page_title: Poles in Ukraine
section_title: Early medieval time
hierarchical_section_title: Poles in Ukraine / History / Early medieval time
caption_attribution_description: English: View on the square Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kiev. This photograph was taken with an Olympus E-PL1.
context_page_description: The Polish minority in Ukraine officially numbers about 144,130, of whom 21,094 speak Polish as their first language. The history of Polish settlement in current territory of Ukraine dates back to 1030–31. In Late Middle Ages, following the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty in 1323, the Kingdom of Poland extended east in 1340 to include the lands of Przemyśl and in 1366, Kamianets-Podilskyi. The settlement of Poles became common there after the Polish–Lithuanian peace treaty signed in 1366 between Casimir III the Great of Poland, and Liubartas of Lithuania.
context_section_description: In early medieval times the western territory of what is now Ukraine (Eastern Galicia) was known as Red Ruthenia.  It was settled by tribes of Western Slavs - Lendians. According to the Nestor - Primary Chronicle tribe of Lendians were 'Lachy' (Lechites) and their Duke Wlodzislav took part in dealing with Byzantine empire together with the Rus. It is first attested in AD 981, when Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus conquered the Red Ruthenian strongholds in his military campaign on the border with the land of Lendians. Nestor reports in his chronicle that: "Vladimir marched upon the Lyakhs (k Lyakbotri) and took their cities: Peremyshl (modern Przemyśl), Cherven (modern Czermno), and other towns."
  In the following century, the area shifted to Poland in 1018–1031, then back to Kievan Rus' and in 1069–1080 back to Poland. From 1080 until 1349 this region was part of Kievan Rus or the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia.  During this time Polish settlers helped to economically develop the region and they formed a significant element in the courts of the Galician rulers.
  Following the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty and the end of the Galician-Volhynian kingdom, this region was joined with the Polish Crown at the Polish–Lithuanian peace treaty signed in 1366 by Casimir III of Poland, with Liubartas of Lithuania.  A Roman Catholic Archdiocese was established in the old Galician capital of Halych in 1375, and was transferred to Lviv in 1412. Native nobles (boyars) who refused to declare allegiance to the Polish kingdom were dispossessed of their lands, which were granted to arriving nobles from Poland.  Large numbers of settlers came to Galician lands from Lesser Poland; Polish nobles were given land grants, Polish peasants settled in the countryside and Polish, German and Armenian merchants and craftsmen settled in the towns.  Over time, many but not all of the remaining native nobility (particularly the wealthy ones with much land) as well as the townspeople assimilated into Polish culture, while the Polish peasant settlers assimilated into the native culture.
  In Ukrainian lands further east, near the Kiev region, the first Polish settlers were prisoners of war who were captured by Yaroslav the Wise during his war against Poland in 1030-1031 and settled on lands near Kiev, where they became farmers and assimilated into the local population.  More Polish settlers arrived in the 12th century, resulting in the establishment of a Roman Catholic mission in Kiev.
caption: The Lechitic Gate (Latskie Vorota) on Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4032", "Image ImageLength": "3024", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.", "Image Model": "E-PL1", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "314", "Image YResolution": "314", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2013:08:28 21:12:19", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "888", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 37, 0, 1, 0, 20, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1732", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3879", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/2000", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:08:05 12:03:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:08:05 12:03:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1370723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "361471/100000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "925/256", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "4294967295", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "14", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5430", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2397", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "5430", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2397", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1584", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "b2dceb146c5a36b14c1abe327bab26d8"}