daughter of Gotthard, Duke of Kurland 1561-1587 and Duchess Anna zu Mecklenburg-Guestrow Born 1567 Died 1617 Tykocin
Kinder
1 Princess Barbara Radziwill Married Nicolaus von Ciechanowiec Kiszka, Castellan of Troki Died 31 March 1644
2 Prince Jan Albrycht Radziwill 2.Ordinat of Kleck, Starosta upicki Born 7 June 1591 Krakow Died 15 April 1626 Wilno Married 9 November 1614 Korzec Princess Lawinia Korecka, daughter of Prince Joachim Korecki and Anna Chodkiewicz Died February 1641 Children, Generation VII-3
Elzbieta Radziwillowna Princess
Married (1) Count Gabriel Teczynski, Palatin of Lublin Died 1617 Married (2) Krzysztof von Ciechanowiec Kiszka, Palatin of Witebsk
Elzbieta Radziwillowna Princess
Married (1) Count Gabriel Teczynski, Palatin of Lublin Died 1617 Married (2) Krzysztof von Ciechanowiec Kiszka, Palatin of Witebsk
son of Mikolaj
Hlebowicz, kasztelan wilenski and Princess Marcybella Anna
Korecka
Profiles...
Gostautas, Albrecht : (d. 1539) Gostautas, John : (d. 1458) Gostautas, Stasys : (1939-) GOSTAUTAS, Albrecht (d. 1539), chancellor of Lithuania from 1522-39. He was one of the last leading statesmen who came from the noted Gostautas family. At first he asserted himself as a military commander. After successfully repelling an invasion by the Tartars, which had carried them as far as Naugardukas (Novogrudok), he was appointed palatine in 1508 of the region thus secured. When the Muscovites seized Smolensk from Lithuanian in 1514, Gostautas was sent as palatine to Polotsk in order to defend the latter region from enemy attacks. In 1518 he succeeded in defeating a large Muscovite army, devastating much of the enemy's territory in pursuit and forcing it to sign an 11-year armistice in 1522. In 1519 he was appointed palatine of Trakai, and in 1522 palatine of Vilnius and chancellor of Lithuania. In virtue of the latter office, the most powerful in Lithuania, he was head of the Council of Lords and represented the King whenever the latter resided in Poland. Gostautas continued the policies of his grandfather John Gostautas, seeking to strengthen Lithuania's independence from Poland. To this end he exploited the interest of Queen Bona in assuring that her son Sigismund Augustus, still a minor, would succeed the royal throne then held by Sigismund the Old (see Bona Sforza). In 1522 the diet of Vilnius announced its intention of electing Sigismund Augustus as Grand Prince of Lithuania after Sigismund the Old, his father, had died, and in 1529 the diet did, in fact, elect him, although the father was still alive (see Sigismund Augustus). Thereupon the Poles, in an unusual move, also hastened to elect him king, even though Sigisimund the Old was still alive. When Queen Bona saw her ambition for her son realized, she turned against the separatist policies of Gostautas. But by that time the chancellor had already won ratification of the Lithuanian Statute (q.v.), a code of laws written under Gostautas' supervision, providing, among other things, for the independence of Lithuanian courts from the Polish legal system (which Bona had tried to impose on Lithuania) and for the exclusion of foreigners from acquisition of land and from occupation of higher office in Lithuania. The latter restriction was aimed primarily at Poles. Gostautas also attempted to remove Polish clergy from Lithuania on the grounds that, since they rarely undertook to learn Lithuanian, the language of their flock, they were not concerned so much with serving religious needs and spreading the word of God as with amassing material wealth and secular power. As a result of his campaign, an independent Franciscan province (Friars Minor Observants) was established in 1530, even though its provincial superior was a Pole. When Pope Clement VII sought Muscovy's favor for Ecclesiastical Union by promising the royal crown to Basil III, Gostautas, fearing a strengthening of Muscovy's political situation, protested vigorously. His Council of Lords demanded that Polish authorities immediately deliver the royal crown sent to Vytautas the Great in 1430 by the German emperor and treacherously intercepted by the Poles, and that Sigismund Augustus be crowned King of Lithuania. But the Polish lords never acceded to this demand. Gostautas' separatist ambitions were hindered in part by internal rivalries among the Lithuanian nobility, his own and the Radvilas families being the most serious contenders for power and influence. Only in 1537 was reconciliation achieved when Gostautas' son Stanislas married George Radvilas' daughter Barbara (q.v.). Stanislas Gostautas died in 1542 without leaving any heirs; his family's holdings went to the Radvilas (Radziwill) family, who thereby became Lithuania's most powerful magnates. Meanwhile, Albrecht Gostautas had already died in 1539, and was buried in the Cathedral Of Vilnius, where his tomb remains to this day. GOSTAUTAS, John (d. 1458), chancellor of Lithuania from 1443-58. One of the leading statesmen in the first half of the 15th century, he established the political preeminence of the aristocratic Gostautas family and was actual ruler of Lithuania for almost 20 years. he is first mentioned in 1413 as a participant in the Lithuanian-Polish convention of Horodlo. Later his signature appears under each of the more important treaties concluded between Lithuania and other states. During the last years of reign of Vytautas the Great, Gostautas served as the marshal of the royal court and continued in this post under Vytautas' successor Svitrigaila (1430-32). When rivalry broke out between Svitrigaila and his cousin Zygimantas, Gostautas threw his support to the latter, who, upon gaining power in Lithuania, appointed him governor of Smolensk, a position at which Gostautas remained until the assissination of Zygimantas in 1440. During the decade before 1440 Gostautas managed to gain possession of a large number of estates which were granted to him as compensation for his services to the state, and thus he became one of the richest and most influential magnates of Lithuania. Having gathered a group of other nobles around himself, he contributed decisively to the fact that the Lithuanian throne devolved to Jogaila's minor son Casimir rather than to Zygimantas' son Michael. The Polish lords sent the boy Casimir to Lithuania, believing he would be made no more than viceroy of his brother Ladislas, King of Poland. The Lithuanian Council of Lords, however, went as far as electing and crowning him Grand Prince of Lithuania at Vilnius in 1440 (see Casimir). When in 1443 Gostautas assumed the offices of palatine of Vilnius and chancellor of Lithuania, he became the guardian of Casimir, still a minor, as well as regent of Lithuania. Gostautas' policies were dictated by two aims: to consolidate the Lithuanian state within the boundaries left by Vytautas the Great and to strengthen int independence from Poland. In pursuit of the first goal he prevailed over the supporters of the royal aspirant Michael, reconciled himself with the rebellious noblemen in Samogitia, pacified Russian princes in the eastern territories who had risen against him by personally commanding a campaign against Kiev, and recovered territory seized from Lithuania by the Masurians. For the restoration of the former territorial integrity to be complete, it was left to recover parts of Podolia and Volynia which Poland had occupied since 1432. At first Gostautas' policies towards Poland brought him favorable results. When the Polish King Ladislas fell in battle against the Turks in 1444, the Poles elected his brother Casimir, Grand Prince of Lithuania, as his successor. But Gostautas' Council of Lords allowed the Lithuanian prince to assume his new duties only if certain conditions, partly spelled out in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk of 1446, were met. According to this treaty, Poland and Lithuania were to remain sovereign states, related only by ties of close co-operation and mutual assistance, and governed either by one identical or by two distinct rulers; all of the earlier agreements which had made Lithuania subservient to Poland were to cease in effect; and Poland was to return the occupied parts of Podolia and Volynia. A second significant concession which Gostautas and other Lithuanian nobles secured from Casimir when he left for Poland was the Privledge of 1447, by which a sweeping bill of rights was granted to Lithuanian nobility (see Casimir). This magna charta libertatum of the Lithuanian aristocracy was in effect for a long time, whereas the treaty of 1446 never went into force. The Polish diet refused to ratify it and prevented King Casimir from fulfilling his promise of returning the occupied territories to Lithuania. As a result Gostautas and his supporters formed an active opposition to the king and Polish lords, even preparing to oust Casimir from the Lithuanian throne and to put either Simon, Prince of Kiev and a descendant of Algirdas, or a Radvilas in his place. But Casimir was able to eschew this fate by marshalling the support of a group of Gostautas' enemies led by John Minivydas, palatine of Trakai. Such lack of unity among Lithuanian noblemen kept Gostautas from realizing his ambition of totally separating Lithuania from Poland. He died in Vilnius in 1458.
Behind the name : Gos~tautas is one of the ancient noble Lithuanian surnames : _atgos~ti_ "to understand" and _tauta_ "the people", "the nation". Gustaitis is the patronymic ("a name derived from that of the father or a paternal ancestor usu. by the addition of an affix") from August. GOSTAUTAS : (Lat. Gastoldus, Pol. Gasztold), family of Lithuanian magnates which became prominent in the 15th-16th centuries. At the time the family ruled extensive lands between Asmena and Geranainys, to the east and southeast of Vilnius. It is, however, not known whether they originated from that area. Historical sources first mention Gostautas as being commander of the Veliuona castle in Samogitia. He was taken prisoner and murdered after the Teutonic Knights captured his fortress in 1364. After that, some genealogists think, the family moved to eastern Lithuania, although there is no concrete evidence in support of this theory. The account of the Gostautas family's descent from the Romans given in the extensive version of the Lithuanian Chronicles (16th century) is purely legendary. The last member of the family Stanislas Gostautas, palatine of Trakai castle, died in 1542. He was married to Barbara, from the Radvilas (Radziwill) family, who later became the wife of King Sismund Augustus. John Gostautas (d. 1458) and Albrecht Gostautas (d. 1539), both Chancellors of Lithuania, were the most famous members of this family. Alternate forms of spelling : Gostautas, Gastolth, Gastoldus [Lat], Gastaldi [It], Gasthawdus [Ger?], Gosztowtt [Pol], Gasztolt [Pol], Gasztold [Pol], Gaszdtowt, Gosztowt, Gasztowtt [Fr], Gochtvott [Fr]. Notable side of the family : Follow this "Gostautas family profiles" link
to review some of the more notable sides of the family and their place in Lithuanian history. My side of the family : I have been researching my side of family tree for about the last 7 years. The expansion of the internet and the growing number of people online has allowed me to come into contact with a wide variety of genealogists. As more and more cities, towns, states, and countries come online, it has made our research a little more easier (trying to determine what records are kept where, whom to contact, etc..), but still requires a lot of work and in most cases ... money. In any event, this section will contain the information I have discovered through the years with the help of family, friends, and even complete strangers. I thank you ALL for the help you have given me. The following is a brief list (with links) of what I have discovered : In Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, there is a street named Gostautas. (online map coming soon) In 1526 the city of Visaginas was presented by the nobleman Vaitiekus Gostautas to the Naujasis (New) Daugeliskis parish.