The first known inhabitants of northern Red Ruthenia were Lendians and White Croats, while subgroups of Rusyns, such as Boykos and Lemkos, lived in the south. Later Walddeutsche, Jews, Armenians and Poles also made up part of the population. According to Marcin Bielski, although Bolesław I Chrobry settled Germans in the region to defend the borders against Hungary and Kievan Rus' the settlers became farmers. Maciej Stryjkowski described German peasants near Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Sanok, and Jarosław as good farmers. Casimir the Great settled German citizens on the borders of Lesser Poland and Red Ruthenia to join the acquired territory with the rest of his kingdom. In determining the population of late medieval Poland, colonisation and Polish migration to Red Ruthenia, Spiš and Podlachia should be considered. During the second half of the 14th century, the Vlachs arrived from the southeastern Carpathians and quickly settled across southern Red Ruthenia. Although during the 15th century the Ruthenians gained a foothold, it was not until the 16th century that the Wallachian population in the Bieszczady Mountains and the Lower Beskids was Ruthenized. From the 14th to the 16th centuries Red Ruthenia underwent rapid urbanization, resulting in over 200 new towns built on the German model. : "Ladislaus Dei Gracia Dux Opoliensis Wieloniensis et Terre Russie Domin et Heres".
Political history
1199 to 1772
During the early Middle Ages, the region was part of Kievan Rus' and, from 1199, the independent Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. It came under Polish control in 1340, when Casimir the Great acquired it. During his reign from 1333 to 1370, Casimir the Great founded several cities, urbanizing the rural province. The Polish nameRuś Czerwona came into use for the territory extending to the Dniester, centring on Przemyśl. Since the reign of Władysław Jagiełło the Przemyśl Voivodeship was called the Ruthenian Voivodeship, centring on Lwów. The voivodeship consisted of five regions: Lwów, Sanok, Halicz, Przemyśl, and Chełm. The town of Halych gave its name to Galicia.During the 1340s, the influence of the Rurik dynasty ended; most of the area passed to Casimir the Great, with Kyiv and the state of Volhynia falling under the control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Polish region was divided into a number of voivodeships, and an era of German eastward migration and Polish settlement among the Ruthenians began. Armenians and Jews also migrated to the region. A number of castles were built at this time, and the cities of Stanisławów and Krystynopol were founded. In October 1372, Władysław Opolczyk was deposed as count palatine. Although he retained most of his castles and goods in Hungary, his political influence waned. As compensation, Opolczyk was made governor of Hungarian Galicia. In this new position, he contributed to the economic development of the territories entrusted to him. Although Opolczyk primarily resided in Lwów, at the end of his rule he spent more time in Halicz. The only serious conflict during his time as governor involved his approach to the Orthodox Church, which angered the local Catholic boyars. Under Polish rule 325 towns were founded from the 14th century to the second half of the 17th century, most during the 15th and 16th centuries. Ruthenia was subject to repeated Tatar and Ottoman Empire incursions during the 16th and 17th centuries and was impacted by the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the 1654–1667 Russo-Polish War and Swedish invasions during the Deluge ; the Swedes returned during the Great Northern War of the early 18th century. Red Ruthenia consisted of three voivodeships: Ruthenia, whose capital was Lviv and provinces were Lviv, Halych, Sanok, Przemyśl and Chełm; Bełz, separating the provinces of Lviv and Przemyśl from the rest of the Ruthenian voivodeship; and Podolia, with its capital at Kamieniec Podolski. ;Ruthenian Voivodeship
* Sanok County, Sanok: Intensive settlement occurred from the 13th to 15th centuries in an area flanked by the Wisłok, San and Wisłoka Rivers. The Vlachs primarily engaged in agriculture; moving west, they established a number of villages during the 15th century. In Sanok Land were six Jewish communities, with synagogues and kahal organizations. Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Jewish Communities were also autonomous in criminal law.
, about 150-200 km southeast of Kraków. Its 18th- and 19th-century Upper Lusatian houses evoked the mountains of Saxony. ;Bełz Voivodeship
Red Ruthenia was conquered by the Austrian Empire in 1772 during the First Partition of Poland, remaining part of the empire until 1918. Between World Wars I and II, it belonged to the Second Polish Republic. The region is currently split, with its western portion in southeastern Poland and its eastern portion in western Ukraine.
