Mstislav Mstislavich the Daring (russian: Мстисла́в II Мстисла́вич Удатный, uk, Мстислав Мстиславич Удатний, translit=Mstyslav Mstyslavych Udatnyi; died c. 1228)

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. ...

Tmutarakan Tmutarakan ( rus, Тмутарака́нь, p=tmʊtərɐˈkanʲ, ; uk, Тмуторокань, Tmutorokan) was a medieval Kievan Rus' principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the ...

and Chernigov, was one of the most popular and active princes of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas o ...

in the decades preceding the

Mongol invasion of Rus' The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, destroying numerous southern cities, including the largest cities, Kiev (50,000 inhabitants) and Chernihiv (30,000 inhabitants), with the only major cities escaping de ...

. He was the maternal grandfather of Prince

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Gran ...

, Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev and Grand Prince of Vladimir. He also was the maternal grandfather of prince Leo of Galicia, who became Grand Prince of Kiev. He was the son of Mstislav the Brave of

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 ...

by a princess of

Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Cens ...

. In 1193 and 1203, his bravery in the

Kypchak The Kipchaks or Qipchaks, also known as Kipchak Turks or Polovtsians, were a Turkic nomadic people and confederation that existed in the Middle Ages, inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the 8th century as part of the Sec ...

wars brought him fame all over Kievan Rus'. At that time, he married Maria, a daughter of Kypchak

Khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

Kotian. In 1209 he was mentioned as a ruler of Toropets. A year later, he came and took the

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ...

ian throne, seizing Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich's men (Sviatoslav himself was detained in the archbishop's compound in Novgorod). On his way to Novgorod, Mstislav delivered the key town of Torzhok from a siege laid to it by Vsevolod III of Vladimir. He led two successful Novgorodian campaigns against the

Chud Chud or Chude ( orv, чудь, in Finnic languages: tšuudi, čuđit) is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Estonia, Karelia and Northwestern Russia. Arguably, th ...

es in 1212 and 1214. In 1215, he expelled Vsevolod IV from

Kiev 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. Ky ...

and elevated his uncle Mstislav Romanovich to the throne. In 1216, Mstislav mustered a large coalition of princes of Rus' which defeated

Vladimir-Suzdal Vladimir-Suzdal (russian: Владимирско-Су́здальская, ''Vladimirsko-Suzdal'skaya''), also Vladimir-Suzdalian Rus', formally known as the Grand Duchy of Vladimir (1157–1331) (russian: Владимиро-Су́здальс ...

on the Lipitsa River. After that he installed his ally

Konstantin of Rostov Konstantin Vsevolodovich (russian: Константи́н Все́володович) (18 May 1186 in Rostov – 2 February 1218) was the eldest son of Vsevolod the Big Nest and Maria Shvarnovna. In 1206 and 1207, he was the prince of Novg ...

as Grand Prince of Vladimir and married his own daughter to

Yaroslav of Vladimir Yaroslav II (), Christian name ''Theodor'' () (8 February 1191 – 30 September 1246) was the Grand Prince of Vladimir (1238–1246) who helped to restore his country and capital after the Mongol invasion of Rus'. Prince of Pereyaslav Yaroslav ...

, who had fortified himself in Torzhok. In the meantime, his other enemies had him deposed in Novgorod, and Mstislav had to abandon Northern Rus for Halych. In 1219, he concluded peace with his chief rival, Danylo of Halych, who thereupon married Mstislav's daughter Anna. In 1223, Mstislav joined a coalition of perhaps 18 princes, which, along with

Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...

(Polovtsian) allies, pursued the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

from the Dnieper River for nine days and joined battle with them at

Kalka River Kalka is a town in the Panchkula district of Haryana, India. It is near Panchkula city. The name of the town is derived from the Hindu goddess Kali. It is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and is a gateway to the neighbouring state o ...

. While three princes were captured and later killed at the battle site, and six more were killed in headlong pursuit back to the Dnieper River, Mstislav is the only prince specifically named among the nine or so who escaped. He managed to escape by cutting loose the boats on the

Dnieper River } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...

so he could not be pursued.A. N. Nasonov, ed., ''Novgorodskaia pervaia letopis: starshego i mladshego'' izvodov (Moscow and Leningrad: AN SSSR, 1950), 63, 267; John Fennell, ''The Crisis of Medieval Russia 1200-1304'' (London and New York: Longman,1983), 66-68. Mstislav reigned in Halych until 1227, when

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were ...

intrigues constrained him to leave the city to his son-in-law, Andrew of Hungary. Thereupon he retired to Torchesk, where he died in 1228.

Family

He married to a daughter of Kotian khan of Kypchak and had issue: * Rostislava, wife of Yaroslav II of Vladimir. * Anna, wife of Daniel of Galicia.

Succession

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mstislavich, Mstislav 12th-century births 1220s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain Rurik dynasty Rostislavichi family (Smolensk) Princes of Novgorod Princes of Halych Princes of Torchesk 12th-century princes in Kievan Rus' 13th-century princes in Kievan Rus' Eastern Orthodox monarchs