The aim of the study was to complete the genealogy of the Garwaski family
and its achievements in the 15th, 16th, 17th century and present the most prominent
representatives of the family. The survey showed that the Garwaski family,
Grzymała coat of arms, is an old family from Mazovia, the genealogy of which is
dated back to the 13th and 14th century. The 15th-century ancestors of the later
Garwaski family were from Miszewo and hence they were called the Miszewski
family. They were the lords of Mazovia, as well as their ancestor, Mikołaj, the
castellan of Wyszogród who received his title from the prince Wańko (Wacław) in
1319. This also applies to Filip from Miszewo (d. 1442), the cupbearer (podczaszy)
of Płock, and his only son, Jan, the castellan of Wizna (d. 1471). After the
death of the latter the family had to divide its inheritance into three parts and
thus temporarily lost its previous importance. None of the castellan’s children
was an official. Only one of his grandsons, Jan Miszewski from Garwarz, also
called Jan Garwaski from Miszewo (d. 1540), managed to both regain his family
political position and rebuild its finance as he inherited landed estates from his father and uncle who died childless. He was the pantler (stolnik) of Wyszogród
and cupbearer (cześnik) of Płock. Jan Garwaski married Zofia Dzierzgowska who
was a sister of the primate Mikołaj Dzierzgowski (d. 1559). That marriage was one
of the most important events in the history of the Garwaski family. Their sons,
Paweł (d. 1560) and Hieronim (d. 1583), could count on the patronage and
support of the powerful uncle. The first was the castellan of Sierpc, the second,
the chancellor of Gniezno who governed 8 different prelatures. Paweł Garwaski
could have probably gained higher position in the Senate but he died untimely.
Perhaps his brother could have become a bishop, if only the archbishop Dzierzgowski
had lived any longer. Yet, Paweł Garwaski, like his own father, had a wife
from the wealthy and prominent family. He married Elżbieta Kucieńska, a daughter
of Stanisław, the voivode of Rawa (d. 1542). Their children inherited, after the
childless deaths of all Stanisław’s sons, a third part of the landed estate of Kutno.
The sons of Paweł and Elżbieta from Kutno, Stanisław, Paweł and Jerzy, made
the Garwaski family prominent. The reign of king Sigismund III Vasa was the
best time for the family. Both Stanisław (d. 1613) and Paweł (d. 1618) Garwaski
were the castellans of Płock. Their youngest brother, Jerzy (d. 1615/16), was the
governor (starosta) of Gostynin. When Stanisław, the castellan of Płock, died the
Garwaski family had in its possession landed estates located in voivodeship of
Płock, Mazovia, Rawa, Łęczyca and land of Dobrzyń that included one town, one
part of a town, one aldermanship (wójtostwo), 19 villages and two parts of a village.
They also made the use of two quite wealthy Royal estates, the crown land
(starostwo) of Gostynin (the castle, the town and 5 villages) and crown land (starostwo)
of Wyszogród (the castle, the town and 7 villages). However, Jerzy Garwaski
was unable to pass the crown land of Gostynin to one of his sons and Paweł
was forced to sell the crown land of Wyszogród to the Karnkowski family. After
the death of Paweł in 1618 the Garwaski family ceased to be a senatorial one.
None of his successors was a senator. Paweł's two sons died childless and their
landed estates passed to their uncle the castellan of Płock, Walenty Zieliński.
Three of six Jerzy’s sons chose a clerical career. Stanisław (d. 1635) was a dean
of Płock and a canon of Kraków, Jan (d. 1633), a curator (kustosz) of Łowicz and
a canon of Płock, Mikołaj (d. after 1634) joined the Jesuit order. What is more,
Paweł (d. before 1654) was a cupbearer (podczaszy) of Gostynin, Piotr (d. before
1660) became the royal courtier and a leaseholder of Rzeczyca crown land and
Zygmunt (d. before 1652) did not hold any office at all. Piotr was the richest of
the brothers. At the end of his life he had a half of town Kutno, 7 villages and two
parts of a village. These estates were inherited by his sons, Krzysztof (d. after
1699) and Ludwik (d. before 1689). When Ludwik died childless, Krzysztof inherited
all fortune of their father. He was the last descendant of the family who could be described as a wealthy nobleman. Yet, he lost that status in 1698, when he
sold landed estate Kutno. His 18th-century descendants were members of the middle nobility only. The son of Zygmunt Garwaski, Franciszek Jan (d. after
1698) also sold familial landed estates located on the borderland between Łęczyca
voivodeship and Gostynin land (part of Rawa voivodeship) and moved to the Mazovian
voivodeship.
It is also worth noting that until the end of the 17th century male representatives
of the Garwaski family had wives from well-known and wealthy senatorial
families. Paweł (d. 1618) married Dorota Zielińska, a daughter of Grzegorz, the
voivode of Płock. His brother, Jerzy (d. 1615/16), married Agnieszka Szczawińska
and later Anna Tarnowska, a daughter of Stanisław, the castellan of Sochaczew.
One of Paweł’s sons, Jan (d. 1624), married Izabela Karnkowska, a daughter of
Jan Stanisław, the voivode of Płock. As for Jerzy’s sons: Paweł married Anna
Krasińska, a daughter of Franciszek, the castellan of Ciechanów; Piotr married
Agnieszka Słupska and later Katarzyna Sienieńska, a daughter of Zbigniew, the
castellan of Lublin; Zygmunt married Ewa Kucieńska, a daughter of Grzegorz, the
governor (starosta) of Kruszwica. Katarzyna Walewska, a daughter of Zygmunt,
the chamberlain (podkomorzy) of Łęczyca, was the wife of Krzysztof, the only son
of Piotr and Katarzyna Sienieńska who ever married. Finally, sons of Jerzy Garwaski,
the governor (starosta) of Gostynin were bound by the family connections
with the well-known and influential families such as the Krasiński, Kretkowski,
Sierakowski, Sienieński, Lanckoroński, Walewski, Konarski, Plichta and Leszczyński.
Thus through almost entire seventeenth century the Garwaski family
was still perceived as a part of political and financial elite of Greater Poland. Its
financial situation worsened when the family sold Kutno landed estate in 1698.
Then the Garwaski family definitively lost its position and importance.
