Mstislav of Chernigov

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Mstislav the Brave
Grand Prince of Rus'
Reign 1024–1036
Full name Mstislav Vladimirovich (Konstantine)
Titles Prince of Tmutarakan (990–1024)
Prince of Chernihiv (1024–1036)
Born c. 983
Died 1036 [aged ~53]
Place of death Chernigov
Wife Anastasia
Issue Eustaphius (died 1030s)
Dynasty Rurik Dynasty
Father Vladimir the Great
Mother Rogneda of Polotsk (presumably)

Mstislav Vladimirovich, also Mstislav the Brave[citation needed] (Belarusian: Мсціслаў-Канстанцін Уладзіміравіч Храбры; Russian: Мстислав Владимирович Храбрый; Ukrainian: Мстислав Володимирович Хоробрий), was the earliest attested prince of Tmutarakan and Chernihiv in Kievan Rus'.

Early years

Mstislav was one of the many sons of Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev.[1] His exact position in Vladimir's family is disputed, because Vladimir, who had seven wifes and many concubines before his conversion,[2] fathered two sons called Mstislav, according to the Russian Primary Chronicle.[3] One of them was born to Rogneda of Polotsk, the first wife of Vladimir who married him by force in the late 970s.[2][4] The second Mstislav was born to a Czech woman.[3] Historians debate whether the future prince of Tmutarakan and Chernihiv was the son of Rogneda or Vladimir's Czech wife: for instance, the first option is preferred by George Vernadsky, the second by Janet Martin.[1][3]

Some historians such as Simon Franklin and Jonathan Shepard hypothesize that he is identical with Sfengus.

He was about 5 years old (born c. 983),[citation needed] when his father baptised himself and his family. On this event, Mstislav received the Christian name of Constantine, alluding to the first Byzantine emperor.[citation needed]

Prince of Tmutarakan

Vladimir the Great administered large portions of Kievan Rus' through his sons by placing them in towns in the borderlands.[1][5] The Russian Primary Chronicle narrates, under the year 988, that Mstislav became the prince of Tmutarakan after the death of one of his brothers, Vysheslav of Novgorod.[6] Vernadsky writes that Mstislav, as ruler of Tmutarakan, assumed the title of khagan.[7]

Tmutarakan was an important town controlling the Strait of Kerch between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.[8][9] It was separated from other parts of the Kievan Rus' by the steppes.[9] Under Mstislav, who was the first known prince of Tmutarakan, the town developed into an important emporium for traders from the Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire.[10] Mstislav's relations with the Byzantines were cordial for the most part.[citation needed] In 1016, he subdued the last Crimean strongholds of the Khazar, led by Georgius Tzul.[citation needed] This campaign, conducted in conjunction with Byzantine forces, helped the Greeks to reassert their control of the Crimea.[citation needed]

Vladimir the Great died in 1014 while preparing a campaign against his rebellious son, Izyaslav.[1] Mstislav remained neutral during the civil war which followed his father's death and ended with the victory of his brother, Yaroslav the Wise in 1019.[11] Mstislav demonstrated his military prowess in 1022: he killed Rededia, the prince of the Circassian tribe of the Kassogians in a duel, forcing Rededia's people to accept his suzerainty in 1022.[12] He had a church, dedicated to the Holy Virgin, built in his seat in fulfillment of the oath he had taken before the duel.[13] He took Rededia's wife and two sons, giving the latter the Slavic names of Yuri and Roman.[citation needed] Many Kassogians joined Mstislav's druzhina or retinue.[14]

Prince of Chernihiv

In 1024, while Yaroslav the Wise was away from Kiev, Mstislav led his army, which included Kassogian and Khazar troops, against Kiev.[12][9] Although he could not enter the capital of Rus' because of the locals' opposition, he forced the Severians—an East Slavic tribe dwelling along the Desna River to the east of Kiev—to accept his suzerainty.[15][9] He transferred his seat from Tmutarakan to Chernihiv, which was the second largest town in Kievan Rus'.[16] For no source mentions a local prince ruling in Chernigov before this event, historians regard Mstislav as the first ruler of the Principality of Chernigov.[17] He had the citadel expanded and the defensive works surrounding the suburb reinforced in his new seat.[18]

Duumvirate

Yaroslav the Wise, who mustered Varangian troops in Novgorod, invaded Mstislav's domain in 1024.[12][17] In the decisive battle, which was fougth at Listven near Chernihiv, Mstislav emerged the victor.[12][17] Yaroslav the Wise surrendered all the territories to the east of the Dnieper River to Mstislav.[17][19] After this distribution of the lands of Kievan Rus' Mstislav ruled in his principality autonomously.[20] He ordered the erection of a stone and masonry cathedral, dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Holy Savior, in his capital in 1030 or 1031.[21]

Mstislav forced the Alans who dwelled along the lower course of the river Don to accept his suzerainty in 1029.[7] He closely cooperated with his brother in the last years of his life.[12] Yaroslav and Mstislav jointly invaded Poland and occupied the Cherven towns in 1031.[22] The Russian Primary Chronicle narrates that they "also captured many Poles and distributed them as colonists in various districts."[23][7] Later the same year, Mstislav's fleet, joined by the Alans, routed the Shervanshah's army near Baku and sailed up the Kura River, thence proceeding to Armenia.[citation needed]

Upon Mstislav's sudden death in a hunting accident (1036), his vast realm passed to Yaroslav. In the words of the Primary Chronicle, "his body was deposited in the Holy Saviour's church, which he had laid to, as its walls were already high enough for a mounted horseman to reach the top with his outstretched hand". This cathedral remains the only extant monument of Mstislav's reign.

The name of Mstislav's spouse is known to have been Anastasia (or Maria), and they had a son, named Eustaphius, who predeceased his father. Some scholars have identified this prince with "a Russian king's son", who married Canute the Great's sister Aestrid (according to Adam of Bremen's scholia). Upon returning home from Russia, Aestrid was briefly married to Robert the Devil.

In the later 17th century, when the Velvet Book was being compiled by the Russian aristocracy, the Lopukhins, Ushakovs, and several other noble families, seeking for illustrious pedigrees, asserted their descent from Mstislav's daughter Tatyana who married Rededya's son Roman. In this case his wife Anastasia could not have been Rededya's wife, as it would have implied that Roman was Tatyana's half-brother.

Mstislav of Chernigov
Rurikovich
Born: 970s Died: 1036
Regnal titles
Preceded by
?		 Prince of Tmutarakan
? – 1024 		Succeeded by
?
Preceded by
?		 Prince of Chernigov
1024–1036 		Succeeded by
?
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Yaroslav the Wise		 Grand Prince of Kiev
1019–1036 		Succeeded by
Sudislav Vladimirovich
Preceded by
Yaroslav the Wise		 2nd in line to Prince of Kiev
1015–1019 		Succeeded by
Sudislav Vladimirovich

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Vernadsky 1948, p. 74.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vernadsky 1948, p. 57.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Martin 1993, p. 27.
  4. ↑ Martin 1993, pp. 2, 27.
  5. ↑ Martin 1993, p. 12.
  6. ↑ Martin 1993, pp. 12, 26.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Vernadsky 1948, p. 77.
  8. ↑ Dimnik 1994, p. 56.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Martin 1993, p. 26.
  10. ↑ Dimnik 1994, pp. 26, 56-57.
  11. ↑ Vernadsky 1948, pp. 75-76.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Vernadsky 1948, p. 76.
  13. ↑ Vernadsky 1948, pp. 77-78.
  14. ↑ Vernadsky 1948, pp. 357-358.
  15. ↑ Vernadsky 1948, pp. 3, 76.
  16. ↑ Dimnik 1994, pp. 8, 16.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Dimnik 1994, p. 8.
  18. ↑ Dimnik 1994, pp. 12, 16.
  19. ↑ Vernadsky 1948, p. 68.
  20. ↑ Dimnik 1994, pp. 50, 74.
  21. ↑ Dimnik 1994, pp. 8, 16-17.
  22. ↑ Manteuffel 1982, p. 81.
  23. ↑ Russian Primary Chronicle (year 6539), p. 136.

Sources

  • Dimnik, Martin (1994). The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1054–1146. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. ISBN 0-88844-116-9. 
  • Manteuffel, Tadeusz (1982). The Formation of the Polish State: The Period of Ducal Rule, 963–1194 (Translated and with an Introduction by Andrew Gorski). Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1682-4. 
  • Martin, Janet (1993). Medieval Russia, 980–1584. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-67636-6. 
  • The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text (Translated and edited by Samuel Hazzard Cross and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor) (1953). Medieval Academy of America. ISBN 978-0-915651-32-0.
  • Vernadsky, George (1948). A History of Russia, Volume II: Kievan Russia. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-01647-6. 
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