Genealogy /
THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]
The legend of how the Wieniawa clan and coat of arms evolved into Pomian you may fidn itneresting.
WIENIAWA: The legend surrounding Wieniawa tells of a raging bison that attacked the prince’s hunting party in a forest. A knight named £astek grabbed the animal by its horns, thrust a bent-twig hoop through its nose and led it to the prince. When another courtier tried to hold the animal, it started rampaging, so £astek lopped of its head with one swoop of his mighty sword. For his bravery the prince granted him the bison-head coat of arms known as Wieniawa. The crowned lion in the crest was apparently the heraldic emblem of the reward-granting prince.
POMIAN: The origin of this coat of arms goes back to a member of the Wieniawa clan named Chebda who out of sheer hatred murdered his own brother Jarand, the dean of Gniezno. King Władysław ruled that one of the penalties for that act of infamy should be the removal of the nose-ring depicted by the Wieniawa crest and the addition of a sword running through the bison’s head to symbolize the fratricide. The new crest was renamed Pomian to reflect the now archaic word “pomiana” (quarrel, atrocity, scandal).
DOLIWA: The Doliwa coat of arms goes back to the times when the pagan Jadvingians were planning to capture Liw (pronounced: leev) castle in northern Poland (Mazowsze region) and sent a scout ahead to size things up. A Polish knight known as Porajczyk (bearer of the Poraj coat of arms) spotted the pagan scout, took him aside and said he wanted to capture the castle himself and would gladly join forces and share the spoils with the pagans. Porajczyk won the confidence of the pagan chief and told him which side of the castle was the most vulnerable. He managed to slip away back to the castle and told his commander of the ruse. Polish troops surrounded the area, ambushing and decimating the pagans. Porajczyk was rewarded with land and treasures by the king who added two more rosettes to his Poraj coat of arms (said to be of Czech origin) and renamed it Doliwa (from “Do Liwa!” – a battle-cry meaning “Onward to Liw!”).
LUBICZ: The Lubicz coat of arms goes back to an episode in the Middle Ages, when the army of King Kazimierz had been ambushed by a powerful force of pagan Prussians. A knight named Lubicz (bearing the Pobóg coat of arms) led a troop of his own soldiers against the enemy with such ferocity that he sent them fleeing for safety. In recognition of his splendid service, Kazimierz rewarded him with numerous possessions. He also added another cavalier’s cross to his Pobóg crest, which depicted a standing golden horseshoe topped with a cavalier’s cross on a blue shield, removed the hound from the crest, and renamed the modified coat of arms after the brave knight. This heraldic device is shared by 710 variously surnamed and mostly unrelated Polish noble families.
NA£ĘCZ: The Nałęcz (head-band) coats of arms is thought to have acquired its name from Lake Nałęcz and depicts a white or silver cloth head tied at the bottom and set against a red shield. According to one legend, such a head-band, symbolising royal favour, was bestowed by Mieszko I (922-992), Poland’s first historical ruler, on those pagan chieftains who willingly accepted Christianity.
