Daniel of Galicia resists Mongol shadow

1217

Prince Daniel of Galicia-Volhynia, a cultivated Rus ruler who would later crown himself king, navigated the threatening presence of the Mongol empire on his eastern frontier. His capital Kholm became a center of stone architecture and German immigration as he looked west for allies. He corresponded with the pope, received a royal crown from Rome, and built fortifications in a style more European than Slavic.