Volodymyr Vasylkovych (died 1289) was a son of

Vasylko Romanovych Vasylko Romanovych (1203–1269), Prince of Belz (1207–1269), Prince of Brest (1231–1269), and Prince of Volhynia (1231–1269). He was the son of Roman the Great, the younger brother of Daniel of Galicia. Family Father *Roman the Great Bro ...

, prince of

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

, now part of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He succeeded his father when the latter died in 1269, and was famous for numerous constructions and reconstructions of town fortifications in Volhynia. In the 1270s (1276, according to most sources) he founded a castle that included a

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

now famous as the

Tower of Kamyanets The Tower of Kamyenyets, often called by the misnomer the White Tower ( be, Белая вежа, transliteration: ''Bielaya Vieža'' or ''Belaya Vezha''), is the main landmark of the town of Kamyenyets in Belarus. The name ''Bielaja Vieža'' (alte ...

, and around which sprang up the town of Kamyanets, now in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

; he also authored the construction of a similar tower in the re-built castle of

Berestye Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

(modern Brest, Belarus). He died in 1289 in Luboml (or Liuboml), which is now in Ukraine. Summing up his life, the "old chronicle" presented him as a booklover and philosopher, whose like in the world had never before been seen, and would never be seen again. Vasylkovych was renowned for his favorable treatment of the region's Jewish population, which had erewhile been severely maligned and ill-treated. According to an annalist who describes the funeral of the grand duke Volodymyr Vasylkovych in the city of Volodymyr, "the Jews wept at his funeral as at the fall of Jerusalem, or when being led into the Babylonian captivity."Isidore Singer & Cyrus Adler, eds., ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: Leon-Moravia'' (New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1904), 119.

References

Rurikids 1289 deaths Year of birth unknown Princes of Volhynia {{Ukraine-noble-stub