Clan of Ostoja

Not to be confused with Ostoja of Bosnia.
Original Ostoja coat of arms

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,[1][2] and the battle cry is Ostoja ("Mainstay") or Hostoja ("Prevail"). The clan, of Alan origin, 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5][6][7]

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.[8] 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.[4]

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.

  1. ^ Prof. Józef Szymański, Herbarz rycerstwa polskiego z XVI wieku, Warsaw 2001, ISBN 83-7181-217-5
  2. ^ Klejnoty by Długosz, Armorial Gelre, Armorial Lyncenich, Codex Bergshammar, Armorial de Bellenville, Chronicle of Council of Constance, Toison d’Or
  3. ^ Franciszek Ksawery Piekosinski, Heraldyka polska wieków średnich (Polish Heraldry of the Middle Ages), Kraków, 1899
  4. ^ a b Kaspar Niesiecki, Herbarz Polski, print Jan Bobrowicz, Leipzig 1839-1846
  5. ^ 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; ISBN 963-547-085-1
  6. ^ Bran Castle Museum official site, section about Dracula[1]
  7. ^ Dvořáková, Daniela, Rytier a jeho kráľ. Stibor zo Stiboríc a Žigmund Lucemburský. Budmerice, Vydavateľstvo Rak 2003, ISBN 978-80-85501-25-4
  8. ^ Magyar Arisztokracia-http://ferenczygen.tripod.com/