The Ostrozki’s is the most
powerful aristocratic family of the Ukrainian middle ages. The origin comes from Narimunt,
the son of Lithuanian prince Gedimin. 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 title 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 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 trace 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 '.