Halych-Volhynia

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Галицко-Волинскоє Королѣвство
Kingdom of Halych-Volhynia

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1199 – 1349

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Coat of arms

The Halych-Volhynian Kingdom in 13th — 14th c.

Capital

Language(s)

Religion

Government

King of Halych-Volhynia

- 1199-1205

Roman the Great

History

- Established

1199

- Disestablished

1349

The Halych-Volhynian Kingdom (Ruthenian: Галицко-Волинскоє Королѣвство, Ukrainian: Галицько-Волинське Королівство, Polish: Królestwo Halicko-Wołyńskie, Latin: Regnum Galiciæ et Lodomeriæ, Austro-Bavarian: Königreich Galizien und Lodomerien, Alemannic: Kenigriich Galizien und Lodomerien), or Halych-Volodymyr, was a state in Ruthenia (Rus' ) which succeeded Kievan Rus′ in the late 12th century and existed until the middle of the 14th century. It extended between the rivers San and Wieprz in what is now south-eastern Poland in the west, and the Pripet Marshes (now in Belarus) and upper Southern Bug in modern-day Ukraine in the east.

During its time, the kingdom was bordered by Black Ruthenia, The Principality of Turaw-Pinsk, The Principality of Kiev, Golden Horde, The Kingdom of Hungary, The Kingdom of Poland, and The Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights.

Along with Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal, it was one of the three most important East Slavic powers to have emerged from the collapse of Kievan Rus'.

1 History
2 See also
3 References
- 3.1 Further reading
- 3.2 External links

Árpád and the six other chieftains of the Magyars. From the Chronicon Pictum. It showing the shield with the Royal House of Arpad emblem, a black sitting jackdaw.

In pre-Roman times the region was populated by various tribes, including the Lugiis, Goths and Vandals (the Przeworsk and Puchov cultures). After the fall of the Roman Empire, of which most of south-eastern Poland and western Ukraine was part of (all territories below the San, Bug, Dniester and Ztir). The former population departed and gradually area was populated by West Slavs people, identified with group of Croats so called Lendians. Around 833 the West Slavs became part of the Great Moravian state. Upon the invasion of the Hungarian tribes into the heart of the Great Moravian Empire around 899, the Lendians of the area found themselves under the influence of Hungarian Empire. In 955 their area seems to constitute part of Bohemian State. Around 970 it was included in forming the Polish state. This area was mentioned in 981 (by Nestor), when Volodymyr the Great of Kievan Rus took the area over on his way into Poland. The area returned to Poland in 1018 and in 1031 was retaken by Rus.

The territory was settled by the East Slavs from the early middle ages and, in the 12th century, a Rurikid Principality of Halych (Galich) was formed there, merged in the end of the century with the neighboring Volhynia into the Principality of Halych Volhynia that existed for a century and a half.

History of Ukraine
Ancient times:
Cucuteni-Trypillian culture Yamna culture Catacomb culture Cimmeria Taurica Scythia Sarmatia Zarubintsy culture Cherniakhov culture Hunnic Empire
Medieval era:
Early East Slavs Onoghuria White Croatia Khazars Kievan Rus' Halych-Volhynia Cumania Mongol invasion of Rus' Golden Horde Principality of Moldavia Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Cossack era:
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Crimean Khanate Cossack revolts Khmelnytsky Uprising The Ruin Right-bank Ukraine Left-bank Ukraine: Sloboda Ukraine Cossack Hetmanate Zaporizhia
Imperial rule:
Ottoman Empire Russian Empire: Little Russia Habsburg Monarchy: Kingdom of Galicia Bukovina Carpathian Ruthenia
Modern era:
Ukraine in World War I Ukraine after the Revolution: Ukrainian People's Republic Western Ukrainian Republic Hetmanate Directorate Galician SSR Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic Free Territory (Ukraine) Ukrainian War of Independence Soviet Union: Ukrainian SSR Crimean Autonomous SSR Ukraine in World War II Carpatho-Ukraine Reichskommissariat Ukraine Independent Ukraine

Volhynia and Halych had originally been two separate Rurikid principalities, assigned on a rotating basis to younger members of the Kievan dynasty that were eventually maintained by certain branches of the Rurik Dynasty as family possessions. The line preceding Roman had held the principality of Volhynia whereas another line, that of Yaroslav Osmomysl held Halych. Halych-Volhynia was created when, following the death of the last heirless prince of Halych, Prince Roman the Great of Volodymyr-Volyns'kyi acquired the Principality of Halych in 1199, uniting both lands into one state. Roman's successors would mostly use Halych (Galicia) as the designation of their combined kingdom. In Roman's time Halych-Volhynia's principal cities were Halych and Volodymyr-Volynskyi. In 1204 he united all of the lands of southeastern Rus (comprising much of modern Ukraine) when he captured Kiev, and he increased Ruthenian influence in Lithuania. Roman was allied with Poland, signed a peace treaty with Hungary and developed diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire. At the height of his reign he briefly became the most powerful of the Rus princes [1].

In 1205 Roman turned against his Polish allies which led to a conflict with Leszek the White and Konrad of Masovia. Roman was subsequently killed in the Battle of Zawichost (1205) and his dominion entered a period of rebellion and chaos. The weakened Halych-Volhynia became an arena of rivalry between Poland and Hungary. King Andrew II of Hungary styled himself rex Galiciæ et Lodomeriæ, Latin for "king of Halych and Volodymyr". In a compromise agreement made in 1214 between Hungary and Poland, the throne of Halych-Volhynia was given to Andrew's son, Coloman of Lodomeria who had married Leszek the White's daughter, Salomea.

Andrew II of Hungary, King of Galiciæ et Lodomeriæ with queen Gertrude von Andechs-Meranien

In 1221, Mstislav the Bold, son of Mstislav the Brave, liberated Halych-Volhynia from the Hungarians, but it was Danylo, son of Roman, who re-united all of south-western Rus, including Volhynia, Halych and Rus' ancient capital of Kiev, which Danylo captured in 1239. Danylo defeated the Polish and Hungarian forces in the battle of Yaroslav (Jarosław) in 1245, but at the same time he was compelled to acknowledge, at least nominally, the supremacy of the mongol Golden Horde. In 1245, Pope Innocent IV allowed Danylo to be crowned king, although his realm continued to be ecclesiastically independent from Rome. Thus, Danylo was the only member of the Rurik dynasty to have been crowned king. Danylo Halytsky, he was crowned by the papal archbishop in Dorohychyn 1253 as the first King of Halych-Volhynia (1253 1264). In 1256 Danylo succeeded in driving the Mongols out of Volhynia, but was forced to accept their authority over him in 1260 ^[1].

Under Danylo's reign, Halych-Volhynia was one of the most powerful states in east central Europe.^[1] Literature flourished, producing the Halych-Volhynian Chronicle. Demographic growth was enhanced by immigration from the west and the south, including Germans and Armenians. Commerce developed due to trade routes linking the Black Sea with Poland, Germany and the Baltic basin. Major cities, which served as important economic and cultural centers, were among others: L'viv (where the royal seat woul later be moved by Danylo's son), Volodymyr, Halych, Chełm, Przemyśl, Drohiczyn and Terebovlya. Halych-Volhynia was important enough that in 1252 Danylo was able to marry his son Roman to the heiress of the Austrian Duchy in the vain hope of securing it for his family. Another son, Shvarno, married a daughter of Lithuania's first king and briefly ruled that land from 1267-1269. At the peak of its expansion, the Halych-Volhynian state contained not only all of south-western Ruthenia, including Red Ruthenia and Black Ruthenia, but also briefly controlled the Brodnici on the Black Sea.

After King Danylo's death in 1264, he was succeeded by his son Lev. Lev moved the capital to Lviv in 1272 and for a time maintained the strength of Halych-Volhynia. Unlike his father, who pursued a Western political course, Lev worked closely with the Mongols and together with them invaded Poland. However, although his troops plundered territory as far west as Racibórz, sending many captives and much booty back to Galicia, Lev did not ultimately gain much territory from Poland. Lev cultivated a particularly close alliance with the Tatar khan Nogai. Lev also attempted, unsuccessfully, to establish his family's rule over Lithuania. Soon after his brother Shvarno ascended to the Lithuanians throne in 1267, he had the former Lithuanian ruler Vaišvilkas killed. Following his brother Shvarno's loss of the throne in 1269, Lev entered into conflict with the Lithuania. From 1274-1276 he fought a war with the new Lithuanian ruler Traidenis but was defeated, and Lithuania annexed the territory of Black Ruthenia with its city of Navahrudak. In 1279, Lev allied himself with king Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and invaded Poland, although his attempt to capture Cracow in 1280 ended in failure. That same year, Lev defeated Hungary and annexed part of Transcarpathia, including the city of Mukachevo. In 1292 he defeated Poland and added Lublin with surrounding areas to the territory of Halych-Volhynia.

After Lev's death in 1301, a period of decline ensued. Lev was succeeded by his son Yuri I who ruled for only seven years. Although his reign was largely peaceful and Halych-Volhynia flourished economically, Yuri I lost Lublin to the Poles (1302) and Transcarpathia to the Hungarians. From 1308 until 1323 Halych-Volhynia was jointly ruled by Yuri I's sons Andrew and Lev II, who proclaimed themselves to be the kings of Galicia and Volhynia. The brothers forged alliances with King Władysław of Poland and with the Teutonic Knights against the Lithuanians and the Mongols. They died together in 1323, in battle, fighting against the Mongols, and left no heirs.

After the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty in Galicia-Volhynia in 1323, Volhynia passed into the control of the Lithuanian King Lubart, while the boyars took control over Galicia. They invited the Polish Prince Boleslaw, a grandson of Yuri I, to assume the Galician throne. Boleslaw converted to Orthodoxy and assumed the name Yuri II. Nevertheless, suspecting him of harboring Catholic feelings, the boyars poisoned him in 1340 and elected one of their own, Dmytro Dedko, to lead the Galician state as viceregent of King Lubart. Dedko was able to defeat an attempted Polish invasion in 1341. After Dedko's death in 1349, Poland's King Casimir III mounted a successful invasion, capturing and annexing Galicia. Galicia-Volhynia ceased to exist as an independent state.

Danylo's dynasty attempted to gain papal (Pope Benedict XII) and broader support in Europe for an alliance against the Mongols, but ultimately proved unable of competing with the rising powers of centralised Great Duchy of Lithuania and The Kingdom of Poland. After the disintegration of the Grand Duchy of Halych-Volhynia circa 1340, in the 1340s, the Rurikid dynasty died out, and the area passed to King Lubart.

Ruthenian Voivodeship 1366-1772.

Coat of arms of the Ruthenian Voivodeship, 1366–1772.

Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, 1772–1918.

The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania divided up the region between them: King Kazimierz III Wielki took Galicia and Western Volhynia, while the sister state of Eastern Volhynia together with Kyiv came under Lithuanian control, 1352–1366.

Since 1352 when the kingdom was eventually divided-partitioned between The Kingdom of Poland and The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, most of the Ruthenian Voivodeship belonged to The Crown of the Polish Kingdom where it remained also after The Union of Lublin between Poland and Lithuania. The present-day town of Halych is situated 5 km away from the ancient capital of Galicia, on the spot where the old town's riverport was located and where King Lubart of Halich-Volhynia constructed a wooden castle in 1367.

By the treaty of the Lublin Union of 1569, all of former Halych-Volhynia became part of Poland. In 1772, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (who was also Queen of Hungary) recalled the old Hungarian claims to the Regnum Galiciæ et Lodomeriæ, and used them to justify Austria's participation in the partitions of Poland. Polish territories taken by Austria were, therefore, officially named Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, even though they did not correspond exactly to the historical lands of Halych-Volhynia. Despite the fact that the title derived from the historical Hungarian crown, Galicia and Lodomeria was not officially assigned to Hungary, and after the Ausgleich of 1867, it found itself in Cisleithania, the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary.