DANIEL OF GALITCH
Mystislav returned to Novgorod in triumph, but the mad rage of factions
had not become weaker in the interval, and he was forced to take strong
measures. Many boyars were banished, and many were imprisoned.
Mitrophan, the archbishop famed for justice, who had received his
office not against the will of Novgorod, but who was a friend of Big
Nest, was not acceptable to Mystislav’s adherents. He was exiled to
Toropet; more than that, he was imprisoned.
During Mystislav’s absence and after his return, Vladimir partisans
were not idle. Mystislav learned that he could not rely on support in
Novgorod. He learned also that there was even a movement to expel him.
He was not the man to let any one show him the road, hence he called
the assembly on a sudden, and took farewell of it. “I have work to do
in Russia,” said he; “and ye are free as to princes.” All were
astounded on hearing this, but Mystislav, while “standing on one foot
in Novgorod, had the other in Galitch,” whither Leshko had called him
most earnestly. Leshko had been summoned more than once to the throne
in Cracow. After the crowning of Koloman, the small boy, and Salomeya,
the little maiden, their fathers endured not long in friendship. What
the king had given Leshko in Galitch, he withdrew very quickly. That
happened which happens generally with guardians who have squandered
property confided to them. The heirs demanded account touching
management.
Roman’s sons were growing rapidly. Vassilko had reached an age when he
could sit on a horse, and take part in campaigning, while Daniel was
nearing strong manhood, and gave promise of having the powers that
would make him as great as his father. He complained loudly of Leshko,
the guardian who was keeping possession of his towns on the Būg, and
his inheritance beyond it. It was at this time that King Andrei took
from Leshko what he had given him in Galitch. Seeing no profit in the
fact that his daughter was queen in “Galicia,” Leshko looked on
Hungarians with envy, since they treated Galitch as if it belonged to
them, and he could not conceal his vexation on this point. He saw that
of Russian princes there was only one who had genius in fighting; that
one was Mystislav the Gallant, hence he invited that prince to assist
him.
Mystislav, through relationship with Ingvar, was a natural ally of that
branch, and not of the heirs of Roman. His preference for Ingvar was
shown by offering him the Kief throne. When Mystislav drove Chermny
from Kief and asked Ingvar to that capital, it seems that Leshko sent
him letters, and when the victor went back to Novgorod Leshko sent
envoys who offered him Galitch. When Sudislav, the boyar who favored
Hungarians, heard of Mystislav’s coming, he preferred Daniel, and sent
to him promising assistance. But Mystislav was too quick for this
movement. As he approached Galitch, the Hungarians withdrew, and with
them went Sudislav. Mystislav entered the capital without opposition,
but, with all his good-will for Bailski, he was glad now to see Daniel,
who joined him. Instead of ill-will there was friendship between the
two princes, and Mystislav gave Anna, his daughter, to Daniel in
marriage. Daniel, who was of the oldest line among Monomach’s
descendants, was connected now with the Smolensk branch of this line,
and with the younger line also, since Mystislav’s eldest daughter had
married Yaroslav, son of Big Nest.
To all friends of Galitch Daniel’s marriage seemed of good omen, but to
ill-wishers and enemies it was hateful. Daniel grew more and more
hostile to Leshko, and more and more stubbornly demanded the return of
the Brest lands. He complained to Mystislav of his enemy in the guise
of a guardian. “Leshko,” said he, “has taken many towns of mine, and
holds a good part of my inheritance. Assist me.” “My son,” replied
Mystislav, “I cannot make war on him now, for he has shown friendship,
but thou canst find other allies.”
Daniel acted. He won back many towns, and warred against Leshko
successfully. Leshko doubted not that this winning was effected through
Mystislav’s counsel, and in view of this he changed his plans quickly.
The Poles and Hungarians, from being enemies, suddenly became friends.
Leshko sent a message to Hungary that he yielded Galitch gladly to
Koloman, his son-in-law. With that Andrei immediately allied himself
with Leshko, and declared war against Mystislav and Daniel. Leshko led
in a strong army. A still greater force came from Hungary. Mystislav
wished to attack in the rear, hence he moved toward Zbruch, and ordered
his son-in-law to defend Galitch. He summoned Bailski, also, and
commanded both allies to retire into Galitch and defend it. But Bailski
left this difficult task to Daniel, who had to bear the whole brunt of
the attack of Hungarian and Polish forces. He yielded no whit, however,
and defended the city successfully.
The allies now raised the siege and turned all their strength against
Mystislav, who was acting in their rear. Mystislav spared his scant
forces, and, while withdrawing, commanded Daniel to march out of
Galitch and join him. It was easy to give this command, but far from
easy to obey it. Mystislav himself, by deft action, slipped away
without loss, marching quickly to Kamenyets and thence to the Ros
River.
Daniel found himself now in a perilous position. The allies with united
strength, rushed at his army. It was difficult to withdraw from
Galitch, and extremely difficult to retreat along the whole course of
the Dniester, repelling the ceaseless attacks of keen enemies who
disputed each step that his men made. These enemies were much
encouraged by Mystislav’s withdrawal. Their forces were vastly greater,
and Daniel’s men lacked provisions. Night and day marches, cold and
hunger, fighting on horseback, riding without food and sleep for nights
and days in succession; all this the young warrior had to live through
in that murderous retreat down the Dniester. The glory of this march
was shared by his father’s chief boyars, who were with him. Even they
were astonished by the valor of their leader, still a stripling. They
saw with wonder how he fought entire days without dismounting, how he
rushed in pursuit of the enemy, who only saved themselves through the
swiftness of their horses.
Daniel’s men suffered greatly from lack of food. It happened that on
the festival of Saint Dmitri, when tortured with hunger, they saw on a
sudden a long line of wagons hastening forward to market. They seized
the wagons, ate abundantly, and thanked the Holy Martyr for feeding
them. When at last they reached that point in the Dniester where they
had to cross, and found no bridge or ford, they despaired of escape;
but all at once they saw many merchant boats sailing toward them from
the Oleshya. On those boats all of Daniel’s men were conveyed to the
opposite bank of the river, and given provisions.
When Daniel brought his weary troops to Podolia, Mystislav marveled at
this deed of great skill and endurance. He showed every favor to the
young hero, gave him his favorite, his very best horse, as a present.
“Go now to Vladimir, the capital of thy Volynia,” said he, “and we will
avenge this insult most surely.” And he gave assurance that he would go
to the steppes and return with Polovtsi forces. From his youth, steppe
life in tents had been pleasing to Mystislav. In those early days he
found a wife among Polovtsi maidens.
Daniel, awaiting the time of fresh action, returned to his capital, but
Mystislav did not go directly to the Polovtsi. He appeared soon after
in Novgorod. During his absence many changes had taken place. The
prince sent from Vladimir by Yuri had been replaced by one sent from
Kief by Mystislav, son of the Smolensk prince, Roman. Neither man
pleased “Lord Novgorod.” The first, alarmed at disorders, hastened home
to his father; the second found still greater trouble. Bloody battles
took place on the streets, and again a posadnik was murdered.
Novgorod turned to Yuri a second time. “If thy son will not stay with
us, send Yaroslav, thy brother,” said they. Yaroslav seemed indeed just
the prince needed in Novgorod, and the friends of Mystislav the Gallant
might think to find in him the prince for whom they had been seeking a
long time, for was he not intimate with Mystislav, being married to his
eldest daughter? Partisans also saw in him the best of his family.
But when Yaroslav came to Novgorod an outburst so tremendous was taking
place in the city, that no man had ever seen its like before. The
passions of the people and the wild rage of parties had never been so
violent. It turned out, too, that Yaroslav himself was of those called
“young, but early.” Men were mistaken when they thought to find in him
a son-in-law who would agree with Mystislav. He was a genuine Vladimir
prince, hence in no way inclined to preserve the famed liberties of
Novgorod. He had one thought alone: to acquire additions for Vladimir.
Mystislav’s adherents immediately conceived a deep hatred for Yaroslav,
the most irascible among all the sons of Big Nest. So acute was their
feeling that, while warming his palace, he was threatened with
banishment. To make up for this hatred, his adherents “raised their
heads and stood up for the prince like a mountain.” They advised him to
go to Torjok and rule from there, holding Novgorod with all firmness.
Yaroslav went to Torjok, and then chose his own method. When a message
was sent to him saying: “Come thou to Novgorod,” he seized the envoys
and conveyed them to Pereyaslavl Beyond the Forest, imprisoning them on
an island. Novgorod now rose as one man against Yaroslav. Meanwhile, he
sat in Torjok very quietly, laughed at the city, and gave command to
seize Novgorod merchants and their wares on all roads in Vladimir. A
multitude of Novgorod men were arrested and imprisoned. To add to the
misfortunes of the city, the harvest that year was a failure in
Novgorod regions. Yaroslav did not let one load of wheat reach the
city. From these severe measures, there was such hunger that parents
sold their children for bread, and unclean things were eaten. People
died on the streets, and their dead bodies lay on the roads, where
hungry dogs devoured them.
Novgorod sent envoys to Yaroslav, begging him to return to the city,
but he gave no answer, and arrested the envoys. Novgorod sent a third
time. “Come to thy place; come to Holy Sophia. If thou wilt not come,
declare thy intention,” begged they. Yaroslav, as usual, detained the
envoys. The men in confinement at this time numbered two thousand.
There was “wailing and great sorrow in Novgorod.”
All at once, in the midst of these terrors, Mystislav the Gallant
appeared in the city. No man there knew whence he came. Yaroslav, who
learned of his coming, sent a detachment to arrest him, but this
detachment surrendered to Mystislav. The first thing the gallant prince
did was to seize all known partisans of Yaroslav, and put them in
irons. Then, summoning the assembly and kissing the cross before the
whole people, he said to them: “Either the men and the lands of Great
Novgorod will be freed, or I will lay down my life for the city.” “In
life or in death we are with thee!” called out the citizens in answer.
Mystislav’s first move was to send a peaceful embassy to negotiate with
Yaroslav. He selected a priest, the most famed and beloved in the city,
as a sign that negotiations were to be carried on, not with threats,
but with love, and conscientiously. He gave command to bow down to his
son-in-law, saying: “My son, free the Novgorod merchants and men. Treat
with me kindly. Leave Torjok for thy own place.”
Yaroslav dismissed the priest without discussion. Not only did he not
free the prisoners, but those whom he held in Torjok he put in chains,
and sent to Pereyaslavl Beyond the Forest. Their property and goods he
distributed among his attendants. The moment that news of this came to
Novgorod, Mystislav commanded to sound the bell of the assembly. The
whole city came to him. “Let us go, brothers!” said he. “Let us rescue
our lands. Let us liberate our own people!”
The war from the very beginning assumed an unusual character. The
citizens of Novgorod had a single mind this time, and the prince was at
one with the people. To take vengeance for injustice was their war-cry.
Mystislav was not simply enraged against his son-in-law; he hated in
him that inborn pride of the Vladimir princes. Knowing well that this
unendurable haughtiness rested really on power, knowing well that they
had a great multitude of people behind them, and a very large army, the
strong warrior looked forward, not to a brilliant victory in this
unequal conflict, but rather to the crown of a martyr, and prepared for
the struggle with fear, but also with fortitude. He summoned from
Pskoff that brother of his whom Mystislav the Brave on his death-bed
had committed to Yuri Zaharitch, the boyar. This brother, Vladimir,
called to join him his cousin Vladimir, son of Rurik, he who had taken
the throne of Smolensk, when Mystislav, son of Roman of Smolensk, went
to rule Kief, the old capital.
Mystislav the Gallant worked untiringly. Novgorod assembled all
possible warriors, but in number they were insufficient. Mystislav
doubted not that Yaroslav and Yuri, Grand Prince of Vladimir, would act
as one man, but he counted on Constantine, who in his eyes seemed
another victim of Vladimir’s self-will and insolence. To Constantine,
and not to Yuri, belonged the throne of Vladimir, by right of birth. To
deprive a son of his God-given inheritance was a sin in Mystislav’s
eyes, and he thought that when he entered the Vladimir principality,
proclaiming to Yaroslav and Yuri that he was there to reinstate their
eldest brother, Constantine would assist him. To instate the senior son
seemed to Mystislav just and proper.
Constantine enjoyed general respect; he was mild, and not haughty. To
punish Yaroslav for his cruelty to Novgorod was identified in
Mystislav’s mind with reëstablishing the old order, violated by the
whim of Big Nest. The only fault found with the son, as Mystislav
thought, was that he liked not innovations established by Andrei
Bogolyubski—Constantine defended the ancient order. Hatred for Andrei
was inherited by Mystislav, and he looked on Big Nest as he looked on
Andrei.
When the gallant prince approached Torjok, Yaroslav withdrew, and his
Novgorod friends in that place followed promptly. Vladimir partisans
came to strengthen Yaroslav, who hurried now to join Yuri, and the
brothers marched to meet the invader.
Mystislav’s campaign was swift and decisive beyond parallel. Begun the
moment Yaroslav rejected peaceful offers with insult, the season was
most inconvenient, just when roads were breaking up at Easter, which
that year fell on April 10 Old Style. Still the campaign was ended
before the roads had dried thoroughly.
On Tuesday, March 1, Mystislav moved out of Novgorod. He permitted his
warriors to seize food, but forbade them most sternly to harm the
inhabitants. He found Torjok abandoned. Fearing lest Constantine might
join his brothers and attack in the rear, he was greatly relieved when
that prince sent his vanguard as aid, and also the news that he was
coming in person. Mystislav now moved forward rapidly to the depths of
Vladimir. He marched through the enemy’s country, taking not only food
and forage, but booty of all kinds. As they advanced, his men burned
everything before them, and seized many captives. The Pskoff prince now
met Constantine, “their third friend,” as Mystislav called him. He
arrived on Holy Saturday. Constantine himself led the troops, and there
was immense joy at his coming. The allies passed Easter together, and
then pressed forward in Holy Week. The roads were so bad, and Mystislav
was hastening on so eagerly, that he was obliged to leave his wagons
behind.
On the Sunday after Easter, they beheld Pereyaslavl Beyond the Forest,
Yaroslav’s capital, but they learned that the prince had gone, taking
all his men with him. Yuri, determined not to let any enemy come near
his capital, marched out to join Yaroslav, and met him near Yurieff, on
the famed banks of the Koloksha, where a battle had been fought in the
days of Yuri Dolgoruki. The place was better known, however, through
two other battles, one fought somewhat more than a hundred years
earlier, in Monomach’s day, when the first Mystislav, great-grandfather
of Mystislav the Gallant, leading Novgorod regiments, crushed Oleg’s
forces, and drove him to Ryazan. On this same field, fifty years later,
Big Nest inflicted a dreadful defeat on the descendants of those same
Ryazan men, and settled the fate of their prince.
Yuri and Yaroslav fixed their camp on that field, renowned through the
deeds of their ancestors. They had not the least doubt of their own
triumph and the inevitable ruin of their enemies, all the more as
preponderance in numbers was immensely on their side. Yuri’s brothers
were all under the banner of their Grand Prince, except Constantine.
The forces of Murom had come, there were many Novgorod citizens, and
all the Torjok men. The main force, however, was from the countless
villages and towns of the Vladimir principality, excepting that part
held by Constantine. In the number of its towns and in its military
structure, Vladimir surpassed every other division of Russia. Besides
local forces, or militia, there were irregulars, introduced by Yuri
Dolgoruki. The nucleus of this force had been formed from steppe
tribes, though much of its character had been changed by the gradual
addition of local people. It had grown to large dimensions, and
resembled greatly the later time Cossack force.
When Mystislav began the campaign and took Zubtsoff, he sent to
Yaroslav, saying that he did not like to make war on Vladimir, that
peace would be better. “I do not want peace,” replied Yuri; “to your
one man we have a hundred.” “Thou hast power, but we have the cross,”
answered Mystislav. A month had not passed after that, when the
opponents stood face to face, waiting for battle. The battle came April
21, 1216, and from the place on the Lipetsk held by Constantine it was
called the “Lipetsk battle,” and the victory which was won there was
called by a name used only once in Russian chronicles,—“The monstrous
victory.”
The Smolensk regiments of Vladimir, son of Rurik, and those led from
Pskoff by Vladimir, as well as those brought by Constantine, were all
given to Mystislav. He, with his Novgorod men and his personal
following, formed the soul of the action. He was chosen with one voice
to lead the warriors. In his name negotiations were conducted. He sent
to say to Yuri: “We bow to thee, brother. From thee there is no
offense, and has not been at any time; the offense is from Yaroslav.”
Yuri answered:
“Yaroslav and I are one. Ye have come to us; we shall see how ye leave
us.” Mystislav now gave command to say to Yaroslav: “Free thou our
Novgorod men, and withdraw from Torjok. Make peace with us, and let no
blood be shed.” “The men whom I took,” answered Yaroslav, “I shall
retain. The army has seized all their property; where could I find it
at this day?” Then the allies met in council, and again sent proposals
of peace to Yuri and Yaroslav, with the statement that this message was
final: “Brothers, we have come not to spill blood, not for conflict,
not for ruin, not to take your rightful possessions. God forbid. We are
all of one stock and race. We have come to arrange matters in accord
with God’s truth, and Russian justice. Give your eldest brother
seniority. Seat him in Vladimir, and the Suzdal lands may belong to
you.” Yuri sent answer: “Though our father could not make terms with
Constantine, ye think to make him agree with us! Go to the places
whence ye came. We do not wish peace with you; we do not need it.” Both
brothers commanded to say specially to Constantine, that they
considered all discussion ended, and were ready for battle.
Yuri and Yaroslav had such power that they were confident of success,
and made a feast in their tents where joy was loud and unbounded. They
drank and were gladsome. They boasted that a battle would show on whose
side was justice. “They have come,” said Yuri, “but how will they leave
us?” The feast ended by sending a message to Mystislav, stating that
they were marching to Lipetsk and would receive battle, if there were
forces to meet them. That same day, Mystislav assembled a council and
accepted the challenge to meet for a life and death struggle, and all
kissed the cross to obey him.
The allies feared Constantine’s weakness, remembering that he had not
come very promptly, that he had delayed at the outset, and might even
now join his brothers. But Constantine gave the oath asked of him, and
was first on the battle-field. In his regiments trumpet calls did not
cease all that night, which was passed in alarm and preparations for
battle. In the morning, however, it was seen that the princes who had
challenged had evaded. Instead of being at the spot agreed upon for
action Yuri and Yaroslav had moved in the night to another position.
They had selected a place with a deep gully stretching in front of it,
while near by was “Widow Hill.” They had strengthened this camp with
palisades, and their wagons. Mystislav and his allies occupied a height
close to Yurieff. Constantine disposed his men toward Lipetsk. To get
at the enemy now, Mystislav would have to cross the gully.
Yuri and Yaroslav, feeling safe at Widow Hill, did not think of
fighting, no matter how Mystislav challenged. To reach the hill through
the gully was impossible. So Mystislav sent three men to parley, and
again proposed peace as an end to the quarrel. “If ye will not make
peace, then come to the field, we will meet you; or if ye choose we
will go to Lipetsk and ye can attack us.” “We will not give peace, and
we will not abandon our position,” replied the two brothers. “Ye have
crossed our whole land; can ye not cross this small gully?”
Mystislav commanded his men then to advance at all hazards. But no
matter how he approached Widow Hill, he could not entice the two
brothers to leave it. He then decided to march on Vladimir directly,
and seize the town if possible. He commanded to raise the camp quickly.
At once Yurieff Mountain was seething, and soon the army marched down,
and moved off on the road to the capital. The Pskoff prince now joined
the main body. But Constantine delayed yet at Lipetsk, where doubt and
dissension seemed evident. He feared “the desperate move,” as he called
it. He said that his men were simple villagers, unaccustomed to battle;
he feared that they might disperse on the march. It was better, he
thought, to remain on Yurieff Mountain. Mystislav answered with
passion: “The mountain will give neither victory nor defeat! In the
cross and in truth lies our triumph.” Aided by his brother and cousin
he at last convinced Constantine that it was necessary to march on
Vladimir, and he commanded his forces to advance.
As soon as the regiments were moving on the road toward Vladimir, and
before all had reached the road, a stir at Widow Hill was observed, and
directly the army of the two brothers left its position. Both armies
turned now toward the same side. There was an encounter at Lipetsk.
Mystislav halted and the men of Smolensk and of Novgorod faced the
enemy. They stood without moving: Constantine was at Lipetsk on one
flank, Mystislav with Novgorod warriors held the center; on the other
flank was Vladimir, son of Rurik, with Smolensk men. Between him and
the center was Mystislav’s brother with Pskoff troops. The whole force
of the enemy moved against them directly. Yuri and Yaroslav were
confident and smiling. Yuri’s warriors rushed straight at the Novgorod
regiments, to whom Mystislav had said already: “Brothers, we have come
to the heart of our enemy’s country, and that enemy is powerful. If we
flee, not a man of us will escape. Look not back in this battle. Forget
homes, wives and children. Fight to the death. He who is not killed
will be living. Hit hard! God is in truth, not in numbers. Forward like
men! Hit hard! Forward on foot or on horseback, but forward!”
The Novgorod men remembered the fight of their great-grandfathers when
they were led by the great-grandfather of Mystislav, and the blood rose
in them. “We will not fight on horseback,” said they. Steam was rolling
now from the oncoming enemy. The Novgorod men threw off their boots and
upper clothing and rushed to the fight with axes and clubs, vying with
the men of Smolensk in their valor. Each man was bound to surpass every
other, and no crowd of men would stay behind any other crowd.
The first standard cut down was a standard of Yaroslav; the second that
fell was his standard also. The battle became very soon a great
slaughter. The Pskoff prince stood at the side of his brother, and both
watched the battle before them. All at once, Mystislav said to
Vladimir: “May God not permit us to abandon good men,” and he rushed to
the combat. Through the whole mass of his warriors did he ride,
encouraging them, saying that the moment for victory had come. He made
his way through all the ranks to the front, took from his shoulders the
cord securing his battle-ax and swinging the ax plunged, at the head of
the warriors, into the thick of the fight. Men saw how he hewed to the
right and to the left. His warriors followed him with desperate venom.
In a short time the field was a scene of unpitying slaughter. Three
times did Mystislav go back and forth through the ranks of Vladimir,
cutting down men right and left with his terrible broadax. The Smolensk
prince and he of Pskoff broke through the ranks before them till they
reached the camp in the rear, now abandoned by Yaroslav and Yuri.
Those princes, who had boasted of having a hundred warriors to one of
Mystislav’s, now found that for each one of Mystislav’s men killed or
wounded, ten or even more than that number had fallen on their own
side. The groans of the wounded and the dying reached Yurieff from the
battle-field, as the people said afterward; and of corpses on that
field they counted nine thousand, not reckoning those borne away
earlier.
Then the defeated fled, and all their camp fell to the victors.
Mystislav forbade his men to touch anything. “Leave the camp,” said he,
“and finish the battle, or they will turn back and defeat you.” The
Smolensk men could not refrain from plundering, but the Novgorod
warriors obeyed and rushed in pursuit of the enemy. Constantine was the
first man to stop fighting; when the tide turned to his side he fought
no longer. He pitied his brothers and did them no subsequent injury.
Their army was terribly defeated; whole regiments had been destroyed.
Both Yuri and Yaroslav fled without looking behind them, the first to
Vladimir, the second toward Pereyaslavl Beyond the Forest. Yuri raced
into Vladimir on the fourth horse; he had ridden to death the other
three. He had thrown away on the road all his upper clothing, and even
his saddle cloth. Yaroslav fled still more fiercely. He rode four
horses till they fell, and reached home on the fifth. The wounded and
maimed flowed into Yurieff and into every village around it. Many men
were drowned in crossing rivers, others died on the road. Every man
cursed Yaroslav as the one cause of evil; on him alone did they fix all
the error.
When in Vladimir people saw from the walls a horseman rushing toward
the city, they thought him a courier with glad tidings from their
prince, but when he came nearer they recognized Prince Yuri himself, in
shirt and trousers. “Strengthen the town! Strengthen the town!” shouted
he, from a distance. Instead of joy, there was wailing. During all that
night broken remnants of the army were coming in; some of the warriors
almost dead, others wounded. If the victors had chosen to follow,
neither Yuri nor Yaroslav, nor any other man, could have escaped them.
They might have taken the city without resistance. But they remained
all the following day on the battle-field, and drew near Vladimir only
in the morning on Sunday.
By agreement with Yuri, the citizens had closed the gates. When he had
drawn breath and recovered his mind, he said to the people: “Let us
keep the gates shut, brothers; perhaps we can stand a siege.” “With
whom can we stand it?” asked they. “Where are our brothers? Some are
killed, some are captives, others have rushed in here naked and
wounded. There is no one to work with us.” “That is true,” answered
Yuri, “but yield me not to Constantine, my brother, or to Vladimir or
Mystislav. I wish of my own will to meet them.” They promised what he
asked.
The allies, seeing the city closed, as if for a siege, surrounded it.
During the night between Sunday and Monday a fire broke out in the
palace, and there was great uproar. The Novgorod men wished to attack,
and were climbing the walls, when Mystislav stopped them. The fire was
extinguished quickly, but a new fire burst out on Tuesday, two hours
after sunset, and burned until daybreak. The Smolensk men rushed to
mount the walls then, but were again forbidden. Yuri now sent a
petition, saying, “Do not press me; I will come out to meet you
to-morrow.”
On Wednesday he went to the enemy, taking with him his two younger
brothers, Vladimir and Sviatoslav. He bowed down to the victors, and
said: “Brothers, I bow down to you, do not deprive me of life, and let
that be with Constantine which pleases you.”
Constantine was made Grand Prince, and all was arranged to receive him
with triumph. To Yuri was assigned a small town near the Volga, whither
he was to set out immediately. His wife and attendants went at once to
the boats which had been prepared for the journey. People were greatly
moved by the conduct of Simon, the bishop, who would not part with
Yuri. He had shared the sorrows and joys of the prince all his life,
and now he sailed down the Klyazma with him and his family. Before
leaving for exile, Yuri took farewell of his parents. He bowed down and
prayed at the grave of Big Nest, his father, and said, while weeping:
“God is the judge of my brother. Behold to what Yaroslav has brought
me.” Afterwards he left in humility, no one appearing to note his
departure. He went to the small town assigned him, to his “little
town;” thus did he call the place of his exile without naming it.
As for Yaroslav, he was not tamed by defeat and suffering. The second
week after Easter the allies went to Pereyaslavl. Constantine appeared
first. Yaroslav went forth, with great gifts, to meet him, and opened
the gates, begging his brothers not to surrender him to Mystislav.
Constantine, wishing to reconcile the two men, sent gifts to Mystislav
from his brother, whose part he took most earnestly. Mystislav would
not yield, but demanded his daughter, Yaroslav’s wife, and took her
with him. Afterward Yaroslav tried to recover the princess, but
Mystislav paid no heed to his demands. Thus the quarrel between the
sons of Big Nest ended in Constantine’s triumph. He was installed in
Vladimir immediately, while Yuri and Yaroslav were effaced for the
moment.
A misfortune met Mystislav now: Vassili, his only son, died in Torjok,
and was buried in Holy Sophia, near the tomb of his grandfather. Soon
after this, Mystislav the Gallant left Novgorod. He promised to return,
but this time, as appeared in the sequel, he parted with the city
forever. As was usual before meetings, he had the Sophia bell sounded,
and the people assembled thinking that they had been summoned for
Novgorod business. But Mystislav bowed on three sides to all present,
and took farewell of them solemnly. They could not credit his words:
they had thought that he would remain in their city till his death. He
declared then the cause of his going: “I wish to save Galitch.” They
implored him to stay with them, and all cried out that they would not
let him leave Novgorod. “I shall never forget you,” said Mystislav.
“God grant me to lie down here at last near my father in Holy Sophia,
but to-day I must go from you.” And he left them.
Indeed it was time to remember the promise given Daniel, and avenge the
shame wrought on them both by the Poles and Hungarians. If, when Roman
was forced to leave Galitch, the Latin Church made Galicia a bishopric,
it is easy to imagine what happened under Koloman and Salomeye. When
this youthful king and queen had been crowned in obedience to Rome, the
Latin Church triumphed directly. Latin priests were installed, while
the Bishop of Galitch and Orthodox priests were expelled from their
churches on all sides. Mystislav now assembled Russian princes and
roused them to this Galitch question. Mystislav, the Kief prince,
having lost the favor of Mystislav the Gallant, was unable to help him,
but his other cousin, Vladimir of Smolensk, promised aid very
willingly.
Mystislav then went to Khan Kotyan, his father-in-law, and obtained
warriors from him. Daniel, son of Roman, was delighted to help in
freeing Galitch.
But if Russian princes were preparing to fight for their Galitch
inheritance, the men who had seized that inheritance were preparing to
keep it. To Koloman came reinforcements from his father. Leshko,
dividing his army into two parts, sent one to defend his young daughter
in Galitch; the other he led to threaten Volynia. Depending on those
princes in Galitch who did whatever he asked of them, Leshko and
Bailski, his ally, threatened with these henchmen other princes, known
allies of Mystislav. Bailski looked on Daniel as Mystislav’s main ally.
Daniel and his brother would have moved at once to help Mystislav,
since they were threatened earliest, but their possessions, both on the
Polish and Russian side, were attacked by swift enemies. They were met
at every point by evil neighbors, “all men were against them,” as the
chronicler informs us. “Save from God they had no aid from any one.”
Mystislav waited for the Polovtsi; when they came he began action. His
faithful friend and ally, Prince Vladimir, brought with him the
promised warriors of Smolensk, and he and Mystislav then moved against
Galitch. But Daniel did not go with them. They received no word from
him, for he was greatly occupied elsewhere. Daniel would have been
troubled to count the toils and battles which he passed through at that
time. With whom and where had he not struggled? In recent days his
conflicts with Poles had increased. They roused the Yatvyags against
him and against those Lithuanians who were under him. Daniel, defending
these men, warred frequently in forests and wild regions belonging to
their enemy. He met the Poles themselves among his Lithuanian subjects,
whom the Polish princes tried to take from him through interference and
intrigues. The Poles also attacked Daniel on the Būg, where he was
forced to meet them, and through Bailz and Lutsk he met continual raids
from Russian princes.
Only after Mystislav had come and triumphed, could Daniel breathe with
some little freedom, but till Mystislav appeared the first blows of
Poles, and also of Hungarians, fell directly on him. Beginning with
Benedict Bor, the famous harrier of people, Hungarian magnates were
frequent visitors in Galitch. Ruling in the king’s name, they differed
little from that renowned Bor known as “Antichrist.”
In the time now before us, the chief man near Koloman was Filni, a
magnate whom the Russians nicknamed “Filya.” Hungarian magnates in
those days were famous for haughtiness, but Filya surpassed all
Hungarians in this regard. Moreover, to this nickname was added
another; he was called “Filya the Important.” Of him people said, and
this was stamped on his countenance, that he thought his equal was not
on the earth, that he could embrace the whole world, and drink the
whole sea up. It was known also that though his pride was unbounded,
his mind was quite limited. When on a time Filya was warned before
battle that his enemies were many and his strength insufficient, though
as a rule he avoided battle, he repeated, when moving his warriors: “A
stone is but one; still it breaks many pots just by moving.”
Koloman and Salomeya reigned in Galitch, but all things were managed
through Filya, whose aids were traitorous boyars, of whom the chief man
was Sudislav. These boyars wished to merge Galitch in Hungary, and were
hated by common folk. “Sudislav the traitor, the disturber of the
country,” were the only words used to describe this man.
When news came that Mystislav the Gallant was marching, Filya and
Sudislav made preparations to defend the city. Filya placed himself at
the head of Hungarian and Polish forces, and put Sudislav in command of
the Galitch men. He did not dream, in his confidence, that the enemy
could come near the capital, still he took measures to meet a siege
seriously. To show that in the building of fortresses he was not
inferior to the celebrities of that day, he strove in every way to make
Galitch impregnable. In doing this he roused the indignation of the
Orthodox. He seized the cathedral, made it a fortress, and added a
tower to it.
The excitement of the adherents of Hungary and Poland was
extraordinary. Sudislav and his friends, in their rage at the man who
was moving Russian regiments against them, declared that Mystislav
wanted to deliver all boyars to the Polovtsi, and settle the steppes
with them. Their hatred for Mystislav was boundless, and, through the
efforts of Poles, Hungarians, and their partisans among Russians, a
venomous opposition was raised against him. He had marched half-way
from the Dnieper to the upper waters of the Dniester and the San, when
blood commenced to flow in Būg regions. At the opening of the war,
Leshko promised Filya to protect the rear of the Polish and Hungarian
troops, which, combined, seemed able to hurl aside Mystislav; and after
that Filya was to finish him. Leshko had undertaken besides to hold
down Volynia, and not let it move to assist Mystislav.
Leshko entered Volynia territory and seized towns and cities. Daniel
and Vassilko had work in plenty near their own capital. Konrad, more
honest than Leshko, his brother, tried in vain to make him friendly to
Daniel, and hostilities in Volynia continued. If they were not of
greater violence, and even fatal to Daniel, it was because Mystislav’s
campaign was ended with one blow, and so quickly that neither Filya nor
Leshko could foresee such a result. The Hungarian magnate had been
deceived in the strength of his enemy, and only came to his mind when
Mystislav was near Galitch. Then he and Sudislav hastened to lead
forward their forces, and block the road to the gallant prince.
The place of meeting was a broad, rolling country, from the highest
points of which all other high places were visible. On lower slopes,
and in depressions between one round-topped high place and another, a
commander might hide a whole army. Filya drew up his warriors and
disposed them in two camps apart from each other. It seemed to him that
no man could stand against this force. The Poles and Sudislav’s
regiments from Galitch were placed by themselves in one body. One of
these forces was to meet the oncoming enemy on his right, the other on
his left flank.
Mystislav, leaving in one of those deep depressions just mentioned his
Polovtsi legions, moved forward against Filya. From a distance he saw
that the Poles were too far to one side for their profit, hence he
commanded Vladimir, his ally, to entice them away with his warriors,
who were eager for battle, and while struggling with them to retreat
toward the Polovtsi.
The Poles met Vladimir’s men bravely, forced them back toward the
ambush, and followed. Mystislav marched with chosen regiments and his
personal following to the high place beyond which was Filya’s position.
Relying on the valor of his ally, whom he had tried against Yuri and
Yaroslav, and on the great number of the Polovtsi who were placed in
ambush, he seemed to abandon Vladimir and his men. The Poles followed
the retreating Smolensk men toward the place where the Polovtsi were
waiting, as Mystislav could see clearly. Right in front of Mystislav
stood Filya. It was imprudent now to delay longer. Strengthening his
army with the name of the holy cross, he rushed at the enemy. The
battle was grievous, but Mystislav triumphed. The Hungarians were
crushed, and Filya was captured.
When the Poles had driven Vladimir as far as they wished, and had
seized many prisoners and much booty, they returned shouting victory.
Not suspecting that Filya had been terribly beaten, they marched back
rejoicing, but, instead of finding Filya in possession of the
battle-field, they came upon Mystislav’s warriors, who rushed at them
savagely. Meanwhile Vladimir had turned, and with him came the
Polovtsi. A great slaughter set in. The Polovtsi took captive all the
Poles who were not slain, taking from them their arms and horses. But
Mystislav’s men touched no booty. Following the enemy, as they
scattered in every direction, they slew without mercy. The whole field
was covered with bodies, and the streams which ran through it were
crimsoned with blood.
Mystislav stood before Galitch immediately, and demanded surrender,
promising immunity to all. Filya, in spite of his impregnable fortress,
sent a courier advising surrender. Since he himself had been beaten, he
despaired of success through another. Mystislav repeated his summons
three times, but with Koloman were leaders who would not surrender;
they relied on the stronghold, and swore to endure to the end with
their sovereign. Sending out all who could not fight, so that there
should be no useless mouths in the city, they made ready for the siege.
Mystislav declared that from that hour there would be no mercy shown to
any man, and he prepared to take Galitch by storm. The Hungarians were
confident, and strengthened the gates of the city. That Mystislav was
digging a tunnel under their stronghold they knew not, and that it was
finished they only discovered one gloomy night when his warriors rose
through the earth and cut down the guards at the gate, which they
opened then to their comrades.
At daybreak, Mystislav with his army was in Galitch. The leading
Hungarians shut themselves up in the church, which Mystislav
surrounded. They were unyielding; they threw stones and shot arrows,
but at last they were captured. The magnates and their families, for
whom immense ransoms were expected, and some of the higher Poles, were
divided among the victors. Koloman, his queen, and Filya went to
Mystislav. Sudislav, the artful, fell at Mystislav’s feet, embraced his
knees, wept, and swore that while living he would serve him most
faithfully. Mystislav, knowing little of Galitch, and seeing the
position which Sudislav held among boyars, not only left life to that
traitor, but gave a good town to him.
The people magnified Mystislav now as the deliverer of Galitch; they
called him the shining sun, the bright falcon. Their delight at being
freed from foreign men seemed unbounded and heartfelt. When news came
to Leshko of Filya’s defeat, he immediately made peace with Daniel, and
feigned immense love for him. Daniel wished now to see Mystislav, his
father-in-law, so he hurried off quickly to Galitch. The delight of
those two men was great. Not only were they avenged on Poles and
Hungarians, but those enemies had been paid back a hundredfold, and
were eliminated as rulers from Galitch. The Orthodox people said that
God had given those two nations into their hands to punish the enemy
for defiling His temple, which had been turned by them into a bastion
of battle. The people did not forgive this “great sacrilege,” as they
called it.
Thus Hungarians and Poles perished in a land which they had planned to
take from its owners. Many were killed in battle, others were taken
prisoners, still others perished on the roads and in lonely villages.
They died of hunger in forests, or were drowned in crossing rivers.
People rose up and slew the invaders wherever they found them. Few
escaped.
On losing his son, Vassili, Mystislav had no heir left. His youngest
daughter was in tender years yet, his eldest daughter had married the
son of Big Nest, Yaroslav, whom he held in his power; his second
daughter, Anna, was the wife of Daniel, who, as heir to the great
Roman, would have seemed the direct heir of Galitch. The people thought
that land would surely go now to Daniel, but deceit and intrigue
disappointed them. Not only in Galitch but in Volynia there were
falsehoods, conspiracies, and endless struggles. Mystislav’s victory
changed the form, not the substance of the misery. Men now persuaded
the prince to take Galitch himself, and Daniel was set aside promptly.
At the prayers of Koloman’s father, peace was concluded, and reports
were sent out that Mystislav was to give his youngest daughter in
marriage to King Andrei’s second son.
Meanwhile in Volynia Bailski made war against Daniel. Daniel defeated
his enemy, and was ready to give the last blow to him, when Mystislav
commanded his son-in-law to withdraw and not trouble Bailski in future.
Andrei and Leshko from having been enemies of Mystislav became his
friends in appearance, but their friendship was more deadly to Russia
than their enmity had ever been. Supported by Leshko and Mystislav,
Bailski acquired so much influence that Roman’s sons lost all the power
they had won. Bailski made use of the open and unbounded confidence of
Mystislav, who was a great man in battle, but short-sighted and
incompetent as a ruler, and strove to persuade him to a direct war
against Daniel. In this he was aided considerably by Leshko, and though
they failed at first, they succeeded later on. So neither Volynia nor
Galitch gained anything from Mystislav’s victory.
Forgetting for the moment all care touching Galitch, Daniel established
himself firmly in his own place, which, notwithstanding the woes of
that period, he served very sensibly. He took from Leshko the border
lands that the Poles had attached to Mazovia. Though the profit of this
winning did not seem much at the time, it proved very great in the
sequel.
Brest was at first a border settlement of Russia, beyond which were the
Yatvyags and the Lithuanians. In ruling those regions, the Russians did
not quarrel with their Lithuanian neighbors. The Lithuanians had long
been protected by Russian princes, to whom they paid a small tribute.
The Poles, after seizing the country, acted differently and harshly
with these people. When Daniel restored the places to Russia, the whole
country breathed much more freely. All the elders, or, as the Russians
called them, princes, sent solemn declarations of peace to Daniel, and
thereafter he found in them faithful allies against Leshko. Those
tribes had many relatives, both in the Baltic country and in Poland,
who would help them when proper agreements were made. They now aided
Daniel against his Polish opponents, and with their assistance he
carried on further struggles with Leshko. At this time there was a
special movement among Lithuanian tribes, which till then had been
quiescent.
When Mystislav the Gallant went to the South and did not return, the
North ceased to think of him. There were no lasting results from his
victories and exploits, either in Novgorod or Vladimir. Constantine,
son of Big Nest, who had never been stalwart of body, died in 1217,
shortly after he had taken the throne of Vladimir. He had made a friend
of Yuri, his brother, and, when dying, committed his children to Yuri,
who after Constantine’s death was again ruling prince in Vladimir.
Yaroslav, while Prince of Pereyaslavl, continued to occupy Novgorod at
intervals. He held Turjok as though it had been a part of Vladimir, and
no matter what prince was acting in Novgorod, Yaroslav’s hand never
ceased to be felt there. The Novgorod men could not live without
Yaroslav, or be content with him. At this time, to round out their
troubles, their way to the sea was cut off by German knights, the Chuds
(Fins), and Lithuanians, against whom they warred frequently. Yaroslav,
in fighting with these enemies of Novgorod, went far into the country.
He marched to places where no Russian prince had ever preceded him.