Chapter 2
By M.
Wolansky
We
want to clarify the origin of the name of the city, for which evidentiary
historical documents does not exist. Therefore we need to refer to legends that
were transmitted from generation in generation.
The
legend most told is that where Pruzhany is now was once empty and without
inhabitants. Among the many swamps that covered the area, the Muchawietz River
flowed. There was once a princess whose name was Pruzhina who carried a small
child in her arms. As she was crossing the river, a snake jumped out of the
water and pulled her child from her arms and swallowed him. In her dear boy's
memory, the princess ordered that a church be built on that place. Inhabitants
of the surrounding area began to arrive at the church and settle there. Little
by little a town called Pruzhana was formed, according to its founder's name.
Based on this, according to the legend, the shield of Pruzhana was created. It
representation was a snake with a half swallowed boy in its mouth.
Another
version of the same legend relates that it was not the mother's name, but
rather her boy was called Pruzhina. The mother ordered that the town around the
church be named after her son. Another version, which ignores the previous
versions, states that the origin of the name Pruzhana is similar to the word
Pozshrala (in Belarussian), or Pozsharla (in Polish) which means to swallow.
A
similar version is found in the writings of the well-known Polish historian,
Balinsky. He tells that the local
princess’s child's nurse placed the boy in the river and the river swallowed
him; that is the basis for naming the place that subsequently was changed to
Pruzshana. Balinsky adds that this story seems to be invented. The same words
are repeated in the notation, Historical News on the city of Pruzshene, in the
book, Urban Towns in Russian Empire.
A
second legend relates that the whole region around Pruzhany was covered with
forests, and here and there were villages. The area, which is now the city, was
barren and without inhabitants. For that reason people called it Porozshnia or
Pruzshnia, which means, empty, and the name became Pruzhana. For that reason
the town that was settled there acquired this name.
According
to historical documents (which we will mention later) our city received the
name Pruzshene in the XVI century. Until then our town was called, Dobutshin,
the same as the village that was located almost 7 km N.W. of the city is called.
There
is also another legend that clarifies the change of the name, Dobutshin, to
Pruzhany. Once a there was a village where Dobutshin is today. It so happened
that a terrible epidemic affected almost the entire population. The few
survivors escaped from that infected place and they settled on the banks of the
Muchawietz River where they built a new city with the name of Pruzene.
It is obvious that the legends mentioned
above are not historically accurate. In a trial and error process in answer to
the questions about the origin of the name, these legends are discussed.
Most
likely, the name Pruzene derives from the name of the river, Pruzshanka, that
flows into the river, Muchawietz. Today
we know only the meaning of the names of our rivers, as follows: Wietz means
the one who comes from the north, and Mucha means the one that comes from the
east; their waters flow together forming the river Muchawietz in the vicinity
of the city. In the swamps to the east of the city the small river, Baba, flows
and pours its waters to the left side of the Muchawietz. There are indications
of the existence of another small river of which flowed out of a fringe of
swamps. This small river extended in the past from south to west, where
Kobriner St is today. It skirted the new cemetery and flowed into the right
side of the Muchawietz. In old maps, this small river was called Lacha.
Nobody knows very much about the river
Pruzhanka. From a very remote time and
until today there exists in Pruzhany a divorce record, which says, "In the
city that is beside the river Muchawietz, on the river Pruzhanka, on the river
Pirohovke and on sources of water--". It proves that a river Pruzhanka
existed. With regard to Pirohovke we
think that it is the same as the Baba. On the maps before the war, the Baba was
called Pirogowka. In general some of the small rivers of Pruzhany changed their
names. In the XVI century the old Lacha was called Paliachva. The Kobriner
Economie tells the following, "The forest was located on one side of the
fields and, on the other side, the Paliachva flows.
The same source is talking about a river
called Pruzhanka when it says: " ...vegetable gardens from Derechin, to
the left behind the street Derechin, and in front of the river Muchawietz at
the other end of the small river Pruzhanka was the way from Derechin to
Pruzhanka". Considering that there is not any small river near Derechin
that flows into the Muchawietz, it is fairly sure Pruzhanka is the new name of
the river Pirohovka, and that is the same one that is currently the river Baba.
The only incomprehensible thing in the divorce records is that it names the
river Pruzhanka and Pirohovka at the same time as if they were two rivers. This
can be explained in the following way: at the beginning of the Acts it was
written, "on the river Muchawietz and on the river Pruzhanka". In the
course of the time they began to call it with the second name, the writers of
these documents wanted to conserve these names, and they also added the new
one.
Now let's take a look at the historical
past of the area, and let us calculate how old the city is. S. Vislouch brings
many sources about this issue, and its reflection on the limits of the district
of Kobrin, until half of XVI's century. Based on different sources, it
demonstrates that in half of XIV century the whole area surrounding the river
Muchawietz was covered with swamps and impenetrable forests, and they had very
few human settlements. At this time, Kobrin was a city that belonged to the
great landowner OLGUIERD. After his death his son ROMAN assumed the ownership.
Some years later on February 14, 1404 his uncle the landowner WITOLD confirms
him. The administrative and political
situation of Kobrin is unknown, but at the beginning of XV century we find that
Kobrin was an independent feudal district and Pruzhany is included.
At that time Pruzhany was first mentioned
in an historical document. It is in a letter sent by the great landowner
ZIGMUNT KEYSTUTOVICH on September 25, 1433 addressed to IAGIELON about the
battles with ZVIDRIGIELON. In that letter he complains to the great landowner
that the inhabitants of SLUTZK (Slutshanie) destroyed everything around Brisk
and Kamenietz and they also included the inhabitants of Pruzhany (Prushanoi),
Kobrin, Zhditov, Viady and Slonim.
According to the text, we deduce that the
word Pruzhanoi refers to the
administrative area around the town called Pruzhene. Can we deduce that
the town could also be the center of the area and had the same name? We don't
find any contradiction in this respect in any place. But there are cases in
current times in which the administrative areas are not called according to the
name of the administrative center.
The mentioned landowner of Kobrin ROMAN,
begins the dynasty of landowner KOBRINSKY that ends with the third generation.
SEMEN KOBRINSKY, son of ROMAN takes active part in the fights of this time, he
suffered a defeat and lost part of his holdings, and among them Kobrin. Based
on the later peace agreements, he recovered the city again. The landowner SEMEN
possessed lands that included Kobrin and Pruzhany, and these became his son,
IVÁN SEMENOVICH’s KOBRINSKY patrimony, which could be the founder of our city.
Among records of birth certificates in
Lithuania, we find a document of the landowner, IVÁN, in which he appears as
founder of the first church in Pruzhany. As in all birth records, this one was
also written in Byelorussian. For the interest and the importance of this
document and for the history of our city, we reproduce the complete text:
“With
great commendation to God and the Trinity, the only God. IVÁN son of SEMEN
landowner of Kobrin, ruler of the whole territory of ZHCHAMUTE, together with
his wife the landowner, TEODORA, in the city founded by them called DOBUCHINY
they give a piece of land to build a church with the name "Birth of the
son of God". We also give a contribution of our belongings, the whole
production of winter, as well as
cereals for our priest VASILY
LUCKASEVITSH and his followers will direct our recently built church of the
"Son of God". We also give part of our lands, so they can offer
lodging to their servants. These lands near the church which are called Places,
begin in the wide street called Setlzer Road and end in the river Muchawietz.
About the distance from one end to the other: on one hand the street of the
backyard where the kennels were, and on the other side where the house of
Jewish prayers (synagogue) was located, whose lands were used in its width.
Each member of the village Postolava should donate for our church 45 groshn
annually. We give lands near the village SLONIMTZY for its cultivation as well
as the crop of hay. We also add the island Dubowa on the river Much, near the
village SLONIMTZY, for the establishment of other parishioners. On the island
they will have some heaps of hay. All this is donated forever, for our church
whose lands are our patrimony. The priest and his parishioners are exempt of
payment of taxes. We grant the permission to our priest VASILY LUCKASEVITSH and
his followers to have a winery for their own consumption and for the taverns.
In the mills of DOBUCHIN they will be allowed to mill 15 barrels for the whole
year without payment of taxes. Nobody should interfere in our donations,
because they were given to our priest and his followers. To the persons who
dare to violate this donation that we grant forever to our church of the birth
of the Son of God for the redemption of our soul and commendation of the name
of God, a curse of the 318 Sacred Fathers who were in the Council of Nicker,
will fall on them and they will be called to the terrible judge. We trust and
we confirm the above mentioned, and we sign this Act that was granted on
October 9 1473 in the city of Kobrin. Signed: IVÁN son of SEMEN landowner of
Kobrin, governor of the territory of YAMUT, and TEODORA the landowner.”
We cannot assure with certainty the year in
which the city was founded. This document doesn't give us a date, but we can
assure that it was founded in the times of landowner IVÁN KOBRINSKY. This is
confirmed by the expression in the principle of the document, where says,
"In the city founded, etc.". This means that it was founded in a date
near to that document.
We should imagine that this foundation was
only formal. Practically speaking, the town that was called DOBUCHIN at the
beginning, had the appearance of a city. With defined places and with streets,
as is confirmed by the document, with an important population. The city didn't
differ much from a village. The cities didn't have their own tribunals, and the
inhabitants continued under the order of the Starosta.
The city was directed by the VOYT (mayor or
highest official) who was chosen by the Russian orthodox peasants and whose
functions were limited. Especially he should guard the box where the seal was
kept with the privileges that were established for the city. The urban
population and that of the villages worked the land, and/or as craftsmen and
tradesmen. They had few general and local markets, because each property, even
the smallest, could satisfy all of the family needs. Only in the XVI Century were the cities organized according to
the German pattern. The right of Magdenburg[1]
is instituted and the city is separated from the village.
The foundation of the city was useful only
to separate the city from the village. The number of inhabitants was many,
because Jews had a synagogue and a House of Religious Studies. This confirms
our hypothesis that in year 1450 the Jewish population and a Chevra Kedisha
(Burial Society) existed here. In the year 1863 after the fire of the Great Synagogue,
it was discovered that it contained an inscription that was 400 years old. If
this is certain, it means that the synagogue already existed in the year 1463,
and the landowner, KOBRINSKY, had a document mentioning that the same synagogue
burned in the year 1863. The document puts before us the evidence test that in
1463 there were a synagogue and a Jewish community here. The antiquity of 400
years of the synagogue can be real, since the towns in their beginnings didn't
grow in few years and the population neither increased very quickly but rather
changes happened after decades or centuries.
In year 1563 the King's inspector DIMITR
SAPIEHA went on a trip and slept in three cities, Kobrin, Dobuchin, and
Horodetz, and 98 villages. According to the description of this trip in the
Kobriner Ekonomie, there were eleven Jewish houses in Dobuchin, and the 12th
house was the synagogue. It details the names of the eleven proprietors. If we
accept this quantity of families as certain for the year 1563, it would be
doubtful if 113 years before it could
have been a Jewish community.
Inspector SAPIEHA was interested mainly in
the quantity of land that was property of Jews and the taxes that they would
have to pay. For that reason it didn't interest him at all to mention the
quantity of families living there. We could estimate that two or more families
inhabited each home. Also, many Jewish families could have rented gentile
houses. We would obtain a significant Jewish population if we double the amount
of houses in which families of Jews lived.
The community of Dobuchin also included the Jews of nearby villages, and
of the taverns that were in the road.
There is another fact that can explain the
scarce amount of Jewish housings in the year 1563. As it is known, in the year
1495 the landowner, Alexander, expelled all Jews on Lithuanian lands. It is
possible that, due to this expulsion, the Jews in the community of Dobuchin did
not exist until 60 years later when Jews were allowed to return to Lithuania
(1503-63). From then on Jewish community of Dobuchin was not able grow again.
We don't have tests of the history of
Jewish community in our city that refutes our opinion that it began
approximately in the XV century.
After the landowner Iván, the dynasty of
the Kobrinsky's finishes. After his death all his properties in the city of
Kobrin became VATSLAV KOSTEVITSH, his brother-in-law's, property; he was a
Catholic. In year 1522 KOSTEVITSH founded a Catholic church in Pruzhany (in the
place where the Russian orthodox church is now), at the corner of Patsevich and
Shereshev Streets. After the death of KOSTEVITSH it all became BONA, the Polish
queen's property; she inaugurated the church in year 1534, and also gave big
parcels of land as a gift.
According to Balinsky, then Dobuchin began
to be called Pruzhany. In the documents
we show later we find that Pruzhany continued being called Dobuchin. Here we
present the content of the documents most characteristic where our city is mentioned.
"According
to the Decree of the King dated January 23, 1554, addressed to STANISLAV
POLISHEVSKY, official of the economy of Kobrin and Dobutshin, and together with
the representative of Queen Bona, states to the Catholics of Dobutshin that
they should pay a certain tax, which the Catholic priests would then receive
instead of the tithe. They should also contribute a quantity of wheat for each
field parcel (recompilation of the library Rachinsky, archives of Wilna).
A
verdict in the process carried out by the priest of the church in Pruzhany,
TIMOPHEY FEDOROVITSH, presented by the peasants of Pruzhany, NICOLAI ZUBOVSKY
and JAN STAVETSKY and, in general other peasants, he prohibited walkers on the
street going toward the Christian markets from trading in the entrances of the
churches. The peasants protested because the traders bothered the prayer in the
Church. They also showed orders established by the inspectors of the King that
stated that they could trade only in the market of the city and not near the
churches. The verdict was in favor of Russian peasants (Commission of Wilna,
1577).
On
August 7 1560 a Jew of Kobrin called FAIVUSH BEN YOSEF had leased a still of
beer in Kobrin and in Dobuchin. He had to pay10 kop groshen for that to Kobrin,
and 20 kop groshen for that to Dobuchin."
On April 23, 1562, the trial for the issue of a tavern lease in
Dobutshin to a Jew of Brest, PESACH BEN AIZIK, with the King's marshal,
JAROSLAV MATVEIEVITSH, was postponed because Mr. JAROSLAV should leave to a
battle according to Ordinance of the King.
On
November 23, 1562 DAVID BEN SHMUEL and ABRAHAM DLUGATSH on one hand, and YOSEF
BEN SHALOM for the other one, agreed to obey the verdict of the judges in the
discussion about the lease of the “myth” that consisted in the payment of taxes
on the merchandise brought from Kobrin,
Grodno and Pruzana."
In 1563 the issues mentioned as
registered in Kobriner Ekonomie, use the name Dobutshin. According to documents
the city had the following streets: Market Square and Yard, Kobriner, Chvatke,
Zahorie, Seltser and Derechin streets. Also the following suburbs: Derechin,
Chvatke and Rohasnitza.
On
February 15, 1583, a Jew of Pruzhany called MORDECHAI BEN YAAKOV, transported
toward Lublin goat leathers. Another Jew called LEIB BEN NATHAN also
transported toward Lublin a cart with goatskins.
On
March 4 1583, a Jew of Pruzhany called ELIAHU BEN CHAIM transported merchandise
of Lublin. It was steel, plums, cloths, figs, grape raisins, pepper oil and
rice."
After King STEPHAN BATORY’s death in the
year 1586, his wife the queen ANNA YAGELONKA, queen BONA’s daughter, as widow,
receives an allowance consisting of properties in Kobrin and Pruzhany. In year
1588 she gives to the new city, a privilege, for which Pruzhany will receive MAGDEBURGH rights and is ascended to the
category of city.
MAGDEBURGH rights granted the city autonomy
and independence. The elected Urban Commission managed urban matters. It was
headed by a Voyt (boss of the city) that was later called Mayor. The city had
its own judges and it did not depend on the judge of the Starosta (District
Chief). The city decided on the taxes to be paid by the citizens. It established the general fair (yarid) and
the market days.
Together with this privilege there is also
granted to our city a shield, and the seal of the city. The shield represented
a blue snake and a boy half swallowed in its mouth on a silvered base that had
a crown on it. Later the colors were changed to a brown snake on a green base.
As we mentioned before, the legend relates
that a boy that was caught by a snake is represented on the shield. Certainly
the shield doesn't have any relationship with the legend, on the contrary one
believes the legend because of the shield. Anna Iagelonka when giving the city
the privileges, instead of creating a new shield renovated the shield of her
family SFORTZA of Milan, Italy because her mother Bona’s origin was Italian.
December 18, 1615, the plebeian KRISHTOV
DUBOVSKY presented a complaint against the boss Mayor JAN STAVETSKY and the
officials of the MAGDEBURGIE of Pruzahny.
They said that the day in which their complaint about offenses against
urban peasants that they were settled in the land belonging to the church
should be heard, the peasants entered the Municipality, made a scandal and
ended up fighting. Judges were dispersed and they didn't continue the trial
(library of Ratchinshky, Wilna).
The oldest documents with the urban seal,
are conserved in Pruzhany and they correspond a years 1750/1796. The stamp is
on the paper, and it has on top in the center, the above-mentioned shield with
an inscription in Latin.
In later years, this stamp depended on
political conditions, and on different occasions it was redesigned. In year
1925 the municipality changed its old shield. This and the stamp are used until
today.