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| Ruthenian Voivodeship | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voivodeship of theCrown of the Kingdom of Poland¹ | |||||||||
| 1434–1772 | |||||||||
 Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 The Ruthenian Voivodeship of 1635 within thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth | |||||||||
| Capital | Lwów | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• 1770 | 55,200 km2 (21,300 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1770 | 1,495,000 | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1434 | ||||||||
| 1772 | |||||||||
| Political subdivisions | Five lands divided into 13counties | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| ¹ Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland. The kingdom was part of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569. | |||||||||
TheRuthenian Voivodeship (Latin:Palatinatus russiae;Polish:Województwo ruskie;Ukrainian:Руське воєводство,romanized: Ruske voievodstvo) was avoivodeship of theCrown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1434 until theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772,[1] with its center in the city of Lwów (lat. Leopolis) (modern dayLviv). Together with a number of other voivodeships of southern and eastern part of the Kingdom of Poland, it formedLesser Poland Province. Following thePartitions of Poland, most of Ruthenian Voivodeship, except for its northeastern corner, was annexed by theHabsburg monarchy, as part of the province ofGalicia. Today, the former Ruthenian Voivodeship is divided betweenPoland andUkraine.
Following theGalicia–Volhynia Wars, theKingdom of Galicia–Volhynia was divided between Poland and Lithuania. In 1349 the Polish portion was transformed into the Ruthenian domain of the Crown, while the Duchy of Volhynia was held by Prince Lubart. With the death ofCasimir III the Great, theKingdom of Poland was passed on to theKingdom of Hungary and the Ruthenian domain was governed by Ruthenianstarosta general, one of whom wasWladyslaw of Opole.
The voivodeship was created in 1434 based on the 1430 Jedlnia-Cracow Privilege (Polish:Przywilej jedlneńsko-krakowski) on territory that belonged to the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. Between 1349 and 1434, the territory along with the Western Podolie was known as Ruthenian Domain of the Crown and in such manner theKing of Poland were titled as the Lord of Ruthenian lands.[2] WesternPodole was added to the domain in 1394.[2] In 1434 on territory of the domain were created Ruthenian Voivodeship andPodolian Voivodeship.
In Polish sources, western outskirts of the region was calledZiemia czerwieńska, or "Czerwień Land", from the name of Cherven, a town that existed there. Today there are several towns with this name, none of them related to Red Ruthenia.[3]
This area was mentioned for the first time in 981, whenVladimir the Great ofKievan Rus' took it over on the way into Poland. In 1018 it attached to Poland and 1031 back to Kievan Rus'. For approximately 150 years it existed as the independentPrincipality of Galicia andKingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, before being conquered byCasimir III of Poland in 1349. Since these times the nameRuś Czerwona is recorded, translated as "Red Ruthenia" ("Czerwień" means red inSlavic languages, or from the Polish villageCzermno), applied to a territory extended up toDniester River, with priority gradually transferred toPrzemyśl. Since the times ofWładysław II Jagiełło, the Przemyślvoivodeship was called Ruthenian Voivodeship (województwo ruskie), with its center eventually transferred toLwów. It consisted of five lands: Lwów,Sanok,Halych, Przemyśl, andChełm. The territory was controlled by theAustrian Empire from 1772 to 1918, when it was known as theKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.
Zygmunt Gloger, in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland (1900), provides this description of the Ruthenian Voivodeship:
In the 10th and 11th centuries, Przemysl and Czerwien were the largestgords in this region. Later on,Halych emerged as the capital of the province, while the city of Lwów was founded only in 1250. In ca. 1349, KingCasimir III of Poland took control overPrincipality of Halych. The province was governed by royalstarostas, the first one of whom was a man named Jasiek Tarnowski. Most probably in final years of reign of KingWładysław II Jagiełło, it was named the Ruthenian Voivodeship, as at that time thevoivodes of Przemysl began calling themselves the voivodes of Rus'. First such voivode was Jan Mezyk of Dabrowa.
The Ruthenian Voivodeship consisted of fiveziemias: those of Lwów, Przemysl, Sanok, Halych and Chelm. The two last ones had their own local authorities; furthermore, the Land of Chelm was completely separated from other Ruthenian lands by theBelz Voivodeship. Therefore, we should speak separately of four Ruthenian lands, and the Land of Chelm, whose history was much different after thePartitions of Poland (...) The lands of Lwow, Przemysl and Sanok had theirsejmiks, which took place in their respective capitals. General sejmiks for these three lands were atSadowa Wisznia, where seven deputies were elected to the PolishSejm: two from each land, and one from the County ofZydaczow.Starostas resided at Lwów,Zhydachiv, Przemysl and Sanok. The voivodeship had six senators: theArchbishop of Lwow, the Bishop of Przemysl, the Voivode of Ruthenia, the Castellan of Lwow, and Castellans of Przemysl and Sanok (...) The city of Lwów was the seat of a separate Lesser Poland Tribunal for the voivodeships of Ruthenia, Kijow, Volhynia, Podolia, Belz, Braclaw and Czernihow (...) The County of Zydaczow, even though officially part of Lwow Land, was often regarded as a separateziemia, with its own coat of arms, granted in 1676. In that years, Lwow Land had 618 villages and 42 towns, while County of Zydaczow had 170 villages and 9 towns.
The Land of Przemysl was divided into two counties: those of Przemysl andPrzeworsk. In 1676, the County of Przemysl had 657 villages and 18 towns, while the County of Przeworsk had 221 villages and 18 towns (...) The Land of Sanok, located in the Carpathian Foothills, was not divided into counties. In 1676, it had 371 villages and 12 towns (...)
The Land of Halicz, with its own separate local government, was divided into the counties of Trembowla, Halicz and Kolomyja. It had its own sejmik at Halicz, where six deputies were elected to the PolishSejm (two from each county), also one deputy to the Crown Tribunal and one to the Treasury Tribunal atRadom. The Land of Halicz had one senator, and starostas, who resided in Halicz, Trembowla, Kolomuja, Tlumacz, Rohatyn, Jablonow, Sniatyn, Krasnopol, and other locations. In 1676, it had 565 villages and 38 towns.
The Land of Chelm was an enclave, separated from Ruthenian Voivodeship byBelz Voivodeship. TheBug river divided this land into two parts, and since the 10th century, Chelm was contested by Poland and Rus. In the course of the time, the Lithuanians also joined the conflict. It was ended in 1377, when King Louis annexed Chelm. The Land of Chelm had its own local offices, and asejmik, where two deputies to theSejm and one deputy to the Lesser Poland Tribunal were elected. It was divided into counties of Chelm andKrasnystaw,starostas resided in Chelm, Krasnystaw,Ratno,Luboml,Hrubieszow, and other locations. The Land of Chelm had two senators: the Bishop of Chelm and the Castellan of Chelm. In 1676, there were 427 villages and 23 towns in both counties (...) Southern part of the Land of Chelm belonged to the vastZamoyski Family Fee Tail, which stretched beyond the region, intoUrzedow County of Lublin Voivodeship.
Seat of the Voivodeship Governor (Wojewoda):
Regional Sejmik (sejmik generalny) for all Ruthene lands
Seats of Regional Sejmik (sejmik poselski i deputacki):
49°51′00″N24°01′00″E / 49.850000°N 24.016667°E /49.850000; 24.016667
