4_Polish_Lithuanian Rule

This is the fourth #generalhistory note, following 3_Mongol Incursion.

• Galicia-Volhynia remained a tributary to the Golden Horde until its disintegration, though minor conflicts occurred along the way.
• In exchange for tribute, it retained internal autonomy and benefited significantly from Pax Mongolica in international affairs—until its collapse.
• This stability ended in 1323 with the deaths (possibly in battle) of Danylo's grandsons, marking the end of paternal succession in Galicia-Volhynia.
• Their maternal nephew, the Polish prince Bolesław Jerzy, was proclaimed ruler. He converted from Catholicism to Orthodoxy, adopting the name Yuri.
• In 1340, the boyars (the Ruthenian nobility, as explained in 2_Fall of the Kyivan Rus, poisoned Yuri, accusing him of neglecting their interests. His death triggered a prolonged struggle for control over Galicia-Volhynia, which, along with the decline of Mongol power, led to its partition.
• By the late 14th century, Galicia came under Polish control, while Volhynia fell to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Different treatment

• Casimir III of Poland took control of Galicia and Volhynia in his second attempt in 1349.
• The following year, however, Lithuanian forces pushed the Poles out of Volhynia.
• By the mid-14th century, Polish nobles began settling in Galicia, attracted by the promise of land in exchange for military service. By 1430, the process of full incorporation was complete.
• Around the same time, noble residents were granted the right to unconditional land ownership, and the local nobility received the same political rights as their Polish counterparts, including:
  • Participation in dietines (local assemblies).
  • Electing representatives to the kingdom-wide Sejm (Diets).
• As the defense of the frontier against steppe nomads became increasingly important, Ruthenian nobles leveraged these rights to advocate for their interests.
• However, integration also exposed the region to Polish cultural influences, including:
  • Noble democracy.
  • Urban self-rule.
  • Italian Renaissance education.
• These benefits came at a cost:
  • Galicia lost its semi-independent status.
  • The boyars lost their dominance in local politics.
  • Cultural Polonization affected local nobles.
  • Ruthenian artisans were marginalized in towns.
  • Orthodoxy faced increasing competition from the Catholic Church.
• Meanwhile, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania pursued a different model of incorporation. Having seized Volhynia from the Poles, it later took control of the Kyivan lands from Mongol rule.
• The Lithuanian approach was more favorable to local elites, preserving their power, social status, and cultural traditions.
• Grand Duke Gediminas had, by some accounts, already installed a puppet ruler in Kyiv in the early 14th century. However, the decisive shift came in 1362, when combined Ruthenian-Lithuanian forces pushed the Tatars back to the Dniester estuary, making Lithuania the dominant successor to Kyivan Rus.
• While the Lithuanians introduced their own dynasties to Rus, they assimilated more quickly than the Varangians. They intermarried with local families, adopted Slavic names, and embraced Orthodoxy.
• Church Slavonic became the administrative language of Lithuania, and Rus’ Justice formed the basis of its legal code.
• In effect, Lithuania became the heir to Kyivan Rus in all but dynastic succession, sometimes referred to as Lithuanian-Rus’.
• Despite their different policies, both Poland and Lithuania ultimately eroded local autonomy. By the late 15th century, the principalities of Kyivan Rus had vanished from the political map, marking the end of the princely era.

Convergence

• The continuation of Kyivan Rus depended on the policies of two key actors: the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
• These two entities gradually moved toward unification through a series of treaties. The first major step came in 1385 with the Union of Kreva, in which the Lithuanian duke Jogaila (33 years old) and the Polish Queen Jadwiga (12 years old) signed a decree agreeing to marry.
• As a result, Jogaila was awarded the Polish throne, politically unifying the two realms. The Lithuanians accepted Catholicism as their state religion.
• This development was detrimental to the Rus’ elites. They lost their ability to influence the grand duke, who relocated to Poland and adopted a different religion from theirs.
• More severe issues arose in 1413 with the Union of Horodło, which largely excluded Orthodox nobles from the power-sharing arrangements of the previously independent Lithuanian and Polish political structures. They were barred from holding high office in the central administration. This union was preceded by the Grand Duke replacing the prince of Volhynia with a loyalist, further sidelining local elites.
• Rus’ nobles attempted to resist during a succession struggle after 1430 by backing Prince Švitrigaila. His opponent, Žygimantas, countered by extending the rights granted in the Union of Horodło to Orthodox elites, securing their support and ultimately prevailing in the conflict.
• Though temporarily appeased, the Rus’ lands continued to see their autonomy eroded. This culminated in 1470 when Polish King Casimir IV officially abolished the Principality of Kyiv.
• Unsurprisingly, the Kyivan princes were outraged, even plotting an assassination attempt on Casimir, which ultimately failed. The conspirators were either captured or forced into exile.
• This appeared to mark the end of Ukrainian statehood. Its independent institutional, cultural, and social structures were fundamentally altered. While Ruthenian law and language remained intact, they no longer held their previous dominance. Latinizing influences and the Polish language increasingly contested the space.

Consolidation and Muscovy

• The 16th century was marked by the centralization of state power across Europe, strengthening royal authority. However, this trend faced resistance from aristocrats, including the powerful noble houses of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, many of whom had Rus’ origins.
• This internal struggle was resolved in favor of the monarchy by the mid-16th century, as cooperation between the nobility and the crown became necessary to counter an external threat: the growing power of Muscovy.
• Grand Prince Ivan III of Muscovy took advantage of the weakening Mongol presence in the region, declaring independence from the Golden Horde in 1476.
• He then launched a campaign across former Kyivan Rus’ territories, conquering cities like Novgorod and Tver. To justify this expansion, Ivan proclaimed himself the sole rightful ruler of the former Rus’ lands, asserting a mission to reunify them.
• This led to a prolonged struggle between Muscovy and Lithuania over the legacy—both territorial and ideological—of Kyivan Rus’.
• Muscovy maintained the initiative, and by the early 16th century, Lithuania was forced to cede Smolensk and Chernihiv, marking the first of many instances in which modern Ukrainian lands fell under "Russian" control.
• While this westward advance slowed for a time, it resumed in 1558 with Ivan the Terrible’s launch of the Livonian War, a brutal conflict that lasted a quarter of a century and drew in Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, and later Poland.
• The war began disastrously for Lithuania, with Muscovite forces seizing parts of modern-day Belarus. This setback intensified calls among the Lithuanian nobility for a closer union with Poland to secure their remaining territories.
• In response, King Sigismund Augustus convened the Polish and Lithuanian diets in Lublin in 1568 to negotiate the terms of a political unification.
• The talks began optimistically, with agreement on joint royal elections, a shared Diet, and broad autonomy for Lithuania. However, they broke down when Lithuanian magnates refused a key Polish demand: the return of royal lands they held.
• This led the Lithuanian delegation to walk out. In their absence, the Polish Diet, with the king’s approval, unilaterally issued decrees transferring large swathes of Lithuanian territory—including Podlachia, Volhynia, Podolia, and Kyiv—into Polish control.
• Alarmed, the Lithuanians rushed back to the negotiations but were forced to accept these losses to prevent even greater ones. The talks concluded with the signing of the Union of Lublin in 1569.
• This treaty created a new political entity: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a single state with a shared ruler and Diet, both elected by the nobility. The Polish and Lithuanian aristocracy received equal rights, though Lithuania retained separate offices, a treasury, and its own military.
• Structurally, the Commonwealth functioned as a quasi-federal state, but it was dominated by Poland. Ukrainian lands were incorporated into this system gradually, with only minimal concessions—such as the continued use of Ruthenian (Middle Ukrainian) in courts and administration and the protection of the Orthodox Church.

Ukrainian developments

Nobles

• At the Lublin Diet, the Ukrainian delegates opted to join the Union, unlike their Lithuanian counterparts. This allowed them to negotiate guarantees for their law, language, and religion.
• Their reasoning remains unclear but was crucial, as the new division created by the Union of Lublin laid the foundation for the historical divergence between Ukraine and Belarus.
• The borders set in Lublin likely reflected deeper, long-standing differences. The regions of Galicia-Volhynia and Kyiv had historically enjoyed more autonomy, forming the core of semi-independent principalities before becoming borderlands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Situated on the open steppe frontier, these lands had different political and military needs compared to those deeper within Lithuania.
• Ukrainian elites likely saw greater strategic advantages in direct Polish rule. Poland was more engaged in defending its frontiers, meaning that full integration could offer better protection against the persistent Tatar raids. If these lands had remained under Lithuanian rule, their security concerns would have likely been sidelined.
• Whatever the exact reasoning, the Ukrainian elites did not regret their decision. Under Polish rule, many Volhynian princely families not only retained but significantly expanded their wealth and influence.
• The Rise of the Volhynian Magnates
  • The most striking example was Kostiantyn Ostrozky. A strong supporter of the Union, he retained his position as Palatine of Kyiv and, after the Union’s conclusion, greatly expanded his landholdings.
  • By the end of the 16th century, Ostrozky had built a personal empire, controlling 40 castles, 1,000 towns, and 13,000 villages. His son, Janusz, amassed enough personal wealth to cover the entire Commonwealth budget for two years.
  • Kostiantyn Ostrozky also commanded an army of 20,000 men—more than ten times the number of troops stationed in the borderlands by the Polish king. His power was so great that neither the King nor the Commonwealth’s Diet dared to challenge his authority.
  • Though the Ostrozkys were the most dominant Rus’ noble family, they were not the only ones to thrive. Mykhailo Vyshnevetsky led another influential dynasty. Lacking vast landholdings in Volhynia, he expanded into previously uncolonized (or abandoned) territories east of the Dnieper, rivaling the Ostrozkys in wealth and power. Together, these two families became the largest landholders in Ukraine.
• Economic and Social Transformations
  • The aftermath of the Union of Lublin triggered a series of changes that further propelled the fortunes of the Volhynian princes:
    • Improved Security: The creation of a small standing army helped defend against Tatar raids, encouraging further settlement in the steppe frontier.
    • Integration into the Baltic Trade: The inclusion of Ukrainian lands into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s economic sphere connected them to broader European markets.
    • Agricultural Boom: Rising European demand for grain turned Ukraine into the "breadbasket of Europe" for the first time since the era of Herodotus. Ukrainian grain now reached foreign markets in significant quantities.
    • Expansion of Settlements: To encourage migration to the borderlands, nobles established duty-free zones where peasants were exempt from taxes and statute labor for extended periods. This spurred population growth in the steppe regions.
    • Jewish Migration: Economic opportunities also attracted Jewish settlers, who occupied an intermediary role between the Orthodox peasantry and the increasingly Catholic landowning elites.

Cultural revival

• The Union of Lublin failed to rein in the aristocracy as the King had hoped. Instead, it strengthened their position, as exemplified by the unprecedented rise of Kostiantyn Ostrozky and other Volhynian princes.
• For the first time since the collapse of Galicia-Volhynia, these magnates had the wealth and influence to invest in large-scale cultural and educational projects. These efforts were not purely intellectual pursuits but were deeply tied to the princes' political ambitions and the ongoing religious conflicts between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
• Early Cultural and Religious Patronage
  • One of the first nobles to engage deeply with cultural projects was Mikalojus Radvilas, a Calvinist magnate. He funded the first Polish translation of the Bible in Brest and established a school for Calvinist youth.
  • Following this precedent, Kostiantyn Ostrozky launched an ambitious publishing initiative in Ostrih during the 1570s. He gathered a team of scholars to produce the most authoritative Orthodox scriptural text ever compiled—the Ostrih Bible. This publication marked Ukraine’s growing prominence within the Orthodox world.
  • The work did not stop with the Bible. Ostrozky’s scholars continued publishing in both Church Slavonic (for religious legitimacy) and Ruthenian (for accessibility to a wider audience).
  • Inspired by Radvilas, Ostrozky also founded a school for Orthodox youth, further expanding his academic and religious influence.
• Ostrih: An Orthodox Intellectual Center

  • At one point, Ostrozky even considered moving the Orthodox patriarchal seat from Constantinople to Ostrih. Although this never materialized, Ostrih became the most important center of Orthodox learning in the region.

  • Ostrozky's patronage elevated his own status. The texts produced in Ostrih depicted him as a direct successor to Volodymyr the Great and Yaroslav the Wise, reinforcing his role as a protector of Orthodox culture:

"For Volodymyr enlightened the nation by baptism / While Kostiantyn Ostrozky brought them light with the writings of holy wisdom,": The Gates of Europe_A History of Ukraine, page 71

"Yaroslav embellished Kyiv and Chernihiv with church buildings / While Kostiantyn raised up the one universal church with writings.": The Gates of Europe_A History of Ukraine, page 71

• Quotes over
  • These verses were written by Herasym Smotrytsky, a theologian from Polish Rus’ (Galicia and Podolia). Regions like Galicia had been exposed to the Polish Renaissance earlier than their eastern counterparts, shaping a more sophisticated intellectual elite.
  • While these figures were not necessarily Orthodox zealots, they supported Ostrozky’s cause—likely due to his vast wealth and influence.
• "Polish Rus’" and the Formation of a New Political Space
  • Ostrozky's supporters, including Polish allies, linked his legacy not only to Volodymyr and Yaroslav but also to Danylo of Halych, further anchoring his status within the historical tradition of Rus’.
  • These intellectual efforts carved out a new political and cultural space—distinct from both the Orthodox Church and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
  • This space was defined by the term "Polish Rus’" referring to the Orthodox lands within the Polish Kingdom rather than the broader Orthodox world.
  • By mapping the Lublin Union borders onto the historical Orthodox Rus’ territories, Ostrozky’s supporters laid the groundwork for the emergence of a distinct Ukrainian identity.
• The Appearance of "Ukraine" on Maps
  • During this period, the name "Ukraine" began appearing in maps and texts. It was used to describe the lands on the right bank of the Dnieper, stretching from Kyiv to Kaniv.
  • Another term used for this region was "Outer Volhynia," emphasizing the continuity between this "new" Ukraine and the older Volhynian lands.
• This intellectual and cultural revival, though rooted in noble ambitions, played a crucial role in shaping the modern Ukrainian national consciousness.

Recap

• The Union of Lublin created a new political space for the Orthodox elite, which they skillfully used to enhance their power.
• To solidify their position, they filled the intellectual space with content that served their interests, drawing on historical precedents such as Volodymyr, Yaroslav, and Danylo as justifications. In doing so, they forged something new—a distinct cultural and political identity.
• However, it would take time for this new space and the term Ukraine to become fully synonymous.

Continuation

Continues in 5_Cossacks

Sources

This information was gathered from The Gates of Europe_A History of Ukraine (Pages 57-73).