The royal blood. Polish descendants of Sigismund I the Old and Katarzyna Telniczanka in the old Polish times

Abstract

The research undertaken by the Author concentrates on Polish descendants of Regina, the elder of two daughters of King Sigismund I the Old and his long time mistress – Katarzyna Telniczanka. Until now, it was assumed that the last descendants of the king were his great-grandsons – Władysław Strasz of Białaczów and his sister Krystyna who lived in the first half of the 17th century. Thanks to the documents found by the Author, it was possible to establish that the mother of the above-mentioned Władysław and Krystyna – Urszula Strasz née Kreza, had a sister – Zofia, who married Baltazar Lutomirski. From her daughter, Zofia née Lutomirski 1st married Stanisław Trembiński (Trębiński), 2nd married Franciszek Szamowski, come all descendants of Sigismund I the Old and Katarzyna Telniczanka, both historical and living ones. The article presents a list of all the king’s descendants from the beginning of the 16th to the turn of the 18th and 19th century. In total, it was 114 people (58 men and 56 women). It is worth noting that until the end of the first quarter of the 17thcentury, the descendants of Sigismund I and Katarzyna Telniczanka were Calvinists. They were almost exclusively representatives of wealthy and middle-class nobles. There were no senators among them and only a few were land officers. Yet, the Author’s list of descendants of the penultimate Jagiellon on the Polish throne is by no means complete. In a few cases it was impossible to find a source that would confirm whether a married couple mentioned in the article had children. Many times the Author had to underline that the fate of a certain person is unknown to him. This stands a chance for further researchers to fill that gap.