Duchy of Belz
Encyclopedia
Duchy of Belz or principality of Belz was a petty duchy
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...

, formed in the late 12th century in Kievan Rus. During its history the duchy was a constituent part of some other political entities such as the Kingdom of Rus, the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

, Duchy of Masovia
Duchy of Masovia
The Duchy of Masovia with its capital at Płock was a medieval duchy formed when the Polish Kingdom of the Piasts fragmented in 1138. It was located in the historic Masovian region of northeastern Poland...

 when eventually in the late 14th century was incorporated into Poland becoming later the Bełz Voivodeship.

History

The duchy formed in 1170 because of the feudal fragmentation of Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....

 when the Volhynia region (centered at Volodymyr-Volynsky) was passed to Mstislav II of Kiev
Mstislav II of Kiev
Mstislav II Izyaslavich , Kniaz' of Pereyaslav, Volodymyr-Volynsky and Velikiy Kniaz of Kiev . Son of Izyaslav Mstislavich, Velikiy Kniaz' of Kiev....

 who later split it between his sons. Mstislav was married to Agnes of Poland
Agnes of Poland
Agnes of Poland , was a Polish princess member of the House of Piast and by marriage Princess of Pereyaslavl and Volynia and Grand Princess of Kiev since 1168....

 and in a fierce opposition to Yuri Dolgoruki
Yuri Dolgoruki
Prince Yuri I Dolgorukiy , also known as George I of Rus, was the founder of Moscow and a key figure in the transition of political power from Kiev to Vladimir-Suzdal following the death of his elder brother Mstislav the Great...

. Being exiled to Poland for a short period of time Mstislav was able to drive the Suzdal's Prince out of Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...

.

With time the city of Belz with its surrounded territories was passed to Vsevolod Mstislavich
Vsevolod Mstislavich of Volhynia
Vsevolod Mstislavich was a son of Mstislav II of Kiev and Agnieszka, the daughter of King Boleslaus III of Poland. Vsevolod was Prince of Belz and Prince of Volodymyr-Volynsky. He died in 1196....

 who in turn passed it to his son Alexander. In the early 13th century, Alexander, a nephew of Roman the Great
Roman the Great
Roman Mstislavich , also Roman Mstyslavych or Roman the Great, was a Rus’ prince, Grand Prince of Kiev ....

, was deposed in 1234 from Belz by Daniel of Galicia who incorporated Belz into the Duchy of Galicia–Volhynia (later the Kingdom of Rus) which would control Belz till 1340. Soon afterwards, in 1240 and 1241, it was ravaged by the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

, as were most other Rus principalities; the town was burned, the local castle destroyed and locals had to recognize the Mongol suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...

. The Mongol influence waned in the following decades, because of the decline of the Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...

 and Pax Mongolica
Pax Mongolica
The Pax Mongolica is a Latin phrase meaning "Mongol Peace" coined by Western scholars to describe the stabilizing effects of the conquests of the Mongol Empire on the social, cultural, and economic life of the inhabitants of the vast Eurasian territory that the Mongols conquered in the 13th and...

.

Early in the 14th century, after the death of Boleslaw-Yuri II of Galicia, the King of Rus, there started a war for its succession. Eventually the Duchy was inherited by a prince Yuri, son of Narimantas (Jerzy Narymuntowicz) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...

. The period of Yuri's rule of Belz (1340-1377) saw the Galicia–Volhynia Wars; Belz
Belz
Belz , a small city in the Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, is located between the Solokiya river and the Rzeczyca stream....

 was besieged several times (in 1351, 1352 and 1355). From 1378 to 1387 it fell into the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

, as in 1377 Belz was captured by Louis I of Hungary; for several years, the duchy was governed in Louis's name by prince Władysław Opolczyk. At that time, Poland was in a brief union with Hungary, but in 1387, after the end of the union, Belz was taken by Queen Jadwiga
Jadwiga of Poland
Jadwiga was monarch of Poland from 1384 to her death. Her official title was 'king' rather than 'queen', reflecting that she was a sovereign in her own right and not merely a royal consort. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou, the daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elizabeth of...

 of Kingdom of Poland
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...

.

At first it was part of another Polish fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...

, the Duchy of Masovia
Duchy of Masovia
The Duchy of Masovia with its capital at Płock was a medieval duchy formed when the Polish Kingdom of the Piasts fragmented in 1138. It was located in the historic Masovian region of northeastern Poland...

, as in 1388 the king of Poland, Władysław Jagiełło, granted Belz to Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia, for his recognition of Masovia as a fiefdom of Poland and as a dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...

 for Siemowit's marriage with Jagiełło's sister, Alexandra
Alexandra of Lithuania
Alexandra was the youngest daughter of Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas and his second wife Uliana of Tver. In 1387 Alexandra married Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia...

. In 1462, after the death of Władysław II of Płock, the last of Siemowit's IV direct descendants, Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV KG of the House of Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and King of Poland from 1447, until his death.Casimir was the second son of King Władysław II Jagiełło , and the younger brother of Władysław III of Varna....

 of Poland attempted to incorporate the entire Duchy of Masovia to Poland; eventually he succeeded only in incorporating the Duchy of Belz into the administrative structure of Poland
Administrative divisions of Poland
The administrative division of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The territory of Poland is divided into voivodeships ; these are further divided into powiats , and these in turn are divided into gminas . Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat...

 as the Bełz Voivodeship (palatinate). Eventually, the Duchy of Masovia was incorporated in 1526. Belz remained part of Poland (later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

) till its partitions in the late 18th century.

Rulers

  • Vsevolod Mstislavich of Volhynia
    Vsevolod Mstislavich of Volhynia
    Vsevolod Mstislavich was a son of Mstislav II of Kiev and Agnieszka, the daughter of King Boleslaus III of Poland. Vsevolod was Prince of Belz and Prince of Volodymyr-Volynsky. He died in 1196....

  • Alexander Vsevolodovich (?-1234)
  • Vasylko Romanovich (1207–1211)
  • Alexander Vsevolodovich (?-1234)
  • Galicia–Volhynia
    • Daniel of Galicia (1234-?)
    • Lev Danylovich (1245–1264)
    • Yuri I of Galicia (1264–1301)
    • Andrew of Galicia
      Andrew of Galicia
      Andriy II Yuriyevych or Andrew of Galicia was the last Rus' king of Galicia-Volhynia in 1308–1323 . He was the son of Yuriy I whom he succeeded on the royal throne of Galicia. His mother was Euphemia of Kuyavia. After the death of his father, he ruled the kingdom together with his...

       (1301-1323)
    • Boleslaw-Yuri II of Galicia (1323-1340)
  • Lithuania
    • Yuri, son of Narimantas (1340-1377/1378)
  • Hungary
  • Poland
    • Jadwiga of Poland
      Jadwiga of Poland
      Jadwiga was monarch of Poland from 1384 to her death. Her official title was 'king' rather than 'queen', reflecting that she was a sovereign in her own right and not merely a royal consort. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou, the daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elizabeth of...

      /Władysław Jagiełło (1387-1388)
  • Masovia:
    • Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia
      Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia
      Siemowit IV was one of the Dukes of Masovia of the old Polish Piast royal family. His domain included the lands of Czersk, Rawa, Sochaczew, Płock and Gostynin. In 1381 he inherited Wisz and in 1387 Bełz.-Life:Siemowit IV was a son of Siemowit III...

       (1388-1426)
    • Kazimierz II of Belz (1426-1442, till 1434 with brothers (Władysław I of Płock, Siemowit V, Trojden II (d.1427)))
    • Władysław II of Płock (1455-1462)
  • Poland
    • Casimir IV Jagiellon
      Casimir IV Jagiellon
      Casimir IV KG of the House of Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and King of Poland from 1447, until his death.Casimir was the second son of King Władysław II Jagiełło , and the younger brother of Władysław III of Varna....


External links

Princes of Belz Duchy of Belz in the Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine Lands and cities at litopys.org
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