Uwagi i uzupełnienia do genealogii Melsztyńskich herbu Leliwa
Remarks and supplements to the genealogy of Melsztyński family of Leliwa coat of arms

Summary/Abstract: Melsztyński family played an important role in the history of Poland. The scientific literature devotes much room to the outstanding representatives of this family. A detailed image of the family who faded in the first half of the 16th century, was outlined by Włodzimierz Dworzaczek in his Leliwici Tarnowscy, published in 1971. One should realize that the knowledge included in this book is not exhaustive. Thanks to the studies conducted recently, a load of new information on people from the family circle was gathered, allowing for, among others, moving the dates of the appearance of many figures and completing biographies by the facts unknown so far. At the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries the family in question started to clearly lose its significance. The reason for that was the activity of two lords from Melsztyn at that time, Jan and Wincenty, who lost the whole estate in a mindless way. In addition to that, Wincenty was pronounced an exile for unruliness and debauchery. The last generation of Melsztyński family, represented by Wincenty’s children, Jan and Katarzyna, did not have either the estate or the connections with the family residence, that is the Melsztyn castle. Many factors contributed to the collapse of one of the most magnate’s families in Poland in the Middle‑Ages. The most important included improper upbringing of children, too strict and conservative, which was the source of extreme and unpredictable behaviours of Jan and Wincenty, and, unquestionably, the lack of outstanding personalities in the last generations of this family.

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