Red Ruthenia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ruś czerwona - Russia (14th c.)
Ruś czerwona - Russia (14th c.)

Red Ruthenia (Ukrainian: Червона Русь, Chervona Rus, Polish: Ruś Czerwona, Latin: Ruthenia Rubra or Russia Rubra) is the name used since medieval times to refer to the area known as Eastern Galicia prior to World War I.

Ethnographers explain that the term was applied from the old-Slavonic use of colours for the cardinal points on the compass. The ancient totem-god Svitovyd had four faces. The northern face of this totem was white (hence Byelorus), the western face red (hence Chervona Rus'), the southern black and the eastern green (hence Zelenyj klyn). This makes the placement of Black Ruthenia problematic.

Some Ukrainian historians dispute the validity of the prefix "Red", considering it an unhistorical invention of Polish nationalism aiming at dividing Ruthenia.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] History

Originally it was related to a certain territory between Western Bug and Wieprz rivers. Its name derived from Cherven ("Cherv" means "red" in Slavic languages), a gord that existed there, possibly in the present village of Czermno.[1].

This area was mentioned for the first time in 981, when Vladimir the Great, Rus Grand Prince, took the area over during his western campaign. In 1018 it was annexed by Poland, 1031 back to Rus. It came under Polish control once more in 1340, when Casimir III of Poland recovered it. Since these times the name Ruś Czerwona is recorded, translated as "Red Ruthenia", applied to a territory extended up to the Dniester River, with priority gradually transferred to Przemysl (Peremyshl). Since the times of Władyslaw Jagiełło, the Przemysl Voivodeship was called the Ruthenian Voivodeship ("województwo ruskie"), with the priority eventually transferred to Lviv (Lvov). It consisted of five lands: Lviv, Sanok, Halych (Galich), Przemysl (Peremyshl), and Cholm (Kholm). The city of Galich gave the name to Galicia.

Between World War I and World War II this belonged to the Second Polish Republic. Presently, this area is split. The Western part is the area of Eastern Poland around Przemysl, the Eastern part (around Lviv) is a part of Western Ukraine.

[edit] Administrative division (14th century-1772)

[edit] The Ruthenian Voivodeship

[edit] The Bełz Voivodeship

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

  • “Monumenta Poloniae Historica”
  • Akta grodzkie i ziemskie z archiwum ziemskiego. Lauda sejmikowe. Tom XXIII, XXIV, XXV.
  • Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (Digital edition)
  • Lustracja województwa ruskiego, podolskiego i bełskiego, 1564-1565 Warszawa, (I) edition 2001, pages 289. ISBN: 83-7181-193-4
  • Lustracje dóbr królewskich XVI-XVIII wieku. Lustracja województwa ruskiego 1661—1665. Część III ziemie halicka i chełmska. Polska Akademia Nauk - Instytut Historii. 1976
  • Lustracje województw ruskiego, podolskiego i bełskiego 1564 - 1565, wyd. K. Chłapowski, H. Żytkowicz, cz. 1, Warszawa - Łódź 1992
  • Lustracja województwa ruskiego 1661-1665, cz. 1: Ziemia przemyska i sanocka, wyd. K. Arłamowski i W. Kaput, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków. 1970
  • Aleksander Jabłonowski. Polska wieku XVI, t. VII, Ruś Czerwona, Warszawa 1901 i 1903.


[edit] References

  1. ^ (Ukrainian) Въ лЂто 6478 [970] - 6494 [986]. Лаврентіївський літопис