Daniel I of Galicia or
Daniel Romanovych or
Danylo Halytskyi () was a
King of
Galicia (
Halych) (1205–1255),
Peremyshl (1211), and
Volodymyr (1212–1231). He was crowned by a papal
archbishop in
Dorohochyn 1253 as the first
King of 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
Duchy of Belz. By 1238, he had defeated the
Dobrzyń Knights, and regained most of Galicia, including the capital at Galicia. While the
Prussians were under pressure from the
Teutonic Order, Daniel attempted to conquer the related
Yatvingians.
The following year, Daniel acquired
Kiev, the traditional capital of the defunct state of
Kievan Rus'. Faced with the
Mongol menace, he sent his commander
Dmytro to defend the city. However, after a long siege its walls were breached and despite fierce fighting within the city, Kiev fell...
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