prince Yuri Boreyko Kościesza coat of arms

Legendary accounts The historiography has long held that the Chodkiewicz family was of Lithuanian origin. The first author to ascertain the Lithuanian origin was Augustinus Rotundus, a 16th-century researcher of Lithuanian history and diplomacy. In 1564 he wrote that the Chodkiewich family was an old and respected Lithuanian family, founded by Chodko. According to Rotundus, Chodko carried a Lithuanian Grand Duke on his shoulders from a battlefield thus savings his lord's life. For this deed, he earned the nickname Chodko (from Russian: chodit – walking). The theory was further developed by Maciej Stryjkowski (ca. 1547–1593) in his epic poem "On the beginnings, accounts, virtues, marital and domestic affairs of the famed nations of Lithuania, Samogitia, Ruthenia" (Polish: O początkach, wywodach, dzielnościach, sprawach rycerskich i domowych sławnego narodu litewskiego, żemojdzkiego i ruskiego). According to the poem, an envoy from the Golden Horde asked Grand Duke Gediminas (ruled 1316–1341) for a duel with a Lithuanian warrior. In the case of the Lithuanian victory, Gediminas would stop paying tribute to the Tatar Khan. Samogitian Borejko (Lithuanian: Bareika) won the challenge and was generously rewarded by the Grand Duke. Later Chodko, one of the four sons of Borejko, commanded a raid against the Teutonic Knights in 1311. The Lithuanians suffered a defeat and Gediminas's son Algirdas was injured. Chodko rescued Algirdas and tended his wounds. For this deed Chodko was awarded lands between the Narew and Neman Rivers.

Stryjkowski's work was ordered by the Radziwiłł and Chodkiewicz families. Thus it was very favorable to them and served their political interest. It is clear that the Chodkiewicz family wanted to established their noble pedigree since the beginning of the 14th century. More specifically, Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz wanted to show his ancestral ties with the Duchy of Samogitia, where he and his father Hieronim Chodkiewicz served as elders. Later writers and historians copied the story from Stryjkowski with various modifications. For example, Bartosz Paprocki (1543–1614) treated Barejko and Chodko as one person; Wojciech Wijuk Kojałowicz (1609–1677) claimed it was Grand Duke Vytenis and not Gediminas who organized the duel with a Tatar and that Chodko rescued Vytenis not from a battlefield but from a hunting accident. The tale survived in the history books until the end of the 19th century when it was rejected as a legend by critically minded historians.

Bibliography Dmitruk, Stefan (2004). "Geneza rodu Chodkiewiczów" (PDF). Białoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne (in Polish). 21: 27–30. ISSN 1232-7468. Frost, Robert (2015). The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union 1385-1569. Oxford History of Early Modern Europe. I. Oxford University Press. p. 169. ISBN 9780191017872. Kirkienė, Genutė (2008). "Chodkevičių giminės ištakos". LDK politikos elito galingieji: Chodkevičiai XV–XVI amžiuje. Vilniaus universiteto leidykla. ISBN 978-9955-33-359-3. The chapter is also available in Polish: Kirkienė, Genutė (2002). "Korzenie rodu Chodkiewiczów". Białoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne (in Lithuanian). 17. ISSN 1232-7468. Rotundus, Augustinus (1890) [1564]. Józef Korzeniowski, ed. Rozmowa Polaka z Litwinem 1564. Biblioteka pisarzów polskich (in Polish). 11. W druk. C.K. Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. OCLC 14393551

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chodko_Jurewicz

Bareika, pagal V. Kojelavičiaus XVII a. surašytą herbyną (išsp. 1897), buvęs didž. Lietuvos kunigaikščio Vytenio rūmininkas, pasižymėjęs nuveikdamas milžiną totorių, medžioklėje išgelbėjęs Vytenį iš pelkės ir ųž tai gavęs tiek žemės, kiek per vieną dieną apėjęs. Gavęs ir vardą Chodko [? galimai jo sūnus gavo šį vardą], iš kurio vėliau esą kilę Chodkevičiai-Bareikavičiai. Šią legendą, matyt, patys Chodkevičiai buvo sukūrę [prielaidos pagal enciklopedijos leidėjus], neužsileisdami tiems didikams ir bajorams, save keldžiusiems iš įvairių tikrų ar pramanytų senųjų Lietuvos didvyrių. Ir Chodkevičiai, XVI a. kurdami miestelį Žemaitijoje, jį praminė Bareikavu-Bareikiais. Vėliau ir kita Lietuvos šeima, Chodzkos, taip pat save kildė iš Bareikos, pasirėmę tuo pačiu Kojelavičiaus dar rankraštiniu herbynu.

Šaltinis: Lietuvių enciklopedija. Bostonas, 1953-1987 m., 1-37 t.