King Danylo and the Early History of Lviv

Exhibit 2

The reign of Danylo Romanovych

Danylo was the son of the powerful Prince Roman of the Rurik dynasty, who united the principalities of Halycia and Volhynia in 1119 , having founded a new state. Roman was named the Great because of his role in the establishment and development of his country. He made an alliance with Byzantium, which raised the status of the Principality of Halycia and Volhynia as well as that of its ruler. Roman the Great was considered the All-Rus Sovereign and the sole ruler of almost all Rus lands.     

Prince Danylo followed in his great father’s footsteps. After the death of Roman the Great he continued to develop his state. His younger brother Vasylko Romanovych was his faithful ally and supporter.  

However, in 1238–1241 the Mongols invaded Rus and ruined most of its territory. Prince Danylo attempted to restore the country with the help of his European allies.   

In 1253, Prince Danylo was crowned King of Rus by the Pope Innocent IV and became the first king of the country. The Kingdom of Rus evolved into a strong European state, that existed till 1454. It influenced the course of the European history of the 13th -14th centuries, having become the shield that protected Europe from the Mongol invasion. It was the time when the development of the Ukrainian ethnos finished within the borders of the kingdom.   

Here you can see the meeting of Danylo with his brother Vasylko near L’viv, after the city was founded by Danylo’s son Lev.

L’viv became one of important political and economic centers of the Eastern Europe, and later the capital of the Kingdom of Rus. 

The exhibit also includes the figure of the Hungarian King Bela IV, a childhood friend of Prince Danylo. Bela IV made an alliance with the Kingdom of Rus through the marriage of his daughter Constance with King Danylo’s son Lev. 

I, the great-grandson of Grand Prince Monomakh, started a new dynasty — the dynasty of Rostyslavych. I united all Rus lands together with the throne of Kyiv and was named Sovereign of All-Rus. I am known to all as Roman the Great.   I gave my life for my people of Rus. I fought the enemies, built my country and protected the Orthodox faith.

My son Lev is building a beautiful city. In his honor was it named Leopolis. It is a citadel of our Kingdom of Rus, it will make Rus famous for ever.

Our Kingdom of Hungary made a treaty with the Kingdom of Rus. From now on we will defend our borders and interests together. We endorsed this treaty with the marriage of our children Lev and Constance.  

Even though I am the youngest, still I was born as clever and brave as my elder brother Danylo! We vanquished our enemies many times and sent troops to fight our offenders, vicious Voivodes, who were killed by our warriors. And, by the goodness of God, our enemies will always be crushed by the army of the Kingdom of Rus, for we will forever be standing on our own land!