Coat of arms of Abdank
Encyclopedia
Abdank is a Polish coat of arms
Polish heraldry
Polish heraldry is a branch of heraldry focused on studying the development of coats of arms in the lands of historical Poland , as well as specifically-Polish traits of heraldry. The term is also used to refer to Polish heraldic system, as opposed to systems used elsewhere, notably in Western Europe...
. It was used by several szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
families in the times of the Kingdom of Poland
History of Poland
The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...
and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
.
History
According to Kasper NiesieckiKasper Niesiecki
Kasper Niesiecki was a Polish heraldist, Jesuit, lexicographer, writer, theologian and preacher.-Biography:Niesiecki was born in Greater Poland to a burgher family. In 1699 he began training as a Jesuit in Kraków. From 1701 to 1704 he studied philosophy in Lublin, earning a master's degree...
the beginning of this shield dates from the time of Krakus
Krakus
Krakus, Krak or Grakch was a legendary Polish prince and founder of Kraków, the ruler of the tribe of Lechitians . Krakus is also credited with building Wawel Castle. The first recorded mention of Krakus, then spelled Grakch, is in the Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae from 1190...
, a mythological Polish monarch who founded and gave his name to the city of Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
. On Wawel
Wawel
Wawel is an architectural complex erected over many centuries atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River in Kraków, Poland, at an altitude of 228 metres above the sea level. It is a place of great significance to the Polish people. The Royal Castle with an armoury and the...
Mount, where Kraków's castle stood, from the Wisła
Wisla
Wisła is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,810 , near the border with Czech Republic in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range...
(Vistula) river side, a man-eating dragon showed up. One day a man called Skuba, a young shoemaker, took the skin of a flayed sheep, put tar and sulphur and fire-brand into it and threw it into the dragon's lair. The dragon, not recognizing the deception, assumed it was a sacrifice from the people of Krakow and ate the fake sheep. The fire in his belly ignited it and as a result the dragon became very thirsty. He drank and drank the water from the Wisła river until he finally exploded and died. For his heroic deed Krakus granted Skuba the letter "W" to his shield, standing either for wąż (snake) or for Wawel. This letter can be seen on the Abdank coat of arms.
Abdank in Literature
In Henryk SienkiewiczHenryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...
's "With Fire and Sword
With Fire and Sword
With Fire and Sword is a historical novel by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, published in 1884. It is the first volume of a series known to Poles as the Trilogy, followed by The Deluge and Fire in the Steppe , also translated as Colonel Wolodyjowski...
" the Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky was a hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . He led an uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates which resulted in the creation of a Cossack state...
, wishing to hide his true identity, falsely introduces himself to the main protagonist Skrzetuski
Jan Skrzetuski
Jan Skrzetuski is a fictional character created by Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz in the novel With Fire and Sword. He is a man of honour, always faithful to his master, duke Jeremi Wiśniowiecki. He loves Helena Kurcewiczówna, who was kidnapped by the Ukrainian Cossack Bohun, who is also in...
as "Zenobi Abdank, Abdank Coat of Arms, Abdank with a cross, a nobleman of Kiev county".
Notable bearers
Notable bearers of this Coat of Arms include:- Frances Xavier Liczbinski
- Anna Christina Karola Liczbinska
- Skarbmir count palatine of Poland
- Martynas Goštautas
- Jonas GoštautasJonas GoštautasJonas Gostautas or Goštautas was a Lithuanian nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the Goštautai noble family, a politician and skillful land owner...
- Albrecht GoštautasAlbrecht GoštautasAlbertas Goštautas, , ) was a Lithuanian noble of the Goštautai family from ethnic Lithuanian lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Voivode of Navahrudak since 1508, Voivode of Polotsk since 1514, Voivode of Trakai since 1519 and Voivode of Vilnius since 1522. In 1522 he became Grand Chancellor...
- Stanislovas GoštautasStanislovas GoštautasStanislovas Goštautas was a notable member of the Lithuanian nobility and a high-ranking member of the Lithuanian administration...
- Jerzy JazłowieckiJerzy JazlowieckiJerzy Jazłowiecki was a Polish magnate and nobleman . Great Crown Hetman 1569–1575, Field Crown Hetman in 1569. Jerzy was voivode of the Podole Voivodship since 1567, of the Ruthenian Voivodship since 1569, and castellan of Kamieniec Podolski since 1564 as well.In 1564 as royal emissary he was...
- Bohdan KhmelnytskyBohdan KhmelnytskyBohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky was a hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . He led an uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates which resulted in the creation of a Cossack state...
(probably, his coat of arms also may be Massalski) - Alfred KorzybskiAlfred KorzybskiAlfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski was a Polish-American philosopher and scientist. He is remembered for developing the theory of general semantics...
- Kazimierz Rudzki
- Józef AnkwiczJózef AnkwiczJózef Ankwicz , of Awdaniec coat of arms, also known as Józef z Posławic and Józef Awdaniec, was a politician and noble in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He held the office of castellan of Nowy Sącz from 1782. Deputy to the Great Sejm, and most infamously, the Grodno Sejm...
- Marian Toczyński
See also
- Polish heraldryPolish heraldryPolish heraldry is a branch of heraldry focused on studying the development of coats of arms in the lands of historical Poland , as well as specifically-Polish traits of heraldry. The term is also used to refer to Polish heraldic system, as opposed to systems used elsewhere, notably in Western Europe...
- HeraldryHeraldryHeraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
- Coat of ArmsCoat of armsA coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
- Syrokomla Coat of Arms
- Bartosz Paprocki on Abdank
- Kasper Niesiecki on Abdank