Galicia Central Europe: Encyclopedia II - Galicia Central Europe - Origin and variations of the name

Galicia Central Europe - Origin and variations of the name

The name Galicia et Lodomeria was first used in the 13th century by King Andrew II of Hungary. It was a Latinized version of the Slavic names Halych and Volodymyr, the major cities of the Ukrainian or Ruthenian principality of Halych-Volhynia, which was under Hungarian rule at the time.

The origin of the Ukrainian name Halych (Halicz in Polish, Galich in Russian, Galic in Latin) is uncertain. Some historians believe it has to do with people of Celtic origin settled nearby, and is related to many similar place names found across Europe, such as Galaţi in Romania, Gaul (France), and Galicia in Spain. Others claim that the name is of Slavic origin – from halytsa/galitsa meaning "a naked (unwooded) hill", or from halka/galka which means "a jackdaw". The jackdaw was used as a charge in the city's coat-of-arms and later also in the coat-of-arms of Galicia. The name, however, predates the coat-of-arms which may represent folk etymology.

Although Hungarians were driven out from Halych-Volhynia by 1221, Hungarian kings continued to add Galicia et Lodomeria to their official titles. In the 17th century, those titles were inherited, together with the Hungarian crown, by the Habsburgs. In 1772, Empress Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary, decided to use those historical claims to justify her participation in the first partition of Poland. In fact, the territories acquired by Austria did not correspond exactly to those of former Halych-Volhynia. Volhynia, including the city of Włodzimierz Wołyński (Volodymyr Volyns'kyi)—after which Lodomeria was named—was taken by Russia, not Austria. On the other hand, much of Lesser Poland—which was historically and ethnically Polish, not Ruthenian—did become part of Galicia. Moreover, despite the fact that the claim derived from the historical Hungarian crown, Galicia and Lodomeria was not officially assigned to Hungary, and after the Ausgleich of 1867, it found itself in Cisleithania, or the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary.

The full official name of the new Austrian province was:

After the incorporation of the Free City of Kraków in 1846, it was extended to:

Each of those entities was formally separate; they were listed as such in the Austrian emperor's titles, each had its distinct coat-of-arms and flag. For administrative purposes, however, they formed a single province. The duchies of Auschwitz (Oświęcim) and Zator were small historical principalities west of Kraków, on the border with Prussian Silesia. Lodomeria existed only on paper; it had no territory and could not be found on any map.

Galicia Central Europe - Galicia and Lodomeria in different languages

• Latin: Galicia et Lodomeria
• German: Galizien und Lodomerien
• Hungarian: Galícia és Lodoméria
• Polish: Galicja i Lodomeria
• Slovak: Halič a Vladimírsko or Galícia a Lodoméria
• Ukrainian: Halychyna i Volodymyria (Галичина і Володимирія)
• Romanian: Galiţia şi Lodomeria

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Origin and variations of the name", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki