Dymitr of Goraj ( pl, Dymitr z Goraja, links=no) (c.1340–1400) of Clan Korczak was a Grand Crown Marshal from 1390 and Court Treasurer in the years 1364–1370 and 1377–1391. He was one of the wealthiest

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

s of his era, and a mentor and adviser to

Queen Jadwiga Jadwiga (; 1373 or 137417 July 1399), also known as Hedwig ( hu, Hedvig), was the first woman to be crowned as monarch of the Kingdom of Poland. She reigned from 16 October 1384 until her death. She was the youngest daughter of Louis the Great ...

of Poland. Dymitr was born around 1340 as the son of Piotr of Klecia (Piotr z Klecia), starost of

Zhydachiv Zhydachiv ( uk, Жидачів) is a city in Stryi Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) in western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Zhydachiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Local government is administered by the Zhydachivska city c ...

, member of the Korczak family (using the

Korczak coat of arms Korczak is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several noble families of Clan Korczak in the times of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History The coat of arms has Hungarian origins; the three bars represent th ...

) and owner of the village of Klecie.Wielka encyklopedya powszechna ilustrowana, 1900
Google Print, p.382
/ref>wykład wygłoszony przez P. Jana Kulmianina z racji 630 – lecia Goraja
Piotr became a member of the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

of Poland, and Dymitr quickly joined him there. Around that time Dymitr converted from Orthodox to Catholic faith. In 1364, at the court of

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He w ...

(last king of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

) he became the Court Treasurer, a title he held in the years 1364–1370 (the year of Casimir's death) and again in the years of 1377–1391. Dymitr was member of the royal council, adviser to the king, and a witness of his death. As a trusted advisor to the King he was a signatory to the Act of Union of Horodlo of 1413 and he signed peace in Brest Kujawski, on 31 December 1435. In 1377, Dymitr and his brother Iwan received lands (including Goraj) from

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...

(Louis was for a period a king of Poland). Dymitr was one of the most notable supporters of Louis in Poland, possibly even his friend, and took part in important diplomatic missions on behalf of Louis. Dymitr became a mentor and adviser of the Louis daughter and Polish queen

Jadwiga of Poland Jadwiga (; 1373 or 137417 July 1399), also known as Hedwig ( hu, Hedvig), was the first woman to be crowned as monarch of the Kingdom of Poland. She reigned from 16 October 1384 until her death. She was the youngest daughter of Louis the Great, ...

. He (successfully) opposed her marriage to

William, Duke of Austria William ( – 15 July 1406), known as William the Courteous (german: Wilhelm der Freundliche), a member of the House of Habsburg and Wilhelm, was Duke of Austria from 1386. As head of the Leopoldian line, he ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies o ...

, an event which

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histor ...

described in his chronicles, and

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Poles, Polish painting, painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works includ ...

and

Wojciech Gerson Wojciech Gerson (; July 1, 1831 – February 25, 1901) was a leading Polish painter of the mid-19th century, and one of the foremost representatives of the Polish school of Realism during the foreign Partitions of Poland. He served as long-time ...

reflected in their paintings. Both depict Jadwiga with an ax, supposedly taken for hacking gates, locked to prevent her running away with William, and Dymitr stopping her. He was involved in her marriage with

Władysław Jagiełło Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * ...

(Jogaila), and received significant lands from him as well, particularly when

Ruthenia Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin as one of several terms ...

n territories were passed from the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

to the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...

. Dymitr became a strong supporter of Jagiełło, his trusted envoy in diplomatic missions, and took part on his side during the Polish–Teutonic Wars.S. Orgelbranda encyklopedja powszechna, 1900
Google Print, p.230
/ref> In 1390 he married Beata, daughter of Mścigniew Awdaniec,

voivode of Kraków Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

; they had three daughters, Anna, Elizabeth and Catherine who in 1413 married Dobiesława of Oleśnica of the

Dębno Dębno (german: Neudamm) is a town in Myślibórz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship in western Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 13,443. After the Migration Period, the area was populated by West Slavic peoples sinc ...

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. Through this marriage he became the Lord of Rymanowa, a town in

Krosno County __NOTOC__ Krosno County ( pl, powiat krośnieński) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland, on the Slovakia, Slovak border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, a ...

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it is ...

. He began construction of a Castle here and in 1409 hosted King Władysław Jagiełło there. That year he also became the Grand Crown Marshal. Having received significant lands due to his marriage, as well as from the three kings of Poland he had served, Dymitr became one of the wealthiest

s of his era. He is known to have supported the economic development of the territories he governed. He died on 20 February 1400 and was buried in the church in

Zawichost Zawichost is a small town (ca. 1,800 inhabitants ) in Sandomierz County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland. It is located by the Vistula River in Lesser Poland, near Sandomierz. It is first mentioned in historical documents from around 1148. I ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dymitr Of Goraj 1340 births 1400 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Polish Orthodox Christians Polish Roman Catholics 14th-century Polish nobility