Galicia-Volyn principality on the Internet is a kind of paradox. Not as much has been written about it as about other parts of Russia, a serious study of its history began relatively recently, and before that there were only short, episodic studies that, at best, superficially covered the history of this region during the Middle Ages. At the same time, the attitude towards the very combination of the words "Galicia" and "Volhynia" is deliberately biased among many people and, as a rule, reaches extremes: from great enthusiasm to great disdain, despite the fact that both those who express delight and those who express neglect, usually know little more than nothing on the topic. So, on the net you can find "reliable information" that the state of the Romanovichs was Uniate and it was from it that the Greek Catholic Church came. Why then the Brest Union of 1596 was needed - the question in this case is rhetorical…. And there are a lot of such moments.
However, there is a reason for this, and quite weighty - in fact, there is no simple history of South-Western Russia before its inclusion in the crown of Poland. Until now, some sufficiently detailed, but at the same time, simple and understandable set of information has not appeared, and all the materials that can shed light on this issue either need to be found first, or they are simply not yet available and remain unknown … Two other factors also do not simplify matters. The first is the relative inaccessibility of really high-quality historical sources - they must be looked for purposefully, a chance encounter is practically excluded. The second factor boils down to a very complex historical process at times, which is simply not described in a single description in different sources. For example, already when writing the current cycle, I had to deal with four (at least) descriptions of what happened after the death of Roman Mstislavich in Galich. Similar in general, they differed in details and sequence of small events, as a result of which, in order to form a coherent and understandable picture, it was necessary to make assumptions and some simplifications so that everything became clear to the ordinary reader.
It was to fill the gap in the general history of South-Western Russia that it was decided to write a series of articles on the history of the Galicia-Volyn land in a broad sense - from ancient times to its absorption by Lithuania and Poland. Everything will be told as simply and understandably as possible, but at the same time without omitting important and interesting details. And the story will begin from afar, from the middle of the 1st millennium, namely with the details of interest to us, which can complement the understanding of what was happening in this region before the Rurikovichs …
If the world is a theater, what is the stage?
W. Shakespeare
If we follow the words of the great British poet and playwright, then we can say that the history of the world in general, and the history of Galicia and Volhynia in particular, are one big idea. In this case, certain territories turn into scenes on which the main action unfolds. Therefore, it will be appropriate, before moving on to people and their actions, to briefly describe the territory on which the main action will unfold. This will make it easier to understand in what conditions the events took place, their nature and basis.
According to the most popular and probable theory about the ancestral home of the Slavs, the ancestors of all modern Slavic peoples once lived in the area between the Vistula and the Dnieper. The northern border of this ancestral home, as a rule, is called the modern Belarusian swamps, and the southern border is the border between the steppe and the forest-steppe. Galicia and Volhynia are located approximately in the middle of this territory, i.e. definitely belong to the ancestral home of the Slavs. This immediately predetermines a number of important conditions that must be remembered in the future: the Slavs, or, more precisely, their individual tribes inhabited this territory for a very long time, settled it, developed, mastered, built complex economic relations between various settlements, etc. In addition, geographically, this region was closer to Western Europe than the rest of Russia, and therefore quickly perceived many trends and technologies. At the same time, the Steppe was still nearby, and therefore the principality remained open to influence from the East.
Thus, it is not surprising that in some sense the development of these territories could outstrip, for example, the development of many other regions of Russia, which were settled by the Slavs later, or experienced significant external pressure, as was the case with the glades in the region. modern Kiev. In addition, geography determined a fairly high level of protection against large-scale third-party intrusions. From the West, the region was covered for a long time by impenetrable forests, and only along the Western Bug could the Poles get into the Volyn lands. From the north there were the impassable Polissya swamps, from the south - the Carpathians, which acted as a natural border between Hungary and Russia. Only from the east were the territories open enough for large invasions from the steppe or the Dnieper region, but there also existed a kind of buffer in the form of Bolokhov tribes, who, until the end of their existence, had their own opinion about who ruled their land, and resisted the rule of the Rurikids (or, at least, Rurik from other principalities).
The potential of this territory was extremely great. In the era of agrarian economies, it was agriculture that determined the level of well-being of the local population - and all the conditions were created for its rapid development. The rivers on the northeastern slopes of the Carpathians at that time were full-flowing, the land gave good harvests, and the forests were full of game. Apparently, these territories were already densely populated by the time of the accession to the state of Vladimir the Great, and therefore economically they represented a tidbit. In the coming years, all aspects of economic activity developed rapidly here, but first of all - animal husbandry, beekeeping and horticulture, about which the largest number of references have survived. However, there are periodic mentions of other economic affairs and trades: foundry and jewelry, wheat cultivation, pottery, etc. The fairly rapid growth of cities in this region contributed to the development of crafts, as a result of which craftsmen of various specialties are very actively mentioned in the annals.
Already at the beginning of the 13th century, the export of sheep skins numbered in the thousands, and local horse breeding, which was carried out mainly by hired representatives of the steppe peoples, provided not only the needs of the army, but also a solid profit from the sale of horses to neighbors. In addition, rich deposits of salt were concentrated on the territory of the Galician land, which was mined and transported both across Russia and to the west, to neighboring countries. Finally, an important trade route from the Baltic to the Black Sea passed through Galich, going along the Vistula to the south, and then passing to the navigable Dniester at that time, on the banks of which the city of Galich stood. Even when the Path from the Varangians to the Greeks faded away, this branch of the Amber Path continued to exist and brought great profits to those who controlled it. Finally, three-field agriculture came to Southwestern Russia before its other territories, which significantly increased the efficiency of agriculture - apparently, it was adopted from Poland somewhere between the middle of the 12th and 13th centuries, while in the Novgorod and Moscow states it appeared only in the 15th century. All this allows us to say that Galicia and Volhynia in the Middle Ages were very rich regions, the possession of which promised considerable benefits, which inevitably generated both constant conflicts over the possession of this land, and provided a significant potential for a hypothetical state that could arise in the South-West Rus.
What are the actors?
The social development of Southwestern Russia repeated what happened among the Eastern Slavs as a whole, but with some differences that brought Galicia and Volyn closer to the Novgorod land - another region where the Slavs lived for a long time, and managed not only to noticeably develop in terms of development territory, but also in terms of the progress of society. Initially, of course, it all started with the tribal system. Each clan, as a rule, founded a settlement and cultivated a certain area of the land, and over time, the clans-settlements began to unite into more or less permanent tribal unions. Even before the unification of Russia, the nobility stood out from among the community members - the "best" people, the richest and most influential representatives of the local society. At first, they were truly the voice of the people, and defended exclusively the interests of the community, since their own wealth and position of the nobility depended heavily on the will of the national assembly, the veche. Veche could either endow a noble person with power and wealth, or deprive everything and expel for any wrongdoing. For a long time, this predetermined the preservation of the integrity of the community, the absence of pronounced antagonism in it, as a result of which the community members acted as a united front on important issues, whether they were representatives of the nobility, or ordinary townspeople or free peasants. Later, already in the days of Russia, representatives of the local nobility will be called boyars, and as influence and prosperity accumulate, they will gradually separate from the community, at times using it for their own purposes, and at times even entering into confrontation with it.
Generations later, the development of the social system led to the formation of a kind of power vertical tied to settlements. The smallest of those, who did not have their own political will, were the villages and fortified settlements, which formed rural communities and, in general, retained the characteristics of a tribal society. A little higher were the suburbs with their communities - large settlements, by the standards of their time - full-fledged cities. Despite a fairly high degree of development, a large (again by the standards of time) population and a fairly active development of handicraft production, they still remained dependent, although they already had their well-established boyars. Above these suburbs stood the main city, it is also the capital city, where, as a rule, the prince sat, and whose boyars were the "highest state elite." The largest such cities in the southwest were Galich and Vladimir-Volynsky, both of which were founded already under Rurikovich. Slightly smaller were the much older Cherven and Przemysl, which formed a network of suburbs and rural communities around themselves even before the arrival of the Rurikovichs. Over time, their suburbs could get stronger and themselves become cities - for example, the same Galich itself was originally only a suburb of Przemysl. All this formed a structure reminiscent of the ancient Greek city-states, which is mentioned more than once by modern historians, with the proviso, of course, that the similarities are only the most general. Such a structure was found practically throughout the territory of Russia during the Middle Ages, but in the Southwest it reached, perhaps, its greatest development.
The difference between the Galicia-Volyn land and most of the territories of Russia (with the exception of Novgorod again) was that the local boyars, by the time of the creation of a single state, had already been developing for many generations, took deep roots, and were much stronger than, for example, in Kiev, Smolensk or somewhere else. In addition, the process of decomposition has already been launched into such a single community - both rural and urban. The boyars gradually gained wealth and strength, reaching the point where they could freely manipulate the mood of the community, or even fight it altogether. From about the end of the 12th century, all the conditions for the existence of the boyars and the community had already developed separately, signs of which began to occur more and more often, especially against the background of the turbulent political history of this region. In Novgorod, a similar process led to a weakening of the role of the prince and the formation of a republic, and certain tendencies also existed in Galich. The strength of the local boyars, together with the development of his ambitions, led to a clash with the interests of the communities and princes from among the Rurikovichs, which over and over again led to aggravations and problems. And if we add to this the strife going on among the Rurikovich themselves, it turned out to be an absolutely unimaginable political mess, worthy of the best seasons of "Game of Thrones". On such a magnificent and richly decorated stage, the performance simply had to turn into such an impressive action that the harsh real life would more than overtake any inventions of modern authors in interest. However, first things first….
About antas, goths, God and the rest
A large number of different tribes lived on the territory of Volyn and near it before the formation of a single Rus. Little is known about some of them, more about others. In general, there is not much information, but some conclusions can be drawn from it. First of all, this information is associated with the tribes of Dulebs, Buzhany and Volhynians, who lived on the territory of present-day Galicia and Volhynia from the 4th to the 10th centuries AD. Some historians describe them as different tribes that replaced each other, while others are inclined to believe that all three names belong to the same tribe, possibly to different parts of it, or at different times. There were also smaller tribes that played a certain role in the history of the region: the Bolokhovites, Worms, Uliches, Tivertsy; some territories of the future Galicia-Volyn principality were also inhabited by Drevlyans, Dregovichi and White Croats. Nevertheless, the Buzhans (Volhynians) remained the most numerous at any given time; two of the most interesting episodes from the history of Southwestern Russia during the Early Middle Ages are also associated with them.
The first dates back to the end of the 4th century AD. The historian Jordan, talking about the war of the Ostrogoths with the Antes, mentions the leader God, who won a number of victories over the Goths, but in the end his troops were defeated, and he himself with his sons and 70 elders was captured. All of them were crucified by order of the Ostrogoth king Vitimir, who won a victory over God. Modern historians attribute God himself to the Buzhan tribe, which did not prevent him from leading the army of the Antsky Union and being defeated on the territory of the Left Bank of the Dnieper. With a very short mention and the absence of numerous details from this episode, one can already draw a certain conclusion. The Ants in general, and the Buzhanians in particular, had already gone far enough in the process of decomposition of primitive society by the year 375, since they had a military nobility (who, undoubtedly, the aforementioned elders were), and had their own leader. For the Slavs of those times, this was a sign of a very high degree of development.
The second episode is difficult to determine chronologically, but it can be dated no later than the beginning of the 9th century. The Arab geographer Al-Masudi wrote about certain tribes "Valinana" and "Dulibi" (Volynians and Dulebs), which were once ruled by King Majak. If we discard possible exaggerations and mistakes made due to ignorance of local realities, then from the text it is possible to compose a quite definite and logical picture of the times past in relation to the author. The Volynians were one of the indigenous Slavic tribes, from which all the rest once came, which fits well with the theory of the ancestral home of the Slavs. During the time of the leader (king) Madzhak, they ruled all the Slavs, but soon other tribes grew stronger, strife began, and the powerful tribal alliance collapsed. How much such a picture corresponds to the truth is a rhetorical question, since the times are too old, and the effect of a damaged telephone has not been canceled, and the name "Majak" is, to put it mildly, uncharacteristic for the Slavs. Nevertheless, out of nowhere, such a story, most likely, could not have arisen, and therefore one can draw another conclusion that from ancient times the territory of Volyn was inhabited by highly developed Slavic tribes that had one or another influence on the territories surrounding them. With fairly serious assumptions, it can even be assumed that the times of the "king of Madzhak" are somehow connected with the Antsky union, which obviously included the Volhynians-Buzhanians, and who could play a significant, if not a leading role in it.
However, these are all just assumptions and rather shaky information from sources that do not have the character of the ultimate truth. At this, conversations of the level "one grandmother said" about South-Western Russia can be ended, finally imagining what happened there until the 10th century AD and what territories then became part of Russia. Therefore, after a brief acquaintance with the legends of deep antiquity, you can switch to closer times, about which much more is known - the period of unification of the East Slavic lands under the rule of the Rurik dynasty.
Speaking of sources
Usually, in such cycles, a list of sources is given either under each article, or at the very end. However, anticipating an ambiguous reaction from the uninitiated to the topic of readers, I publish a list of sources on which the current cycle is based, at the very beginning, in the first material, in order to make it clear that all descriptions and logical constructions are not based on empty space.
In general, as already mentioned above, the entire cycle is only an attempt to bring everything together and give the most general, but complete picture of the history of the development of South-Western Russia in the Middle Ages, and therefore every person who desired more details can safely get acquainted with them by studying materials from the current list. Despite the fact that the names are given in Russian, a significant part of the indicated materials is written in Ukrainian, and among the historians there are Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles and one Kazakh. It is also worth noting that in different works an absolutely opposite point of view on the same issue can be given, therefore those who wish to study the topic in more detail will have to think for themselves and choose which version is more plausible for them. I will compose a description of historical events from my analysis and the conclusions following from it.
