George Koriatovich

George Koriatovich, also known as George Korjatowicz or Jurg Korjat (after 13301375-1377), was a Lithuanian prince from the Gediminid dynasty. He was prince of Podolia (now in Ukraine) together with his two brothers from around 1363. George closely cooperated with Casimir III of Poland against his Lithuanian kinsmen who had absorbed parts of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. He was elected voivode of Moldavia in 1374, but his Vlach subjects murdered him in 1375 or 1377. Early life George Koriatovich was the oldest son of the Lithuanian prince Karijotas. Karijotas inherited Novgorodok (now Navahrudak in Belarus) from his father, Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, in late 1341 or early 1342. Karijotas adopted Orthodoxy and was baptised Michael. For Karijotas was born in about 1310, his sons must have been born after 1330, according historian Paul W. Knoll. The Lithuanians invaded the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia in late August 1350. They captured significant territories, which were distributed among the Lithuanian princes. The towns of Chełm and Vladimir were given to one George who was probably identical with George Koriatovich, according to Knoll. Casimir III of Poland acknowledged the rule of the Lithuanian princes, including George, in the lands that they had occupied in a treaty signed in 1352. George and his brother, Alexander, came into conflict with their uncles, Kęstutis and Liubartas, in the early 1360s. George and Alexander were expelled from their lands around 1362. They fled to Poland where they settled in Casimir III's court.