Shchytkavichy or Shchitkovichi ( be, Шчыткавічы, translit=Ščytkavičy; russian: Щитковичи; pl, Szczytkowicze) is an

agrotown An agro-town is an agglomeration in a rural environment with a population of several thousands but whose workforce's main occupation is agriculture. An agro-town also lacks the administrative, commercial and industrial functions that are usually ...

Staryya Darohi District Staryya Darohi District is the second-level administrative subdivision (raion) of Belarus in the Minsk Region Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минска ...

Minsk Region Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk, ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. It serves as the administrative center of Shchytkavichy

selsoviet Selsoviet ( be, сельсавет, r=sieĺsaviet, tr. ''sieĺsaviet''; rus, сельсовет, p=ˈsʲelʲsɐˈvʲɛt, r=selsovet; uk, сільрада, silrada) is a shortened name for a rural council and for the area governed by such a cou ...

Toponymy

The suffix ''-vichi'' or ''-wicze'', derived from

Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old ...

, indicates that this is a

patronymic name A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

. The lexical morpheme of a patronymic name could be the name of a father's office or ancestors or the name or surname of a patron (e.g. the

Polish surname 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 ...

Szczytko).

History

The village was mentioned in 1433 as part of 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 ...

. According to

Matvei Lyubavsky Matvey Kuzmich Lyubavsky (Russian: Матве́й Кузьми́ч Люба́вский; 13 August Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._1_August.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/> O.S._1_August">Old_Style_and ...

, Shchytkavichy was then part of the

Principality of Slutsk The Principality of Slutsk ( be, Слуцкае княства) was originally a specific Turov Principality of land in the 12th through 14th centuries. It stood out in 1160 and took shape in the 1190s. It became a large feudal principality in the ...

, a

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 ...

state of

Olelkovich The House of Olelkovich ( be, Алелькавічы, lt, Olelkaičiai, pl, Olelkowicze, uk, Олельковичі) was a 15th–16th-century princely family from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Their main possession was the Duchy of Slutsk–Ka ...

dukes Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

, descendants from the Lithuanian

Gediminids The House of Gediminid or simply the Gediminids ( lt, Gediminaičiai, sgs, Gedėmėnātē, be, Гедзімінавічы, pl, Giedyminowicze, uk, Гедиміновичі;) were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reig ...

(male line) and Ruthenian

Rurikids The Rurik dynasty ( be, Ру́рыкавічы, Rúrykavichy; russian: Рю́риковичи, Ryúrikovichi, ; uk, Рю́риковичі, Riúrykovychi, ; literally "sons/scions of Rurik"), also known as the Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was ...

(female line).''Любавский М.'' Областное деление и местное управление Литовско-Русского государства ко времени издания первого литовского статута. 1892. The Slutsk dukes ruled with the help of a boyar "

duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

", and their

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

s were

knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

s and

veldamai Veldamas (plural: ''veldamai'') was a form of landownership in the early stages of Lithuanian serfdom. The term describes a peasant family with its land and other belongings granted by the Grand Duke of Lithuania to his loyal followers, usually as a ...

, who received

landownership A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the te ...

for their military or administrative service. Since 1567, Shchytkavichy was a part of the Porzecze estate in the Minsk province. From 1588, part of the Koidanova estate (now

Dzyarzhynsk Dzyarzhynsk or Dzerzhinsk, formerly Koidanova or Koydanava ( be, Дзяржы́нск, Dziaržynsk, formerly , ; russian: Дзержи́нск, Dzerzhinsk, formerly , ; pl, Kojdanów; yi, קוידאַנאָוו, Koydanov; lt, Kaidanava), in t ...

), belonging to the

family estate An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner. British context In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...

of the Radziwiłłs of the

Trąby coat of arms Trąby (, "Horns") is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by many ''szlachta'' (noble) families under the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History The origin of the horn motif lies in the extent of lands conceded being d ...

. In 1791−1793, it was part of the Novogródek Voivodeship. From 1793 in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. From 1800 a village in Igumen county. In the second half of the 19th century, Marie von

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn was a county of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, comprising the lands of the region of Sayn. It was created as a partition of Sayn-Wittgenstein in 1607, although it was not until the next year that it obtained fully the Co ...

, Duchess of

Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire which was divided between several branches. The Hohenlohes became imperial counts in 1450. The county was divided numerous time ...

, daughter of Stefania Radziwiłł and

Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Ludwig Adolf Friedrich, 2nd Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg (8 June 1799 – 20 June 1866), from 1861 Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, was a Russo-German aristocrat. Among his properties were the famed Mir Castle Complex and Ver ...

, sold the territory of the former

(including Shchytkavichy) under pressure of Tsar

Alexander III of Russia Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...

. Shchytkavichy was a village and a ''

folwark ''Folwark''; german: Vorwerk; uk, Фільварок; ''Filwarok''; be, Фальварак; ''Falwarak''; lt, Palivarkas is a Polish word for a primarily serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise (a type of ''latifundium''), often very ...

''. The

Central Archives of Historical Records Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw ( pl, Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie, AGAD) is one of Poland's four national archives. It holds records ranging from 12th century until World War I. The current headquarters is located ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

store architectural drawings of the folwark and the village of ''Szczytkowicze'', dated between 1815 and 1873. The

Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries ( pl, Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich) is a monumental Polish gazetteer, published 1880–1902 in Warsaw Warsaw ( pl ...

(Volume 10th, page 527) mentions: ''Sielec, a large swamp on the southern edge of the Igumen county, in the area between the villages Szczytkowicze and Porzecze, belongs to the Porzecze Radziwiłł estate, in the Omelno municipality''. In 1919, Shchytkavichy became part of the

Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

, and from 1959 it was a village. Since 25 August 1991, Shchytkavichy has belonged to the

Republic of Belarus A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

; on 8 October 2010; the village received the status of an

References

{{reflist Staryya Darohi District Agrotowns in Belarus Populated places in Minsk Region