Olshanski

Coat of Arms of Hipocentaur

This article is about the Lithuanian family. For the player of American football, see Igor Olshansky.

Olshanski (Lithuanian: Alšėniškiai or Alšėnų kunigaikščiai, Belarusian: Гальшанскі, Polish: Holszański) was a Lithuanian princely family of Hipocentaur coat of amrms from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Their patrimony was in Halshany (now in Belarus) and their property included Rokantiškės and Halshany Castles. During the 14–16th centuries most of the family was Orthodox by faith and Ruthenian by language, although there were exceptions, in particular Paweł Holszański was a Catholic Church official.

The family was founded by Ivan Olshanski (fl. 1382–1402), a close ally of Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Ivan's daughter Uliania married Vytautas while granddaughter Sophia of Halshany married Vytautas' cousin Jogaila, King of Poland. Sophia gave birth to Jogaila's sons and became the mother of the Jagiellonian dynasty which ruled Poland, Lithuania, Hungary and Bohemia. The male line of the Olshanski family ended in 1556 with the death of Prince Semen (Paweł Holszański, last-but-one male representative of the family, died just one year before). Princess Maria Olshanskaya, the wife of Andrey Kurbsky, died in 1586. Their estates were inherited by the Sapieha family, which hailed from Smolensk.

Origin

For the first time Olshanski family is mentioned in written sources at the end of the 14th century when Ivan, son of Algimantas, assisted Vytautas in the Lithuanian Civil War (1381–1384) against Jogaila. Such a late mention of strong family is attributed to the geographic location of their domain: Halshany was not in the way of either the Livonian Order or the Teutonic Knights. In contemporary sources, Algimantas is mentioned only in Ivan's patronymic name. However, late and unreliable Lithuanian Chronicles created a fanciful genealogy of Algimantas that connected him to the legendary Palemonid dynasty that allegedly hailed from the Roman Empire. Modern historians have discarded the genealogy as a work of fiction not based on historical facts.

Family tree

Note: the family tree below is incomplete. Main source:

Algimantas

Ivan Olshanski Died in or after 1402

Alexander Served Vasili I of Russia Ruled Pereyaslavl until 1408

Andrew Regent of Kiev?

Uliana Wife of Vytautas Grand Duke of Lithuania

Michael Regent of Kiev Died in 1433?

Semeon the Fierce Executed in 1433

Sophia Wife of Jogaila King of Poland

Maria Wife of Iliaș Voivode of Moldavia

Vasilisa Wife of Ivan Belsky

Yuri Died after 1456

Several other?

Jagiellonian dynasty

Roman II and Alexăndrel

Belsky family

Alexander Castellan of Vilnius Died in 1511

Uliana Eastern Orthodox Saint Died at age 16

Ivan Prince of Dubrovytsia Executed in 1481

Anna Wife of Martynas Goštautas

Semeon Great Hetman Died in 1505

Janusz Starost of Slonim Died after 1505

Jerzy Voivode of Kiev Died in 1510

Paweł Bishop of Lutsk and Vilnius Died in 1555

Yuri Died in 1536

Vasilisa

Tatiana Wife of Konstanty Ostrogski Died in 1522

Several daughters and sons

Ivan Voivode of Kiev and Trakai Died in 1549

Semeon Last male heir Died in 1556

References

In-line

General

1. (Lithuanian) Jonas Zinkus, et al., ed. (1985). "Alšėnų kunigaikščiai". Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija I. Vilnius, Lithuania: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija. p. 52. 
2. (Polish) Wolff J. Kniaziowie litewsko-ruscy od końca czternastego wieku. – Warszawa, 1895. S. 94-115;