Herbarz Polski translation

Bakowski/Rys herb

The following article is a direct translation from the classic Genealogical and Heraldic reference "Herbarz Polski" by Kasper Niesiecki S.J., (Lipsk) edition 1839-46.

 

A lynx (rys) is fleeing to the right of the shield with its neck and head turned as if looking back. There is a crown on his head. Three lilies spring above the helmet; the center lily is somewhat taller and has a six-pointed star across the middle of its stem. I have noted elsewhere that the three lilies merge at the bottom of their stems. A similar coat of arms can be found in Pelplin in the church of the Cistercian Fathers. It is engraved on the tomb of Eleonora de Langnau, wife of Adryan Rembowski. There, the lynx wears no crown, nor is his neck turned back. The tombstone was laid in 1649. 1 have been unable to discover its beginnings and know only that it is used as a seal by the JACKOWSKIS and BAKOWSKIS of Prussia. (Paprocki and Okolski do not mention them.) They are in Lemburski County in the Pomorze voivodship altho, in recent times, some have settled in Mazowsze. The Jackowski family purchased a home from Bakowskis of Bakowo and altho they called themselves Jackowskis of Bakowo, by 1590, they became Bakowskis. In that year, I read of a KRZYSZTOF BAKOWSKI/Jackowski. In "Panegiryk Saleckiego: Lzy Zalobnej Minerwy" by Bishop Kaminski (no first name given), the bishop pays tribute to an ancestor of this family, which thrived in the 17th century, for the funding of the Carthusians near Gdansk.

 

JAN, standard-bearer of Malbork, was permitted to hold the Kiszewski sub prefecture for life altho, for love of country, he had given up all rights to it at the Sejm of 1616. The family had enjoyed the office having underwritten its debts. Jan was called to make peace between Pomerania of the Crown and that of the Princes. He served his country as best he could. He was no less generous to God. He donated 5,000 to the Jesuits in Gdansk for the construction of a church which his wife beautifully embellished. She was Dorota Zalinska, the fair daughter of Maciej from Kostczanka, the Castellan of Gdansk, a woman of great intellect and humanity. She bore no children and after her husband's death, married Konarski, the voivode of Malbork.

 

BAKOWSKI, PIOTR, brother of Jan, was a delegate to the Sejm in 1613, 1628, and 1631. His fluency in speech and sense of justice in public deliberations was rewarded with the appointment of Deputy of the Radom Tribunal, where he served without compromising God, truth, or conscience. He died in 1640. Dzialynska bore his children. After her death, Izabella Zalinska, daughter of Samuel, voivode of Malbork, became his life-long friend. As a token of her undying love for him, she provided the tombstone in Lubawa. His daughter married Jerzy Sartawski.

 

MIKOLAJ of Bakowo, land judge (possibly a son of Piotr), died in 1668. His wife was Katarzyna Stolinska.

 

KRZYSZTOF BAKOWSKI, Chamberlain of Pomorze, brother of Piotr and Jan, spent his youth in the royal court, performing admirably. He is listed as chamberlain in 1622. He married Radziejowska, sister of the voivode of Leczyce. Their daughter first married Mikolaj Czapski (so it appears to me) and later, Jeremiasz Debinski. Krzysztof was buried in Chelmno and the marble tombstone laid in 1653.

 

ALEXANDER of Bakowo, Count of Nostyce or Nostwice, cousin of Jan, Piotr, and Krzysztof, deputy from Pomorze to the royal tribunal in 1620, married Katarzyna Wiesiolowska, sister of the Castellan of Elblag. They had two daughters, Alexandra and Zofiz Anna, and two sons, Ludwik and Jan Ignacy. Alexander and Katarzyna are buried in St. Joseph's church in Torun, according to the marble headstone which was placed in 1663. LUDWIK sub-voivode of Malbork, son of Alexander, signed with this title, and with his brother, for the election of King John Casimir in 1648.

 

JAN IGNACY BAKOWSKI, son of Alexander, was Chamberlain of Chelmno, and later, Voivode of Pomorze; treasurer of the Prussian territories; head of Brodnicki, Skarszewski, and Borzechowski Counties; and finally, the Voivode of Malbork.

 

In 1685, in Kiszport, having received permission from the Republic, Jan Ignacy funded the residence of the Holy Spirit for the Reformist Fathers, who had been placed under the protection of the royal constitution in 1678. Earlier, in 1666, in Gdansk, he had built a monastery and church of St. Anthony of Padua for these same Reformist Fathers, an everlasting remembrance of his generosity of God. The Society of Jesus of the Collegium in Gdansk also was sustained by him and, to this day, the Jesuits express unceasing gratitude to their benefactor. He served his country with distinction and defended its liberalism with wit and glib tongue which never faltered. He was a delegate to the Sejm in 1659, 1661, and 1662. Assured of his cordiality, the Republic subjected him to discharging varied and difficult transactions, such as, ascertaining the claims of Brandenburg's Kurfirszt to Elblag in 1678 with the Tsar in Moscow; as paymaster to the Army in 1676; managing the economy of Malbork in 1661; providing written information to a certain commission in 1662; and, as Commissioner, returning to the ladies of the convent the church of St. James in Torun, which was overcome with heresy (1667). It was there that he beautifully manifested religious fervor, which we trust God has lavishly rewarded with a crown in heaven. He contracted marriage twice: first, with Elzbieta Czeszewska, who gave birth to one daughter and two sons, Stanislaw and Jacek; and then with Cecylia, or rather, Konstancya Anna Donhoff. STANISLAW IGNACY BAKOWSKI, Chamberlain of Chelmno, son of Jan Ignacy, the voivode of Malbrok, was thrice deputized to the Sejm: for the coronation of King August II in 1697, when he signed the Confirmationem Jurium Gentium; in 1699; and before that, in 1696, to the general convocation in Warsaw.

 

JACEK was the second son of Jan Ignacy, v. of Malbork. Four or five of his sons are still living today. One of them, Jozef, has offered his life to God in our Order.

 

FRANCISZEK, cousin of Stanislaw and Jacek, is apparently the son of Ludwik, sub-voivode of Malbork, 1673.

 

JAN BAKOWSKI, Chamberlain of Chelmno, 1687, is mentioned in "Historia Collegii Gedanensis, S.J." BAKOWSKA, mother of Miroslaw Konarski, Chamberlain of Malbork.

 

MATEUSZ BAKOWSKI, cupbearer and deputy from Halicz in 1764, voted for King Stanislaw August, as did MARCIN STANISLAW KOSTKA, writer of Grodno and deputy from Halicz, and JOZEF, master of the pantry of Chelmno.

 

Copyright © 1981 Josephine M. Piegzik. Used by permission. This article originally appeared in Polish Genealogical Society Newsletter (Vol. 3, No. 2, June 1981), the journal of the Polish Genealogical Society (of America).

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