The
Druck Princes of XIVth century
Vasil Varonin
This article covers a number of aspects connected with the
Druсk prince’s dynasty. The town of Druсk and its
prince’s dynasty played an important role in Belarusian history of the
XIIth century. But there is a lack
of reliable information about them for the next hundred years. Some of the
facts are mentioned in Belarusian–Lithuanian annals of the XVIth century,
but these facts have legendary character. Nevertheless the later historiography,
which is being explored in this article, is based exactly on these facts. The
first historical Druсk prince of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania epoch was
Danila, who ruled in early XIVth century. He started the oldest (accordingly to
J.Wolff, a Polish genealogist) branch of this dynasty. Prince Vasil
Mikhajlavich belonged to that dynasty. He founded the Virgin Mary Church in
Druсk and gave it the parchment Gospels, a unique masterpiece of
Belarusian book culture of XIVth century. The youngest branch of Druсk
princes comes from Dzmitry, who was the second son of the Grand Duke of
Lithuania Alhierd and became Druсk prince owing to the dynastic marriage.