Abdank is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several ''

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

'' families in the times of 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 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 ...

Blazoning

Gules '' łękawica'' argent, crest: łąkawica as in arms.

History

According to

Kasper Niesiecki Kasper Niesiecki (31 December 1682 – 9 July 1744), also known as Kacper Niesiecki, was a Polish heraldist, Jesuit, lexicographer, writer, theologian and preacher. Biography Niesiecki was born in Greater Poland to a burgher family. In 1699 h ...

, the beginning of this shield dates from the time of

Krakus Krakus, Krak or Grakch was a legendary Polish prince, ruler of the Vistulans (a Lechitic tribe), and the presumed founder of Kraków. Krakus is also credited with building Wawel Castle and slaying the Wawel Dragon by feeding it a dead sheep f ...

, a mythological Polish monarch who founded and gave his name to the city of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. On

Wawel The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

Mount, where Kraków's castle stood, from the

Wisła Wisła (; ; ) is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,132 (2019), near the border with the Czech Republic. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in the historical region of ...

(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 Kraków 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. The Awdaniec Clan (such as it may be) has been called variously: "Awdaniec," "Abdaniec," "Abdanka," "Awdanc," "Awdanczyc," "Habdaniec," "Habdank," "Habdaniec," "Hebdank," "Lakotka," "Lekawa," "Lekawica," "Lekotka," "Bialkotka," "Szczedrzyk," "Skuba," and probably other things similar and dissimilar. Known recorded war cries are: "Abdaniec!," "Abdank!,""Awdaniec!," "Habdank!," and "Hebdank!."

Abdank in literature

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as The Trilogy, the Trilogy series and especially ...

's "

With Fire and Sword ''By 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'' (''Potop'', 1886) and '' Fire in the Step ...

" the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

leader

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky of the Abdank coat of arms (Ruthenian language, Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern , Polish language, Polish: ; 15956 August 1657) was a Ruthenian nobility, Ruthenian noble ...

, wishing to hide his true identity, falsely introduces himself to the main protagonist Skrzetuski as "Zenobi Abdank, Abdank Coat of Arms, Abdank with a cross, a nobleman of Kiev county". Orbis Poloni-1

Notable bearers

Notable bearers of this Coat of Arms include: * Józef Ankwicz, Deputy to the

Great Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm (Polish language, Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

Andrzej Alojzy Ankwicz Andrzej Alojzy Ankwicz (; ; ; 22 June 1777 – 26 March 1838) was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Lwów (Lviv) in 1815–1833 and archbishop of Prague in 1833–1838. Life Ankwicz was born in 1777 in Kraków, Polish Crown. Studied in his nativ ...

, Roman Catholic archbishop of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

* Skarbmir count palatine of Poland * Bernard Zdzisław Skarbek, Count, Colonel

3rd Carpathian Rifle Division (Poland) The 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division (, sometimes translated as ''3rd Carpathian Infantry Division''), also commonly known as ''Christmas Tree Division'' due to the characteristic emblem of a cedar of Lebanon superimposed upon the Polish flag, was ...

; World War II battles:

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

Battle of Ancona The Battle of Ancona was fought between forces from Poland serving as part of the British Army and German forces that took place from 16 June–18 July 1944 during the Italian campaign in World War II. The battle was the result of an Allied pla ...

Battle of Bologna The Battle of Bologna was fought in Bologna, Italy from 9–21 April 1945 during the Second World War, as part of the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy. The Allied forces were victorious, with the Polish II Corps and supporting Allied units captu ...

Martynas Goštautas Martynas Goštautas ( or ''Marcin Gasztołdowicz''; ; 1428, Vilnius – c. 1483, Vilnius) was a nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the Goštautai family. He was the Grand Marshal of Lithuania, Voivode of Navahrudak (1464–1471), firs ...

Jonas Goštautas Jonas Gostautas or Goštautas (; c. 1393 in Geranainys or Vilnius – before 1 September 1458 in Vilnius) was a Lithuanian nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the Gasztołd (Goštautai) noble family, a politician and skillful lan ...

* Albrecht Goštautas *

Stanislovas Goštautas Stanislovas GoštautasLietuvos dailės muziejus (also called Stanisław Gasztołd or ''Gasztołt'' of Abdank in Polish) (ca. 1507 in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania an ...

* Marian Toczyński *

Jerzy Jazłowiecki Jerzy Jazłowiecki (1510–1575) was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic) and magnate. Great Crown Hetman 1569–1575, Field Crown Hetman in 1569. Jerzy was voivode of the Podole Voivodeship since 1567, of the Ruthenian Voivodeship since 1569, and castel ...

, leader of the

Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...

* Jan Konarski, Bishop of

Alfred Korzybski Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (; ; July 3, 1879 – March 1, 1950) was a Polish-American philosopher and independent scholar who developed a field called general semantics, which he viewed as both distinct from, and more encompassing than, ...

, linguist *

Jan Kozietulski Baron Jan Leon Hipolit Kozietulski (4 July 1781 – 3 February 1821) was a Polish noble, military commander and an officer of the armed forces of the Duchy of Warsaw during the Napoleonic Wars. He is best remembered as the heroic commander of the ...

, commander of the

Polish cavalry The Polish cavalry () can trace its origins back to the days of medieval cavalry knights. Poland is mostly a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment. The knights and heavy cavalry gradually evolved in ...

charge at the

Battle of Somosierra The Battle of Somosierra took place on 30 November 1808, during the Peninsular War, when a combined Franco- Napoleonic Spanish- Polish force under the direct command of Napoleon I forced a passage through a Spanish division stationed at t ...

* Ignacy Skarbek-Kruszewski, Polish and Belgian general * Boguslaw Kruszewski, sailor *

Mikołaj Kruszewski Mikołaj Habdank Kruszewski, ( Russianized, ''Nikolay Vyacheslavovich Krushevsky'', Никола́й Вячесла́вович Круше́вский) (December 18, 1851, Lutsk – November 12, 1887, Kazan) was a Polish linguist active in the R ...

* Miroslawa Kruszewska, writer, poet * Konrad Johann Kruszewski, artist, graphic designer * Mieszko Boguslaw Kruszewski, translator, writer * Tomasz Włodzimierz Kruszewski, veteran *

Kazimierz Rudzki Kazimierz Rudzki (6 January 1911, in Warsaw, Poland – 2 February 1976, in Warsaw) was a Polish stage and film actor, theatre director. Studied directing at Państwowy Instytut Sztuki Teatralnej. Actor of Syrena Theatre (also director), Nat ...

Wilfrid Voynich Wilfrid Voynich (born Michał Habdank-Wojnicz; Деятели революционного движения в России: Био-библиографический словарь: От предшественников декабристов д ...

(born Michał Habdank-Wojnicz) *

Ivan Vyhovsky Ivan Vyhovsky (; ; date of birth unknown, died 1664), a Ukrainian military and political figure and statesman, served as hetman of the Zaporizhian Host and of the Cossack Hetmanate for three years (1657–1659) during the Russo-Polish War (1654 ...

hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

of the Ukrainian Cossacks * Christine Granville (born Krystyna Skarbek) * Michał Haraburda

Related coat of arms

* Syrokomla coat of arms

Notes

Bibliography

Bartosz Paprocki Bartosz Paprocki, in Czech known as Bartoloměj Paprocký z Hlohol a Paprocké Vůle ( – 27 December 1614), was a Polish and Czech historiographer, translator, poet, heraldist, and a pioneering figure in Polish and Bohemian/Czech genealogy ...

: Herby rycerstwa polskiego na pięcioro ksiąg rozdzielone, Kraków, 1584. *

Tadeusz Gajl Tadeusz Gajl (born 1940 in Vilnius, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian-born Polish artist and graphic designer, notable for his contemporary illustrations on the coats of arms borne by the historical nobility (''szlachta'') of Poland. After graduating fr ...

: Herbarz polski od średniowiecza do XX wieku : ponad 4500 herbów szlacheckich 37 tysięcy nazwisk 55 tysięcy rodów. L&L, 2007. .

External links

Bartosz Paprocki on Abdank

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdank Coat Of Arms Polish coats of arms