Noble families of Podillia and Bratslavshchina

Zamoyski

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The Zamoyskis is the Polish magnate family of the arms "Elita". The arms "Elita" looks like three gold spears in a red field which are put in a form Coat of arms "Elita"of a star; the middle point is turned downwards, side points are turned upwards. In 1331 that coat of arms was granted to the knight Florian Shariy considered to be the founder of the family of Zamoyski. The most famous representative of the family was the chancellor and the great crown hetman Jan Zamoyskiy (1541-1605). In 1558 he traveled to Europe and studied in Paris and Padua. When he came back to Poland he became responsible for the crown archives. He belonged to "French" party, was the supporter of Henry Valua on the Polish throne. Later on he did all he could to make Stephan Batoriy the king of Rich Pospolita in 1576. Jan Zamoyskiy had qualities of a statesman and a military leader. In 90-s of the XVIth century he won several battles with tatars at the borders of Bratslav province. In 1600 he helpedJan Zamoyskiy the Moldavian economic throne to remove to the family of Mogila - the allies of Rich Pospolita. In 1595 Zamoyskiy together with Stanislav Zholkevskiy fought against Cossacks, headed by Severin Nalivayko. In 1579 Jan Zamoyskiy got privilege on Shargorod and he built a fortress there. Thus, that small town became stronghold. After that Shargorod began to play an important role in the history of Middle Ages in Bratslavshchina. The business of that hetman and chancellor was continued by his son - Tomash Zamoyskiy (1594-1638). Tomash Zaslavskiy was a well-educated person of his times. He visited France, Holland, England, Italy and wrote a treatise on fortification. In 1618 he became a governor of Podillia and fought as a governor against turkish-tatar forces of Kantemir-Murza and Davlet-Girey. In 1619 Tomash Zamoyskiy signed the famous Rastavitskiy agreement with Cossacks. That branch of the family ended with the son of Tadeush-Jan Zamoyskiy. That was in the second half of the XVIIth century.

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