Mstislav Romanovich the Old ( uk, Мстислав Романович Старий; russian: Мстислав Романович Старый) (died 1223) was
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
of
Pskov (1179–?),
Smolensk
Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...
(1197–?),
Belgorod
Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics
The population of B ...
(1206),
Halych
Halych ( uk, Га́лич ; ro, Halici; pl, Halicz; russian: Га́лич, Galich; german: Halytsch, ''Halitsch'' or ''Galitsch''; yi, העליטש) is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The city gave its name to the P ...
(?–?) and
Grand Prince
Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king ...
of Kiev (
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Kyi ...
, 1212–1223). He was the son of
Roman Rostislavich.
Mstislav defeated an invading
Hungarian army in 1221. In April 1223, the Mongols of
Genghis Khan sent an envoy of ten ambassadors to negotiate a surrender or alliance. The Russians haughtily executed them all. The Mongol commanders Subodei and Jebe defeated and captured him three days after the
Battle of the Kalka River
The Battle of the Kalka River (russian: Битва на реке Калке; uk, Битва на річці Калка) was fought between the Mongol Empire, whose armies were led by Jebe and Subutai, and a coalition of several Rus' principalit ...
at a palisade on a nearby hill. According to the
Novgorod Chronicle
The Novgorod First Chronicle (russian: Новгородская первая летопись) or The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471 is the most ancient extant Old Russian chronicle of the Novgorodian Rus'. It reflects a tradition different ...
, of the large Russian army sent out to fight the Mongols, only "every tenth returned to his home." For the first time since the attack of the Huns on Europe over seven centuries earlier, an Asian force had invaded Europe and utterly annihilated a major army.
An account of Mstislav's execution after the battle is described in
Jack Weatherford's historical book ''
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
''Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World'' (2004) is a history book written by Jack Weatherford, Dewitt Wallace Professor of Anthropology at Macalester College. It is a narrative of the rise and influence of Genghis Khan and his succes ...
'':
At the end of the campaign, Subodei and Jebe led their soldiers down to spend a relaxing spring in the Crimea on the Black Sea. They celebrated their victory with a great drunken party that lasted for days. The guest of honor was the defeated Prince Mstislav and his two sons-in-law, but their treatment showed how much the Mongols had changed since the time of Genghis Khan. The Mongols wrapped the three of them in felt rugs, as befitted high-ranking aristocrats, and stuffed them beneath the floorboards of their ger, thereby slowly, but bloodlessly, crushing the men as the Mongols drank and sang through the night on the floor above them. It was important to the Mongols that the Russians understand the severe penalty for killing ambassadors, and it was equally as important for the Mongol leaders to reaffirm to their own men the extent to which they would always be willing to go to avenge the unjust killing of a Mongol.
1223 deaths
Grand Princes of Kiev
Rurik dynasty
Deaths from asphyxiation
Executed Russian people
13th-century princes in Kievan Rus'
Eastern Orthodox monarchs
13th-century executions
People executed by smothering
People executed by the Mongol Empire
Executed Ukrainian people
Year of birth unknown
Rostislavichi family (Smolensk)
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