Mstislav Romanovich the Old (died 1223) was

Prince of Pskov The Pskov Republic () was a city-state in northwestern Russia. It is traditionally considered to have won its formal independence from the Novgorod Republic in 1348. Its capital city was Pskov and its territory was roughly equivalent to modern-d ...

(1179–?),

Smolensk Smolensk 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 cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

(1197–?),

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

(1206), Galich (?–?) and

Grand Prince of Kiev The Grand Prince of Kiev (sometimes also Grand Duke) was the title of the monarch of Kievan Rus', residing in Kiev (modern Kyiv) from the 10th to 13th centuries. In the 13th century, Kiev became an appanage principality first of the grand prin ...

(1212–1223). He was the son of Roman Rostislavich.

Reign

Mstislav defeated an invading Hungarian army in 1221. In April 1223, the Mongols of

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

sent an envoy of ten

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

s to negotiate a surrender or alliance. The Rus' haughtily executed them all. The Mongol commanders

Subutai Subutai (c. 1175–1248) was a Mongol general and the primary military strategist of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan. He ultimately directed more than 20 campaigns, during which he conquered more territory than any other commander in history a ...

and

Jebe Jebe (or Jebei, , pronounced as ''Zev''; birth name: Jirqo'adai (Modern Mongolian: Zurgaadai), , ) (death: approximately 1224) was one of the most prominent Noyans (generals) of Genghis Khan. He belonged to the Besud clan, part of the Taichud ...

defeated and captured him three days after the

Battle of the Kalka River The Battle of the Kalka River was fought between the Mongol Empire, whose armies were led by Jebe and Subutai, and a coalition of several Rus' principalities, including Kievan Rus', Kiev and Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia, Galicia-Volhynia, and t ...

at a palisade on a nearby hill. According to the ''

Novgorod First Chronicle The Novgorod First Chronicle ( rus, Новгоро́дская пе́рвая ле́топись, Novgoródskaya pérvaya létopisʹ, nəvɡɐˈrot͡skəjə ˈpʲervəjə ˈlʲetəpʲɪsʲ, commonly abbreviated as NPL), also known by its 1914 Eng ...

'', of the large

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

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 Mongol leader Genghis Khan ...

'':

At the end of the campaign, Subutai and Jebe led their soldiers down to spend a relaxing spring in the
Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
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.

Notes

References

1223 deaths Grand princes of Kiev Deaths from asphyxiation Executed Russian people 13th-century princes from Kievan Rus' 13th-century executions People executed by smothering People executed by the Mongol Empire Executed Ukrainian people Year of birth unknown Rostislavichi family (Smolensk) {{Europe-noble-stub