Topór coat of arms

Topór (Polish for "axe") is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta (noble) families in medieval Poland and under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref>Alfred Znamierowski: Herbarz rodowy. Warszawa: Świat Książki, 2004, s. 171. Template:ISBN.</ref>

History

The topór coat of arms is one of the oldest szlachta armorial bearings, found on a wax seal dated to 1282. Before the Union of Horodło in 1413, it's believed approximately 220 Polish szlachta families in and around Kraków, Lublin and Sandomierz used these arms.

Under the Union of Horodło the coat of arms was represented by Maciej z Wąsosza, the Voivod of Kraków, and by Jan Butrym, a Lithuanian boyar. After the Union of Horodło the topór coat of arms was transported to Lithuania and adopted by Jan Butrym. Due to its antiquity it was sometimes referred to as Starża, an Old-Polish word meaning "old age".

Blazon

Gules an axe proper. For a crest, issuant from a ducal coronet an axe proper in bend.

Notable bearers

Notable bearers of this coat of arms have included:

• House of Bogdanowicz
• Jan Jerzy Grabowski
• House of Matuszewski: Szymon Piotr Stefan Matuszewski
• Joey Największy z Gueltjakia
• Cyprian Norwid
• House Okulicz
• House of Ossoliński: Jerzy Ossoliński, Franciszek Maksymilian Ossoliński, Anna Teresa Ossolińska, Józef Kajetan Ossoliński, Jan Zbigniew Ossoliński, Krzysztof Ossoliński
• House of Starza Szolayski: Adam Prince Starza Szolayski, Wanda Princess Starza Szolayska, Gerda Starza Szolayska
• House of Tarło, Teofilia Tarło, Zygmunt Tarło, Jan Tarło, Andrzej Tarło, Pawel Tarło, Jadwiga Tarło, Stanisław Tarło, Jan Karol Tarło, Barbara Tarło
• House of Tęczyński: Zbigniew Tęczyński, Jan Magnus Tęczyński
• Eustachy Trepka
• Józef Zabiełło
• House of Zemło

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Gallery

• Portrait of Jerzy Ossoliński with coat of arms in upper left
  Portrait of Jerzy Ossoliński with coat of arms in upper left
• Portrait of Franciszek Maksymilian Ossolinski with coat of arms on the shield (right bottom corner)
  Portrait of Franciszek Maksymilian Ossolinski with coat of arms on the shield (right bottom corner)
• Portrait of Jan Zbigniew Ossolinski with coat of arms in upper right
  Portrait of Jan Zbigniew Ossolinski with coat of arms in upper right
• Jan Magnus Tęczyński with coat of arms in upper right
  Jan Magnus Tęczyński with coat of arms in upper right
• Topór on the painting of Elizabeth Granowska, 1779
  Topór on the painting of Elizabeth Granowska, 1779
• The epitaph of Jan Kanty Tarło (1790-1855) in Szczaworyż, Church of St. James
  The epitaph of Jan Kanty Tarło (1790-1855) in Szczaworyż, Church of St. James
• Coat of arms of the Ossoliński family on the St. Antoni Padewski Church in Warsaw
  Coat of arms of the Ossoliński family on the St. Antoni Padewski Church in Warsaw
• The ruins of Krzyżtopór Castle in Ujazd (topór coat of arms on the right side of the gate)
  The ruins of Krzyżtopór Castle in Ujazd (topór coat of arms on the right side of the gate)

See also

• Polish heraldry
• Heraldic family
• List of Polish nobility coats of arms

Bibliography

• Kasper Niesiecki: Herbarz polski. T. 9. 1839-1846
• Franciszek Piekosiński: Heraldyka polska wieków średnich. Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, 1899
• Józef Szymański: Herbarz średniowiecznego rycerstwa polskiego. Warszawa: PWN, 1993
• Bartosz Paprocki, Jan Kazimierz Turowski: Herby rycerstwa polskiego przez Bartosza Paprockiego zebrane i wydane r. p. 1584. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Biblioteki Polskiej, 1858.
• Stanisław Teodor Chrząński: Tablice odmian herbowych. Juliusz Karol Ostrowski, 1909, s. V.
• Tadeusz Gajl: Herbarz polski od średniowiecza do XX wieku : ponad 4500 herbów szlacheckich 37 tysięcy nazwisk 55 tysięcy rodów. L&L, 2007, s. 363. Template:ISBN.
• Barbara Trelińska: Album armorum nobilium Regni Poloniae XV - XVIII saec. Herby nobilitacji i indygenatów XV - XVIII w.. Lublin: 2001,
• Stanisław Dziadulewicz: Herbarz rodzin tatarskich w Polsce. Wilno: Stanisław Dziadulewicz, 1929

External links

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