Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia
Principality of Galicia–Volhynia (1199–1253) Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia (1253–1349) | |||||||||||||
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| 1199–1349 | |||||||||||||
Map of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia in the 13th/14th century. | |||||||||||||
| Status | Principality (until 1253) Kingdom (after 1253) Vassal state of the Golden Horde (from 1246 to 1253) | ||||||||||||
| Capital | 49°55′N 24°58′E / 49.91°N 24.96°E | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Old East Slavic | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Eastern Orthodoxy | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Prince, later King | |||||||||||||
• 1199–1205 | Roman the Great (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1341–1349 | Liubartas (last) | ||||||||||||
• since 1349 | Casimir III the Great as added title to the King of Poland | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||
• Unification of Galicia and Volhynia | 1199 | ||||||||||||
• Kingdom | 1253 | ||||||||||||
• Transfer of Galicia to the Polish Crown | 1349 | ||||||||||||
• Incorporation of Galicia by Poland | 1434 | ||||||||||||
• Incorporation of Volhynia by Lithuania | 1452 | ||||||||||||
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The Principality or, from 1253, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, also known as the Kingdom of Ruthenia(Latin: Regnum Rusiae) or Kingdom of Rus', was a medieval state in Eastern Europe which existed from 1199 to 1349. Its territory was predominantly located in modern-day Ukraine, with parts in Belarus, Poland, Romania, Moldova, and Lithuania. Along with Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal, it was one of the three most important powers to emerge from the collapse of Kievan Rus'.
Roman the Great united the principalities of Galicia and Volhynia at the turn of the 13th century. Following the destruction wreaked by the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' (1239–1241), Prince Daniel of Galicia and other princes of Rus' pledged allegiance to Batu Khan of the Golden Horde in 1246. In 1253 Daniel was crowned King of Ruthenia by the Pope in an attempt to create an anti-Mongol alliance. However the attempts to free Ruthenia from the influence of Golden Horde khans ultimately failed. Polish conquest of the kingdom in 1349 led to it being fully absorbed by Catholic Poland.
Upon annexing Galicia in 1349, Polish king Casimir III the Great adopted the title of King of Poland and Ruthenia, and in 1434 the territory was transformed into the Ruthenian Voivodeship (Latin: Palatinatus Russiae), with the last remnants of the region's legal autonomy being abolished in 1506. Volhynia, which came under control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania following a series of wars with Poland, formally became a Lithuanian province in 1452.