Chodko Jurewicz
Encyclopedia
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
and is considered to be the founder of the Chodkiewicz family. Chodko was a historical person, but his obscure origin and biography have long been surrounded by legends and disputed by scholars. Chodko Jurewicz died after 1447 and was succeeded by his son Ivan Chodkiewicz
Ivan Chodkiewicz
Ivan Chodkiewicz was a noble from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was a son of Chodko Jurewicz and ancestor of the Chodkiewicz family. Ivan married Jawnuta Belska, first cousin of Casimir IV Jagiellon, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The marriage into the royal line helped him to...
.
Historical biography
There is no reliable information regarding Chodko's ancestry. His patronymic name Jurewicz is derived from George (Polish: Jerzy, Lithuanian: Jurgis, Ruthenian: Yuri). According to Polish historian Adam Boniecki, Chodko might be derived from Chodor and could be a broken form of Feodor (Theodore). Traditionally it was believed that Chodko was Eastern Orthodox and hailed from KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. This belief was taken from a bitter 1567 letter by Ivan Dmitrovich Belski addressed to Hrehory Chodkiewicz where Hrehory was reminded that the Chodkiewicz family used to be dukes of Kiev. However, this likely referred to rivalry between Hrehory's grandfather Ivan Chodkiewicz
Ivan Chodkiewicz
Ivan Chodkiewicz was a noble from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was a son of Chodko Jurewicz and ancestor of the Chodkiewicz family. Ivan married Jawnuta Belska, first cousin of Casimir IV Jagiellon, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The marriage into the royal line helped him to...
and Feodor Ivanovich Belski for the Kiev Voivodeship and not to the ancestral possessions of Chodko. Analysis of estate records indicated that Chodko had possessions in the area of Hrodna
Hrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
, Gródek, and Supraśl
Suprasl
Supraśl is a town in north-eastern Poland. It is the home of the Supraśl Lavra, one of only six Eastern Orthodox monasteries for males in Poland. Situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship , previously in Białystok Voivodeship . It is located in Białystok County, about 15 km northeast of...
.
Chodko was first mentioned in written sources in 1422, when he (as Thoyto or Choyto) signed the Treaty of Melno
Treaty of Melno
The Treaty of Melno or Treaty of Lake Melno was a peace treaty ending the Gollub War. It was signed on September 27, 1422, between the Teutonic Knights and an alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at Lake Melno , east of Graudenz...
. At the time he was a regent in Polotsk. Among some 120 witnesses to the treaty, Chodko was 104th. Lithuanian historian Genutė Kirkienė noted that in 1415 a certain Chodconi was sent on a diplomatic mission by Grand Duke Vytautas to Jogaila
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
, King of Poland. She suggested that Chodconi and Chodko were the same person and the mission was the early career of the rising noble. In 1431 Chodko was part of a Lithuanian delegation to Jogaila
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
, King of Poland. In June 1431 he witnessed the Treaty of Christmemel
Treaty of Christmemel
The Treaty of Christmemel was a treaty signed on June 16, 1431 between Paul von Rusdorf, Grand Master the Teutonic Knights, and Švitrigaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania. The treaty established anti-Polish alliance and prompted the Knights to invade the Kingdom of Poland, starting the Polish–Teutonic War...
between Švitrigaila
Švitrigaila
Švitrigaila Švitrigaila Švitrigaila (ca 1370 – 10 February 1452; was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432. He spent most of his life in largely unsuccessful dynastic struggles against his cousins Vytautas and Sigismund Kęstutaitis.-Struggle against Vytautas:...
and the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
. The treaty created an anti-Polish alliance and began the Polish–Teutonic War (1431–1435)
Polish–Teutonic War (1431–1435)
The Lithuanian Civil War of 1431–1435 was a conflict over the succession to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, after Vytautas the Great died in 1430 without leaving an heir. The war was fought on the one side by Švitrigaila, allied with the Teutonic Knights, and on the other by Sigismund...
. Of the nine Lithuanian witnesses, Chodko (as Thudko Juriowicz) was seventh.
But about a year later, Chodko supported Sigismund Kęstutaitis
Sigismund Kestutaitis
Sigismund Kęstutaitis was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1432 to 1440. Sigismund was his baptismal name; Sigismund's pagan Lithuanian birth name is unknown. He was son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kęstutis and his wife Birutė....
in his coup d'état against Švitrigaila. Records show that on 8 December 1432 Chodka fought in the Battle of Ashmyany alongside Švitrigaila and was taken prisoner. Most likely that was a different Chodko, who remained loyal to Švitrigaila until 1446. In February 1434, Chodko Jurewicz witnessed the renewal of the Union of Grodno by Sigismund Kęstutaitis and Jogaila. Of 41 seals affixed to the treaty, Chodko's Kościesza coat of arms was 9th. It is unclear how he obtained the Polish arms. According to the Union of Horodło, 47 Lithuanian nobles adopted Polish coats of arms. However, Eastern Orthodox nobles from Ruthenia
Ruthenia
Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
were excluded. Chodko remained influential in domestic politics and along with voivodes of Trakai
Trakai Voivodeship
Trakai Voivodeship, Trakai Palatinate, or Troki Voivodeship , was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1413 until 1795.-History:...
and Vilnius
Vilnius Voivodeship
The Vilnius Voivodeship was one of voivodeships in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, created in 1413, from the Duchy of Lithuania and neighbouring lands.- Geography and administrative division :...
distributed veldamai (a class of dependent peasants) to other nobles. His name disappeared from written sources in 1447.
Legendary accounts
The historiography has long held that the Chodkiewicz family was of Lithuanian origin. The first author to ascertain the Lithuanian origin was Augustinus RotundusAugustinus Rotundus
Augustinus Rotundus was a Christian and Renaissance humanist, erudite, jurist, political writer, first historian and apologist of Lithuania. Rotundus was vogt of Vilnius, general secretary to the Grand Duke and King Sigismund Augustus and elder of Stakliškės...
, a 16th century researcher of Lithuanian history and diplomacy. In 1564 he wrote that the Chodkiewich family was an old and respected Lithuanian family, founded by Chodko. According to Rotundus, Chodko carried a Lithuanian Grand Duke on his shoulders from a battlefield thus savings his lord's life. For this deed, he earned the nickname Chodko (from Russian: chodit – walking).
The theory was further developed by Maciej Stryjkowski
Maciej Stryjkowski
Maciej Stryjkowski was a Polish-Lithuanian historian, writer and a poet, notable as the author of Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Ruthenia , amongst other aspects of this work considered the first printed book on the history of Lithuania.-Biography:Maciej Stryjkowski was...
(ca. 1547–1593) in his epic poem On the beginnings, accounts, virtues, marital and domestic affairs of the famed nations of Lithuania, Samogitia, Ruthenia (Polish: O początkach, wywodach, dzielnościach, sprawach rycerskich i domowych sławnego narodu litewskiego, żemojdzkiego i ruskiego). According to the poem, an envoy from the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
asked Grand Duke Gediminas (ruled 1316–1341) for a duel with a Lithuanian warrior. In the case of the Lithuanian victory, Gediminas would stop paying tribute to the Tatar Khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
. Samogitia
Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...
n Borejko (Lithuanian: Bareika) won the challenge and was generously rewarded by the Grand Duke. Later Chodko, one of the four sons of Borejko, commanded a raid against the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
in 1311. The Lithuanians suffered a defeat and Gediminas's son Algirdas
Algirdas
Algirdas was a monarch of medieval Lithuania. Algirdas ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377, which chiefly meant monarch of Lithuanians and Ruthenians...
was injured. Chodko rescued Algirdas and tended his wounds. For this deed Chodko was awarded lands between the Narew
Narew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
and Neman River
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
s.
Stryjkowski's work was ordered by the Radziwiłł and Chodkiewicz families. Thus it was very favorable to them and served their political interest. It is clear that the Chodkiewicz family wanted to established their noble pedigree since the beginning of the 14th century. More specifically, Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz wanted to show his ancestral ties with the Duchy of Samogitia, where he and his father Hieronim Chodkiewicz
Hieronim Chodkiewicz
Hieronim Chodkiewicz was a noble from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who was Elder of Samogitia from 1545 until his death. He was son of Aleksander and brother of Hrehory and Yurii Chodkiewiczs...
served as elders.
Later writers and historians copied the story from Stryjkowski with various modifications. For example, Bartosz Paprocki
Bartosz Paprocki
Bartholomew Paprocki was a Polish and Czech writer, historiographer, translator, poet, herald and pioneer in the Polish and Czech genealogy.-Biography:...
(1543–1614) treated Barejko and Chodko as one person; Wojciech Wijuk Kojałowicz (1609–1677) claimed it was Grand Duke Vytenis
Vytenis
Vytenis was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from c. 1295 to c. 1316. He became the first of the Gediminid dynasty to rule for a considerable amount of time. In the early 14th century his reputation outshone that of Gediminas, who is regarded by modern historians as one of the greatest Lithuanian rulers...
and not Gediminas who organized the duel with a Tatar and that Chodko rescued Vytenis not from a battlefield but from a hunting accident. The tale survived in the history books until the end of the 19th century when it was rejected as a legend by critically minded historians.