Red Ruthenia Red Rus' | |
|---|---|
Historic region | |
   
| |
 Location of Red Ruthenia | |
| Country |  Poland Ukraine |
| Largest city | Lviv |
Red Ruthenia, also calledRed Rus' orRed Russia,[a][b] is a term used since the Middle Ages for the south-western principalities ofKievan Rus', namely thePrincipality of Peremyshl and thePrincipality of Belz. It is closely related to the termCherven Cities ("Red Cities").[c]
First mentioned by that name in a Polish chronicle of 1321, Red Ruthenia was the portion ofRuthenia incorporated into Poland byCasimir the Great during the 14th century.[citation needed] Following theMongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, Red Ruthenia was contested by theGrand Duchy of Lithuania (theGediminids), theKingdom of Poland (thePiasts), theKingdom of Hungary and theKingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. After theGalicia–Volhynia Wars, for about 400 years, most of Red Ruthenia became part ofPoland as theRuthenian Voivodeship.
Nowadays, the region comprises parts ofwestern Ukraine and adjoining parts of south-easternPoland. It has also sometimes included parts ofLesser Poland,Podolia,Right-bank Ukraine andVolhynia. Centred onPrzemyśl andBelz, it has included major cities such as:Chełm,Zamość,Rzeszów,Krosno andSanok (now all in Poland), as well asLviv andTernopil (now in Ukraine).[3]
_..jpg)
The first known inhabitants of northern Red Ruthenia wereLendians[4] andWhite Croats,[5] while subgroups ofRusyns, such asBoykos andLemkos, lived in the south.
LaterWalddeutsche ("Forest Germans"),Jews,Armenians andPoles also made up part of the population.[7] According toMarcin Bielski, althoughBolesław I Chrobry settledGermans in the region to defend the borders against Hungary and Kievan Rus' the settlers became farmers.Maciej Stryjkowski described German peasants nearRzeszów,Przemyśl,Sanok, andJarosław as good farmers.Casimir the Great settled German citizens on the borders ofLesser Poland and Red Ruthenia to join the acquired territory with the rest of his kingdom. In determining the population of late medieval Poland, colonisation and Polish migration to Red Ruthenia, Spiš andPodlachia[8] (whom theUkrainians calledMazury—poor peasant migrants, chiefly fromMazowsze[9]) should be considered.
During the second half of the 14th century, theVlachs arrived from the southeastern Carpathians and quickly settled across southern Red Ruthenia. Although during the 15th century the Ruthenians gained a foothold, it was not until the 16th century that the Wallachian population in theBieszczady Mountains and theLower Beskids was Ruthenized.[10] From the 14th to the 16th centuries Red Ruthenia underwent rapid urbanization, resulting in over 200 new towns built on theGerman model (virtually unknown before 1340, when Red Ruthenia was the independentKingdom of Halych).[11]
A minority of ethnicPoles have lived since the beginning of the secondMillennium in northern parts of Red Ruthenia. Theexonym "Ruthenians" usually refers to members of theRusyn and/orUkrainian ethnicity.[12]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Red Ruthenia" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
During theearly Middle Ages, the region was part of Kievan Rus' and, from 1199, the independentKingdom of Galicia–Volhynia.[citation needed]
In 1340, theRomanovichi house of princes of Galicia and Volhynia died out, causing theGalicia–Volhynia Wars (1340–1392).Casimir the Great of Poland managed to take control of Galicia in 1340, while theGrand Duchy of Lithuania obtained Volhynia.[14][15] During his reign from 1333 to 1370, Casimir the Great founded several cities,urbanizing the rural province.[16] Under Polish rule, 325 towns were founded from the 14th century to the second half of the 17th century, most during the 15th and 16th centuries (96 and 153, respectively).[17]
In October 1372,Władysław Opolczyk was deposed ascount palatine. Although he retained most of his castles and goods in Hungary, his political influence waned. As compensation, Opolczyk was made governor of Hungarian Galicia. In this new position, he contributed to the economic development of the territories entrusted to him. Although Opolczyk primarily resided inLwów, at the end of his rule he spent more time in Halicz. The only serious conflict during his time as governor involved his approach to theEastern Orthodox Church, which angered the local Catholicboyars.[citation needed]
The Polish nameRuś Czerwona (translated as "Red Rus") came into use for the territory extending to theDniester, centring onPrzemyśl. The Polish region was divided into a number of voivodeships, and an era ofGerman eastward migration andPolish settlement among the Ruthenians began.Armenians andJews also migrated to the region. A number of castles were built at this time, and the cities of Stanisławów (Stanyslaviv inUkrainian, nowIvano-Frankivsk) and Krystynopol (nowChervonohrad) were founded.[citation needed] Red Ruthenia consisted of three voivodeships: Ruthenia, whose capital was Lviv and provinces were Lviv, Halych, Sanok, Przemyśl andChełm;Bełz, separating the provinces of Lviv and Przemyśl from the rest of the Ruthenian voivodeship; andPodolia, with its capital atKamieniec Podolski.[citation needed] Since the reign ofWładysław Jagiełło (d. 1434) thePrzemyśl Voivodeship was called theRuthenian Voivodeship (województwo ruskie), centring onLwów. TheRuthenian Voivodeship consisted of five regions: Lwów,Sanok, Halicz (Halych),Przemyśl, andChełm. The town of Halych gave its name toGalicia.[citation needed]
Ruthenia was subject to repeatedTatar andOttoman Empire incursions during the 16th and 17th centuries and was impacted by theKhmelnytsky Uprising (1648–1654), the 1654–1667Russo-Polish War and Swedish invasions during theDeluge (1655–1660); the Swedes returned during theGreat Northern War of the early 18th century.[citation needed]
Red Ruthenia (except forPodolia) was conquered by theAustrian Empire in 1772 during theFirst Partition of Poland, remaining part of the empire until 1918.[18] Between World Wars I and II, it belonged to theSecond Polish Republic. The region is currently split, with its western portion in southeastern Poland (around Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Zamość and Chełm) and its eastern portion (around Lviv) in westernUkraine.[citation needed]
| City | Population (2022) | Country | Administrative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Lviv | 717,273 | | Lviv Oblast |
| 2 |  | Ivano-Frankivsk | 238,196 | | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast |
| 3 |  | Ternopil | 225,004 | | Ternopil Oblast |
| 4 |  | Rzeszów | 198,609 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship |
| 5 |  | Drohobych | 73,682 | | Lviv Oblast |
| 6 |  | Kalush | 65,088 | | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast |
| 7 |  | Sheptytskyi | 64,297 | | Lviv Oblast |
| 8 |  | Kolomyia | 60,821 | | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast |
| 9 |  | Stryi | 59,425 | | Lviv Oblast |
| 10 |  | Zamość | 58,942 | | Lublin Voivodeship |
| 11 |  | Chełm | 57,933 | | Lublin Voivodeship |
| 12 |  | Przemyśl | 57,568 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship |
| 13 |  | Krosno | 44,322 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship |
| 14 |  | Jarosław | 35,945 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship |
| 15 |  | Sanok | 34,687 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship |
| 16 |  | Sambir | 34,152 | | Lviv Oblast |
| 17 |  | Boryslav | 32,473 | | Lviv Oblast |
| 18 |  | Novoiavorivsk | 31,366 | | Lviv Oblast |
| 19 |  | Truskavets | 28,287 | | Lviv Oblast |
| 20 |  | Chortkiv | 28,279 | | Ternopil Oblast |
_16.jpg)
