page_title: Radziwiłł family
section_title: Name and origin
hierarchical_section_title: Radziwiłł family / Name and origin
context_page_description: The Radziwiłł family was a powerful magnate family originating from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.
  The descendants of Kristinas Astikas, a Lithuanian and a close associate of the 14th century ruler Vytautas, were highly prominent for centuries, first in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Prussia. The family has produced many individuals notable in Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian, German as well as general European history and culture. The Radziwiłł family received the title of Reichsfürst from the Holy Roman Empire.
  The Nesvizh Castle complex, maintained by the family between the 16th century and 1939, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
context_section_description: The Radziwiłł family is a directly descended branch of the extinct Lithuanian noble Astikai family line. Its first notable member, Kristinas Astikas (born 1363), a close associate of the Lithuanian ruler Vytautas, became Castellan of Vilnius. The patronym Radvila arose following its use by his son Radvila Astikas and grandson Mikalojus Radvila. A legendary version of the patronym's etymology associates it with a child raised by wolves (rado vilko). The name has been primarily written in, and recognized by, the polonized version and spelling for several centuries.
  The family descends from Lithuanian bajorai-ducal courtiers who advanced considerably in the 15th century politics of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Along with possessions of land near Kernavė, the family's traced place of origin, the Radziwiłł family also inherited the Trąby coat of arms.
  Three of Mikalojus' sons, Mikołaj, Jan, and Jerzy, went on to become the progenitors of the three known Radziwiłł family lines.
  The Radziwiłł family divided by branch:
  the Goniądz - Meteliai line
  the Biržai - Dubingiai line
  the Nieśwież (Nesvizh) - Kleck (Kletsk) - Ołyka line
  The Goniądz-Meteliai line became extinct by the next generation as Mikołaj's descendants consisted of one male heir, Mikołaj III, who entered the priesthood and became the Bishop of Samogitia, thus bearing no known offspring to extend the line.
  The Biržai-Dubingiai line was moderately more successful and produced some very notable state officials and politicians, but also became extinct after the death of Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł in 1695. 
  The Nesvizh-Kletsk-Olyka line was the most successful and was further divided into smaller family lines in order to maintain clarity and specificity of descent and the passing of titles. Since the 18th century, all Radziwiłł family members have been descendants of this line. Three sons of Mikołaj "the Black", Mikołaj Krzysztof "Sierotka", Albrycht, and Stanisław "the Pious", are said to be the progenitors of the three smaller branches. The branches are as follows:
  the Nesvizh line
  the older Kletsk line
  the Olyka line
  Possibly both the Olyka and older Kletsk lines became extinct, the former in 1656 and the latter in 1690. The direct descendant of the Nesvizh line, Dominik Hieronim's son, Aleksander Dominik, was born before the marriage of his parents and formed the so-called Galician branch, which became extinct in 1938. 
  The younger Kletsk line descends from Michał Hieronim, continued through his son Ludwik Mikolaj. The descendants of his other son, Antoni Henryk, formed the beginning of the so-called Ordynant branch. Other than the Ordynant branch, from the younger Kletsk line also descends the lesser titled branches of Szydłowiec and Połoneczka, as well as Dziatłava, Berdychiv, and Żyrmunów. The younger Kletsk line has continued into the present day.
  the Nesvizh line
  the Galician line
  the younger Kletsk line
  the Ordynant line
  the Szydłowiec-Połoneczka line
  the Dziatłava-Berdychiv-Żyrmunów line
caption: Trąby coat of arms, granted to Kristinas Astikas' family in 1413
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