Daniel of Galicia

Daniel of Galicia or Danylo Romanovych (; Old Ruthenian: Данило Романовичъ, Danylo Romanovyčъ; ; 1201 – 1264) was a King of Ruthenia, Prince (Kniaz) of Galicia (Halych) (1205–1255), Peremyshl (1211), and Volodymyr (1212–1231). He was crowned by a papal archbishop in Dorohochyn in 1253 as the first King of Ruthenia (Rus') (1253–1264). Biography 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 former Dobrzyń Knights at Drohiczyn (Dorohochyn), and regained most of Galicia, including the capital Halych. While the Prussians were under pressure from the Teutonic Order, Daniel attempted to conquer related Yatvingians. Mongol invasion The following year, with the advancing Mongols, Michael, Grand Prince of Kyiv, who was married to Daniel's sister, ran out of Kyiv and asked Daniel for help. Daniel dispatch his voivode, Dmytro, to defend the city. However, after a long siege, its walls were breached and, despite fierce fighting within the city, Kyiv fell on 6 December 1240 and was largely destroyed. A year later, the Mongols passed through Galicia and Volhynia while campaigning against the Poles and Hungarians, destroying Galicia.