Mstislav II of Kiev

Mstislav II Iziaslavich^[a] (died 19 August 1170) was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1158 to 1159 and again from 1167 to 1169.^[1]

Mstislav II
Mstislav enters Kiev in 1159, miniature from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible
Grand Prince of Kiev
Reign	22 December 1158 – 1159
Predecessor	Iziaslav II
Successor	Rostislav I
Reign	19 May 1167 – 12 March 1169
Predecessor	Rostislav I
Successor	Gleb I
Reign	March 1170 – April 1170
Predecessor	Gleb I
Successor	Gleb I
Born	c. 1125 Kiev
Died	19 August 1170 (aged 44-45)
Spouse	Agnes of Poland
Issue	Roman of Novgorod Sviatoslav of Brest Vsevolod of Volhynia
House	Rurik
Father	Iziaslav II of Kiev
Mother	Agnes Hohenstaufen
Religion	Eastern Orthodox Christianity

Life

Mstislav was the son of Grand Prince Iziaslav II of Kiev. Along with his father, he participated in the wars against Yury Dolgoruky and the Chernigov princes. After an initial victory against the Cumans in 1153, Mstislav was defeated by the Cumans at the Psel river. Yury Dolgoruky forced him to flee to Poland in 1155, but the next year Mstislav returned with a new army and defeated Dolgoruky at Vladimir-Volynsk. Dolgoruky died in 1157, and Mstislav had himself crowned at Vladimir.

In 1169, Kiev was sacked by Andrey Bogolyubsky who removed Mstislav as grand prince.^[2] In March 1169, he defended Kiev from the troops of Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky, but was forced to leave the city and retreat to Volhynia. In 1170, he retook Kiev. He died in Vladimir and was buried in the Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God.^[3]

Family

In 1151, Mstislav married Agnes, the daughter of Duke Bolesław III of Poland.^[4] They had:

1. Roman, Prince of Novgorod, Volhynia and Galicia (c. 1152–1205)^[5]
2. Sviatoslav, Prince of Brest
3. Vsevolod Mstislavich of Volhynia (died 1196)

Notes

1. Russian: Мстислав Изяславич; Ukrainian: Мстислав Ізяславич