The Retinue of Yurii Troydenovich, a Prince and a Heir to the Kingdom of Rus’: Some Remarks for ConsiderationSome Consideration

Abstract

Prince Yurii Troydenovich, great-grandson of Traidenis and a son in law of Gediminas, is one of the few last rulers of the kingdom of Rus’ about whose entourage at least some news has been preserved.
His reign in Rus’ was unusual. A Catholic from birth, he converted to Orthodoxy in order to take the Ruthenian throne and had close relations with Lithuania. However, local customs were alien to him, and he gravitated from them towards the Latin faith and culture. This internal struggle was also reflected in the prince’s inner circle, which was quite diverse in its ethnic origin. This article presents brief news, as well as opinions of scholars about fifteen princely advisers, officials, and witnesses, who are mentioned in the charters of the Mazovian Piast.
In 1334–1335, he sent two messages to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, in the drafting and certification of which princely officials took part: the judge of the princely court and the voivods (palatini), who were the governors of the main cities. In addition, the bishop of Galich was present when the documents were being written. The names of the officials and the bishop are indicated in the text of the documents, and their seals are attached to the parchments on which they are written. The cognomen of some officials may indicate their foreign origin: Alexander Moldaovich and Borisko Krakula could have been Vlachs, and Khodor Otek and Khotko, son of Jeromir, could have been Czechs. However, the majority of the prince’s officials were Ruthenians. In 1339, the prince issued another document granting Magdeburg rights to the city of Sanok. The witnesses to that document were almost all Poles, and one may have been a Czech. The presence of foreigners among Yurii Troydenovich’s entourage is also confirmed by narrative sources. This was mainly due to the fact that the prince himself came from Polish lands and, although he converted to Orthodoxy, he remained an adherent of the Latin faith and culture. However, one should be cautious in one’s assessments so as not to exaggerate the influence of foreigners on the Ruthenian prince, since their presence at his court in 1339 could have been situational and related to the preparation of a document granting Magdeburg rights to the city specified.