Mstivoj (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-basic 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 la ...
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 H ...
, 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
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
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, Abu'l ...
. He raided far to the west and even destroyed the relatively new city of
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
that year. There are two accounts of his life and his reasons for abandoning Christianity.
According to
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von 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 '' Ges ...
:
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 ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...
, 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: th ...
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 ( da, Gorm den Gamle; non, Gormr gamli; la, Gormus Senex), also called Gorm the Languid ( da, Gorm Løge, Gorm den Dvaske), was 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 ( non, Sveinn Haraldsson tjúguskegg ; da, Svend Tveskæg; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 to 1014, also at times King of the English and King of Norway. He was the father of King Harald II of ...
.
[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
*Jacobsen, Lis. "Kong Haralds og Kong Gorms Jellingmonumenter." ''Scandia'', IV. Lund, 1931. p. 264.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mstivoj
930s births
995 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Obotrite princes
10th-century rulers in Europe
Slavic pagans
Medieval rebels