Ciemięrzowice in 1438: a stepson to be free once his stepfather died

The entry, as printed

Nobil. Sandek de Czemyerzow nobili Stanislao filiastro suo quinque quartas agri et cum uno prato in hereditate sua in villa Czemyerzow in evum dedit. Et debet Stanislaus Sandconi solum ad tempora vite Sandconis servire; post autem decessum ipsius erit liber et solutus a servicio.

In English

The nobleman Sandek of Czemierzów gave for ever to the nobleman Stanisław, his stepson, five quarters of field and one meadow in his inheritance in the village of Czemierzów. And Stanisław is to serve Sandek only for the length of Sandek’s life; after his death he shall be free and released from service.

Sandek of Czemierzów, 1437

The village first appears on 12 August 1437. Piotr Kokot the elder, accused of something that could stain his noble honour, was to clear himself by oath and brought witnesses. Among them is “Sandek of Czemierzów”, alongside Wojciech and Jan of Dmitrowice, the village headmen of Walawa, Błożew and Rodatycze, and Mikosz of Łuczyce. Sandek belonged to the same circle of petty gentry and village headmen between the San and the Wiar.

A field for the stepson and freedom after death, 5 May 1438

Eight months later Sandek had a settlement entered in the book: he gave “for ever” to his stepson, the nobleman Stanisław, five quarters of a łan of field and one meadow in his inheritance in the village of Czemierzów. And he added a condition: Stanisław was to serve him “only for the length of Sandek’s life; after his death he shall be free and released from service”.

What kind of service it was, in the fields, at the manor or on campaign, the entry does not say. But it is a rare case where a court book shows not only land but a relationship between two people: a stepfather providing for his stepson, and a stepson he needed by his side until he died.

Ciemięrzowice in 1448

By the middle of the century the name has its familiar ending: Czemierzowice. Early in 1448 Mikołaj Lutkowski pledged three peasants to his aunt Beata of Lutków, two in Lutków and the third “in Czemierzowice”, and promised “to defend her from war”. On 1 October that year “Stanisław of Czemierzowice” sold five strips of field to Mikołaj Czemierzowski for 12 marks. Whether this is Sandek’s stepson, we can only guess.

How we know it is this Ciemięrzowice

The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland places Ciemięrzowice a quarter of a mile north of Kosienice and half a mile south of Zamiechów. In 1437 Sandek of Czemierzów swears alongside men from Dmitrowice, Walawa and Łuczyce, his nearest neighbours. And in the later 15th century land in Czemierzowice is bought up by the Zamiechowski family, heirs of neighbouring Zamiechów.

Beware a trap: Ciemierzyńce near Peremyshliany in Ukraine is a different name and a different family. Entries about Paweł Mażec “of Czemierzowce”, pantler of Kamianets, we do not assign to our village.

Sources

• Akta grodzkie i ziemskie, vol. XIII (Lwów, 1888), p. 66, no. 889 (5 May 1438); p. 42, no. 493 (12 August 1437).
• Ibid., p. 254, no. 3528 and p. 266, no. 3692 (1448).
• Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego, vol. I (Warsaw, 1880), entry “Ciemierzowice”.

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