[3] However, Lithuanian historian Genutė Kirkienė has noted that in such a case Chodkiewicz would have begun his political career in his mid-forties, when most nobles started in late twenties or early thirties.
Chodkiewicz corresponded with known Protestant activist Albert, Duke of Prussia since the mid-1530s and send his son Jan Hieronimowicz to be educated there.
[12] Chodkiewicz and his son held the position until 1579, replacing Kęsgailos as the most influential Samogitian family[13] and acquiring many properties in Samogitia, including Kretinga, Skuodas, Lyduvėnai.
[15] Chodkiewicz supported Queen Bona Sforza when she vehemently opposed the marriage of Barbara Radziwiłł and Sigismund Augustus.
[16] That brought Chodkiewicz into disfavor of Sigismund and further rivalry with the Radziwiłłs, who swept all the top posts and almost became de facto rulers in Lithuania.
[17] In 1555, King Sigismund II Augustus sent him on a diplomatic mission to Pope Paul IV and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The latter granted him and his family the honorary title of Graf.