Coloman of Galicia

Coloman was the second son of Andrew II of Hungary and his first wife, Gertrude of Merania.[1] Andrew's father (Coloman's grandfather), Béla III of Hungary, was the first king of Hungary to conquer the Principality of Halych in 1188.[2] Béla granted Halych to the teenager Andrew, but Andrew was unpopular, especially because his troops did not respect the Galicians' Orthodox faith.[2] The Galicians expelled him in 1189 or 1190, but he did not abandon his claim to Halych.[2][3] After Roman Mstislavich, who had united the principalities of Volhynia and Halych under his rule, died fighting against the Poles in 1205, Andrew launched a military campaign against Halych in almost each year.[4][5] He adopted the title of "King of Galicia and Lodomeria" in token of his claim to both principalities.[6][7] Initially, he supported Roman Mstislavich's minor sons, Daniel and Vasilko Romanovich, against Vladimir Igorevich and his brothers, who also claimed Halych.[4]

Coloman was born in 1208.[8] According to historians Márta Font and Gábor Barabás, he was named most probably for Coloman of Stockerau, an Irish pilgrim who had been martyred in Austria in 1012.[9] Coloman's mother showed blatant favoritism towards her German kinsmen and courtiers, which outraged the native lords.[6] She was murdered by a group of Hungarian noblemen in September 1213, shortly after her husband departed for a new military campaign against Halych.[10] Andrew returned to Hungary, but only after appointing a Galician boyar (or nobleman), Vladislav Kormilichich, to lead the Hungarian army to Halych.[11] Kormilichich took control of the principality on Andrew's behalf.[12] Leszek the White, Duke of Poland, granted asylum to Daniel and Vasilko Romanovich and made an alliance with princes Alexandr Vsevolodovich of Vladimir and Mstislav Yaroslavich of Peresopnytsia.[12] They invaded Halych and routed Kormilichich, but they could not capture the capital of the principality.[13][14]

In a letter to Pope Innocent III, Andrew stated that Galician boyars had proposed him to grant Halych to Coloman.[15] According to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle, Leszek the White was the first to suggest the same idea, also proposing his daughter, Salomea, to Coloman.[16] Andrew and Leszek had a meeting in Szepes in the autumn of 1214.[note 1][16][17] They reached a compromise, which included the marriage of Coloman and Salomea and the cession of two western Galician towns, Przemyśl and Lubaczów, to Leszek.[18] The Hungarian and Polish armies invaded the principality and put an end to Vladislav Kormilichich's rule before the end of the year.[19]

[Andrew II] marched against [Leszek the White] whom [Daniel Romanovich] was visiting at that time. [Thereupon Leszek] sent his envoy Lestič and the boyar Pakoslav [to Andrew] with the [following] message: "It is not proper for a boyar to reign in [Halych]; marry my daughter to your son [Coloman] and let him rule in [Halych]. [Andrew] liked Pakoslav's [advice]. He held council with [Leszek] in [Szepes] and took [Leszek's] daughter for his son.

— Galician–Volhynian Chronicle

The Principality of Halych and its neighbors

Coloman was installed in Halych soon after the fall of Kormilichich.[18] Since Coloman was a minor, Benedict the Bald was appointed to administer the principality.[19] Another Hungarian nobleman, Demetrius Aba, was made the master of the stewards in Coloman's court before 1216.[20] Kormilichich's former ally, Sudislav, was the leading Galician boyars who supported Coloman.[21]

Andrew sent a letter to Pope Innocent, requesting him to authorize the John, Archbishop of Esztergom to anoint Coloman as king.[19][22] In the next letter, Andrew thanked the pope for giving consent to Coloman's coronation, but also informed him that a riot had broken out against Coloman and the rebels laid siege to Halych.[23] Andrew urged Innocent to send a legate and a golden crown to Coloman to strengthen the legitimacy of his rule.[24] Pope Honorius III mentioned in a letter in 1222 that the Archbishop of Esztergom had crowned Coloman "with the blessing of the Holy See", but the circumstances of the ceremony are unknown.[25][26] Historians Font, Barabás and Karol Hollý inferred from the correspondence that Coloman was most probably crowned twice, first (in late 1214 or early 1215) with a provisional crown in Hungary, later (probably in early 1216) with the crown sent by the pope.[25][27] Other historians—including Tibor Almási, Nataša Procházková and Đura Hardi—conclude that Coloman was first anointed, and he was only once crowned, in early 1216.[1][28]

The relationship between Andrew and Leszek the White had meanwhile become tense.[19] Leszek granted Vladimir-in-Vohynia, which was the most prestigious princely seat in Volhynia, to Daniel and Vasilko Romanovich.[28] He also failed to support Coloman during the siege of Halych.[28] The Hungarian army invaded western Galicia and captured Przemyśl and Lubaczów in late 1215 or early 1216.[26] Leszek approached Mstislav Mstislavich, Prince of Novgorod, seeking his assistance against the Hungarians.[26] The reconstruction of the ensuing events is difficult, because their dating is uncertain.[26][29] Mstislav invaded Halych between 1215 and 1219—most probably in early 1219, according to Font and Barabás—and forced Coloman, Benedict the Bald and Sudislav to flee to Hungary.[30][31]

Mstislav gave his daughter, Anna, in marriage to Daniel Romanovich who soon occupied the lands between the rivers Wieprz and Bug from Leszek.[32] Outraged by Daniel's attack, Leszek made a new alliance with Andrew II.[33][34] Their united forces defeated Mstislav's army in three battles in October 1219.[35][36] Mstislav and Daniel were forced to abandon Halych and Coloman returned to the principality.[35][37] Andrew most probably made Sudislav's son-in-law, File, the commander of the Hungarian army in Halych around this time, according to Font and Barabás.[38]

Mstislav hired Cumans and again invaded Halych in late 1220 or early 1221, but could not capture the capital.[33] Mstislav's fiasco encouraged File to join Leszek's campaign against Volhynia, leaving Coloman and Salomea in the newly fortified Church of the Virgin Mary in Halych.[33][35] Taking advantage of the absence of the bulk of the Hungarian army, Mstislav and the Cumans laid siege Halych in August 1221.[note 2][36][39] File hurried back from his campaign, but Mstislav defeated his army and he could only flee with the help of a Galician boyar, Zhiroslav on 14 August.[37][35] Coloman's retainers tried to resist in the fortified church, but the lack of water forced them to surrender.[35] The Polish chronicler, Jan Długosz, wrote that Coloman and Salomea were imprisoned in the fortress of Torchesk.[35]

Internal strifes in Hungary prevented Coloman's father from launching a military expedition against Mstislav.[33][40] Andrew entered into negotiations with Mstislav and they reached a compromise in late 1221 or early 1222.[41][40] According to the agreement, Coloman was to renounce the title of King of Halych, but Mstislav agreed to give his daughter, Maria, in marriage to Coloman's younger brother, Andrew, to whom Coloman's royal title would be transferred.[33][40]

[Princes] Mstislav and [ Volodimir ] went from Kiev to [Halych] against the King's son, and the men of [Halych] came out against them and [Czechs] and [Poles], Moravians and Hungarians, and the forces came together. And God helped Mstislav, and he entered the town of [Halych] and they took with their hands the King's son and his wife, and he took peace with the King, and let go his son, and himself took his seat in [Halych] and [Volodimir] in Kiev.

— The Chronicle of Novgorod

Coloman was styled "by the Grace of God, king of the Ruthenians, and by his glorious father's generosity, duke of Dalmatia and Croatia" in his first extant charter in 1226.[60] Göncöl, Archbishop of Split, referred to Coloman as "king and duke of Slavonia" in 1229.[61] The first document mentioning Coloman's rule in "whole Slavonia" was issued by the Zagreb Chapter in 1230.[61] He was consequently styled as "king, and duke of whole Slavonia" from the late 1230s.[61]

• Marek, Miroslav. "Genealogy of Danylo's family". Genealogy.EU.