Ancient Noble Family of Knights

The Chernyshevs of Russia descend from Teutonic Knights of Poland.  The inverted horseshoe and Maltese cross incorporated into their Russian Coat of Arms seem to be based on the Polish Coat of Arms for the family Czernyszew.  The arms for the families Czernicki and Czerniecki are very similar.  

The name Chernyshev (also Englished as Chernitzkoff, Czernichow, Czernichew, Tchernichov, or Tchernychev) probably originated with the ancient Ukrainian city of Chernigov or Chernihiv.  

Before the Romanovs came to power, the Tsars of Russia (the Rurik dynasty) lived in Kiev and were known as Princes of Kiev and Princes of Chernigov.  Many families from Chernihiv moved to Poland during the wars of the 11th and 12th centuries.

CHERNYSHEV 

Nobles, Counts and Dukes.

Progenitor Ivan Mikhailovich Chernyshev, son of Polish aristocrat Michael Chernitski (also Chernetski), left Poland in 1493 to serve Grand Duke Ivan Vasilievitch [Ivan The Great], and, upon entry into Russian service, began signing his name Chernyshev. 

He was a nobleman and warlord of the Duma guard regiment during the raids of the Crimean Prince Kalgi. He died childless, and the family successor was his nephew, Ilya V. Chernyshev.

The descendants of Ilya V. Chernyshev's sons, Dmitry Chernyshev and Gregory Chernyshev, served as stewards, lawyers and governors.




Above: The Coat of Arms of the Czernyszew family of Poland. 
Below: The Coat of Arms of the Chernyshev family in a book on Russian nobility. 


 

 

Below: Ruins of the Chernyshev estate at Yaropolets, near Moscow, 14 September 2012.
Photo by  Елена Смирнова