Cyril II

Cyril II [Кирило; Kyrylo], ?–1281. Kyivan metropolitan (1243–81) born in Galicia. Prior to his election to the Kyiv metropoly Cyril was Bishop of Kholm. Refusing to live in Kyiv, which was devastated by the Tatars, Cyril moved to Vladimir on the Kliazma but did not transfer the metropolitan cathedral there. He was buried in the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. Cyril is taken to be the author of Pravila o blagochinii zhizni i bogosluzheniia (Rules of Piety in Life and Worship), adopted in 1274 at the bishop’s council in Vladimir, which dealt with abuses in the church.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]