The House of Tęczyński was a powerful family of nobility (''

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

'') in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, during the times of the late

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

, the

Jagiellon dynasty The Jagiellonian ( ) or Jagellonian dynasty ( ; ; ), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty (), the House of Jagiellon (), or simply the Jagiellons (; ; ), was the name assumed by a cadet branch of the Lithuanian ducal dynasty of Gediminids upon recep ...

and in the early decades of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

(from 14th century to early 17th century). They were an important family from

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

(''Małopolska''), active in Polish politics of their time.

Family's history and importance

According to a legend, the family traced its origins to the 12th century magnate,

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 W ...

,krzeszowice
/ref> or even to some older individuals, rumored to be powerful "princes" before

Mieszko I Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...

created the Polish state.Tęczyńscy h. Topór - genealogia rodziny, herbarz
/ref> According to historians, the first verifiable member of the Tęczyński family was Nawój z Morawicy (d. 1331),

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

of Kraków, who laid the foundations of his family greatness.Tęczyńscy
PWN Encyklopedia They used the

Topór coat of arms Topór (Polish language, Polish for "axe") is a Polish heraldry, Polish coat of arms. It was used by several ''szlachta'' (noble) families in History of Poland in the Middle Ages, medieval Poland and under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.Alf ...

. His son

Andrzej Tęczyński Andrzej Tęczyński, (b. 1480 – 2 January 1536) Count (title of the Holy Roman Empire, 1527), was a voivode of Lublin, voivode of Sandomierz, voivode of Kraków, Castellan of Kraków. He came from one of the most powerful clans in Lesser Poland, t ...

(d. 1369), voivode of Kraków, begun the construction of the family's castle, continued by his descendants.

Jan Tęczyński Jan Tęczyński may refer to: * Jan Tęczyński (1581–1637), ''voivode'' of Kraków (1620–1637), Cup-Bearer of the Crown in 1618 * Jan Tęczyński (died 1405), member of the Tęczyński family, starost and castellan of Kraków * Jan Tęczyńsk ...

(d. 1405),

starost Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

and castellan of Kraków, was also one of the most important advisers to the first

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

of the

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: People Mononym * Włodzis ...

(d. 1470), castellan of Kraków, voivode of Kraków and

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, was recognized as one of the two most important Polish magnates of his time (the other one was cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki.

(d. 1536), castellan of Kraków, voivode of Kraków, Lublin and Sandomierz, in 1527 received a hereditary title of a

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

from the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

. The family had numerous possessions, most of them in the Lesser Poland, Kraków Voivodeship (including a large

latifundia A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious", and ''fundus'', "farm", "estate") was originally the term used by ancient Romans for great landed estates specialising in agriculture destined for sale: grain, olive oil, or wine. They were charac ...

near

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

). Its members often held the posts of

and

voivode of Kraków Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

. The family, recognized during the 14th to mid-17th centuries as one of the most important in Lesser Poland, lost influence after the death of its last male member, Jan Magnus Tęczyński in 1637. The family seat was the Tenczyn Castle (also known as Tęczyn Castle), now a ruin in the village of Rudno. The castle would fall in ruin after being pillaged by the Swedes, looking for rumored treasures of the Tęczyński family, during The Deluge in the mid-17th century. Subsequently, rebuilt, after a fire in mid-18th century it was never rebuilt again. Polish poet

Jan Kochanowski Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who wrote in Latin and Polish and established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language. He has been called the greatest Polish poet before ...

wrote a poem ''Pamiątka Tęczyńskiemu'' memory for Tęczyński Polish writer

Józef Ignacy Kraszewski Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (28 July 1812 – 19 March 1887) was a Polish novelist, journalist, historian, publisher, painter, and musician. Born in Warsaw into a noble family, he spent much of his youth with his maternal grandparents in Romanów ...

dedicated one of his works to the family: ''Tęczyńscy: dramat historyczny w pięciu aktach prozą'' ęczyńscy: a historical drama in five acts in prose(1844).Wincenty Danek, ''Józef Ignacy Kraszewski'',

Notable members

* Nawój z Morawicy (d. 1331), castellan of Kraków *

(d. 1369), voivode of Kraków *

(d. 1405), starost and castellan of Kraków, close advisor of

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...

* Andrzej Tęczyński (d. 1461) *

(d. 1470), castellan of Kraków, voivode of Kraków and

* Sędziwój Tęczyński (d. 1479), rector of the

Cracow Academy The Jagiellonian University (, 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 one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the wor ...

* Zbigniew Tęczyński (d. 1498), (d. 1470), adviser of Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk *

(d. 1536), castellan of Kraków, voivode of Kraków, Lublin and Sandomierz, HRE count * Andrzej Tęczyński (d. 1561), voivode of Kraków and Lublin * Jan Magnus Tęczyński (d. 1637), voivode of Kraków and

Ruthenia ''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...

Family's history and importance

Notable members

References

Further reading