| Wiśniowiecki | |
|---|---|
Korybut. |
|
| Ethnicity | Ruthenian/Ukrainian |
| Current region | Ukraine |
| Information | |
| Place of origin | Vyshnivets |
| Notable members | Dmytro Wiśniowiecki Dymitr Wiśniowiecki Michał Wiśniowiecki |
| Connected families | Zbaraski, Porytski, Voroneski |
| Estate | Wiśniowiecki Palace |
Wiśniowiecki (Ukrainian: Вишневе́цькі, Lithuanian: Višnioveckiai) is the name of a family notable in the history of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They were powerful magnates in Ruthenia (Ukraine) of Rurikid[1] or Gediminids descent. The family traditions traces their descend to Gediminids, but modern historians believe there is more evidence for the Rurikid version. According to the Geminids relation theory, the ancestor of the family was Duke Kaributas (Ruthenian: Dymitr Korybut), a son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Algirdas. His son Fedor of Nesvizh started the family.
The name of the family can be traced to their estates in Wiśniowiec (now Vyshnivets, Ukraine).[1]
From their days as Ruthenian nobility they held the Kniaz (prince) title. By late 16th century, the family converted from Orthodox to Catholicism and became Polonized.[1] They gained much importance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with vast possessions in the 16th to 18th centuries on the territories of today's Ukraine, particularly the town of Vyshnivets. Their estates were so vast, and their position so powerful, that they were known as the most powerful of magnates - the "little kings" ("królewięta").
The family's Golden Age was the 17th century, when its members accumulated much wealth and influence, held numerous important posts within the Commonwealth.[1] Likely the most notable members of this family were Michał I Korybut Wiśniowiecki, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1669 to 1673,[1] and his father Jeremi Wiśniowiecki.
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