Nobles or serfs? The Markowicz family, 1816
In 1816 a landowner announced in a newspaper that his serfs had run away. At the end of the list stands the Markun family. A census of the same estate from 1795 records this family as nobility.
Documents shown in the film
These are the real archive scans you see in the film. Each one has its archive reference, so anyone can check the source.
Narration
Were your Polish ancestors nobles or serfs?
This family had to prove it. Their freedom was at stake.
Vilnius, 1816.
A landowner places an ad in the newspaper:
“I am looking for my runaway serfs.
Anyone who knows where they are, let me know.”
At the very end of the list: the Markun family.
Three generations, five men.
Everything points to the Markowicz family.
Because twenty-one years earlier, the same estate's census lists Bartłomiej,
son of Kazimierz, with his sons Stanisław and Ignacy.
Recorded as nobility.
Did your family ever talk about noble roots?
Tell us in the comments.
Ex Archivis.
We find out where your family comes from.
Sources
- “Kuryer Litewski” 1816, no. 26, page 6 (Polona)
- Census of the Kuny estate, 1795 (LVIA 515/15/23, folio 50)
Scenes marked “Staged scene” are reconstructions. The documents are real.
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