The House of Potocki (; plural: Potoccy, male: Potocki, feminine: Potocka) was a prominent Polish noble family in the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
and
magnates
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 ...
of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
. The Potocki family is one of the wealthiest and most powerful aristocratic families in Poland.
History
The Potocki family originated from the small village of Potok Wielki; their family name derives from that place name. The family contributed to the cultural development and history of Poland's Eastern Borderlands (today Western Ukraine). The family is renowned for numerous Polish statesmen, military leaders, and cultural activists.
The first known Potocki was Żyrosław z Potoka (born about 1136). The children of his son Aleksander (~1167) castelan of
Sandomierz
Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...
, were progenitors of new noble families such as the Moskorzewski, Stanisławski, Tworowski, Borowski, and Stosłowski.
Jakub Potocki (c. 1481–1551) was the protoplast of the
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 ...
line of the Potocki family. The magnate line split into three primary lineages, called:
* Hetman Line or Silver Pilawa, many members of which held the position of Hetman, the protoplast was Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki. The line divided into a number of branches, including Łańcut, Krzeszów, Tulczyn and Wilanów branches.
* Primate Line or Golden Pilawa, named after the most prominent member Teodor Andrzej Potocki,
Primate of Poland
This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.
* Iron Pilawa line
The "Złota Pilawa" line received the title of
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
from the Emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
in 1606. The entire family began using the Count title after the
partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...
. The title was recognized 1777 and 1784 in the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...
and 1838, 1843, 1859, 1890 1903 in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and 1889 by the Pope and in the Kingdom of Poland (
Congress Poland
Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...
).
In 1631 Stefan Potocki, who started the "Złota Pilawa" lineage, died and was buried in Zolotyi Potik (pl. ''Złoty Potok'', ''Golden Potok'', a village owned by this lineage), his descendants started to use the Pilawa coat of arms in golden colour. Because of that the lineage is called the "Złota Pilawa" (Golden Piława).
There are also four branches called:
* "Gałąź łańcucka" (Branch of
Łańcut
Łańcut (, ; ; ) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 18,004 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), it is the Capital (political), capital of Łańcut County.
History
Archeological investigat ...
)
* "Gałąź krzeszowicka" (Branch of
Krzeszowice
Krzeszowice () is a town in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. As of 2004, its population was 9,993. Krzeszowice belongs to ''Kraków Metropolitan Area'', and lies 25 kilometers west of the center of the city of Krakó ...
)
* "Gałąź tulczyńska" (Branch of Tulczyn)
* "Gałąź wilanowska" (branch of
Wilanów
Wilanów () is a dzielnica, district of the city of Warsaw, Poland. It is home to historic Wilanów Palace, the "Polish Palace of Versailles, Versailles," and second home to various List of Polish rulers, Polish kings. Wilanów is home to many v ...
)
Named after the hubs of their respective constellations of properties.
The family became prominent in the 16th and 17th centuries as a result of the patronage of
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 ...
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (; 19 March 1542 – 3 June 1605) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, statesman and the 1st '' ordynat'' of Zamość. He served as the Royal Secretary from 1565, Deputy Chancellor from 1576, Grand Chancellor of the Crown f ...
and King
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632
N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...
Field Crown Hetman
Field may refer to:
Expanses of open ground
* Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes
* Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport
* Battlefield
* Lawn, an area of mowed grass
* Meadow, a gras ...
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 ...
Feliks Kazimierz Potocki
Feliks Kazimierz "Szczęsny" Potocki (1630–1702) was a Polish noble, magnate, and military leader.
He was the son of Hetman and magnate Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki and Zofia Kalinowska, and brother of Hetman Andrzej Potocki. He married ...
Jan Potocki
Count Jan Potocki (; 8 March 1761 – 23 December 1815) was a Polish nobleman, ethnologist, linguist, traveller and author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a celebrated figure in Poland. He is known chiefly for his ...
(1761–1815), writer (''
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
''The Manuscript Found in Saragossa'' (; also known in English as ''The Saragossa Manuscript'') is a frame tale, frame-tale novel written in French language, French at the turn of 18th and 19th centuries by the Poland, Polish author Count Jan Pot ...
Katarzyna Potocka
Katarzyna is a Polish given name, equivalent to English " Catherine". Its diminutive forms include Kasia, Katarzynka, Kasieńka, Kasiunia, Kasiulka; augmentative – Kaśka, Kacha, Kachna.
Individuals named Katarzyna may choose their name day ...
Roman Sanguszko
Prince Roman Adam Stanisław Sanguszko (1800–1881) was a Polish aristocrat, patriot, political and social activist.
Biography
Roman Sanguszko was born on 6 May 1800 in his family manor in Volhynia. The eldest of his kin, he was the heir ...
*
Roman Ignacy Potocki
Count Roman Ignacy Potocki, generally known as Ignacy Potocki (; 1750–1809), was a Polish nobleman, member of the influential magnate Potocki family, owner of Klementowice and Olesin (near Kurów), a politician, statesman, writer, and offi ...
Roman Potocki
Count Roman Potocki (16 December 1852 – 24 September 1915) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic) and politician.
Early life
Count Roman was born on 16 December 1852 at Łańcut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, in what was then a part ...
(1852–1915), landowner
* Seweryn Potocki (1762–1829), curator of
Kharkov
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
educational district in
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
pułkownik
(; ) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic peoples, Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states, ''coronel'' in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking states and ''oberst'' in several German-speaking and Scan ...
Targowica Confederation
The Targowica Confederation (, , ) was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II. The confederation opposed the Constitution of 3 May ...
.
* Stefan Potocki, voivode of Bratslav (1568-1631),
starosta
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
starosta
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
of
Nizhyn
Nizhyn (, ; ) is a city located in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine along the Oster River. The city is located north-east of the national capital Kyiv. Nizhyn serves as the capital city, administrative center of Nizhyn Raion. It hosts the ...
interrex
The interrex (plural interreges) was an extraordinary magistrate during the Roman Kingdom and Republic. Initially, the interrex was appointed after the death of the king of Rome until the election of his successor, hence its name—a ruler "betwee ...
in 1733
*
Wiktoria Elżbieta Potocka
The House of Potocki (; plural: Potoccy, male: Potocki, feminine: Potocka) was a prominent szlachta, Polish noble family in the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Po ...
*Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk (1902–1997), an accomplished New Zealand poet, has been erroneously described as a "feigned member" of the Pilawa Potocki family. In fact, he is a direct descendant of the Bocki Potocki line, until recently believed to have died out with the death of Count Jozef Franciszek Jan Potocki, his great-grandfather, in Paris.
Purported members
* Avraham ben Avraham, birth name Valentin Potocki. Purportedly converted to
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
, moved to
Vilna
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 ...
to hide his identity but was executed for heresy on May 23, 1749 (the second day of the Jewish holiday of
Shavuot
(, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...
). His remains are believed to have been secretly buried next to the
Vilna Gaon
Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...
, with a monument to that effect first erected in 1927. Though his existence is generally accepted among Orthodox Jews, many secular scholars contest his existence due to a lack of primary sources. He was first mentioned in writing by Rabbi Yaakov Emden in 1755, six years after he would have died.
* Maria Patocka: said to be the mother of Crimean khan Adil Giray.
* Princess Teresa Potocki Benvenuto 1839 -1909 was the daughter of count Alfred Józef Potocki and Charlotte Bonaparte.
Coat of arms and motto
The Potocki family used the Piława coat of arms, and their motto was ''Scutum opponebat scuto'' (Latin for "Shield opposing shield"; literally "He opposed shield to shield").
Image:POL COA Pilawa.svg, Silver Pilawa
Image:POL COA Pilawa Złota.svg, Golden Pilawa
Image:POL COA Potocki Hrabia.svg, Arms of the Counts Potocki
Image:Wilanow herb Pilawa na mauzoleum.jpg, Pilawa at the Potocki mausoleum at Wilanów Park
Image:Pilawa CoA in Lezajsk monastery.JPG, Pilawa at Leżajsk monastery