Konstanty Korniakt

Konstanty Korniakt h. Krucina, also Constantine Korniakt was a Greek born merchant, and a Polish nobleman, active throughout Central and Eastern Europe; a leaseholder of royal tolls who collected customs duty on behalf of the king. During his lifetime he was the wealthiest man in Lviv (Lwów, in Polish) and even owned numerous villages. He was a wholesale merchant and founder of the Korniakt family dynasty.

Konstantinos Korniaktos was born of Greek descent, in the city of Candia (Crete) in 1517. He moved to Constantinople at a young age, later migrating to Wallachia where he lived for the rest of his life. He settled in the city of Lviv, where he took over a business of his older brother Michael. The King of Poland Sigismund II Augustus granted him official title of nobility on February 12, 1571 as szlachcic Konstanty Korniakt, also awarded a number of other privileges.

Konstanty Korniakt dealt with international trade, especially from the Ottoman Empire and countries in Germany. He became a merchant and traded in wine, cloth, cotton, honey, hides and furs and soon became very wealthy, even lending money to the kings of Poland including Sigismund II Augustus, and other noble families

Korniakt was a patron of architecture and built a magnificent house near the market, which later was rebuilt by John III Sobieski and is now known as the Korniakt Palace. He also expanded the Wallachian church and funded its famous tower. He was an ardent follower of the Orthodox Church and defended its interests maintaining friendly relations with other Christian denominations.

Around 1575 he married Anna Dzieduszycka h. Sas, and soon had children. His sons were Alexander, Constantine (father of Captain Charles Francis) and Michael Korniakt, his daughters were Katarzyna Korniaktówna, Anna, whom married Jan "Gratus" Tarnowski, Sophia, who married Abraham Hubert and Catherine, she married Aleksander Chodkiewicz and after his death the governor of Belz, Duke Konstanty Wiśniowiecki.

Constantine Korniakt died in 1603, his son subsequently sold part of his estate an land in Lviv, and his brother Alexander Korniaktow left and moved to the property he inherited from his parents in Przemysl. He was owner of three residences in the villages Sośnica, Złotowice and Białoboki, the latter being chosen for the family. In 1610 the construction of the castle began.