettler		1561	Duchy of Courland and Semigallia	title expired in 1737
31	Movilești (Mohyłowie)		1595	Principality of Moldavia, Wielkie Oczy	title expired, family exists in Ukraine and Western Russia
32	Wettin		1759	Duchy of Courland and Semigallia	title expired in 1763, family exists
33	Biron		1737	Duchy of Courland and Semigallia	family exists
Clergy Princes
34	Bishops of Gniezno		traditionally	Duchy of Łowicz	liquidated in 1795
35	Bishops of Krakow		traditionally	Duchy of Siewierz	liquidated in 1790
36	Bishops of Warmia		traditionally	Duchy of Warmia	liquidated in 1772
37	Bishops of Płock		traditionally	Duchy of Pułtusk	liquidated in 1795
38	Provost of Płock		traditionally	Duchy of Sieluń	liquidated in 1790

Old Lithuanian Gediminid and Ruthenian (Rurikid) Princely Houses

#	Name	Coat of Arms	Remarks
Princely Houses
1	Giedroyć		family exists
2	Światopełk-Mirski		family exists
3	Drucki		Branches: Druccy-Sokoliński, Drucki-Konopla, Drucki-Ozierecki, Drucki-Pryhabski, Drucki-Horski, Drucki-Tołoczyński, Drucki-Lubecki family exists
4	Rużyński		died out in the 17th century
5	Kurcewicz		family exists
6	Połubiński		family exists
7	Łukomski		family exists
8	Ostrożecki		died out
9	Zasławski		family exists
10	Porycki		died out in 1637. Princes of Ruthenian origin in the Korybut clan.
12	Żyżemski		perhaps died out
13	Hołowczyński		died out in 1658
14	Szujski		died out in 1658
15	Holszański		died out
16	Szemiot / Szameit		family exists
17	Pac		died out in 1835
17	Świrski		family exists
18	Fedorowicz / Fiedorowicz		died out
19	Gliński		died out

Princely Houses with Tatar origin

These princely houses lived like average rich nobility, but sometimes part of these lived like peasants.^[3]

Princely titles granted by foreign monarchs

#	Name	Coat of Arms	Title recognition		Remarks
1	Czartoryski		1433[4]	Holy Roman Empire A confirmation of the old princely title	family exists
2	Radziwiłł		1515/18 and 1547	Holy Roman Empire A confirmation of the old princely title	family exists
3	Ossoliński		1633, 1634, 1736	Papal States, Holy Roman Empire, France	entitled family lines died out
4	Denhoff		1637	Holy Roman Empire	entitled family line died out
5	Koniecpolski		1637	Holy Roman Empire	entitled family line died out
6	Lubomirski		1647	Holy Roman Empire	family exists
7	Jabłonowski		1698, 1733/34, 1743	Holy Roman Empire	entitled family line died out
8	Sapieha/Sapieha-Rożański/Sapieha-Kodeński		1700	Holy Roman Empire A confirmation of the old princely title	family exists
9	Sułkowski		1752	Holy Roman Empire	family exists
10	Lichnowski		1773	Prussia	family exists
11	Poniatowski		1765, 1847, 1850	Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (Bohemian title of Prince), Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy	family exists
12	Zajączek		1818	Russia	title expired in 1826
13	Łowicki		1820	Russia An additional title of prince donated to the wife of Grand Duke Konstantin and for their descendants	there were not children from this marriage. The title was expired
14	Radoliński		1888	Prussia	family exists

Kingdom of Poland (Congress Poland)

#	Name	Coat of Arms	Title recognition	Remarks
Princely Houses
1	Światopełk-Mirski		1821 A confirmation of the old princely title	family exists
2	Puzyna		1823 A confirmation of the old princely title	family exists
4	Ogiński		1824 A confirmation of the old princely title	family exists
5	Woroniecki/Korybut-Woroniecki		1844 and 1852 A confirmation of the old princely title	family exists

See also

• List of Polish rulers
• List of szlachta
• List of Polish titled nobility
• Magnates of Poland and Lithuania

References

Further reading

• Konarski S., 1958, Armorial de la noblesse polonaise titrée, Paris.
• Kowalski M., 2007, Księstwa w przestrzeni politycznej I Rzeczpospolitej, [w:] I. Kiniorska, S. Sala (red.), Rola geografii społeczno-ekonomicznej w badaniach regionalnych, Instytut Geografii AŚ, PTG, Kielce, 2007, s. 177–186.
• Leitgeber S., 1993, Nowy Almanach Błękitny, Oficyna Wydawnicza „Audiutor”, Poznań-Warszawa.
• Olszewski H., 1969, Ustrój polityczny Rzeczpospolitej (w:) Tazbir J. (red.), Polska XVII wieku – państwo, społeczeństwo, kultura. Wiedza Powszechna, Warszawa, s. 52-83
• Niesiecki K., Herbarz Polski (Polish Armorial) full title: "Korona Polska przy złotey wolnosci starożytnemi Rycerstwa Polskiego y Wielkiego Xięstwa Litewskiego kleynotami naywyższymi Honorami Heroicznym, Męstwem y odwagą, Wytworną Nauką a naypierwey Cnotą, nauką Pobożnością, y Swiątobliwością ozdobiona Potomnym zaś wiekom na zaszczyt y nieśmiertelną sławę Pamiętnych w tey Oyczyźnie Synow podana TOM ... Przez X. Kaspra Niesieckego Societatis Jesu", Lwów, 1738.
  • "Korona Polska..." vol. 1
  • "Korona Polska..." vol. 2
  • "Korona Polska..." vol. 3
  • "Korona Polska..." vol. 4

Edition expanded by other authors: Herbarz Polski... vol. 4–10, published by Jan Nepomucen de Bobrowicz, Leipzig, 1841

• Jasienica P., Myśli o dawnej Polsce, Warszawa: Czytelnik, 1990, ISBN 83-07-01957-5, OCLC 69526168
• Klubówna A., Królowa Jadwiga. Warszawa 1986
• Tęgowski J., Krąg rodzinny Jarosława Bogorii (w:) Genealogia – polska elita polityczna na tle porównawczym, Toruń 1993

This page was last edited on 3 October 2023, at 22:12