Feodor (Friedrich) Ostrogski
The origins of the princely family of the Ostrogski are not clear, some historians consider them to be descendants of the Halych-Volhynia princes and kings, others consider them to be descendants of the Rurik family, another possibility is the Lithuanian ruling family of the Giedyminoviches. They are named after one of their original settlements, Ostrog (Острог) in present-day Ukraine.
Friedrich Ostrogski was probably the son of Prince Fedor Danilovich Ostrogski and his wife Agafia of the Czuryl family. In most contemporary sources, the future Hussite is referred to as Fridrich (the Slavic Fedor is used by the Polish scholar Józef Puzyna) and his paternity name Fedorovich is never mentioned. On the basis of these ambiguities, Ladislav Hosák, for example, believed that he was not of Russian origin at all, but was referred to by Uherský Ostroh (Moravia), where he was later governor. However, Hosák was not familiar with the seal of Friedrich of Ostrog in 1438.
Coat of arms of the Ostrogski family, source Wikimedia Commons
Friedrich’s father Fedor was in 1386-1392 by the decision of the Polish King Vladislav Jagiellonian his deputy (duke) in Lutsk (today’s western Ukraine, then Russia as part of the Kingdom of Poland), at the same time the Polish king confirmed his possession of the Ostrog estate. Before his death, Fedor Danilovich entered the monastery in Pechersk Lavra in Kiev as Theodosius (Feodosiy); some historians place his death in 1410, others as late as 1440.
Friedrich had several siblings. Sister Anna was the wife of the Polish nobleman Jan of Melsztyn, son of Spytek, later a Polish Hussite. The second sister Anastasia married Ivan Putyata, a prince in Druck (today’s Belarus). The eldest son of Fedor was probably Daniel (Dashko), who served in the royal court of Cracow; the others (Andrew/Andrei, Vasil and Dimitri/Mitek) were not very prominent, but the princely line was nevertheless continued by Vasil.
Pedigree of the first princes of Ostrog according to Józef Puzyna:
Friedrich’s entire career is connected with Hussitism. He may have come to Bohemia as early as 1422 with Sigismund Korybut. But it could have been later, too, as he became the Hussite governor of Český Brod in 1424. Even his position as governor of the town shows that he quickly acclimatised to the Czech environment; the later Polish chronicler Jan Długosz writes that he learned the Czech language and customs. Two years later he served as governor elsewhere, in Břeclav together with Bedřich of Strážnice, during the siege by Albrecht of Habsburg. At the same time, both of them secretly negotiated with the Austrian Land Marshal Ota of Meissau, who was arrested for this negotiation in 1427. The military and diplomatic operations and negotiations on the Moravian-Austrian border rule out the possibility that the Russian Prince Frederick participated in the Battle of Ústí, as stated in the later Song of the Battle before Ústí. In the spring of 1428, as “elder of the armies of the Tábors and Orphans”, he takes part in the campaign to Slovakia.
Also Friedrich Ostrogski, like many nobles, changed sides - shortly after the campaign to Slovakia he switched to the side of Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. In 1428, the Hussites’ opponent seized his estate of Veselí nad Moravou. From Stibor II of Stibořice he also acquired the manors of Bzenec and Uherský Ostroh. As a Catholic lord, Friedrich of Ostrog attacks Uherský Brod the following year. However, the attack is unsuccessful.
But Ostrožský did not last long on the Catholic side. Already in the spring of 1430, he again fought for the campers, this time on a campaign to Silesia. On the 13th of April Bytom fell, and on the 17th Głiwice was captured by Sigismund Korybut. Other gains of the Hussites were Kluczbork and Niemczy.
One episode of Polish history is connected with Friedrich of Ostrog at this time, namely the attack on the monastery on Jasna Góra near Częstochowa. On Easter Sunday (16 April), the Polish nobles Jakub Nadobny of Rogów, Jan Kuropatwa of Łańcuchów and Rogala Wyszel of Kozolin, all in financial difficulties, together with Fridrich Ostrozsky’s Hussites (and perhaps Fridrich himself) from Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, attacked the monastery on Jasna Góra near Częstochowa. The attackers did not find as many valuables as they needed to cover their debts, and to blame the whole attack on the Hussites, they damaged the image of the Black Madonna.
Word was given, and Friedrich helped the Polish knights in their sacrilege. At the same time, this was a private action of the Hussite commander, as the Hussites were negotiating with the king in Kalisz at the same time and even offered the king satisfaction for the attack on the monastery. Friedrich was never punished; the Polish nobles ended up in prison, from which they were released in the autumn of 1430. That same year, Friedrich took part in the fighting at Žilina.
Zygmunt Vogel: Ostrog, 1796, source: Wikimedia Commons
The next mention of the prince dates back to 1434, by which time he is believed to have been in Lithuania, where a power struggle was underway. It was at the beginning of 1434 that he established a kind of fortification at the royal castle of Czorsztyn in Lesser Poland, from where he launched attacks and raids into the surrounding area. The fortress is destroyed on 23 March by the Polish royal army. Friedrich and his people flee to the Hungarian kingdom - in early April he occupies Ružomberok, which he fortifies and waits for Hussite reinforcements from Topolčany. At the same time, he is referred to as the Duke of Žilina in the charter of Queen Barbara of Celje.
However, this is not the end of his pro-Hussite activity in the Polish kingdom - in 1438 he helps Spytko of Melsztyn in attacks on the main Polish opponent of the Hussites, Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. Subsequently, he returns to the service of the Polish king - at the head of 200 horsemen, he takes part in the campaign of the Polish army to Bohemia in an attempt to promote King Casimir as King of Bohemia, when in early July he confirms his acceptance of a mercenary payment for this service in Kraków. At the end of the same year, at the head of a military unit, he captures the castle of Hodějov near Rimavská Sobota and holds it until the following year. The last mention of Prince of Ostrog is from May 1439, when together with Vilém Puklice of Pozořice he was to lead 400 horsemen (former Hussites) with war wagons and cannons.
Fridrich, or Fedor of Ostrog, probably had a wife and a son who took up the same career as his father. In 1460, Wenceslas, Duke of Ostroh, is mentioned as a mercenary in the service of the condottiere Mladvanek in Austria.
References:
Zbigniew Anusik: Glosa do dziejów rodu książąt Ostrogskich. Przegląd Nauk Historycznych 2008, R. VII, č. 1, s. 127-210.
Józef Puzyna: Daniło ks. turowski, ostrogski i chełmski i jego potomstwo. Miesięcznik Heraldyczny 1931, s. 251-275.
Alexander Randin: Knieža Fridrich Ostrožský. Ruský kondotiér v husitských Čechách a na Slovensku, in: Jan Žižka z Trocnova a husitské vojenství v evropských dějinách, Tábor 2007 s. 635-651.
Jerzy Sperka: Nieznane fakty dotyczące napadu na klasztor Paulinów w Częstochowie w 1430 roku. Średniowiecze Polskie i Powszechne 1 (5), 2009, s. 152-176.