Korwin is a

Polish coat of arms The coat of arms of Poland is a white, crowned eagle with a golden beak and talons, on a red background. In Poland, the coat of arms as a whole is referred to as ''godło'' both in official documents and colloquial speech, despite the fact that ...

. It was used by several

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

families in the times of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

and by the Russian Counts Korwin- Litwicki tracing their origin back to Empress Catherine the Grea

History

Herb Korwin, relief in Olomouc, Bohemia 1479

Korwin Jagodzinski count- Baltic Armorial

For some reason, an old Polish chivalry Polish clans, clan from

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical ant ...

breeding, chose raven as his symbol. Perhaps it was their

totem A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the wo ...

symbol because those clans, then pagans, were more ancients than the christening of Poland and the rise of the Kingdom of Piast Dynasty. Many centuries later, we know about it from a grant of privilege to Wawrzęta (or ''Wawrzyniec'' - Lawrence) Korwin z Ślepowrony from Duke

Konrad I of Masovia Konrad I of Masovia (ca. 1187/88 – 31 August 1247), from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia and Kuyavia from 1194 until his death as well as High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232 and again from 1241 to 1243. Life Konrad was ...

, at Warsaw in 1224, according to

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 ...

, Bartholomew Paprocki, Count Juliusz Ostrowski, etc. The authors understand the Korwin "proper" actual drawing came to Poland from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, more or less two centuries later. The so-called Roman-Hungarian legend of Korwin starts in the 16th century under the influence of

Renaissance humanism Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...

culture and vivacious contacts between Polish nobility and Hungarian Royal Court. In that kingdom, the

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

n-Hungarian family of Korvin had flourish in 1400, and a baroque legend argues them descending from one of the Roman ''

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (p ...

'' Valerii. At one time there was in Rome a distinguished tribune named

Marcus Valerius Corvus Marcus Valerius Corvus (c. 370–270 BC) was a military commander and politician from the early-to-middle period of the Roman Republic. During his career he was elected consul six times, first at the age of twenty-three. He was appointed dictator ...

, a Roman general who got the

agnomen An ''agnomen'' (; plural: ''agnomina''), in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the ''cognomen'' was initially. However, the ''cognomina'' eventually became family names, so ''agnomina'' were needed to distinguish between simila ...

Corvinus in the following manner: In 349BC, the Roman Army moved against the Barbarians, and before the battle began, a warrior of great size and strength came forward and challenged anyone in the Roman cavalry to single combat, whereupon Valerius stepped forward. Just as he was about to engage the barbarian, a raven flew from a trunk, perched upon Valerius's helmet, and began to attack his foe’s eyes with its beak so fiercely that the warrior was blind. With this, the Roman beat him easily, and from that time, Valerius was called Corvinus (from ''Corvus'', "raven"). His descendant,

Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (64 BC – AD 8 or c. 12) was a Roman general, author, and patron of literature and art. Family Corvinus was the son of the consul in 61 BC, Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger,Syme, R., ''Augustan Aristocracy'', ...

(64BC – 8AD) was chosen to the Roman consulate with

Caesar Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

and the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

authors understand he became a big landowner in the

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...

n- Panonnian frontiers. If however any of his supposed Hungarians descendants, and a Polish branch of this family carried on the name, nobody really knows… It is true that

Janos Hunyadi John Hunyadi (, , , ; 1406 – 11 August 1456) was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in Central and Southeastern Europe during the 15th century. According to most contemporary sources, he was the member of a noble family of ...

and his son Matthias Corvinus Hunyadi, King of Hungary and

anti-king An anti-king, anti king or antiking (german: Gegenkönig; french: antiroi; cs, protikrál) is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch.OED "Anti-, 2 ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, called themselves "Corvinus" and had their coins minted displaying a “raven with a ring”. The epithet ''Corvinus'' was coined by Matthias' biographer, the Italian

Antonio Bonfini Antonio Bonfini (Latin variant: ''Antonius Bonfinius'') (1427‒1502) was an Italian humanist and poet who spent the last years of his career as a court historian in Hungary with King Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias ...

, who claimed that the Hunyadi family descended from Marcus Valerius Corvinus. The Hungarian legend relates that when a raven carried off the ring King Matthias had removed from his finger he chased the bird down and slew him retrieving the ring, and in commemoration of this event, he took the raven as a symbol for his signet sign. Really, this coat of arms was used by Matthias's ancestors far earlier than he did. His own father John Hunyadi, voivode of

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

and regent of Hungary, is known as ''Ioannes Corvinus'' in

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

. In addition the Silesian Annals (other version of this legend) tell that was not the king himself who shot the raven but a Polish soldier, who was rewarded with the Korwin coat of arms. Matthias Corvinus was also ruler of the

Duchy of Głogów The Duchy of Głogów ( pl, Księstwo głogowskie, cs, Hlohovské knížectví) or Duchy of Glogau (german: Herzogtum Glogau) was one of the Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian Piasts. Its capital was Głogów in Lower Silesia. History In ...

, and as titular Bohemian king (and as conqueror most of territory of the Bohemian Crown),

suzerain Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...

of all

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

n duchies. Actually, Matthias Corvinus raised the Black Army which is recognized as the first standing continental European fighting force not under conscription and with regular pay since the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. The soldiers of the Black Army were mainly Bohemian

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

(former

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

), but Poles, Germans, Hungarians and adventurers from all over Europe joined as well. Sometimes officers were rewarded with lands and ennoblement. This may be a more realistic origin of the Korwin coat of arms, in Silesia at first (part of the Bohemian kingdom), and all around the Polish–Lithuanian commonwealth later. In time, baroque authors related the old Slepowron coat of arms with then more "fashionable" name Korwin. Korwin coat of arms can be found on the tombstone of the Chancellor of

Cracow Academy The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

Łukasz Noskowski (also ''Łukasz of Noskowa''; †1532), buried in St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków. Image of a raven also appears on the city seal of

Głogów Głogów (; german: Glogau, links=no, rarely , cs, Hlohov, szl, Głogōw) is a city in western Poland. It is the county seat of Głogów County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), and was previously in Legnica Voivodeship (1975–1998) ...

from March 17, 1490. A raven sitting on a branch was the emblem of the Corvinus/Korwin family, which ruled in the Duchy of Głogów in the second half of the 15th century and gave their emblem to the city.

Blazon

Gules, on a cut off tree stump laid sideways proper, between two upper and two lower knots stands a left facing

raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

sable, in its beak, a ring or with the diamond facing down. In the

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

, above a crowned helmet, there are three ostrich feathers.
The book of Polish families coats of arms. Vol. 2
p. 150/151 photo 076, DjVu format in the

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

e-library by Count Juliusz Ostrowski (Translation from the Polish original: ''Księga herbowa rodów polskich. Cz.'' 2) "Korwin I sometimes known as ''Ślepowron variation'' - In a red field, a black raven is facing left with a gold ring in its beak; it stands on a natural tree-stump, lying crosswise with two knots on top and two on the bottom. Over the helmet and the coronet are three ostrich feathers.
It’s one of the oldest

Polish coats of arms Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

, but neither Długosz nor official records from the fifteenth century tell about it. Prof. Małecki writes this coat of arms is separated from the Ślepowron only in the first decades of the sixteenth century (at the beginning, only Paprocki treated these two heraldic emblems as separates). Proof this fact some families that later used Korwin coat of arms but in the fifteenth century were still considered to be in Ślepowron clan, ( Kochanowski family, for example). The name Ślepowron referred to the emblem, and the

battle cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious ...

or ''call'' was ''Bojno'' or Bujno, as it’s proved in official records. Korwin coat of arms, being a later emblem, had no call." "Korwin II – Reversing the figures is a common tool in Polish heraldry, which doesn’t follow the general principles of the Western heraldry; there is also an inverted Korwin facing right (instead of the usual drawing facing left). Niesiecki himself mentions it." "Korwin III – In a red field there is a black raven with a gold ring in its beak, over a cut stump lying across, between two knots on each side. Above the helmet and the coronet there is the same raven with a ring. There are similarities between the crest of this variation and the crest of Ślepowron coat of arms."

Arms derivatives of Korwin, alternative drawings and entitled family versions

::* Tadeusz Gajl identifies 13 coats of arms derivatives of Korwin:
Korwin II
:''Herb Korwin II, surnames without verification on armorials:'' Piotrowski, Korwin-Piotrowski.
Korwin IIIBieńkowski
surname Bieńkowski.
Chrzanowski
surname Chrzanowski.
Gosiewski
surname Gosiewski. (Is uncertain if it is derivative of Korwin or Ślepowron).

(Germanized, may be Jagodyński, Jagodziński, Jagusiński, Jagużyński vel Jahodyński).
Kaftanowski
surname Kaftanowski.
Lisowski
surname Lisowski also Lissowski.
Materna
surnames Macerna, Materna.
Michalski
surname Michalski.
Sakowicz
surnames Dyrmejtowicz, Sakowicz, Syrunowski, Syrunowicz, Syrun. (Syrunowki, royal Count)
Terajewicz
surnames Terajewicz, Terajowicz.
Wendrychowski
surnames Wendrychowski, Wędrychowski. ::* Coats of arms related to Korwin in other way. Some coats of arms may be related to Korwin, yet they are not classified as ''Derivatives'' properly, on Polish armorials:
Karaczyński
surname Karaczyński.
Korwin-Gałczewski
surname Korwin-Gałczewski.

Russian nobility. (coat of arms with two parts: Korwin and Ślepowron).
Przykorwin
surname Joachimowicz.
Korwin
Litwicki, counts of the Russian Empire tracing their origin back to Empress Catherine the Grea

Notable bearers

Notable bearers of this coat of arms include: * Łukasz Noskowski z Noskowa (15th/16th century) Chancellor of the Cracow Academy. *

Jan Kochanowski Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to the Polish literary language. He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz. Li ...

, (16th century) Poet and writer. *

Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski ( lt, Aleksandras Korvinas Gosievskis) ''de armis'' Ślepowron (b. – d. 1639), was a Polish nobleman, military commander and diplomat, Lithuanian Field-Quartermaster since 1630, Palatine-Governor of Smolensk ...

(17th century) Voivode of Smolensk. *

Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski Wincenty Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski '' de armis'' Ślepowron (c. 1620 – 29 November 1662) – was a Polish nobleman, general, Field-Commander of Lithuania from 1654, Grand Treasurer of Lithuania and Lithuanian Great-Quartermaster since 1652 ...

(17th century) Field-Hetman of Lithuania. *

Zuzanna Korwin Gosiewska Zuzana is a common female given name in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is often translated to other languages as Zuzanna (Polish), Suzanne, Susan, or Susannah – all commonly derived from the Hebrew language name Shoshana, meaning "lilly". ...

(17th century) * Teresa Korwin Gosiewska (17th century) *

Bogusław Korwin Gosiewski Bogusław Korwin Gosiewski ''de armis'' Ślepowron (November 1660 – 23 June 1744) – Bishop of Smolensk on 29 January 1725, Lithuanian Great (Clergyman) Quartermaster in 1720, Preceptor and Curator of Vilnius Cathedral, Vicar of Onikszty ...

(17th century) Bishop of

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...

. * Krzysztof Korwin Gosiewski (17th century) Voivod of Smolensk. * Maciek Korwin Gosiewski (17th century) General of the Lithuanian artillery. *

Szymon Marcin Kossakowski Szymon Marcin Kossakowski ( lt, Simonas Martynas Kosakovskis; 1741 in Šilai, Jonava – 1794) was a Polish–Lithuanian nobleman ( szlachcic), and one of the leaders of the Targowica Confederation. In 1793, he became the last Grand Hetman of Li ...

(18th century) Last great

hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

(also see

Ślepowron coat of arms Ślepowron ("night heron") may refer to: * Ślepowron coat of arms Ślepowron ("night heron") may refer to: * Ślepowron coat of arms Ślepowron ("night heron") may refer to: * Ślepowron coat of arms * Ślepowron, Masovian Voivodeship (east-ce ...

; both of this coats of arms used by Kossakowski family). * Ludwik Kochanowski (19th century) Baron. * Maria Piotrowska (Bielecki) Countess *

Karolina Proniewska Karolina Proniewska () or Karolina Praniauskaitė (1828–1859) was a romantic Polish- Lithuanian Sofia Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (russian: link=no, Софья Васильевна Ковалевская), born Korvin-Krukovskaya ( – 10 February 1891), was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differen ...

(Korwin-Krukowskaya) (19th century) Scientist from Russia. * Wojciech Prendowski (19th century) Chairman of the nobility. * Bogumiła Bronisława Prendowski (19th century) * Julia Dworakowska (1782–1844) * Władysław Seredyński (19th century) *

Eliza Orzeszkowa Eliza Orzeszkowa (6 June 184118 May 1910) was a Polish novelist and a leading writerEliza Orzeszkowa< ...

(1842–1910), novelist. *

Maja Lidia Kossakowska Maja Lidia Korwin-Kossakowska-Grzędowicz (27 February 1972 – 23 May 2022) was a Polish fantasy writer. She was first published in 1997. She was nominated eight times for the Janusz A. Zajdel Award for her short stories and novels, and received ...

(born 1972), fantasy writer

Related and ''derivative'' coats of arms

* Ślepowron coat of arms, royal Count end royl Grand Duke, Bohemija, Polish of Lithuania, nobility coats of arms * Przykorwin coat of arms * Bieńkowski coat of arms * Materna coat of arms

External links

Herbarz Polski - Od Średniowiecza do XX wieku
(Tadeusz Gajl) in English and Polish.
Genealogia Dynastyczna/Dynastic Genealogy
(Ryszard Jurzak) in English and Polish.
Słownik genealogiczny - leksykon
( Marcin Niewalda - ''redaktor naczelny'') in Polish.
Ornatowski.com
(Artur Ornatowski) in Polish :- Herby szlacheckie Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów (Tadeusz Gajl) :- Herbarz rodowy (Alfred Znamierowski) :- Szlachta wylegitymowana w Królestwie Polskim w latach 1836-1861(1867), (Elżbieta Sęczys) :- Ornatowski.com – Rodziny (Artur Ornatowski)

(Andrzej Brzezina Winiarski) in Polish.

(Adam Kromer) in Polish. * ttp://akromer.republika.pl/herby_hetmani.html#pl Mały Herbarz (Hetmani polni litewscy) Adama Kromera in Polish.
Mały Herbarz (Podskarbowie wilcy litewski) Adama Kromera
in Polish.
Genealogia Kochanowiczów herbu Korwin
(Witold Kochanowski) in Polish.

(Marcin Gosiewski) in English and Polish.

(Michael Roman) in English. *

Confederation of the Polish Nobility The Polish Nobility Association (PNA) ( pl, Związek Szlachty Polskiej, ZSzP) – is a sociocultural organization, registered in 1995 in Gdańsk. The association aims to integrate the nobility of the once Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, take ca ...

�
List of Members
in Polish and English

References

Notes

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