The 'Halych-Volhynian Kingdom' (
Ruthenian: Галицко-Волинскоє Королѣвство, , , , , ), 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'.
History
Tribal area
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.
Rise and Apogee of Halych-Volhynia
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.
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
Tatar 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
[ Romanovich." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 23 Aug. 2007 ].
Under Danylo's reign, Halych-Volhynia was one of the most powerful states in east central Europe.
[ Romanovich." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 23 Aug. 2007] 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 Tatatr 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.
Halych-Volynia's Decline and Fall
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.
End
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.
See also
★
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
★
Mongol invasion of Rus
★
Halychyna
★
Volhynia
★
Lviv
★
History of Ukraine
★
List of early East Slavic states
★
List of rulers of Halych and Volhynia
References
:'Inline'
:'General'
★
Ukraine: A History, Subtelny, Orest, , , University of Toronto Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8020-8390-0
Further reading
★ Ivan Kryp'yakevych, ''"
The Principality of Halych-Vohlynia'' , Kiev, 1984.
External links
★
History of 13th century Galicia
★
Galicia-Volhynia, Principality
★
Rodzinna Ukraina
★
За що боролись
★
Борис ЯЦЕНКО «СЛОВО О ПОЛКУ ІГОРЕВІМ» ТА ЙОГО ДОБА
★
Волинська земля у складі Галицько-Волинського князівства (''Bolinska zemlya u skladi Galicko-Volinskogo knyazivstva'')
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