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 regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

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 and a member of the Polish

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.

Biography

Bolesław was born between 1305 and 1310 to Trojden I of Masovia and Maria, daughter of Yuri I of Galicia. Since his father was still a ruler of the family's Masovian lands, in 1323 Bolesław succeeded Leo II of Galicia 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— Ho ...

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 Poland (1333–1339), and a princess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. She was the daught ...

, 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 w ...

. 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. Be ...

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

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were ...

s and died without an heir, before his father who continued rule the Duchy of Mazovia. Yuri's murder sparked the Galicia–Volhynia Wars 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