Lev I of Galicia

Lev I of Galicia ( _ua. Лев Данилович, Lev Danylovich), (born ca. 1228, died ca. 1301) became in turn Knyaz of Belz (1245 - 1264), Knyaz of Peremyshl and king of Halych (1264 - 1269) and King of Galicia-Volhynia (1293 - 1301).

Family

He was a son of King Daniel of Galicia and his first wife Anna of Novgorod. His maternal grandparents were Mstislav the Bold and an unnamed daughter of Kotian, Khan of the Cumans.

Reign

Lev He moved his father's capital from Halych to the newly-founded city of Lvov (Lviv in modern Ukraine). This city was named after him by its founder, Lev's father King Daniel. In 1247 Lev married Constance, daughter of Béla IV of Hungary. Unlike his father, who pursued a Western political course, Lev worked closely with the Mongols and together with them invaded Poland. However, although his troops plundered territory as far west as Racibórz, sending many captives and much booty back to Galicia, Lev did not ultimately gain much territory from Poland. Lev cultivated a particularly close alliance with the Tatar khan Nogai. Lev also attempted, unsuccessfully, to establish his family's rule over Lithuania. Soon after his brother Shvarno ascended to the Lithuanian throne in 1267, Lev organized the murder of Grand Duke of Lithuania Vaišvilkas. Following his brother Shvarno's loss of the throne in 1269, Lev entered into conflict with the Lithuania. From 1274-1276 he fought a war with the new Lithuanian ruler Traidenis but was defeated, and Lithuania annexed the territory of Black Ruthenia with its city of Navahrudak. In 1279, Lev allied himself with king Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and invaded Poland, although his attempt to capture Kraków in 1280 ended in failure. That same year, however, Lev defeated Hungary and annexed part of Transcarpathia, including the city of Mukachevo. In 1292 he defeated Poland and added Lublin with surrounding areas to the territory of Galicia-Volhynia. At the time of Lev's death in 1301 the state of Galicia-Volhynia was at the height of its power.

Marriage and children

Leo I married Constance of Hungary. She was a daughter of Béla IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina. They had three children:

*Yuri I of Galicia (24 April, 1252/1257 - 18 March, 1308).
*Svyatoslava of Halych (d. 1302). A nun
*Anastasia of Galicia (d. 12 March, 1335). Married Ziemowit of Masovia. Her husband was a son of Casimir I of Masovia and his third wife Euphrosyne of Opole.

ee also

* Danylo of Halych
* List of rulers of Galicia and Volhynia

External links

* [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/russia/rurik9.html Genealogy of Danylo's family]
* [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pagesLELevDanylovych.htm Lev Danylovych] at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine