Demetrius of Liubar or Liubartas (also ''Lubart'', ''Lubko'', ''Lubardus'', baptized ''Dmitry''; died ) was Prince of Lutsk and Liubar (Volhynia) (1323–1383), Prince of Zhytomyr (1363–1374), Grand Prince of Volhynia (1340–1383), Grand Prince of Halych–Volhynia (1340–1349).

Biography

Liubartas was the youngest son of Gediminas,

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 ...

. In the early 1320s he married a daughter of Andrew of Galicia and ruled Lutsk with Liubar (today town in

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast ( uk, Жито́мирська о́бласть, translit=Zhytomyrska oblast), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna ( uk, Жито́мирщина}) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the obla ...

) in eastern

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. The ...

. After Andrew and his brother Leo II died around 1322, Galicia–Volhynia did not have a male successor. Instead of promoting Liubartas and causing a war with Poland, Gediminas compromised with

Ladislaus the Short Ladislaus ( or according to the case) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin. It may refer to: * Ladislaus of Hungary (disambiguation) * Ladislaus I (disambiguation) * Ladislaus II (disambiguation) * Ladislaus III (disambiguation) * Ladis ...

. Both parties agreed to install Yuri II Boleslav, nephew of Leo and Andrew. Boleslaw-Yuri was a son of Trojden I, Duke of Masovia from the

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 ...

, a cousin of Władysław I, and nephew of Gediminas' son-in-law Wenceslaus of Płock. At the time Boleslaw was fourteen years old and was betrothed to Eufemija, daughter of Gediminas. Liubartas continued to rule Lutsk and Volodymyr. That way the Galicia–Volhynia Wars were postponed until after Boleslaw's poisoning in 1340. He was poisoned by rebellious nobles, who invited Liubartas to become the ruler for both Galicia and Volhynia. Sources are too scarce to fully reconstruct events between 1341–1349.Rowell, C. S. ''Lithuania Ascending'', pp. 268–269 Despite the support from his brothers

Algirdas Algirdas ( be, Альгерд, Alhierd, uk, Ольгерд, Ольґерд, Olherd, Olgerd, pl, Olgierd; – May 1377) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He ruled the Lithuanians and Ruthenians from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his br ...

and Kęstutis, Liubartas lost all territories except for eastern

with Lutsk to

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 ...

in 1349. In 1351 he was even taken prisoner during a battle, and Kęstutis had to rescue him. In 1366 a treaty was signed: Liubartas retained eastern Volhynia with Lutsk, while Poland got western Volhynia and

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. However the matter was settled only in 1370: Liubartas took advantage of Casimir's death and captured all of Volhynia. The territories changed again only in 1569, when Volhynia, including Lutsk, was transferred to Poland by the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin ( pl, Unia lubelska; lt, Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the per ...

. In 1382, after death of

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...

, Liubartas captured Kremenets,

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was p ...

, and other cities from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

. He supported his brother Kęstutis against nephew Jogaila during the succession fights. He built a castle in Lutsk, known as the Lubart's Castle, that survives to this day. Liubartas died , having ruled Volhynia for roughly sixty years. He married for the second time to an unnamed daughter of Konstantin of Rostov, a relative of

Simeon of Moscow Simeon Ivanovich Gordiy (the Proud) (Семён Иванович Гордый in Russian) (7 September 1317 – 27 April 1353) was Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of Vladimir. Simeon continued his father's policies aimed to increase the power ...

Family

* 1321/23 married Hanna-Buch (Euphemia), princess of Volhynia, daughter of Andrew of Galicia * 1350 married daughter of ** Fedor/ (~1351–1431) ** Lazar (died after 1386) ** Semen (died after 1386) ** Demetrius, presumably ancestor of the Sanguszko

References

{{s-end 14th-century births 1384 deaths People from Galicia–Volhynia Princes of Halych Gediminids

Biography

Family

See also

References