Daniel of Galicia

Daniel of Galicia (Ukrainian: Данило Романович, Данило Галицький: Danylo Romanowych (Halytskyi)) was a King of Rus', Prince of Galicia (Halych) (1205–1255), Peremyshl (1211), and Volodymyr (1212–1231). He was crowned by a papal archbishop in Dorohochyn 1253 as the first King of Rus' (1253–1264).

Biography

He was also known as Daniel Romanovych. In 1205, after the death of his father, Roman II Mstyslavich, the ruler of Galicia–Volhynia, the boyars of Galicia forced the four-year-old Daniel into exile with his mother Anna of Byzantium and brother Vasylko Romanovich. After the boyars proclaimed one of their own as prince in 1213, the Poles and Hungarians invaded the principality, ostensibly to support the claims of young Daniel and Vasylko, and divided it between themselves. In 1219 he renounced his claims to Galicia in favor of his father-in-law Mstislav the Bold.

In 1221 Daniel re-established his rule over Volhynia, where the boyars and populace had remained loyal to his dynasty. In 1234 he defeated Alexander Vsevolodovich, taking the Duchy of Belz. By 1238, he had defeated the Dobrzyń Knights, and regained most of Galicia, including the capital at Galicia. While the Prussians were under pressure from the Teutonic Order, Daniel attempted to conquer the related Yatvingians.