| Red Ruthenia | |
| Native Name: | |
| Type: | Historic region |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | |
| Seat Type: | Largest city |
| Seat: | Lviv |
Red Ruthenia, or Red Rus' (Ukrainian: Червона Русь|Chervona Rus'; Polish: Ruś Czerwona; Latin: Ruthenia Rubra; Latin: Russia Rubra; Russian: Червoнная Русь|Chervonnaya Rus' or Russian: Красная Русь|Krasnaya Rus'; Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Rutenia Roșie), is a term used since the Middle Ages for the south-western principalities of the Kievan Rus', namely the Principality of Peremyshl and the Principality of Belz. Nowadays the region comprises parts of western Ukraine and adjoining parts of south-eastern Poland. It has also sometimes included parts of Lesser Poland, Podolia, Right-bank Ukraine and Volhynia. Centred on Przemyśl and Belz, it has included major cities such as: Chełm, Zamość, Rzeszów, Krosno and Sanok (now all in Poland), as well as Lviv and Ternopil (now in Ukraine).[1] First mentioned by that name in a Polish chronicle of 1321, Red Ruthenia was the portion of Ruthenia incorporated into Poland by Casimir the Great during the 14th century. The disintegration of Rus', Red Ruthenia was contested by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the Gediminids), the Kingdom of Poland (the Piasts), the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. After the Galicia–Volhynia Wars, for about 400 years most of Red Ruthenia became part of Poland as the Ruthenian Voivodeship.
A minority of ethnic Poles have lived since the beginning of the second Millennium in northern parts of Red Ruthenia. The exonym "Ruthenians" usually refers to members of the Rusyn and/or Ukrainian ethnicity.[2]
The first known inhabitants of northern Red Ruthenia were Lendians[3] and White Croats, while subgroups of Rusyns, such as Boykos and Lemkos, lived in the south.
Later Walddeutsche ("Forest Germans"), Jews, Armenians and Poles also made up part of the population.[4] According to Marcin Bielski, although Bolesław I Chrobry settled Germans in the region to defend the borders against Hungary and Kievan Rus' the settlers became farmers. Maciej Stryjkowski described German peasants near Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Sanok, and Jarosław as good farmers. Casimir the Great settled German citizens on the borders of Lesser Poland and Red Ruthenia to join the acquired territory with the rest of his kingdom. In determining the population of late medieval Poland, colonisation and Polish migration to Red Ruthenia, Spiš and Podlachia[5] (whom the Ukrainians called Mazury—poor peasant migrants, chiefly from Mazowsze[6]) should be considered.
During the second half of the 14th century, the Vlachs arrived from the southeastern Carpathians and quickly settled across southern Red Ruthenia. Although during the 15th century the Ruthenians gained a foothold, it was not until the 16th century that the Wallachian population in the Bieszczady Mountains and the Lower Beskids was Ruthenized.[7] From the 14th to the 16th centuries Red Ruthenia underwent rapid urbanization, resulting in over 200 new towns built on the German model (virtually unknown before 1340, when Red Ruthenia was the independent Kingdom of Halych).[8]
During the early Middle Ages, the region was part of Kievan Rus' and, from 1199, the independent Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia.
It came under Polish control in 1340, when Casimir the Great conquered it.[9] [10] During his reign from 1333 to 1370, Casimir the Great founded several cities, urbanizing the rural province.[11]
The Polish name Ruś Czerwona (translated as "Red Rus") came into use for the territory extending to the Dniester, centring on Przemyśl. Since the reign of Władysław Jagiełło (d. 1434) the Przemyśl Voivodeship was called the Ruthenian Voivodeship (województwo ruskie), centring on Lwów. The voivodeship consisted of five regions: Lwów, Sanok, Halicz (Halych), Przemyśl, and Chełm. The town of Halych gave its name to Galicia. During the 1340s, the influence of the Rurik dynasty ended; most of the area passed to Casimir the Great, with Kiev and the state of Volhynia falling under the control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Polish region was divided into a number of voivodeships, and an era of German eastward migration and Polish settlement among the Ruthenians began. Armenians and Jews also migrated to the region. A number of castles were built at this time, and the cities of Stanisławów (Stanyslaviv in Ukrainian, now Ivano-Frankivsk) and Krystynopol (now Chervonohrad) were founded.
In October 1372, Władysław Opolczyk was deposed as count palatine. Although he retained most of his castles and goods in Hungary, his political influence waned. As compensation, Opolczyk was made governor of Hungarian Galicia. In this new position, he contributed to the economic development of the territories entrusted to him. Although Opolczyk primarily resided in Lwów, at the end of his rule he spent more time in Halicz. The only serious conflict during his time as governor involved his approach to the Eastern Orthodox Church, which angered the local Catholic boyars. Under Polish rule 325 towns were founded from the 14th century to the second half of the 17th century, most during the 15th and 16th centuries (96 and 153, respectively).[12]
Ruthenia was subject to repeated Tatar and Ottoman Empire incursions during the 16th and 17th centuries and was impacted by the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648–1654), the 1654–1667 Russo-Polish War and Swedish invasions during the Deluge (1655–1660); the Swedes returned during the Great Northern War of the early 18th century. Red Ruthenia consisted of three voivodeships: Ruthenia, whose capital was Lviv and provinces were Lviv, Halych, Sanok, Przemyśl and Chełm; Bełz, separating the provinces of Lviv and Przemyśl from the rest of the Ruthenian voivodeship; and Podolia, with its capital at Kamieniec Podolski.
Red Ruthenia (except for Podolia) was conquered by the Austrian Empire in 1772 during the First Partition of Poland, remaining part of the empire until 1918.[13] Between World Wars I and II, it belonged to the Second Polish Republic. The region is currently split, with its western portion in southeastern Poland (around Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Zamość and Chełm) and its eastern portion (around Lviv) in western Ukraine.
| City | Population (2022) | Country | Administrative | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lviv | 717,273 |  | Lviv Oblast | ||
| 2 | Ivano-Frankivsk | 238,196 | | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | ||
| 3 | Ternopil | 225,004 | | Ternopil Oblast | ||
| 4 | Rzeszów | 198,609 |  | Subcarpathian Voivodeship | ||
| 5 | Drohobych | 73,682 | | Lviv Oblast | ||
| 6 | Kalush | 65,088 | | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | ||
| 7 | Chervonohrad | 64,297 | | Lviv Oblast | ||
| 8 | Kolomyia | 60,821 | | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | ||
| 9 | Stryi | 59,425 | | Lviv Oblast | ||
| 10 | Zamość | 58,942 | | Lublin Voivodeship | ||
| 11 | Chełm | 57,933 | | Lublin Voivodeship | ||
| 12 | Przemyśl | 57,568 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship | ||
| 13 | Krosno | 44,322 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship | ||
| 14 | Jarosław | 35,945 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship | ||
| 15 | Sanok | 34,687 | | Subcarpathian Voivodeship | ||
| 16 | Sambir | 34,152 | | Lviv Oblast | ||
| 17 | Boryslav | 32,473 | | Lviv Oblast | ||
| 18 | Novoiavorivsk | 31,366 | | Lviv Oblast | ||
| 19 | Truskavets | 28,287 | | Lviv Oblast | ||
| 20 | Chortkiv | 28,279 | | Ternopil Oblast |