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He was born about in 1076 the son of Vladimir
II Vsyevolodovivh Monomakh and probably his first wife, Gytha, Harol'dovna,
daughter of King Harald II of England. He married Christina, daughter of Inge
Stenkal'son King of Sweden, and then, after she died in 1122, the daughter of
Dmitri Zavidich, posadnik of Novgorod. His sons from the first marriage were
Izyaslav II, appanage prince of Vladimir-in-Volynia
and then grand prince of Kyiv; and Rostislav,
grand prince of Kyiv, whose family is shown on this chart. From the second marriage his children were
Evpraksia, Vsyevolod, prince of Novgorod,
Pereyaslavl, Vishgorod, and Pskov; Svyatopolk,
crown prince of Kyiv; Vladimir, appanage prince of
Dorogobuzh; Agrafia who married
Vsyevolod II; Mal'frid,
and probably another daughter. He was prince of Novgorod (1088-93) and again
(1097-1117), prince of Rostov (1093-94), prince of Belgorod (1117-1125) and
then grand prince of Kyiv in (1125-1132). They are shown on this family
chart. Mstislav I is shown also on
chart with his immediate descendents.
He continued the politics of his father, Vladimir Monomakh, in regards to
the appanage Princes. Though considered capable rulers, neither Vladimir nor
his son, Mstislav, could stop the disintegration of the once unified and mighty
Kievan state. Internal conflicts and even wars between brothers and the various
princes, (pretenders to the Kievan throne), continued to weaken and break it
up. But even before the eclipse of Kiev, several other capitals of
principalities, most of them headed by local dynasties, gained additional
independence and a few of them became new political and cultural centers. The
most important of these principalities that originally developed from the
city-states were Chernigiv, Rostov, Suzdal, and Novgorod. Mstislav's reign is
noted for the construction of the Annunciation church on Gorodishche in 1103,
which has been located in an archaeological dig, as well as the churches of
Mikolo-Dvorishchensk'kyi in 1113, Antoniev in 1117 and Yuriev monastery in 1119
which are all standing today.
Chronology:
1076 AD - Mstislav's birth noted in the chronicle (by no means all princes so
noticed).
1095 AD - Chronicle notes that the Novgorodians went
to Rostov to get Mstislav and make him their prince replacing
David Svyatoslavich. He had served them well already
as prince 1088-93.
1096 AD - Mstislav led the Novgorodian army against Oleg Svyatoslavich (David's brother) when Oleg took Murom
and Suzdal. This campaign is discussed at length in the biography of Oleg
Svyatoslavich. It was in this campaign that Oleg killed Mstislav's younger
brother, Izyaslav, at Murom and Mstislav asked his father, Vladimir Monomakh,
to write to Oleg about this. The letter is one of the great documents of early
medieval Rus.
1096 AD - During Svyatopolk's campaign in
Volynia, David Svyatoslavich was besieging Vladimir and was attacked and
defeated by Svyatosha and Putyata. David and Mstislav Vladimirovich escaped to
the Polovtsi, then attacked Svyatosha at Lutsk.
1102 AD - Mstislav Vladimirovich arrived at Kyiv with the Novgorodian
delegation. His father, Vladimir, and Svyatopolk had agreed to switch
representative princes, sending Mstislav to Volynia but the Novgorodians would
not stand for it.
1117 - He is prince at Belgorod - holding this key fortress for his father.
1125 - Mstislav becomes grand prince at Kyiv.
1130 - He pushes the Vsyeslavichi out of Polotsk temporarily. 1132 - Mstislav
dies and is succeeded at Kyiv by his brother, Yaropolk II.
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