Origins of Jankowski H. Jastrzebiec
It is possible that a direct kinship extends from the forebears of the earlier Jastrzebiec lineage which itself was formally founded in the middle of the 10th century. The Jastrzebiec clan is the oldest in Poland and has the largest number of derivative 'branch family' names associated with it. The subsequent families adopt the same crest of the Jastrzebiec clan which is the blue shield with a gold horse shoe encircling a 'Maltese cross' and a goshawk above. The name Jastrzebiec has several synonyms representing regional descriptors for a goshawk; Accipiter, Bolesta, Boleścic, Jastrząb, Jastrząbek, Kamiona, Łazęka, Lubrza. During the 11th and 12th centuries the Polish state was 'in fragmentation' amongst the competing Royal Dukes causing instability. The nobility (termed szlachta) including the Jastrzebiec, in turn formed a stable and successful semi-feudal backbone allowing a decentralised state to evolve. This subsequently resulted in many new branches of the szlachta, in the 13th century, which now comprised up to 10% of the population. For example the subsequent 'Jankowski branch' of the Jastrzebiec descendants (written Jankowski herbu Jastrzebiec) were probably resident in the region of Lomza (North Eastern Poland), from the villages of Jankowo Młodzianowo and Jankowo Skarbowo. In the following decades the immediate descendants of this Jankowski family also held lands further north and east, south of Vilnius (now Lithuania), west of Minsk (now Byelorussia), and near the town of Suwalki (still in Poland). The nobility including the Jankowski h. Jastrzebiec were given special impetus by Casimir III the Great in the early 14th century who formally adopted them as 'leaders of warriors' to replace the levée en masse used by previous kings. It is likely that a proportion of Jankowski lands were in part granted to family members by the Kings of Poland following acts of military devotion to the state against the many hostile invaders including Germans, Teutons, Russians, Mongols and Tartars.
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