The Goštautai were one of the most influential Lithuanian

magnate The term magnate, 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 ...

families of the 15th and early 16th centuries. Their only serious rivals were the Kęsgailos, and from the end of the 15th century the fast rising in power and influence Radvila family

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

. It appears from the Latin original spelling of their name Gastoldus which is a variation of ''castaldius'' that they had been close to the Grand Dukes and that their function was to oversee ducal

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

. Most power family gained during the reign of

Casimir Jagiellon Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

. The castaldius of

Vytautas Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...

Andrius Goštautas Andrius is a Lithuanian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the English language name Andrew. People with the name Andrius include: * Andrius Algirdaitis (c.1325–1399), Duke of Pskov and Polotsk * Andrius Arlauskas (born 1986), Lithuanian ...

might have been a

voivode 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 ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and Kreva, and father of Jonas, appears to have been the precursor of the family growth. The majority of the family's possessions (lands) were in the western part of the Duchy and eastern ethnic Lithuania. After the death of the last scion of the family,

Stanislovas Goštautas Stanislovas GoštautasLietuvos dailės muziejus (also called Stanisław Gasztołd or ''Gasztołt'' of Abdank in Polish) (ca. 1507 in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania an ...

, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania

Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...

inherited his possessions as a matter of right, per the law of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Name

The Goštautai family name may be found in numerous renderings: ''Gasztold'', ''Gasztołd'', '' Gasztołt'', ''Gashtold'', ''Gastoldus'', ''Gastold'', ''Gastołd'', ''Gosztold'', ''Gosztowd'', ''Gosztowt'', ''Gosztowtt'', ''Gochtovtt'', ''Gasztowt'', ''Gaszdtowt'', ''Gasztowtt'', ''Gasthawdus'', ''Gostautas'' and ''Goštautas''; these are all different renderings of the same distorted pagan given name of Goštautai's ancestor, mentioned in written sources as '' Johann Gastawd''. Upon the baptism he retained his

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Lithuanian name (which may be reconstructed as *Gāstaŭtas) and passed it on to his descendants; that was a common practice of the rising

Lithuanian nobility The Lithuanian nobility () or ''szlachta'' of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (, ) was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (including during period of foreign r ...

subsequent to the

Christianization of Lithuania The Christianization of Lithuania () occurred in 1387, initiated by the Lithuanian royals Jogaila, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his cousin Vytautas the Great. It signified the official adoption of Catholic Christianity by Li ...

. Hence at first such names were used much like

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

s rather than

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

s in a modern sense. Orda Gieraneny

In Lithuanian the name of the clan is rendered ''Goštautai'' or ''Gostautai'' (

singular Singular may refer to: * Singular, the grammatical number that denotes a unit quantity, as opposed to the plural and other forms * Singular or sounder, a group of boar, see List of animal names * Singular (band), a Thai jazz pop duo *'' Singula ...

, ''Goštautas'' or ''Gostautas''); in

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

the forms ''Gastold'' or ''Gasztołd'' are used. Contemporary written sources use different forms of the name; latest English sources use both forms, Polish ''Gasztold'' and Lithuanian ''Gostautas''.Lithuania Ascending– A Pagan Empire Within East-central Europe, 1295-1345
S. C. Rowell

Notable family members

Jonas Goštautas Jonas Gostautas or Goštautas (; c. 1393 in Geranainys or Vilnius – before 1 September 1458 in Vilnius) was a Lithuanian nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the Gasztołd (Goštautai) noble family, a politician and skillful lan ...

(1393 or 1408–1458), voivod of

and

Trakai Trakai (; see Trakai#Names and etymology, names section for alternative and historic names) is a city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania or just from the administrative limits of the Lithuanian capi ...

. He led

Council of Lords The Lithuanian Council of Lords () 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 of the Grand Duke, established by Vyta ...

which elected 13-year-old

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

, and thus for three years abolished the personal union with Poland. *

Martynas Goštautas Martynas Goštautas ( or ''Marcin Gasztołdowicz''; ; 1428, Vilnius – c. 1483, Vilnius) was a nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the Goštautai family. He was the Grand Marshal of Lithuania, Voivode of Navahrudak (1464–1471), firs ...

(1428–1472),

Voivode of Kiev This the list of voivodes of Kiev. A Kiev voivode () was the major administrative position in Kiev Voivodship, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1471 until 1569 and in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1793. In the 15–16th ...

and Voivode of Trakai *

Albertas Goštautas Albertas Goštautas ( – 1539) was a Lithuanian noble of the Goštautai family from the ethnically Lithuanian lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Voivode of Navahrudak since 1508, Voivode of Polotsk since 1514, Voivode of Trakai since ...

(1462–1539), best known member of the family. He was voivod of

Vilnius Voivodeship The Vilnius Voivodeship (, , , ) was one of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's voivodeships, which existed from the voivodeship's creation in 1413 to the destruction of the Lithuanian state in 1795. This voivodeship was Lithuania's largest, most p ...

and

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. He was one of the initiators and financiers of Lithuanian Statutes. *

(1507(?) – 1542) was the last representative of the main family branch * Jan Gasztowtt (1800–1871), the author of "Pan Sędzic czyli Opowiadanie o Litwie i Żmudzi", participant of the

1831 uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 ...

* Séverin, Titus, Alexandre de Gastold (1805-1862), he participated in the campaign against Russia in 1830 and 1831 and in the battles before Grochów on February 20 and 25, 1831, then before Warsaw on September 6 and 7, 1831. (National Archives, BB 11 380) * Thadée Gasztowtt (1881-1936), French-born Ottoman, Turkish, and Polish diplomat, revolutionary, historian, and journalist * Zigmantas Goštautas (1889–1980), cynologist, recreated Lithuanian Hounds *

Carmen Bernos de Gasztold Carmen Bernos de Gasztold (9 October 1919 – 23 September 1995) was a French poet who lived in a Benedictine abbey. Her most famous collection is titled ''Prayers from the Ark''. The 1955 publication consists of short poems, each expressing ...

(1919-1995), French nun and author

References

Sources

* Козлоўскі С. Гаштовта - уладальнікі Ліпнішок. Нарыс гісторыі аднаго роду / Сяргей Козлоўскі // Ліпнішкі – 500 гадоў гісторыі (1510 – 2010 гг.)»: Рэгіянальная навуковая канферэнцыя прысвечаная 500 – годдзю Ліпнішкаўскай парафіі і 400-годдзю надання мястэчку Магдэбурскага права. / пад рэд. А.К. Гецэвіча – Гродна, 2010р. – С. 14-19

External links

Genealogia rodziny Gastold

Site de la famille Gochtovtt

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