Mstyslav Romanovych

Mstyslav Romanovych, known as the Good and the Old, b ?, d 6 June 1223. Grand prince of Kyiv from 1212; grandson of Rostyslav Mstyslavych and nephew of Riuryk (Vasylii) Rostyslavych. Until 1212 he was prince of Pskov, Drutske, Bilhorod, and the Smolensk land (1197–1212). In 1212 he and his cousin, Mstyslav Mstyslavych, drove Vsevolod Sviatoslavych Chermny from Kyiv, and soon afterward Mstyslav Romanovych became prince of Kyiv. Both Mstyslavs organized the large 1223 expedition of southern Rus’ princes against the Tatars that ended in the debacle at the Kalka River. Mstyslav Romanovych and his two sons-in-law were captured and crushed to death beneath a platform on which the Tatars held their victory banquet.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]