Mstivoj (c. 925 – 995) was an Obodrite prince (''princeps Winulorum'') from 965 or 967 until his death. He inherited his position along with his brother Mstidrag from their father Nako in an unknown year.

Name

Mstiwoj is an old

Slavic name Given names originating from the Slavic languages are most common in Slavic countries. The main types of Slavic names: * Two-base names, often ending in mir/měr (''Ostromir/měr'', ''Tihomir/měr'', '' Němir/měr''), *voldъ (''Vsevolod'', ...

popular among

West Slavs The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic langu ...

and

East Slavs The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert Huds ...

, cognate with the Slavic word for ''vengeance'' (pol. mścić, cz. mstít, or ukr. mstiti) and "woj" or "wój" means "warrior". Thus the name has meaning "Avenger of warriors" or "Avenger warrior". Another forms of the name are: Mistivir, Mistiuis, Mistui, Mistuwoi, Mistiwoi, Mystiwoi, Mistivoj, Mstivoj and Polish Mściwój. The Christian name of Mstivoj was Billung - baptised after his probable godfather Hermann Billung.

Biography

In 983, the brothers were leaders of the great Slavic revolt, which German historiography labels the ''Slawenaufstand'', which followed news of the Emperor Otto II's defeat at the

Battle of Stilo The Battle of Stilo (also known as Cape Colonna and Crotone) was fought on 13 or 14 July 982 near Crotone in Calabria between the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and his Italo-Lombard allies and those of the Kalbid emir of Sicily, Ab ...

. He raided far to the west and even destroyed the relatively new city of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

that year. There are two accounts of his life and his reasons for abandoning Christianity. According to

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen (; ; before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle '' Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' ('' ...

A Slavic prince named Billung married the beautiful sister of Bishop Wago of Starigard and had with her a daughter Hodica and a son Mstislaw, whom he, taking advantage of his jealousy of the
Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
, goaded into hatred of Christianity and his mother until, having so offended his wife, he began to connive against Christianity and the bishops.

According to Helmold:

Duke Herman Billung Duke Bernard I">Bernard_I,_Duke_of_Saxony.html" ;"title="ctually Bernard I, Duke of Saxony">Duke Bernard Ipromised a niece of his to Mstivoj [or Mstivoj requested] if he accompanied him on campaign to Italy. That Mstivoj did and upon returning reminded him of the promise. Then Dietrich of Haldensleben proclaimed that "the high-born niece of a great prince may not be given to a dog," whereupon Mstivoj, recruiting the
Liutizi The Lutici or Liutizi (known by various spelling variants) were a federation of West Slavic Polabian tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeastern Germany. Four tribes made up the core of the federation: t ...
to aid him, devastated Nordalbingia with fire and sword.

Helmold also justifies the Slavic rebellion repeatedly by citing the excessive greed of the Saxons. Mstivoj's daughter Tove married in the spring of 962 Knut Danaást, the eldest son of

Gorm the Old Gorm the Old (; ; ), also called Gorm the Languid (), was List of Danish monarchs, ruler of Denmark, reigning from to his death or a few years later.Lund, N. (2020), p. 147

of Denmark. With the death of Knut in October 962 Tove became a widow, and instead she married Knut's younger brother Harald. She became the mother of

Sweyn Forkbeard Sweyn Forkbeard ( ; ; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 until his death, King of England for five weeks from December 1013 until his death, and King of Norway from 999/1000 until 1014. He was the father of King Ha ...

.Rosborn, Sven (2021) ''The Viking King's Golden Treasure. About the discovery of a lost manuscript, Harald Bluetooth's grave and the location of the fortress of Jomsborg'', pp. 332-335 Tove also raised the Sønder Vissing Runestone in memory of her mother. Another daughter, Hodica, was abbess of the monastery at the Mecklenburg. Mstivoj also had a son, Mstislaw, often being confused with his similarly named father.

References

Sources

{{commonscat * Jacobsen, Lis. "Kong Haralds og Kong Gorms Jellingmonumenter." ''Scandia'', IV. Lund, 1931. p. 264. 920s births 995 deaths Year of birth uncertain Obotrite princes 10th-century monarchs in Europe Slavic pagans Medieval rebels