Samogitian nobility was

nobility 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 ...

originating in the Lithuanian region of Samogitia. The Samogitian nobility was an integral part of Lithuanian nobility. Historically, the local

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest ...

was formed of people of various ethnic backgrounds, including Lithuanian, Polish, Tartar, German and Ruthenian., also published in English as: As the Duchy of Samogitia maintained a certain level of autonomy within 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 ...

, its nobility was considered a separate subject of the laws, on par with the nobility of other Commonwealth lands. In 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 ...

the Samogitian nobles were electing Elders of Samogitia who had

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 ...

rights and were the third highest ranked statesmen in the

Lithuanian Council of Lords The Lithuanian Council of Lords ( be, Паны-Рада, lt, Ponų taryba) was the main permanent institution of central government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania active in its capital city of Vilnius. It had originated from the advisory Council ...

(after voivodes of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

and

Trakai Trakai (; see names section for alternative and historic names) is a historic town and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. T ...

). The self-elected Elders of Samogitia were only confirmed by the

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—House ...

. Samogitian nobility, especially its lower class, preserved knowledge of the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 millio ...

and the

Samogitian dialect Samogitian ( sgs, žemaitiu kalba, link=no or sometimes ', ''žemaitiu šnekta'' or '; lt, žemaičių tarmė, žemaičių kalba) is an Eastern Baltic languages, Eastern Baltic language spoken mostly in Samogitia (in the western part of Lithua ...

very well. In fact, the Lithuanian language remained dominant in Samogitia and its nobility throughout the early modern period. This is proven by the letter of

Stanisław Radziwiłł :''See also Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł.'' Stanisław "the Pious" Radziwiłł ( lt, Stanislovas Radvila II) (12 May 1559 – 19 March 1599) was a sixth generation Radziwill family noble ( szlachcic) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Po ...

to his brother

Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł Prince Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł (; 14 August 1695 in Biała Podlaska – 2 June 1715) was a Lithuanian–Polish nobleman. Mikołaj became Podstoli of Lithuania and starost of Człuchów Człuchów (, ''Człochòwo'', or ''Cz ...

immediately after becoming the

Elder of Samogitia The Duchy of Samogitia ( lt, Žemaičių seniūnija, sgs, Žemaitėjės seniūnėjė, pl, Księstwo żmudzkie)Grzegorz Błaszczyk, ''Żmudź w XVII i XVIII wieku: zaludnienie i struktura społeczna'', Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Pozn ...

that: "While learning various languages, I forgot

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

, and now I see, I have to go to school again, because that language, as I see, God willing, will be needed." Prominent Samogitian noble origin representatives from the 20th century include:

Stanisław Narutowicz Stanisław Narutowicz ( lt, Stanislovas Narutavičius ) (2 September 1862, Telšiai District Municipality, Brewiki, Kovno Governorate – 31 December 1932, Kaunas, Lithuania) was a lawyer and politician, Signatories of the Act of Independence of L ...

(member of the

Council of Lithuania The Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Taryba, german: Litauischer Staatsrat, pl, Rada Litewska), after July 11, 1918 the State Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Valstybės Taryba) was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place betwe ...

), Gabriel Narutowicz (the 1st President of Poland, who was assasinated) and Józef Piłsudski (the Chief of State of Poland in 1918–1922 and First Marshal of

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 ...

from 1920).

Notes and references

::In-line: Samogitian people Lithuanian nobility

Sources

* {{Lithuania-stub