Godziemba is a Polish coat of arms. A rare medieval Polish knightly

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

used by Polish and Austrian noble family Głownia (and Glownia). It is mentioned for the first time in years 1470-1480 by famous Polish chronicler

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 histo ...

in his book "''Liber beneficiorum dioecesis Cracoviensis''" ("Book of the Benefices of the Bishopric of Kraków") with the name "''Paulus de Glownia nobilis de domo Godzamba''". This is Polish nobility coat of arms as well as knightly "''Arma Baronum Regni Polonie''"Długosz - Insignia seu Clenodia
/ref> coat of arms.

History

The legendary history of the Godziemba coat of arms goes back to the 11th century, a common telling is as follows: In 1094 A.D.,

Sieciech Sieciech (mid 11th century AD – early 12th century AD) was a medieval Polish magnate and statesman. Biography All information about Sieciech has come down from the chronicler Gallus Anonymus. He was a count palatine at the court of duke Wład ...

was

Voivode 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 ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. In this year the

Moravians Moravians ( cs, Moravané or colloquially , outdated ) are a West Slavic ethnographic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech or Common Czech or a mixed form of both. Along with the Silesi ...

invaded

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in force. When the Polish learned that the enemy had camped for the night within the vicinity, a vanguard was assembled to engage in a surprise offensive. The Polish vanguard subsequently ambushed the enemy, and brought them to battle. The knight Godziemba, a member of the Polish vanguard, lost his weapon in the skirmish, and retreated into a nearby forest. One of the Moravians, seeing that he was unarmed, pursued him. Godziemba sprang from his horse and uprooted a young

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

tree from the soil. He fended off his attacker with the makeshift weapon and eventually managed to knock his pursuer from his horse. He then disarmed him, made him a prisoner, and delivered him to Voivode Sieciech. In commemoration of the brave and noble deed he received a coat of arms depicting the spruce, with his heroic image displayed on the crest. It has been debated that the event is nothing more than a fictitious legend. This is based on grounds that it took place before the art of

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...

was ever in practice. Nonetheless, the story is significant to the over-all history of the blazon and crest.

Blazon

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...

field with three pronged pine (sometimes fir, sometimes spruce) eradicated proper. Out of the crest coronet, Hero Godziemba in

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

armor holding the three pronged spruce in dexter hand, all proper.

Notable bearers

Notable bearers of this coat of arms include: *

Jan Lubrański Jan Lubrański (1456 – 22 May 1520) was a Polish bishop, politician and diplomat. His coat of arms was Godziemba. Information Lubrański was bishop of Płock between 1497 and 1498 and bishop of Poznań since 1498, founder of many churches in ...

Bishop, politician and diplomat, (1456–1520) * Stanisław Dąmbski Bishop (ca. 1638-1700) *

Kazimierz Sosnkowski General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (; Warsaw, 19 November 1885 – 11 October 1969, Arundel, Quebec) was a Polish independence fighter, general, diplomat, and architect. He was a major political figure and an accomplished commander, notable in p ...

Inspector General of the Armed Forces of Poland, (1885–1969)

Gallery

Image:Godziemba Lubrańskiego.jpg, Godziemba of bishop Jan Lubrański

Bibliography

* Jan Długosz "Insignia seu Cleinodia Regis et Regni Poloniae", Wydanie: Z. Celichowski, Poznań 1885, * Andrzej Kulikowski "Wielki herbarz rodów polskich" Świat Książki Warszawa 2005 s.200 - 201. * Franciszek Piekosiński: Heraldyka polska wieków średnich, Kraków, 1899

External links

* http://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyklopedia_staropolska/Godziemba

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godziemba Coat Of Arms Polish coats of arms