Noble families of Podillia and Bratslavshchina

Ostrozki

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The Ostrozki’s is the most powerful aristocratic family of the Ukrainian middle ages. The origin comes from Narimunt, the son of Lithuanian prince The own coat of arms of the Ostrozski'sGedimin. The Ostrozki’s, the princes on Volyn, had an opportunity to influence on processes, which happened on all territory of Ukraine and many neighboring countries. They did not do Podillian lands of their share of attention. The appearance of the family of Ostrozki on Bratslavshchina is connected with the name of prince Kostiantin Ivanovich Ostrozkiy (1463-1530), a famous warrior and politician, in 1499 he occupied a post of great Lithuanian hetman. Vinnitsa government for the first time was given to Kostiantin Ostrozkiy in 1497, and in general he owned these grounds for more than 30 years. Right at the beginning of XVI century his official titleKostiantin Ivanovich Ostrozkiy was "Governor of Vinnitsa, Bratslav and Zvenigorod". From 1500 to 1507 K. Ostrozkiy stayed in the Moscow captivity, and with returning therefrom, he constantly stayed in epicenter of political and military events of the country. The next years he conducted more than 60 battles (mainly, against tatar army) and deserved the honorable name of "Scipion of Russia and Gannibal of Lithuania". In 1512 prince Kostiantin completely destroyed the tatar army with Mengli-Girey at the head, and two years later he did not give any chance to Moscow army near Orsha. For these merits the king Sigizmund Stary presented to him a post of Marshalok of Volynsk and also confirmed his privileges on Vinnitsa and Bratslav provinces. In 1516 in a fight near Medzibiz one of the sons of the Ostrozki was killed. It was Roman. The next years prince Kostiantin continued to remain one of most influential statesmen of Poland and Lithuania and actively influenced the course of Vasil-Kostiantin Kostiantinovich Ostrozkiy (1526-1608)events. Kostiantin Ivanovich Ostrozkiy died in 1533 in Kiev. His son Illia Kostiantinovich in 1530-1539 was the governor of Bratslav and Vinnitsa. However a special place in the Ukrainian history belongs to the youngest son of K. I. Ostrozkiy - Vasil-Kostiantin (1526-1608). The powerful Ukrainian magnate, "the defence counsel of Orthodoxy", one of the most educated people of the time, the founder of the famous Ostrozka academy and a printing house, he ordered to engrave the motto: "Dei gratia dux Ostrogiae" on his seal ("God grace prince Ostrozkiy"). Hundreds of monographs and clauses are written about Vasil-Kostiantin Ostrozkiy, the mentions of him are in any textbook of the native history. The appreciable traceThe tower of the family castle in Ostrog was left by him on Bratslavshchina. Here Kostiantin Ostrozkiy had significant manors and "business" castles. In 1586 he ordered to construct the castle in Krasne, which received sad glory in the years of Liberation War as a place of destruction of the colonel Nechay. Soon Pikovskiy castle – the ancient possession of family of Kmity, became the property of Ostrozki. As a governor of Kiev, K. K. Ostrozkiy had an opportunity to supervise a situation on steppe borders of Bratslavshchina and he used such opportunity. After the death of the old prince Ostrozkiy in 1608 the influence of this family considerably decreased. His son Janush Ostrozkiy was the last representative of the family of male's line. Soon the family of Ostrozki stopped the existence. The outstanding Ukrainian historian Mikhaylo Grushevskiy wrote, that possession of the house of Ostrozki became "a spoil of a small group of magnates from that category, who... had influence at the yard '.


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