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Seal of Giorgi, Regis Rusie, Ducis Ladimerie; ("Ladimerie" appears on the side with the knight)

Lodomeria is the Latinized name of Volodymyr[1] (Old Slavic: Володимѣръ, Volodiměrŭ; Ukrainian: Лодомерія, Lodomeriia; Polish: Lodomeria; Slovak: Lodomeria; Hungarian: Lodomeria; Czech: Vladiměř; German: Lodomerien; Romanian: Lodomeria), a Ruthenian principality also referred to as the Principality of Volhynia, which was founded by the Rurik dynasty in 987[citation needed] in the western parts of Kievan Rus'. It was centered on the region of Volhynia, straddling the borders of modern-day Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. The Principality of Volodymyr arose in the course of the 12th century along with the Principality of Halych.[1]

"Vladimir" is the Russian form of the name of the city now called Volodymyr, which was the capital of the Principality.

Upon the first partition of Poland in 1772, the name "Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria" (probably[original research?] in reference to the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia) was given by the Habsburg monarchy to the Polish territories which they acquired, while most of Volhynia (including the city of Vladimir) remained as part of rump Poland until eventually being annexed in 1795 by the Russian Empire in the Third Partition of Poland - though the Habsburgs did receive the small city of Belz.

Lodomeria - together with Galicia - provided one of the many titles of the Emperor of Austria, "the ruler of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria". However, Lodomeria existed only on paper, had no territory and could not be found on any map.[2]

An item in American Notes and Queries published in 1889 identified Lodomeria as an ancient district of Poland situated in the eastern portion of the country (at that time part of the Russian Empire, Volhynian Governorate).[3] About 988, the Ruthenian Grand Prince Vladimir the Great (Ukrainian: Volodymyr, born c. 958, Grand Prince of Kiev from 980 to 1015) founded the town of Volodymyr,[4] named after himself. In 1198, one of his descendants, Roman Mstislavich, called his own domain "the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria".[5] In 1340, King Casimir of Poland annexed Lodomeria to Poland.[6][7][1]

Origin of the title

The name "Volhynia" is first mentioned in Ruthenian chronicles as a region inhabited by a tribe called the Volhynians that was conquered by the Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir the Great. Volhynia changed hands several times throughout the following centuries. About 1199, it was merged with the Principality of Halych to form the Principality (later Kingdom) of Galicia and Volhynia under Prince Roman the Great. After the death of Roman the Great in 1205, Andrew II of Hungary adopted the title of "King of Lodomeria" (as well as of Galicia), in reference to Volhynia. Although the Hungarians were driven out from Halych-Volhynia by 1221, Hungarian kings continued to add Galicia et Lodomeria to their official titles.

In 1527, the Habsburgs inherited those titles, together with the Hungarian crown. In 1772, Empress Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary, decided to use those historical claims to justify her participation in the first partition of Poland. In fact, the territories acquired by Austria did not correspond exactly to those of former Halych-Volhynia. Volhynia, including the city of Volodymyr, was taken in 1795 by the Russian Empire, not Austria. On the other hand, much of Lesser Poland did become part of Austrian Galicia. Moreover, despite the fact that the claim derived from the historical Hungarian crown, Galicia and Lodomeria was not officially assigned to Hungary, and after the Ausgleich of 1867, it found itself in Cisleithania, or the Austrian-administered part of Austria-Hungary.

The full official name of the new Austrian province was "Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria with the Duchies of Auschwitz and Zator". After the incorporation of the Free City of Kraków in 1846, it was extended to "Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and the Grand Duchy of Kraków with the Duchies of Auschwitz and Zator" (German: Königreich Galizien und Lodomerien mit dem Großherzogtum Krakau und den Herzogtümern Auschwitz und Zator). Therefore, from 1772 to 1918, "Lodomeria" was claimed by the Austrian monarchs, even though Volhynia, the region the name had originally referred to, was part of the Russian Empire.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Galicia". The Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 10. Henry G. Allen Company. 1890. p. 26. Retrieved 24 November 2013. [...] in 1340 Casimir III. of Poland incorporated Galicia and Lemberg [...].
  2. ^ Elio Corti. "Lessico: Regno di Galizia e Lodomeria". Origine e variazioni del nome. Summa Gallicana: La Genetica del Pollo. Retrieved 11 February 2014. La Lodomeria esisteva solo sulla carta; non aveva territorio e non poteva essere trovata su alcuna mappa.
  3. ^ William Shepard Walsh; Henry Collins Walsh; William H. Garrison; Samuel R. Harris (1889). "Lodomeria". American Notes and Queries, Volume 3. Original by Westminster Publishing, Philadelphia from Harvard University. p. 114. Retrieved 24 November 2013. Lodomeria or Wladimeria is an ancient district of Poland, situated in the eastern part of the country, so named from Wladimir the Great, who conquered it in 938.
  4. ^ Katchanovski, Ivan; Kohut, Zenon E.; Nebesio, Bohdan Y.; Yurkevich, Myroslav (2005). "Volhynia". Historical Dictionary of Ukraine. Historical Dictionaries of Europe (2 ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press (published 2013). p. 735. ISBN 9780810878471. Retrieved 27 September 2020. Ca. 988 Prince Volodymyr the Great of Kyiv founded the town of Volodymyr (now Volodymyr-Volynskyi), which became the center of the eponymous principality.
  5. ^ William Shepard Walsh; Henry Collins Walsh; William H. Garrison; Samuel R. Harris (1889). "Lodomeria". American Notes and Queries, Volume 3. Original by Westminster Publishing, Philadelphia from Harvard University. p. 114. Retrieved 24 November 2013. One of [Wladimir the Great's] descendants, Roman Mstislavitch, having seized Halicz (Galicia), gave to his estates the title of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1198).
  6. ^ William Shepard Walsh; Henry Collins Walsh; William H. Garrison; Samuel R. Harris (1889). "Lodomeria". American Notes and Queries, Volume 3. Original by Westminster Publishing, Philadelphia from Harvard University. p. 114. Retrieved 24 November 2013. In 1340 Casimir, King of Poland, reunited Lodomeria to his estate.
  7. ^ Ian Mladjov. "Galicia and Lodomeria (Galič and Vladimir)" (PDF). Resources. University of Michigan Department of History. Retrieved 24 November 2013.[dead link]

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