Mstislav Mstislavich

Mstislav Mstislavich the Daring or Mstyslav Mstyslavich the Able (, ; died c. 1228) was a prince of Tmutarakan and Chernigov, one of the princes from Kievan Rus' in the decades preceding the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'. Biography Mstislav Mstislavich was the son of Mstislav Rostislavich "the Brave" of Smolensk by a princess of Ryazan; his grandfather Rostislav I of Kiev was the progenitor of all Rostislavichi of Smolensk. In 1193 and 1203, Mstislav was commended for his bravery in the Kypchak wars, bringing him fame all over Kievan Rus'. At that time, he married Maria, a daughter of Kypchak Khan Kotian. In 1209 he was mentioned as a ruler of Toropets. A year later, he came and took the Novgorodian 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 Chudes in 1212 and 1214. In 1215, he expelled Vsevolod IV from Kiev and elevated his uncle Mstislav Romanovich to the throne. In 1216, Mstislav mustered a large coalition of princes of Rus' which defeated Vladimir-Suzdal in the Battle of Lipitsa. After that, he installed his ally Konstantin of Rostov as Grand Prince of Vladimir and married his own daughter to Yaroslav of Suzdal, 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.