A philosopher prince

Mankind will not get rid of its evils until either the class of those who philosophize ... reach political power or those most powerful in cities ... really get to philosophizing. The author of this quotation is the prominent ancient thinker Plato, and even those who are not familiar with his philosophy know that he advocated an ideal state ruled by philosophers.

These views expressed by Plato have been dubbed utopian many times. But utopias, however puzzling it may be for their critics, have a tendency to come true, at least some parts of them, and Plato’s ideal state is no exception. Even though it did not materialize precisely as its creator had designed it, some of its elements indeed became reality. And the concept of the ideal state inspired many a European thinker.

Unlike the antique times, medieval Europe had more important things to worry about than philosophy. At this time Europe suffered from disorganization of social life and societal and political fragmentation. But philosophy was highly esteemed in the Arab caliphate, a huge empire that existed in the early Middle Ages. When Europe entered an economic and cultural boom, centralized imperial states came into being and the interest in philosophy revived. Some rulers even wanted to have themselves portrayed as “philosophers in power.” There are reasons to believe that the fostering of philosophy is an indicator of how strong society and country are. The states that follow this principle are, as a rule, powerful and prosperous.

By and large, Ukrainians have not exhibited a special desire to foster philosophy. So in our country a philosopher in power is a rare, almost non-existent species. Remember how Gogol’s legendary Taras Bulba derided his sons’ education in the Kyiv academy? They would have studied there Aristotle-type non- scholastic philosophy.

Nonetheless, there were exceptions in our country, and they can be found in the seemingly least conducive Middle Ages. The philosopher ruler I have in mind is Volodymyr Vasylkovych. People know very little about him and his figure gets undeservedly overshadowed by the great warrior princes, such as Sviatoslav, Volodymyr the Great, Yaroslav the Wise, Volodymyr Monomakh, Danylo Romanovych, and others. Volodymyr Vasylkovych, however, is worthy of attention and respect. Because of his non-standard ways he stood our from among the other old-Rus’ princes. In a certain sense he was ahead of his time, attempting to implement new approaches in the political, social, and cultural life. Contemporaries called him philosopher, and this should not be interpreted as flattering. Volodymyr Vasylkovych fostered philosophy and strived to implement his own philosophical ideas in life. A nation would have to appreciate a personality like his and hold him up as an example. Unfortunately, we often fail to value things that are worth valuing. Instead, we praise to the skies things that are doubtable.

Volodymyr Vasylkovych happened to live in difficult times. His grandfather was the famous prince Roman Mstyslavych who succeeded in uniting Volhynia and Galicia. In addition to this, he gained control over a large part of Ukrainian lands and turned into an important player in the world political arena of that time. In the chronicles he is deservedly called the “unforgettable ruler of entire Rus’.” But his sudden death near the Polish city of Zawichost in 1205 put an end to the ambitious plans of this talented and vigorous prince.

After this tragic event the state he had created found itself in political chaos. It was only after a long struggle over Prince Roman’s heritage that his descendants Danylo and Vasylko succeeded in restoring their father’s possessions. These princes were in power when Mongols and Tatars attacked the Ukrainian lands. Even though Galicia and Volhynia did not suffer plundering, the princes still had to put themselves into subjection to the conquerors.

Volodymyr was Prince Vasylko’s only son, and his mother, Olena, was a daughter of Prince Leszek of Cracow, which means that both Ukrainian and Polish blood ran in his veins.

We do not know his precise date of birth but he was most probably born in the 1740s. He was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1258. Under the year of 1262 there is a detailed account of a battle near Nobel which took place either in the summer or in autumn. Volodymyr Vasylkovych took part in the battle and his father gained a glorious victory over the Lithuanian forces. That year Volodymyr Vasylkovych was also present at a meeting of the Galician- Volhynian princes with the Polish prince Boleslaw. These facts testify that the prince’s young son accompanied his father in his military campaigns. Along with the art of war he studied the art of diplomacy and in this way learned to be a prince.

Volodymyr got married when he was young. His wife, Olha, was a daughter of Prince Roman Mykhailovych of Briansk. Of course, marriages between Rus’ princes of that time pursued certain goals, both material and political, and the feelings of the young people were not a factor. Volodymyr’s marriage to Olha does not seem to have been an exception in this respect. Nevertheless, deep intimate feelings developed between them, at least as far as we can judge from certain stories in the chronicles.

In 1266 Volodymyr Vasylkovych participated in the battle between Rus’ and Polish forces in an area known as Vorota. The Rus’ warriors suffered a bitter loss, and Volodymyr learned a valuable lesson from this experience.

Shortly afterwards, in 1269, his father died and he acceded to the throne in the city of Volodymyr in Volhynia. The young prince must have had a disinclination toward war and tried to avoid warfare, concentrating on diplomacy instead.

Volodymyr Vasylkovych preferred to take care of domestic affairs. Of course, he had to participate in important military campaigns. For example, the Galician- Volhynian Chronicle contains a detailed account of the raid by the Galician-Volhynian princes Volodymyr, Lev, and Mstyslav into the Lithuanian lands in the winter of 1275-76. The chronicler also tells the story of Volodymyr’s military expedition to Slonim and Novhorodok, the main stronghold of the Lithuanian state under Prince Traidenis, and Volodymyr’s other campaigns. Even though from a military point of view his warfare can hardly be described as successful, Volodymyr managed to gain control over the land in what is now western Belarus (Hrodna) and signed a peace treaty with Traidenis.

The prince’s foreign policy was chiefly directed toward north. Evidently, Volodymyr set the goal of conquering the Baltic territories to gain access to the sea and the Baltic trade, which was extremely important in those days.

It is interesting to note the relations between the Volhynian state under Prince Volodymyr and Masowia, a Polish principality. In 1279 Volodymyr waged a military campaign against this principality and the Polish Duke Conrad of Masowia was forced to seek peace. Around that time Masowia became a vassal land of the Volhynian prince, or at least the Galician- Volhynian chronicle refers to the prince of Masowia as a vassal of the Volhynian princes in subsequent years.

It is not surprising that Volodymyr Vasylkovych paid a lot of attention to the reinforcement of his state’s northern border. He founded Kamenets, a city north of Brest, which turned into an important defense outpost. The high stone tower dating back to his times has been preserved until our day. The chronicler also attributes the founding of Brest to Volodymyr but this claim is, of course, somewhat exaggerated. The city of Brest was known as far back as in the 11th century but was ruined during the Mongol-Tartar invasion in 1241 and lost its importance. Volodymyr Vasylkovych built new fortified walls and a defense tower, like the one in Kamenets. This brought about a revival of the city, which once again became an important northern stronghold of the Volhynian principality.

The years of 1285 and 1287 brought ill luck to the Galician-Volhynian princes. In 1285 the warlord Nogai and Khan Telabuga ordered them to join their raid against Hungary. The Polish prince Boleslaw seized the opportunity and plundered villages around the city of Shchekarev. This caused Volodymyr and his brother, the Galician prince Lev, with the support of ally Lithuanians, to wage war against the Lublin land.

In 1287 Telabuga and Nogai decided to fight Poles, and the Galician-Volhynian princes were again forced to chip in. Transiting through Volhynia and Galicia Tatars ravaged these lands, especially the neighborhoods of Volodymyr and Lviv. The Volhynian-Galician princes with their armies went to Poland and dealt a blow at Sandomyr and Krakow. Volodymyr Vasylkovych, however, found a way out of the campaign: when he reached the Sian River, he said that he was seriously ill, after which he headed back to Volhynia. The chronicle interprets this “flight” as the prince’s unwillingness to deal with Mongols and Tatars whom he called “dregs.”

During his last years Volodymyr’s health was seriously affected. The childless prince made his will and took a number of steps to bequeath his principality to his cousin Mstyslav, a son of Danylo Romanovych. Mstyslav is believed by some to have founded the Ostrozky family.

Volodymyr Vasylkovych died in Luboml on Dec. 10, 1288.