A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Brzostowski family of Poland.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“d'or. C.: cinq pl. d'aut. d'arg. T.: deux sauvages de carn., ceints et cour. de lierre, arm. de massues.”
The Brzostowski arms were recorded in Poland, c. 1725.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in Mazovia.
Mazovia held Warsaw, the Polish court and the assemblies where the szlachta met. Poland's nobles were unusually numerous and every one of them bore arms, and Warsaw is where those arms were argued over and recorded.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
The body that granted and recorded arms in Poland in this period.
Reigning in Poland when the Brzostowski arms are first recorded.
Polish noble families shared a single coat of arms across many different surnames, creating large clans rather than individual designs. These symbols were held collectively by all members of the clan regardless of their specific family name. When a new family joined the nobility, they were adopted into an existing clan and began using that group's established shield.
The Brzostowski family name originates from the Polish word brzost, which refers to the elm tree. This suggests that the earliest ancestors likely lived near a prominent grove or forest of these trees, eventually adopting the name to identify their place of origin. By the early eighteenth century, the family was firmly established in the Mazovia region of central Poland. During this era, the family members were typically part of the landed gentry who managed local agricultural estates and participated in regional civic life. Their presence in Mazovia by 1725 highlights a long-standing connection to the heart of the Polish state, where they contributed to the social and economic development of the local countryside for generations.
The Polish word for the elm tree.
