The Grand Prince of Kiev (sometimes grand duke) was the title of the ruler of
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
and the ruler of
Kievan Rus' from the 10th to 13th centuries. In the 13th century, Kiev became an
appanage principality
A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...
first of the
grand prince of Vladimir and the
Mongol Golden Horde governors, and later was taken over by the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Princes of Kiev
Mythological rulers
According to
Slavophiles,
Kyi ruled since 430, one of the dates attributed to the legendary founding of Kiev in 482, although that date relates to
Kovin on the
Danube in
Serbia. Some historians speculate that Kyi was a Slavic prince of
eastern Polans
The Polans (, ''Poliany'', ''Polyane'', pl, Polanie), also Polianians, were an East Slavic tribe between the 6th and the 9th century, which inhabited both sides of the Dnieper river from Liubech to Rodnia and also down the lower streams o ...
in the 6th century. Kyi's legacy along with Shchek's is mentioned in the
Book of Veles, the authenticity of which, however, is disputed.
Oleg, an
apocryphal Kiev
voivode, probably of Danish or Swedish origin, ruled under the overlordship of the
Khazar Khaganate.
Bravlin was a
Varangian prince or chieftain, who led a Rus military expedition to devastate the
Crimea, from
Kerch to
Sugdaea
Sudak (Ukrainian & Russian: Судак; crh, Sudaq; gr, Σουγδαία; sometimes spelled Sudac or Sudagh) is a town, multiple former Eastern Orthodox bishopric and double Latin Catholic titular see. It is of regional significance in Crimea, ...
, in the last years of the 8th century.
According to some Russian historians (i.e., Gleb S.
Lebedev), Dir was a ''chacanus'' of Rhos (
Rus khagan).
[Duczko, Wladyslaw (2004). Viking Rus: Studies on the Presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. ] Thomas Noonan asserts that one of the Rus "sea-kings", the "
High king", adopted the title khagan in the early 9th century.
Peter Benjamin Golden
Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American historian who is Professor Emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic and Central Asian Studies, such as ''An i ...
maintained that the Rus became a part of the Khazar federation, and that their ruler was officially accepted as a vassal khagan of the Khazar Khagan of Itil.
Some western historians (i.e.,
Kevin Alan Brook) suppose that Kiev was founded by
Khazars or
Magyars
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...
. Kiev is a Turkic place name (''Küi'' = riverbank + ''ev'' = settlement). At least during the 8th and 9th centuries Kiev functioned as an outpost of the Khazar empire (a hill-fortress, called ''Sambat'', "high place" in
Old Turkic). According to
Omeljan Pritsak,
Constantine Zuckerman and other scholars, Khazars lost Kiev at the beginning of the 10th century.
[Zuckerman, Constantine (2007). ''The Khazars and Byzantium – The First Encounter''. In ''The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives – Selected Papers from the Jerusalem 1999 International Khazar Colloquium'', eds. Peter Benjamin Golden, Haggai Ben-Shammai, and András Róna-Tas, pp. 399–432. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.]
Rurik Dynasty
The
Rurikids
The Rurik dynasty ( be, Ру́рыкавічы, Rúrykavichy; russian: Рю́риковичи, Ryúrikovichi, ; uk, Рю́риковичі, Riúrykovychi, ; literally "sons/scions of Rurik"), also known as the Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was ...
were descendants of
Rurik
Rurik (also Ryurik; orv, Рюрикъ, Rjurikŭ, from Old Norse '' Hrøríkʀ''; russian: Рюрик; died 879); be, Рурык, Ruryk was a semi-legendary Varangian chieftain of the Rus' who in the year 862 was invited to reign in Novgoro ...
(Rørikr), a
Varangian (Viking) pagan chieftain.
Grand princes of Kiev
Rurik Dynasty
Princes of Kiev (Mongol invasion)
Due to the Mongol invasion of 1240, Michael of Chernigov left Kiev to seek military assistance from King
Béla IV of Hungary. During that time, the prince of Smolensk, Rostislav, occupied Kiev, but was captured the same year by
Daniel of Galicia who placed his voivode Dmytro to guard Kiev while the grand prince was away. Being unsuccessful in Hungary, Michael visited
Konrad I of Masovia. Receiving no results in Poland, he eventually asked Daniel of Galicia for asylum due to the Mongol invasion.
Alšėniškiai dynasty
Since the 14th century, the principality of Kiev started to fall under the influence of
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1299, the
Metropolitan of Kiev
Maximus moved his metropolitan see from Kiev to
Vladimir-on-Klyazma
Vladimir ( rus, Влади́мир, p=vlɐ'dʲimʲɪr, a=Ru-Владимир.ogg) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, east of Moscow. It is se ...
. In 1321, after the
battle on the Irpin River,
Gediminas installed Mindgaugas, one of his subjects from the house of
Olshanski, a descendant of the family of
Vseslav of Polotsk
Vseslav of Polotsk or Vseslav Bryachislavich ( 1029 – 24 April 1101), also known as ''Vseslav the Sorcerer'' or ''Vseslav the Seer'', was the most famous ruler of Polotsk and was briefly Grand Prince of Kiev in 1068–1069. Together with Rostis ...
that was exiled to the
Byzantine Empire.
Rurik dynasty
In 1331, Kiev was once again taken by a member of the Rurik dynasty (Olgovich branch), the prince of Putivl.
After the
Battle of Blue Waters
The Battle of Blue Waters ( lt, Mūšis prie Mėlynųjų Vandenų, be, Бітва на Сініх Водах, uk, Битва на Синіх Водах) was a battle fought at some time in autumn 1362 or 1363 on the banks of the Syniukha river, ...
in 1362, Kiev and its surrounding areas were incorporated into the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania by Grand Duke
Algirdas
Algirdas ( be, Альгерд, Alhierd, uk, Ольгерд, Ольґерд, Olherd, Olgerd, pl, Olgierd; – May 1377) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He ruled the Lithuanians and Ruthenians from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his bro ...
.
Gediminids
Alšėniškiai
Gediminas
See also
*
Kiev Voivodeship
*
List of Hungarian monarchs
*
List of Polish monarchs
*
List of rulers of Galicia and Volhynia
*
List of rulers of Lithuania
*
List of Russian monarchs
*
List of Ukrainian rulers
*
Symbols of the Rurikids
Throughout the early Middle Ages, the Rurikid knyazes of the Kievan Rus' used unique symbols to denote property rights over various items. They are depicted on punches, seals, and coins of the Rurikids. In contrast to Western European heraldry, w ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Prince of Kiev
Kiev, Grand Prince of
Ukraine history-related lists
Grand Princes of Kiev
Pretenders to the Ukrainian throne
Noble titles of Kievan Rus
Heads of state of Russia
Political history of Russia
Russia history-related lists
Russia politics-related lists
Kyiv-related lists