Union of Horodło

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Act of union

The family of Polish szlachta coats of arms

The Pact of Horodlo or Union of Horodło was a set of acts introduced in the town of Horodło in 1413. It amended the earlier Polish-Lithuanian Unions of Krewo and Vilnius-Radom was another step to recognise Lithuanian nobility as equal in the union between two sovereign states, ruled separately by elected monarch.

According to the act of the union, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was to retain a separate Grand Duke and its own parliament. At the same time both the Polish and Lithuanian Sejms were to discuss all the important matters jointly. Also, institutions of castellans and voivods were introduced in Lithuania and the Lithuanian and Ruthenian nobility were granted equal rights to those of the szlachta in Poland. This led to a large number of Ruthenian and Lithuanian noble families being adopted by the Polish szlachta clans^[clarify] and introduction of coats of arms in Lithuania. This affected all 47 major families and clans, as well as several other families.

List of coats of arms that were introduced in Lithuania:

Awdaniec (Abdank), Bogorya, Ciołek, Dębno, Doliwa, Dołęga, Drya (Dryja), Działosza, Gierałt (Osmoróg), Godziemba, Gryf, Grzymała, Janina, Jastrzębiec, Jelita, Kopacz (Topacz), Korczak, Kot Morski, Paprzyca (Kuszaba), Leliwa, Lis, Łabędź, Łodzia, Nałęcz, Nowina, Odrowąż, Ogończyk, Oksza, Ossoria, Pierzchała, Pobóg, Pomian, Poraj, Półkozic, Rawicz (Rawa), Rola, Sulima, Syrokomla, Szreniawa, Świnka, Topór, Trąby, Trzaska, Wadwicz, Wąż, Zadora, Zaremba.