House of Zierotin

Coat of Arms of the Zierotin family

The Žerotín or Zierotin family of counts (from 1706 Reichsgrafs, lords from 1478) was one of the oldest and illustrious noble families originating from Moravia and Bohemia. The family was first mentioned around the year 1200 as Bludovici (Blud z Bludova), later renamed Žerotínové.

According to romantic legend, the Zierotins were the offspring of prince Oleg of Drelinia, brother of Vladimir I of Kiev, and thereupon the family uses in its coat of arms a royal crown (or more properly the crown of Grand Prince) and princely mantling. The heraldic device is a blason of coat of arms is gules a lion sable crowned or on three mountains argent, in crest is on royal crown lion sable rampart crowned or.

Members of the family were judges, governors, patrons of arts, and politicians. The most famous is Karel Older of Zierotin (1564–1636), head of the Moravian nobility during the Thirty Years' War friend of Henry IV of France and brother-in-law of Albrecht of Wallenstein. Other interesting members were Johan Karl von Zierotin (1719–1776) directeur des spectacles of Frederick II of Prussia and friend of Johann Sebastian Bach, Karel Emanuel of Zierotin (1850–1934), peer of the Austrian Empire and governor of Moravia (1900–1906), and Ladislav Velen of Zierotin (1579–1638), head of the uprising against the Habsburgs.

Male line of this family died out in 1985. Its estates, manor Bludov, were after fall of the Communist rule (1989) returned to their female descendants, the family Mornstein-Zierotin.[1][2][3][4]

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