Yuri II Boleslav ( uk, Юрій-Болеслав Тройденович, translit=Yurii-Boleslav Troidenovych; pl, Bolesław Jerzy II; c. 1305/1310 – April 7, 1340), was

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Ruthenia Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin as one of several terms ...

and

Dominus Dominus or domini may refer to: * Dominus (title), a title of sovereignty, clergy and other uses Art, entertainment, and media * Dominus (band), a Danish death metal band * Dominus (DC Comics), an alien character in DC Comics * Dominus (Mar ...

of the lands of Galicia–Volhynia (1325-1340). A foreigner and a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

by birth, he was the son of

Trojden I, Duke of Masovia Trojden I (1284/86 – 13 March 1341), was a Polish prince, member of the House of Piast, Duke of Czersk after 1310, ruler over Warsaw and Liw after 1313, regent of Płock during 1336–1340. He was the second son of Bolesław II of Płock a ...

and a member of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

. Highly unpopular in Orthodox Ruthenia, his murder prompted a war of succession, known as the

Galicia–Volhynia Wars The Galicia–Volhynia Wars were several wars fought in the years 1340–1392 over the succession in the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, also known as Ruthenia. After Yuri II Boleslav was poisoned by local Ruthenian nobles in 1340, both the Grand ...

Biography

Bolesław was born between 1305 and 1310 to

Trojden I of Masovia Trojden I (1284/86 – 13 March 1341), was a Polish prince, member of the House of Piast, Duke of Czersk after 1310, ruler over Warsaw and Liw after 1313, regent of Płock during 1336–1340. He was the second son of Bolesław II of Płock a ...

and Maria, daughter of

Yuri I of Galicia Yuri I of Galicia ( ua, Ю́рій Льво́вич, translit=Yurii Lvovych, 24 April 1252 (1257?) – 18 March 1308) was a King of Ruthenia, Prince of Volhynia (Latin: Regis Rusie, Princeps Ladimerie). His full title was Yuri I, King of Ruthenia ...

. Since his father was still a ruler of the family's Masovian lands, in 1323 Bolesław succeeded

Leo II of Galicia Leo II of Galicia, also known as ''Lev Yurevich'' (unknown – 1323) was Prince of Lutsk and Galicia, one of the last two Rurikid kings of Rus` (r. 1308–1323; according to some sources, 1315–23). He was a member of the senior branch of ...

and became the ruler over Ruthenia as Yuri II. He also received the

Duchy of Belz Duchy of Belz or principality of Belz was a duchy, formed in the late 12th century in Kievan Rus. During its history the duchy was a constituent part of some other political entities such as the Kingdom of Rus, the Kingdom of Hungary, Duchy of ...

after the childless death of

Andrew of Galicia Andrew ( uk, Андрій Юрієвич, translit=Andrii Yuriievych) (unknown – 1323) was the last king of Ruthenia in 1308–1323 (according to other sources since 1315). He was the son of Yurii I (1252–1308) whom he succeeded on the ...

. In 1331, he married the daughter of

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—House ...

Gediminas Gediminas ( la, Gedeminne, ; – December 1341) was the king or Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death. He is credited with founding this political entity and expanding its territory which later spanned the area ranging from t ...

and sister of

Aldona of Lithuania Aldona (baptized ''Ona'' or ''Anna''; her pagan name, Aldona, is known only from the writings of Maciej Stryjkowski; – 26 May 1339) was Queen consort of Piast Poland, Poland (1333–1339), and a princess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. She w ...

, wife of

Casimir III of Poland Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He wa ...

. The name of Bolesław's wife is disputed;

Teodor Narbutt Teodor Narbutt ( lt, Teodoras Narbutas; 8 November 1784 – 27 November 1864) was a Polish–Lithuanian romantic historian and military engineer in service of the Russian Empire. He is best remembered as the author of a nine-volume Polish-langu ...

claimed her pagan name was Eufemia and her Christian name was Maria. In opposition,

Oswald Balzer Oswald Marian Balzer (23 January 1858 in Chodorów – 11 January 1933 in Lwów) was a Polish historian of law and statehood, one of the most renowned Polish historians of his times. In 1887 he became a professor at the University of Lwów. B ...

claimed that Eufemia was a Christian name. It is widely believed that Narbutt's account was a fabrication. In a treaty of 1338 Yuri ІІ offered

succession to the throne of Galicia-Volhynia. In 1324, Yuri granted city rights to

Volodymyr Volodymyr ( uk, Володи́мир, Volodýmyr, , orv, Володимѣръ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ...

and

Sanok Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, rue, Санок, ''Sanok'', ua, Cянік, ''Sianik'', la, Sanocum, yi, סאניק, ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern ...

in 1339, both under

Magdeburg Law Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within c ...

.Sanok city privilege in Latin (Digitalbibliothek of AGAD, Nr 7226.)
He was poisoned in 1340 by

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Ruthenian

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

s and died without an heir, before his father who continued rule the

Duchy of Mazovia Duchy of Masovia was a district principality and a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland, existing during the Middle Ages. The state was centered in Mazovia in the northeastern Kingdom of Poland, and during its existence, its capital was located in ...

. Yuri's murder sparked the

fought in the years 1340–1392 over the succession in the Kingdom of Ruthenia.

Notes

References

* Jan Řežabek, ''Jiří II", poslední kníže veśkeré Malé Rusi, kritickí pokus'', «Časopis musea království českého», ročnik LVII, Praha, 1883. *

''Genealogia Piastów'' (1895) (see: Digitalbibliothek of Great Poland

* Maciej Wilamowski ''Piastowie. Leksykon biograficzny'', Kraków 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Boleslav, Yuri II 1308 births 1340 deaths Kings of Rus' Dukes of Masovia 14th-century murdered monarchs Deaths by poisoning Eastern Orthodox monarchs Piast dynasty Romanovichi family