Rurik descent

Apparently, (supposedly) my paternal grandmother's family are of Rurik descent, I would really appreciate any tips on websites etc whereby I might be able to verify this please. ( I cannot speak Russian so would need resources to be in English) The family name was Galitsky and they were from the Moscow area. Many of my ancestor's were in the Military pre 1917, I don't know their regiments etc but does anyone know what Imperial army regiments were specific to Moscow ?

Many thanks

Thea

Vladimir Yaroslavich - Prince Galitsky, the only son of Yaroslav Osmomysl (c. 1135-1187) from Olga, the daughter of Yuri Dolgoruky Born in Yaroslav (c. 1151-1189)
Yuri Dolgoruky is considered the founder of the Russian capital Moscow.
Yuri Dolgorukys’ father Vladimir II Monomakh is reported as a descendant of Rurik, so that would make Vladimir Yaroslavich - Prince Galitsky  Ruriks’ Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandson.
So if your family are related to the Princely Galitsky family you have a link to Rurik, but having a link to Yuri Dolgoruky it's pretty good in itself. 

Apparently, (supposedly) my paternal grandmother's family are of Rurik descent  . . . .

You're in good company.

Catherine the Great was a descendant of the Rurik Grand Prince of Tver, which was a prosperous and well-governed medieval Russian state that in its early days rivaled Moscow as a potential kernel for a future all-Russian state.  (By Catherine's time Tver was an important way station on the road from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and Catherine even had the prominent Russian architect Matvei Kazakov erect a neoclassical travel palace for her in the city.)

So through Catherine there was Rurik blood on the Russian throne up until the end of imperial Russia.  In fact, if one accepts Catherine's intimations that Paul I was fathered by Sergei Saltikov instead of by Peter III, there was more Rurik blood than Romanov blood spilled by the revolution.

Interesting.

Where did Catherine's descent from the Tver line fit in?

Ann

Oh, boy.  Genealogy isn't my bag, and I'm afraid I've forgotten the details.

If I remember correctly, it came in through one of the Princes of Tver (descendants of Yaroslav III, the Rurik Grand Prince of Vladimir) who married into the German dynasty of Ascania (which, after acquiring Anhalt as its largest territory, became known as the House of Anhalt and later of Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg).  Catherine, of course, began life as Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst.

Perhaps one of the genealogy experts on the forum can weigh in.

The last of Rurik's dynasty to rule Russia passed in 1597; but the connection was renewed in 1745 when Catherine the Great (descended from the Rurikid Grand Prince of Tver) married into the ruling Romanov dynasty.
Catherine II was a descendant of Rurik via several ancestral lines, not merely one.
To start, both of her parents were descendants of Rurik

I've posted elsewhere on the Forum (trying to remember where), the descent of Harold II into the Plantagenet house via his daughter Gytha and Vladimir Monomakh and Andrew of Hungary. Since the Plantagenets and their descendants intermarried extensively with continental houses, it's a fair bet that all the European royal families are descended from Rurik by this route (if not others).

Ann

Wow, I had no idea it was so grand a connection (if there is any truth to my having such a connection). My paternal grand mother was born in France in 1920 to Russian emigre parents. Her father died when she was about 10 yrs old so around 1930 and her mother re married and moved to England. My grandmother died when I 9yrs old and so I only really know about her mother's family and I'm in contact with relatives still living in Russia on that side. I have my grandmother's birth certificate that states her father's name was Galitsky but his profession is rather unhelpfully given as 'gentleman', whatever that means.

My Russian cousins are my only real source of information about my great grandfather's family and they don't seem to know very much either. I have been told the Galitskys were in the military for generations and where from Moscow and of course the Rurik descent bit. Thanks so much for the posts, I shall absolutely have to look into it further now.

Its interesting of course but I dont feel one can't take the glory or the shame for what ones ancestors were or did. On my paternal grandfather's side I have discovered events and connections that are very disturbing.  Old versions of the family arms had the image of an African man in chains as part of the design to signify their ownership of plantations in Jamaica and Barbados. I know that's not my fault and I see the slave trade as being one of the most evil crimes in human history but to know my ancestors were involved and became rich (or rather richer) because of it still makes me feel very very uncomfortable. If some of my Russian ancestors were indeed that grand then goodness knows what I will discover about them, hopefully nice, heroic stories to balance things out!

'Gentleman' in this context probably means that your great-grandfather was sufficiently well off not to need to earn a living.

There is an English joke that if a farmer loses £10,000 a year, he's an inefficient farmer. If he loses £100,000 a year, he's a gentleman farmer (he doesn't need to worry about losing that aount of money, as his other resources will make up for it).

Ann

Thanks Ann, thats really helpful, the joke is good too, very dry and very english. I hope I'm able to discover some proof, but I'm concerned records such as birth certificates etc from pre revolution Russia might not be that easy to get hold of or even still exist, my Russian cousins are hopeful but I'll have to hold off ordering ermine robes and telling everyone I'm related to Catherine the Great for the time being at least ha ha !

Given the connection is that august/grand I suspect Galitsky is probably a relatively common name like Romanov and that its just family lore etc that has made a link to the Princely Galitskys of Rurik descent, either way I think I'll struggle to find 'evidence'.

I do remember reading an article about the woman at the centre of the duel between Nikolai Yssoupov and Count Arvid Manteuffel. For reasons I forget two Princes Gagarin (brothers) were also involved in the saga). Apparently, the astronaut Yuri Gagarin was not a relation, because it was not uncommon forpeasants on aristocratic estates to take the same name as their masters.

But you might be lucky and need the robes after all.

Ann

Harold II's daughter Gytha married Vladimir Monomakh. Their son Mstislav, Grand Prince of  of Kiev, had a daughter, Euphrosyne, by his second marriage, who married Geza II of Hungary.

Geza's grandson, Andrew II of Hungary, had a daughter, Violant, who married James I of Aragon. Their daughter, Isabella, married Philip III of France, and was thus the grandmother of Isabella of France, who married Edward II of England. Philip III and Isabella of Aragon had a younger son, Charles of Valois, whose son, Philip, became the first of the Valois Kings of France after all the three sons of the elder son, Philip the Fair, died without male issue. Since there has since been a huge amount of intermarriage between the descendants of Edward II and Isabella on the one had and the desendants of Philip VI on the other with all the royal houses of Europe, it is a safe bet that they are all now descended from Vladimir Monomakh and Gytha, and through them from Rurik.

Ann