thumb|Lew Sapieha, the most prominent member of the family

thumb|Jan Fryderyk Sapieha

200px|thumb|[[Adam Stefan Sapieha – Archbishop of Kraków.]]

The House of Sapieha is a Polish–Lithuanian noble and magnate family of Ruthenian origin, descending from the medieval boyars of Smolensk and Polotsk. The family acquired great influence and wealth in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 16th century.

History

The first confirmed records of the Sapieha family date back to the 15th century, when Semen Sopiha () was mentioned as a writer (scribe) of the then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Casimir IV Jagiellon () for the period of 1441–49. Semen had two sons, and .

Possibly, the family of Semen Sopiha owned the village of Sopieszyno near Gdansk, which they left because of the Teutonic invasion. Sopieszyno is one of the oldest Pomeranian villages. The records have it that already in the 11th-12th centuries it was a knightly estate. It was then mentioned in 1399 as a village owned in fiefdom by knights subject to the Polish Crown.

The creator of the fortune and power of the Sapieha family was the Court and Great Chancellor and Great Hetman of Lithuania, Lew Sapieha.

The princely title of the Sapieha-Kodenski branch was recognized in Poland in 1572 and in Austria-Hungary in 1845, while that of the Sapieha-Rozanski line was officially acknowledged in Russia in 1880.

On 14 September 1700, Michał Franciszek Sapieha had obtained the title of prince from Emperor Leopold I, but the title became extinct upon his death on 19 November 1700. That year, the family lost its dominant position in the Grand Duchy as a result of its defeat in the Lithuanian Civil War. In 1768, members of the Sapieha family obtained recognition of the princely title from the Polish Sejm. After the partitions of Poland, the family appeared in the list of persons authorised to bear the title of Prince of the Kingdom of Poland in 1824. The title was recognised in Austria in 1836 and 1840, and in Russia in 1874 and 1901. In 1905, the family obtained the qualification of Serene Highness in Austria.

The maternal grandmother of Queen Mathilde of Belgium was a Princess of the house of Sapieha.

Coat of arms

The Sapieha family used the Polish coat of arms named "Lis".

  • Paweł Jan Sapieha (1609–1665), voivode of the Witebsk and Vilnius, Great Hetman of Lithuania
  • Paweł Maria Sapieha (1900–1987), he participated in the Polish–Soviet War
  • Paweł Sapieha (1860–1934), traveler, first chairman of the Polish Red Cross
  • Paweł Stefan Sapieha (1565–1635), Deputy Chancellor of Lithuania
  • Róża Maria Sapieha (1921–1944), member of the Armia Krajowa, she participated in the Warsaw uprising of 1944
  • Stanisław Sapieha (1896–1919), defender of Lwów
  • Teresa Sapieha (died c.1784), wife of Prince Hieronim Florian Radziwiłł and Count Joachim Karol Potocki
  • Tomasz Sapieha (1598–1646), voivode of Wenden and of Nowogródek
  • Władysław Leon Sapieha (1853–1920), landowner, social activist

Palaces

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" align="center">

image:Side façade of the Sapiegos Palace in Antakalnis eldership in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2024.jpg|Sapieha Palace in Vilnius

image:Halšanski zamak. Гальшанскі замак (V. Dmachoŭski, 1853).jpg|Ruins of the castle in Holszany (1853)

image:Дворцовый комплекс Сапегов в Ружанах.jpg|Palace of Aleksander Sapieha in Ružany

image:Krasiczyn castle 3.jpg|Castle of Krasicki and Sapieha in Krasiczyn

image:Wieleń 269-50.jpg|Sapieha Palace in Wieleń

image:Дворец Сапег.jpg|Sapieha Palace in Lviv

image:Bobrek pałac.JPG|Palace in Bobrek

image:Koden-palacyk-Placencja.jpg|Palace "Placencja", summer residence in Kodeń

image:Warszawa - Pałac Sapiehów 01.jpg|Palace of Jan Fryderyk Sapieha in Warsaw

image:Zespół zamkowy (XV-XVIw.) ruiny zamku (XVIw.) (fot. 1) - Kodeń powiat bialski woj. lubelskie ArPiCh A-55.JPG|Remains of the castle in Kodeń

image:Vysokаŭski zamak. Высокаўскі замак (N. Orda, 1876).jpg|Castle in Wysokie

image:Horadnia, Nioman. Горадня, Нёман (1891).jpg|Palace in Grodno

</gallery>

See also

  • Ruzhany Palace
  • Sapieha Palace in Vilnius
  • Sapieha Palace in Warsaw
  • Sapieha Palace in Lviv
  • Polish nobility
  • Belarusian nobility
  • Lithuanian nobility
  • List of szlachta
  • Sapieha beaker

Notes

Bibliography

  • Labarre de Raillicourt, Dominique., Histoire des Sapieha (1440–1970), Paris, 1970
  • Sapieha E., Dom Sapieżyński, Warszawa 1995. Numery /112 przy nazwiskach oznaczają numery biogramów w/w pozycji.
  • Tłomacki A., "Sapiehowie Kodeńscy", nakładem własnym, Warszawa 2009

References