Ślepowron coat of arms

Ślepowron is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the fifteenth century, the descendants of the Ślepowron family began to use names taken from their lands. This led to many different surnames being created within one family, symbolically united under the Korwin (raven) coat of arms, which is thus unique in Polish heraldry. Wawrzęta Korwin de Ślepowron is the oldest known ancestor of the family, although their oral traditions claim descent from Marcus Valerius Corvus, a Roman general.

Blazon
A black raven with a gold ring in its beak and its wings somewhat extended for flight, facing right, standing atop a cross, on the shoulders of a horseshoe standing erect with heels at the bottom.

The shield is blue and the horseshoe silver. Above the shield, on a crowned helmet stands a similar raven.

The horseshoe and cross were added to the coat of arms due to a marriage alliance with the Pobog clan. A later version adopted by many Korwin families is the Korwin coat of arms, in which the raven stands on a log rather than a horseshoe..

History
The name Ślepowron is said to be taken from the village of Ślepowrony near Płońsk, Mazowsze, which belonged to the then-established Korwin-Piotrowski family. According to "Herbów Rycerstwa Polskiego" by Bartosz Paprocki) this village was given to the knight Wawrzęta de Ślepowrony by Fr. Konrad Mazowiecki.

Motto
“Kości spròchniałe powstańcie z mogiły, Przywdziejcie ducha i ciało i siły' - Woronicz (found in Herbarz Polski, Hipolit Stupnicki)

Sarmatian Totem
The raven is of much older, legendary pagan origins. A Polish aristocratic clan of Sarmatian origin chose the raven, possibly as its "rodnidze" or clan totem.

The 1224 Grant
Many centuries later, a raven is attested in a grant of privilege to Warzęta Korwin z Ślepowrony, from Duke Konrad I of Masovia, given at Warsaw in 1224.

The Roman-Hungarian legend
The full Korwin shield, with the ring in the raven's beak, came to Poland from Hungary almost two centuries later, via the Roman-Hungarian legend amid contacts between the Polish nobility and the Hungarian Royal Court.

Roman legend
The Roman tribune Marcus Valerius Corvus, born 370 BC of the gens Valerii, in 349BC accepted a challenge to single combat by a barbarian warrior. During the combat, a raven perched upon Valerius' helmet and pecked his foe's eyes so fiercely that the barbarian was blinded. In memory of his victory, Valerius got the agnomen Corvinus from Corvus (raven). Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (64BC-8AD) was Caesar Augustus' co-consul.

Hungarian/Polish legend


In the Kingdom of Hungary, the Wallachian-Hungarian family of Korvin had flourished since the 15th century. Janos Hunyadi and his son Matthias Corvinus Hunyadi, King of Hungary and Bohemia, called themselves "Corvinus" and minted coins displaying a raven with a ring.

The epithet Corvinus was coined by Matthias' biographer, the Italian Antonio Bonfini, who claimed that the Hunyadi family descended from Marcus Valerius Corvinus,, who had supposedly settled on the Dacian-Pannonian frontiers, the future Hungary. This claim was later taken over by the Polish aristocrats connected with the Hungarian Hunyadi family.

House Medonich
The house of Medonich, of Magyar origin, anciently held territories in the Moldavian region of eastern Hungary, in the forests of Transylvania and Moldavia. The family was recorded to attend the national council of 1221 in which King Andras II issued the Golden Bull according self-determination to the nobles and gentry

Konrada Mazowieckiego established the Slepowron, Stracchowa, Drozkzion and Wola clans in 1224. His descendants through his son Korwin or Corwins were nobles in north Italy. Another branch settled in Drozkzino Latvia and Slavonia. One member of the Medonich family appeared at the Prussian court in 1414 acting as a representative for his family in Galacia; another appeared at Dobryczn in 1674.

King Matthias's Ring
In addition to the above, the Silesian Annals tell that a raven carried off the ring which King Matthias, (who was also ruler of the Duchy of Głogów, and Suzerain of all the Silesian duchies), had removed from his finger. Matthias chased the bird down and slew it, retrieving the ring - and in commemoration of this event, he took the Raven as a symbol for his signet sign.

Arms derivatives of Ślepowron, alternative drawings and entitled family versions

 * Tadeusz Gajl identifies 30 coats of arms derivatives of Ślepowron:


 * Gosiewski, surname Gosiewski. (Is uncertain if it is derivative of Korwin or Ślepowron).
 * Jurzyc, surnames Jurzyc, Jurzyk.
 * Kamecki, surname Kamecki.
 * Kamieński, surname Kamieński.
 * Kossakowski Count, surname Kossakowski.
 * Krakowski Count, surname Krakowski.
 * Krasiński Count 1, surname Krasiński.
 * Krasiński Count 2, surname Krasiński.
 * Krasiński Count 3, surname Krasiński.
 * Kudelski, surname Kudelski.
 * Kurkowski, surname Kurkowski.
 * Leśniewski, surname Leśniewski.
 * Lisowski, surname Lisowski also Lissowski.
 * Luberadzki, surname Luberadzki.
 * Lutostański, surname Lutostański
 * Mieroszewski Count, surname Mieroszewski.
 * Milan, surnames Milewski, Zaorski.
 * Milewski Count, surname Milewski.
 * Nachtraba, surnames Nachtrab, Nachtraba.
 * Olszweski IV, surname Olszewski.
 * Olszewski V, surname Olszewski.
 * Pawłowski Count, surname Pawłowski.
 * Rabe, surname Rabe.
 * Pokrzywnicki, surname Pokrzywnicki.
 * Rosyniec, surnames Górka, Rosiński, Rosyniec.
 * Sobobliński, surname Sobobliński.
 * Sobolewski Count, surname Sobolewski.
 * Suchodolski II, surname Suchodolski.
 * Szlubowski Count, surname Szlubowski.
 * Wróblewski, surname Wróblewski.
 * Wykisiały, surname Wykisiały.


 * Coats of arms related to Ślepowron on other way.

Some coats of arms may be related to Ślepowron, yet they are not classified as Derivatives properly, on Polish armorials:
 * Czarnowron, surnames Borowicz, Fijałkowski.
 * Kurowski, surname Kurowski.
 * Kudelski, surname Kudelski.
 * Raszyniec, surnames Maciuk, Maczuk.
 * Sandrecki, surnames Sandrecki, Sendraszyc.
 * Siedmiogradzki, surname Siedmiogradzki.
 * Zasulicz, surname Zasulicz.
 * Żukowski surnames Kowalewski, Żuchowski, Żuczenko, Żuk, Żukowski.

Notable bearers
Notable bearers of this coat of arms include:
 * Augustyn Kordecki
 * Gabriel Rzączyński (1664–1737), Polish Jesuit priest and writer
 * Kazimierz Pułaski
 * Panteleimon Kulish (1819–1897) — Ukrainian writer, critic, poet, folklorist, and translator;
 * Pavlo Teteria (1620s–1670) — Hetman of Right-bank Ukraine (1663–1665);
 * Ignacy Mościcki President of Poland (1926–1939)
 * Wojciech Jaruzelski President of Poland (1989–1990)
 * Tadeusz Kłopotowski Senator of Poland (1989-1991)
 * Szymon Marcin Kossakowski
 * Wincenty Krasiński (in France: comte Vincent Corvin-Krasinski)
 * Kazimierz Krasiński
 * Zygmunt Krasiński
 * Tadeusz Gosiewski
 * Grzegorz Skwierczyński
 * Przemysław Skwirczyński
 * Karol Szymanowski
 * Henryk Lowmianski
 * Chris Korwin-Kuczynski (21st century) Canadian politician
 * Przemysław Gosiewski Deputy Prime Minister of Poland (2007)
 * Łukasz Leończuk (1993)
 * Otto von Corvin-Wierzbicki (in Germany Otto von Corvin also Otto von Corvin-Wierzbitzky)
 * Walenty Nasierowski (1802-1888)

Related and Derivative coats of arms

 * Korwin coat of arms
 * Czarnowron coat of arms
 * Kurowski coat of arms
 * Materna coat of arms
 * Sandrecki coat of arms