Early life and reign Daniel's father,
Roman the Great, united the principalities of
Galicia and
Volhynia in 1199. After his death in 1205, the
boyars of Galicia forced the four-year-old Daniel into exile with his mother
Anna-Euphrosyne and younger
Vasylko Romanovich. Daniel's cousin, Alexander of
Belz, took control of
Volodymyr with the help of
Leszek the White of
Kraków, meanwhile the throne of Halych was taken by
Vladimir III Igorevich of
Olgovichi, a son of
Igor Sviatoslavich of
Chernigov, who on his mother's side stemmed from Galician prince
Yaroslav Osmomysl. Anna and her children were forced to flee, and Daniel's childhood was spent at the court of his uncle, King
Andrew II of Hungary. After a conflict in Galicia between local boyars and their new rulers, part of the nobles fled to Hungary and invited Daniel to retake the throne. In 1210 a united army composed of Hungarians and Galicians invaded the principality, taking
Peremyshl,
Zvenyhorod and
Halych, and in September 1211 restored the nine-year-old prince to the throne. However, three years later a rebellion led by powerful boyar Volodyslav Kormylchych led to Daniel's deposition, after which he joined his mother in
Volhynia. In 1219, Daniel renounced his claims to Galicia in favor of
Mstislav the Bold, marrying his elder daughter Anna. with their troops at Kalka In 1223, the young prince defeated the
Mongols at
Battle of Oleshia and led his troops against a larger Mongol army as part of the coalition of Rus' princes in the
Battle of the Kalka River, which ended in destruction of the allied force. Wounded in the fighting, Daniel was able to escape encirclement by the enemy and survived. During his rule over Volhynia the prince gave his younger brother Vasylko the principality of
Lutsk. The brothers fought tohether against
Jotvingians, which raided his lands. Daniel's influence and his alliance with Polish duke
Leszek the White made him a competitor to
Vladimir IV of Kiev. After Leszek's assassination in 1228 Daniel and Vasylko allied with the deceased prince's brother
Konrad of Masovia and campaigned together with him against Polish duke
Władysław Spindleshanks. In 1230 Daniel was invited to take the throne of Halych for the second time and defeated Hungarian troops which besieged the city. However, the boyars once again plotted against the prince and helped Hungarian prince Andrew to recapture the city in 1232. In 1234 Daniel defeated Alexander Vsevolodovich, taking the
Duchy of Belz. By 1238, he had
defeated former
Dobrzyń Knights at
Drohiczyn (Dorohochyn), and regained most of Galicia, including the capital. While the
Prussians were under pressure from the
Teutonic Order, Daniel attempted to conquer their neighbours, the
Yotvingians.
Mongol invasions In 1239, with the advancing Mongols,
Michael of Chernigov, the grand prince of Kiev, who was married to Daniel's sister, quickly left Kiev and petitioned Daniel for help. Daniel dispatched his
voivode, Dmytro, to defend the city. However, after a long siege, its walls were breached and, despite fierce fighting within the city, Kiev fell on 6 December 1240 and was largely destroyed. Early in the next year, April 1241, the Mongols passed through Galicia and Volhynia, destroying Halych and advancing on Poland and Hungary. Daniel and Vasylko fled to Poland, and eventually moved their capital from Halych to Kholm (modern
Chełm) in late 1240 or early 1241. In his absence, Daniel appointed boyar Dobroslav Suddych to distribute lands to fellow Galician boyars in
Kolomyia, but when the latter in early 1241 began allotting them to Chernigov boyars instead (possibly in collaboration with the Olgovichi prince
Rostislav Mikhailovich), Daniel summoned him to Kholm and imprisoned him in late 1241.
Establishment of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia (1245–1349).
bishops of
Przemysl, reputed to have earlier served as Daniel's royal crown On 17 August 1245, Daniel
defeated a combined force of the prince of
Chernigov, disaffected boyars, and Hungarian and Polish elements at
Yaroslav, and finally took the remainder of Galicia, thus reconstituting his father's holdings. He made his brother Vasylko the ruler of Volhynia and retained the Galician title for himself, though he continued to exercise real power in both places. Daniel's domestic policies focused on stability and economic growth. During his rule, German, Polish, and Rus' merchants and artisans were invited into Galicia, and numbers of Armenians and Jews established themselves in the towns and cities. Daniel founded the towns of
Lviv (1256) and
Kholm, naming the former for his son, and fortified many others. He appointed officials to protect the peasantry from aristocratic exploitation and formed peasant-based heavy infantry units. Daniel's military reforms included the introduction of European-style
plate armour for
heavy cavalry, and the establishment of
light cavalry armed with
bows. the following dialogue took place between
Batu and Daniel of Galicia: "At a banquet Batu asked if he drank kumiz like the Mongols and Daniel answered: 'Until now I did not, but now I do as you command and I drink it'. To which Batu replied: 'You are now one of ours,' and since he was more used to it ordered that Daniel be given a goblet of wine." This was due to Daniel's notorious love of wine. While formally accepting the Mongols as overlords, and supplying them with soldiers as required, Daniel built his foreign policy around opposition to the Golden Horde. he simultaneously established cordial relations with the rulers of the
Kingdom of Poland and
Kingdom of Hungary, and requested aid from
Pope Innocent IV in the form of a
crusade. In return for papal assistance, Daniel offered to place his lands under the ecclesiastical authority of
Rome, a pledge never realised. Wooed by the prospect of extending his authority, the Pope encouraged Daniel's resistance to the Mongols and his Western orientation, and in 1253, had a papal representative crown Daniel as king at Dorohochyn, present-day
Drohiczyn on the
Bug River. However, Daniel wanted more than recognition, and commented bitterly that he expected an army when he received the crown. From then on, Daniel was known as
rex Russiae and sometimes by the title
korol. By his death in 1264, Daniel had reconstructed and expanded the territories held by his father, held off the expansionist threats of Poland and Hungary, minimized Mongol influence in the territories of present-day western Ukraine, and raised the economic and social standards of his domains. He was succeeded in Galicia by his son
Leo. == Legacy ==