There's an interesting history behind the territory that spanned the trail of the Carpathian Mountains!
I became interested in the country of Ruthenia and the history behind it's territory when I began my genealogical research into my Eastern European heritage. You see, all of my ancestors were of Eastern European descent. On my father's side, his ancestors traced from Ruthenia and Ukraine.
Ruthenia is a geographic and culturo-ethnic name applied to the parts of Eastern Europe populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to the past various states that existed in these territories. Essentially, the word is a Latin rendering of the ancient place-name Rus. Today, the historical territory of Rus, in the broadest sense, is formed with part(s) of the lands of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, a small part of northeastern Slovakia and a narrow strip of eastern Poland.
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Ruthenia at a glance
Ruthenia is a geographic and culturo-ethnic name applied to the parts of Eastern Europe populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to the past various states that existed in these territories. Essentially, the word is a Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus. Today, the historical territory of Rus, in the broadest sense, is formed with part(s) of the lands of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, a small part of northeastern Slovakia and a narrow strip of eastern Poland.
The term "Ruthenia" may mean significantly different things, depending on to whom the term applies and the when, why, and to which period. It may refer to any of the following entities, appearing in rough chronological order:
Carpathian Ruthenia at a glance
Carpathian Ruthenia, Category: List of acronyms and initialisms - : A#AK|aka Transcarpathian Ruthenia, Rusinko, Subcarpathian Rus, Subcarpathia (Rusyn and Ukrainian: ?????????? ????, romanised: Karpats'ka Rus'; Slovak and Czech: Podkarpatská Rus; Hungarian: Kárpátalja; Romanian: Transcarpatia; ) is a small region of Central Europe, now mostly in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian: Zakarpats'ka oblast'), easternmost Slovakia (largely in Pre?ov kraj and Ko?ice kraj), Poland's Lemkovyna and Romanian Maramure?. It is inhabited by Ruthenian-speakers (Carpatho-Rusyns, Lemkos), and Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian and Russian populations.
Rus, the country, at a glance
:Name of Russia redirects here. See Name of Russia (Russia TV) for the television programme.
Originally, the name Rus (????, Rus') referred to the region controlled by the medieval (9th to 12th centuries) Rus' Khaganate and Kievan Rus' polities. The territories of the latter are today distributed among Belarus, Ukraine and a part of the European section of the Russian Federation. The name of Russia is ultimately derived from Rus.
To distinguish the medieval "Rus" state from other states that derived from it, modern historiography calls it "Kievan Rus." Its predecessor, the 9th-century "Rus' Khaganate," had no central organization and was a loose cluster of independent settlements situated between about 52 and 61 degrees north latitude and between 25 and 45 degrees east longitude.
"Rus" as a state had no proper name; by its inhabitants it was called "Ruskaya zemlya" (with Ruskaya alternatively spelled Rouskaya, Ruskaya, Ruskaya, and Russkaya), which might be translated as "Rus land" or "Land of the Rus". In similar fashion, Poland is still called Polska by its inhabitants, and the Czech lands (?eské zem?) is commonly called by its adjectival name, ?esko.
Ruthenia info
- Ruthenia on Answers.com
- A variety of information about Ruthenia from Answers.com.
- Maps of Eastern Slovakia
- An informative website of Eastern Slovakia Genealogy Research Strategies including many maps.
- Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn Genealogy Research Pages
- The Eastern Slovakia, Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn Genealogical Research Page offers tools, resources, and information to help you search your Slovak or Carpatho-Rusyn family history and ancestry. You will also find links to a wealth of information on the area now known as Slovakia.
- Carpatho-Rusyn Society
- The Carpatho-Rusyn Society is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to manifesting Carpatho-Rusyn culture in the United States and supporting Rusyn culture in the Homeland in east central Europe. It works to educate Rusyns and non-Rusyns about Rusyn culture and history, and to support the development of Rusyn culture on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ruthenia factoids
- The term was applied to Ukraine in the Middle Ages when the princes of Halych briefly assumed the title kings of Ruthenia.
- Later, in Austria-Hungary, the term Ruthenians was used to designate the Ukrainian population of W. Ukraine, which included Galicia, Bukovina, and Carpathian Ukraine.
- After 1918 the term Ruthenia was applied only to the easternmost province of Czechoslovakia, which was also known as Carpathian Ukraine, or by its Czech name, Podkarpatská Rus [Sub-Carpathian Russia]; for the history of this area from 1918, see Transcarpathian Region.
- Culturally, however, the Ruthenians were distinct from the Ukrainians, especially after 1596, when the Orthodox Church of the Western Ukraine entered into union with the Roman Catholic Church, and after 1649, when a similar union was effected in Hungary.
- The Ruthenian Uniate Church of the Byzantine (see Roman Catholic Church) thus included the majority of the Ruthenians in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, while the Greek Orthodox Church was fully restored (17th cent.) in the Russian part of the Ukraine.
- When all Ruthenians were united (1945) in Soviet Ukraine, government pressure resulted in the secession of the Ruthenian Uniate Church from Rome and its reunion with the Russian Orthodox Church.
- In 1989 the Uniate Church broke with the Russian Orthodox Church and reestablished its ties with Rome.
Ruthenia in the news
- Cossack Hetmantate, Halych-Volhynia, and Ruthenia
- The first one is: Why the Cossacks does'nt get Ruthenian culture when becoming RUTHENIA, only when conquering Halych-Volhzynia? It's actually difficult since you have to annex them in at least two wars and get major bb. ...
- Blurred Borders
- This magical geographical point has a variety of names: Carpathian Rus', Subcarpathia or Transcarpathian Ruthenia. The area has previously belonged to Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and was once one of the four provinces of the pre-war ...
- LJ Layout #005: Poppies Field
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- Request Icons #2 - Home comfort
- ???????? ?? ????? // Request Icons for: [info] keila_ya - ???????? ??? // home comfort. 1, 2, 3, 4. 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 11, 12.
Slavic peoples at a glance
Category: Image - :Slavic europe.svg|thumb|300px|Countries with majority Slavic ethnicities and at least one Slavic national language
The Slavic peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland (most commonly thought to be in Eastern Europe) to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Geography and ethnic geography of the Balkans to 1500 Many settled later in SiberiaFiona Hill, Russia ? Coming In From the Cold?, The Globalist, 23 February 2004 and Central AsiaRobert Greenall, Russians left behind in Central Asia, BBC News, 23 November 2005. or emigrated to other parts of the world.Terry Kirby, 750,000 and rising: how Polish workers have built a home in Britain, The Independent, 11 February 2006.Poles in the United States, Catholic Encyclopedia
Modern nations and ethnic groups called by the ethnonym "Slavs" are considerably genetically and culturally diverse and relations between them are varied, ranging from a sense of connection to feelings of mutual resentment."Kundera emphasized that for a thousand years the Czechs never had any direct contact with Russia. In spite of their linguistic kinship, the Czechs and the Russians never shared a common world, neither a common history of common culture.(...) Joseph Conrad wrote that "nothing could be more alien to what is called in literary world "the Slavic spirit" than the Polish temperament with its chivalric devotion to moral constraints and its exaggerated respect for individual rights" History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change. Robert Bideleux. Routledge 1998.(accentuation added. . From its beginning, Poland drew its primary inspiration from Western Europe and developed a closer affinity with the French and Italians, for example, than with nearer Slavic neighbours of Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine heritage . This westward orientation, which in some ways has made Poland the easternmost outpost of Latinate and Catholic tradition, helps to explain the Poles tenacious sense of belonging to the "West" and their deeply rooted antagonism toward Russia as the representative of an essentially alien way of life .''U.S. Library of Congress[http://countrystudies.us/poland/5.htm]accentuation added).
Slavic peoples are classified into West Slavic (including Czechs, Kashubians, Poles, Moravians, Slovaks, Silesians and Sorbs), East Slavic (including Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians), and South Slavic (including Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes). For a more comprehensive list, see Ethno-cultural subdivisions.
Rus, the people, at a glance
Rus' (????, , ??????, ????) are an ancient people whose name survives in the cognates Russians,at Encyclopedia Britannica Rusyns, and Ruthenians, and who are viewed by the modern Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians as the predecessors of their own peoples.
Ruthenian woman
Ruthenian woman from the former Kingdom of Ruthenia. By Augustus F. Sherman.Throughout his tenure as a registry clerk with the Immigration Division of Ellis Island, Augustus F. Sherman systematically photographed more than 200 families, groups, and individuals while they were being held by customs for special investigations. This image was chosen in collaboration with Ellis Island and is from the book Ellis Island Portraits 1905-1920. It is one of Sherman's many striking portraits, which predate August Sander's cataloging efforts by several years.
Ruthenian wedding
A large loaf, "wedding loaf," is prepared and baked by relations and friends invited for the purpose, who sing certain customary songs while the baking is in progress. Besides this "korowaj," smaller loaves of the same shape are made.From "Customs of the World" by Walter Hutchinson 1931.
Ruthenian Spring Festival
In spring, before sowing, the peasants say prayers on the field. Tapers are burnt in a three-branched candlestick between which and the dorn are placed two loaves of bread, the symbol of their hopes.From "Customs of the World" by Walter Hutchinson 1931.
Ruthenia books
Carpathian Ruthenia and the Czechoslovak Republic
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Eastern Slovakia: Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn genealogy research pages on the internet at http://www.iarelative.com/slovakia.htm
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Lithuania and White Ruthenia
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Over the hills of Ruthenia,
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The Soviet Seizure of Subcarpathian Ruthenia
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Ruthenia collectibles
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More about Ruthenia ...
- ruthenia - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
- Definition of ruthenia from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary with audio pronunciations, thesaur...
- Ruthenian Church
- The motherland of the Ruthenian Catholic Church is now in extreme western Ukraine southwest of the C...
- Amazon.com: The Soviet Seizure of Subcarpathian Ruthenia ...
- Amazon.com: The Soviet Seizure of Subcarpathian Ruthenia: Frantisek Nemec, Vladimir Moudrv: Books. U...
- Image:Subdue of Ruthenia in 1366 .png - Wikimedia Commons
- Sep 15, 2008 ... Image:Subdue of Ruthenia in 1366 .png No higher resolution available. Subdue_of_Rut...
- Булат Окуджава
- Булат Окуджава. Новое утро (1957) "Пароход попрощается...
Drop me a note ...
Are you researching your family's ancestry with Ruthenian origins? Had you heard of Ruthenia before?
Researching Pochotko (Posatko) and Gabor. Mary Gabor immigrated to the US in 1901, married Mike Pochotko in 1903 in Pennsylvania. We were told they were Slavish, or Hunky, they were Greek Catholic, and on census records, they say there were Ruthenian, or Czech, and spoke Slovak.
Posted August 19, 2008
Researching MUDRYSZYN from Lukowe, Poland (Carpatho-Rusyn we believe). G-Grandfather migrated to Anina, Austria-Hungary (Romania) where he married DEKAN originally from Frydek-Mistek ,Moravia (possibly Carpathian German) They spoke German when immigrated to USA in 1902-1903.
Posted May 29, 2008
My ancestors were not Rusyn (Ruthenian), but they lived for 200 years in Ruthenia (Carpatho-Ukraine).
In the early 20th century they began to intermarry with Rusyns, so I have many Rusyn cousins. If you are interested, we have a website about our village
which is near Mukachevo.
Posted April 21, 2008
Trying to find info on my grandfather's family. Name. Hleba, on my birth certificate it is Hylba (chlba). Ever hear of that name? He emigrated to the US and in t Canada in the 1890's settled inWestern Pa and died in a mine explosion with my uncle.
Posted October 03, 2007
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