Chodko Jurewicz

Chodko Jurewicz (fl. 1422–1447) was a noble from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and is considered to be the founder of the Chodkiewicz family. Chodko was a historical person, but his obscure origin and biography have long been surrounded by legends and disputed by scholars. Chodko Jurewicz died after 1447 and was succeeded by his son Ivan Chodkiewicz.

There is no reliable information regarding Chodko's ancestry. His patronymic name Jurewicz is derived from George (Polish: Jerzy, Lithuanian: Jurgis, Ruthenian: Yuri). According to Polish historian Adam Boniecki, Chodko might be derived from Chodor and could be a broken form of Feodor (Theodore). Traditionally it was believed that Chodko was Eastern Orthodox and hailed from Kiev. This belief was taken from a bitter 1567 letter by Ivan Dmitrovich Belski addressed to Hrehory Chodkiewicz where Hrehory was reminded that the Chodkiewicz family used to be dukes of Kiev. However, this likely referred to rivalry between Hrehory's grandfather Ivan Chodkiewicz and Feodor Ivanovich Belski for the Kiev Voivodeship and not to the ancestral possessions of Chodko. Analysis of estate records indicated that Chodko had possessions in the area of Hrodna, Gródek, and Supraśl.

Chodko was first mentioned in written sources in 1422, when he (as Thoyto or Choyto) signed the Treaty of Melno. At the time he was a regent in Polotsk. Among some 120 witnesses to the treaty, Chodko was 104th. Lithuanian historian Genutė Kirkienė noted that in 1415 a certain Chodconi was sent on a diplomatic mission by Grand Duke Vytautas to Jogaila, King of Poland. She suggested that Chodconi and Chodko were the same person and the mission was the early career of the rising noble. In 1431 Chodko was part of a Lithuanian delegation to Jogaila, King of Poland. In June 1431 he witnessed the Treaty of Christmemel between Švitrigaila and the Teutonic Knights. The treaty created an anti-Polish alliance and began the Polish–Teutonic War (1431–1435). Of the nine Lithuanian witnesses, Chodko (as Thudko Juriowicz) was seventh and the only Ruthenian.

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