Roman's Galicia and Volhynia

Who rules

Name

Roman Mstislavich (later called Roman the Great)

Title

Prince of Vladimir (Vladimir-Volynsky) and of Galich (Halych)

Since

Vladimir-Volynsky since 1170 (lost for some months in 1188); Galich since 1199, month not pinned

Born

not pinned: about 1150 (de.wikipedia) or after 1160 (Encyclopedia of Ukraine)

Family

House of Rurik, line of Monomakh through the Izyaslavichi of Volhynia. Son of Mstislav Izyaslavich, prince of Kiev (died 1170), and Agnes, daughter of Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth of Poland; first cousin of Leszek the White of Sandomierz and Konrad of Masovia; son-in-law, by his first marriage, of Rurik Rostislavich of Kiev.

Confidence

high

The seizure of Galich is dated 1199 by the Encyclopedia of Ukraine and most modern accounts; Dimnik dates Vladimir Yaroslavich's death to 1198. The Kievan chronicle in the Hypatian codex ends in 1198-1199 and the Galician-Volhynian chronicle tells its own story only from 1201-1205, so the months are lost. The chief account of the seizure is the Polish chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek (MPH II, 544-547), as used by Hrushevsky.

Overlord

None. Volhynia is his by inheritance and Galich by conquest. In the Rurikid family order he defers to Vsevolod III of Vladimir-Suzdal as the senior prince (recorded in 1201-1203, not pinned for this winter). Polish writers count Berestye as held of the Polish dukes since Casimir II gave it to him in about 1182-1183 (en.wikipedia, Brest); the Rus' sources know no such tie. He owes nothing to Hungary.

What the realm holds

• Galich (Halych) and its land on the Dniester: the princely town on the Krylos hill, the stone cathedral of the Dormition and the bishop's see (Galich)
• Przemyśl and the San country: Jarosław, Sanok and the Rus' land west to the Wisłok round Rzeszów (Przemyśl)
• Zvenigorod and its district, the ground where Lviv will later be founded (Zvenigorod)
• Terebovl and the land east to the Seret and the Zbruch (Terebovl)
• The salt springs of the Carpathian foothills round Kolomyia (first named in 1241) and Przemyśl
• The Dniester towns of the Ponyzia: Ushytsia (named 1144 and 1159); Bakota, Kalyus and Kamenets are first named later
• Vladimir-Volynsky and its land: Ustilug, Turiysk, the Bug crossings and the country round Uhrovsk where Kholm (Chełm) will be founded about 1237 (Vladimir-Volynsky)
• Berestye (Brest) and its land on the Bug and the Mukhavets (Berestye)
• Dorogichin (Drohiczyn) on the Bug: holder not pinned, most likely Roman (Dorogichin)
• Overlordship of his nephew Alexander Vsevolodovich at Belz (Alexander of Belz)
• Seniority, not lordship, over the Lutsk branch: Ingvar at Lutsk and Mstislav the Mute at Peresopnitsa (The Volhynian princes apart from Roman)

How it was acquired

Volhynia by inheritance on his father's death in 1170, Vladimir-Volynsky being his share while his brothers took Belz and other appanages; Berestye from Casimir II of Poland after a revolt there in 1182 (en.wikipedia, Casimir II and Brest). Galich first in 1188, when the boyars called him in against Vladimir Yaroslavich: King Béla III of Hungary drove him out within months and set up his own son Andrew as ruler there, and Roman's brother Vsevolod had meanwhile shut him out of Vladimir, which he recovered with Rurik's help. Vladimir Yaroslavich, restored in August 1189 or 1190 with Polish help, then held Galich under the protection of his uncle Vsevolod III of Vladimir-Suzdal until his death.

In 1194-1195 Rurik gave Roman towns in the Kiev land (Torchesk among them) and took them back at Vsevolod III's demand; that grievance drove Roman into alliance with the Olgovichi against Rurik in 1196, a war that ended in an uneasy settlement whose terms are not pinned. Galich again in 1199, after Vladimir Yaroslavich's death: Roman came in with Polish troops lent by Leszek's court (Kadłubek), cutting across the Galicians' talks with Igor Sviatoslavich's sons. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine and Magocsi say instead that the boyars invited him (see notes_discrepancy).

Allies and rivals

Allies: Leszek the White of Sandomierz, his cousin, with Leszek's mother Helen of Znojmo and the palatine Goworek (Roman fought for their side at Mozgawa on 13 September 1195 and was wounded there); the townsmen of Galich and Vladimir, whom he courts against the boyars; his nephew Alexander of Belz; the Lutsk princes, who follow his lead. Rivals: Rurik Rostislavich of Kiev, his father-in-law, with whom he fought in 1195-1196 and whose daughter he has put away; the Olgovichi of Chernigov, his allies against Rurik in 1196 but now his rivals for Galich through Igor Sviatoslavich's sons; the Galician boyars who wanted the Igorevichi or a weaker prince; King Emeric of Hungary, heir to Béla III's claim, though busy with his brother Andrew; the Yotvingians and Lithuanians, whom he raided in 1196; the Cumans of the Dniester steppe.

The realm that morning

Roman holds Galich and Vladimir-Volynsky himself, with governors in the lesser towns (none named for 1200) and his retinue (druzhina) at his back. The Galician boyar party that opposed him is beaten but not gone: the Kormilchichi, whom the Galician-Volhynian chronicle later describes as men Roman had driven out, are its best-known family (the date of their exile is not pinned). Vladimir's boyars and townsmen are loyal to his house.

Belz is held by his nephew Alexander under his eye; Lutsk and Peresopnitsa by the sons of Yaroslav Izyaslavich, who act as his juniors. He is allied to Leszek's Sandomierz, quiet on the Hungarian side (no Hungarian move on Galich is recorded after his seizure; Emeric is at war with his brother Andrew, who fled to Austria in the summer of 1199; Magocsi says Roman made a peace treaty with Hungary, undated), and in a cold peace with Rurik of Kiev. Kholm (Chełm) and Lviv do not exist: Kholm is founded by Roman's son Daniel about 1237 and Lviv about 1256.

Church: the Orthodox sees of Vladimir and Galich (Przemyśl's is first named in 1220) answer to the metropolitan of Kiev; their bishops on 1 January 1200 are not pinned and hold no lordship of their own here. Roman's dealings with Rome (Innocent III's reported offer of a crown) belong to 1204. Across the borders: Leszek's Sandomierz duchy with the Lublin land to the west (mlp); the Hungarian kingdom's border forests beyond the Carpathian crest (hno); Masovia and the Yotvingians north of Dorogichin (maz, pmr); Gorodno and the Lithuanians to the north (lit); Turov and Pinsk to the north-east and the Kiev land to the east (kie); the Bolokhovian land east of the Ponyzia (Bolokhovian land); the Cuman steppe to the south-east (cum); the Moldavian woods and the Cumans beyond the Prut (dnb).

Wealth

Salt above all: the brine springs of the Carpathian foothills fed Kiev, and the Kievan Caves Patericon's story of the salt famine during the war of 1097-1100 turns on salt from Galich and Przemyśl failing to arrive. The Dniester road to the Black Sea and the lower Danube; the passes to Hungary; the overland road from Kiev through Vladimir-Volynsky to Kraków, Bohemia and Germany; the Bug road through Berestye and Dorogichin, where thousands of lead trade seals of the 12th and 13th centuries have been found. Furs, wax, honey, cattle, horses and grain.

No coin is struck in Rus' in 1200: payment is in silver ingots (grivnas), furs and foreign coin.

Military

Roman's retinue and those of his boyars, the town hosts of Galich and Vladimir, allied Polish knights, and his nephew's and cousins' retinues from Belz, Lutsk and Peresopnitsa. A proven commander: wounded at Mozgawa (1195), raider of the Yotvingians (1196), and later the winter campaigns into the Cuman steppe (1201-1202, 1203-1204). Earth-and-timber strongholds at Galich, Przemyśl, Zvenigorod, Terebovl, Vladimir-Volynsky, Berestye and the Dniester towns; stone churches, not stone walls.

No figures are known for his host.

Threats

• The Galician boyars, who drove out Oleg in 1187, called Roman in and then the Hungarians in 1188, and will turn on his widow and sons in 1205-1206
• The Igorevichi: Igor Sviatoslavich, senior prince of Chernigov since 1198, and his sons by Efrosinia, Vladimir Yaroslavich's sister: Vladimir of Putivl (born 8 October 1170, married since 1188 to Svoboda, daughter of Khan Konchak), Roman and Sviatoslav. Part of the Galician boyars treated with them in 1199; they take Galich in 1206 (later)
• Rurik Rostislavich of Kiev and the Olgovichi, if they combine against him with Cuman allies
• The Hungarian claim from Andrew's rule in Galich in 1188-1189 or 1190, if Emeric makes peace with his brother (no Hungarian move is recorded between 1190 and 1205; Andrew, as king, is the first Hungarian monarch to take the title of king of Galicia and Lodomeria, after 1205-1206)
• Yotvingian and Lithuanian raids on the Berestye and Dorogichin lands
• Cuman raids on the Ponyzia

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 1200, month not pinned (if not already done)Roman's second marriage, to Anna (later Anna-Euphrosyne), held by several writers to be a niece of Emperor Alexios III, perhaps a daughter of Isaac II. Their son Daniel is born in 1201 and Vasilko in 1203.Depends on: The marriage not having taken place already (it is dated from 1197 to about 1200) and the Byzantine court wanting a Galician ally against the Cumans (Maiorov's reading). Stopped by: A breakdown of the match; a war that keeps Roman from it.
2. Summer 1200King Emeric and his brother Andrew are reconciled through the papal legate and Andrew again receives Croatia and Dalmatia (en.wikipedia, Emeric). Hungary's hands are freed, but no Hungarian move on Galich is recorded before Roman's death.Depends on: The legate's mediation (campaign notes Part 3). Stopped by: A renewed war between the brothers.
3. Late 1200 or 1201 (the year is disputed)Rurik Rostislavich and the Olgovichi move against Roman; Roman strikes first, Kiev opens its gates, and he gives Kiev to Ingvar of Lutsk. Most accounts date this 1201 or 1202 (the brief: 1201-1202); en.wikipedia's Galicia-Volhynia puts it in 1200.Depends on: Rurik and the Olgovichi forming a coalition; Vsevolod III accepting Roman's candidate in Kiev. Stopped by: A settlement between Roman and Rurik brokered by Vsevolod III; Roman being tied down in Galicia by the boyars or by Hungary.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201 and the winter of 1201-1202 (later)Roman invades the Cuman lands, forcing the Cumans who had joined Kaloyan's raid on Byzantine Thrace (from March 1201) to go home (Fine 1994, via en.wikipedia's Kaloyan); the Encyclopedia of Ukraine counts campaigns in 1201-1202 and 1203-1204. In 1199 the Cumans and Vlachs had raided the empire in spring and autumn (Madgearu 2016), so the steppe hordes nearest Galicia were looking south that year.Depends on: Peace on his western borders; the Cumans being away in the Balkans. Stopped by: War with Hungary, Poland or Kiev.

Where the sources disagree

• Who brought Roman into Galich in 1199: the Encyclopedia of Ukraine (Halych principality) and Magocsi (via en.wikipedia, Galicia-Volhynia) say the boyars invited him; en.wikipedia's Principality of Galicia, citing Kadłubek and Hrushevsky, says the Galicians were negotiating with Igor Sviatoslavich's sons and that Roman seized the city with Leszek's support despite strong local resistance. This file follows the second and records the first.
• Vladimir Yaroslavich's death: 1199 (Encyclopedia of Ukraine) or 1198 (Dimnik 2003). Either way before 1 January 1200.
• Roman's capture of Kiev: 1200 in en.wikipedia's Galicia-Volhynia, 1201 in de.wikipedia, 1204 in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine (his second taking). Later than 1 January 1200 in every reading.
• Roman's second marriage: 1197 (de.wikipedia, citing the Encyclopedia of the History of Ukraine); about 1199 (en.wikipedia's Anna-Euphrosyne gives her tenure as princess from 1199); about 1200 in Maiorov's Byzantine reading. Not pinned for 1 January 1200.
• Berestye: en.wikipedia (Brest) says it was under Polish suzerainty from about 1183 to 1205; the Rus' chronicles give no such tie.

Evidence: The Kievan chronicle ends in 1198-1199 and the Galician-Volhynian chronicle opens its narrative after 1201 with a eulogy of Roman; the years 1199-1200 in Galicia rest on the Polish chronicler Kadłubek, later Polish chronicles and back-references. Roman's lands and allies are clear; months, governors and boyar names for this winter are not.

On the map: The outer lines follow the Carpathian crest (the Hungarian border forests), the Wisłok and the Roztocze woods (the Polish border at Rzeszów and Krasnystaw, as on the Poland map), the Prut and the middle Dniester. The edge of the Ponyzia towards the steppe and the Bolokhovian land is not known. The Dorogichin and Bielsk country north of the Bug is drawn with Roman though its holder that winter is not pinned. Belz and the Lutsk branch's lands are left to the volhynia realm.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
• Chronicle of the Poles, by Master Vincent (Wincenty Kadłubek), Wincenty Kadłubek (about 1190 to 1208). Book 4 is a contemporary's account of the fight for the senior throne of Kraków. Read online
• The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
• The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online