King Daniil Romanovich. Board finale
Relations with the Horde, despite the preparation of a coalition against it, were developing quite well with the king of Russia. Even the efforts to form a coalition gradually took on the character of a reinsurance option or the ability to dramatically raise their status in the future, if suddenly the crusade came together and the Romanovichs succeeded not only in dropping the Tatar yoke, but also expanding their holdings at the expense of other principalities of Russia. Calm relations with the steppes made it possible to intervene quite actively in European politics, which Daniel clearly aroused great interest.
However, all good things come to an end sooner or later. By the beginning of the 1250s, Beklyarbek Kuremsa settled in the Black Sea steppes, who was a significant figure in the Horde hierarchy and had great ambitions. In 1251-1252, he made the first trip to the border estates of the Galician-Volyn principality, besieging Bakota. The deputy of the prince obeyed the will of Kuremsa, and the city temporarily passed under the direct power of the steppes. If it were a normal raid, the khan would have punished the beclarbeck with death (there were precedents), but Kuremsa acted not just for the sake of robbery: as a vassal of the khan, he sought by force to take a number of possessions from another khan vassal. Such conflicts were resolved in the Horde, and therefore no penalties were applied to Kuremsa. However, Daniel turned out to be free to oppose the steppes.
The second campaign of Kuremsa in 1254 was much less impressive, even taking into account the fact that the prince with the army at that time was not in the state. Having arrived near Kremenets, he demanded that the territory be transferred to its beginning, but the city thousand was well-versed in the laws of his time, and simply presented the beclarback with a label on the possession of the Romanovichi city. An attempt to take possession of the city in this case turned into suicide, since the khan could be angry, and Kuremsa was forced to leave the territory of the principality with nothing.
It became clear that Beklyarbek will not stop trying to take away the southern destinies of the Galicia-Volyn state, and he needs to be taught a lesson. The newly-baked king of Rus did not postpone such an important matter, and already in 1254-1255 he conducted a return campaign against Kuremsa and the cities and territories dependent on it. Rusich did not stop their blow: Bakota was returned, after which a blow was inflicted on the border possessions of the Kiev land, dependent on the beclarbek. All the captured cities were included in the state of Romanovich, the campaign was very successful and relatively bloodless.
The enraged Kuremsa decided to go on a full-scale war against Daniel and Cornflower, moving into the depths of their possessions with all his horde. Alas, here he was faced with a very developed Galician-Volyn fortification and with the renewed Russian army, which could not be compared with what it fought with the Mongols in 1241. In a battle near Vladimir-Volynsky, the infantry withstood the blow of the Tatar cavalry, after which it was severely battered by the Russian cavalry, taking the victory for themselves; near Lutsk, a new defeat soon followed. Kuremsa was forced to retire into the steppe, recognizing his fiasco.
In 1258, Kurems, who showed himself rather mediocre, was succeeded by Burundai. This Tatar was not Chingizid, besides, he was very old (he was already over 70 years old), but he still had a sharp mind and, most importantly, had vast experience in wars and politics of the steppes regarding settled vassals. In the behavior of the Galicia-Volyn state, including the coronation of Danila Galitsky, the steppes saw the threat of excessive strengthening of their de jure vassal, which is why they appointed the experienced Burundai responsible for the "admonition" of the naughty Russians. Already this year, an unexpected expedition to the Lithuanians through the Russian lands followed. The Romanovichs, confronted with the fact, were forced to join Burundai at his request, and went to war on Mindovga. He considered such a move on the part of the Allies as a betrayal, and soon a new war broke out between the Russians and the Lithuanians.
Already in 1259, Burundi on behalf of the khan suddenly demanded that Daniel come to him an insert and answer for his actions. In the event of direct disobedience, all the anger of the Golden Horde would have fallen upon him. Remembering what sometimes happens with the Russian princes at the headquarters of the Mongol commanders, the king of Russia chose to act the old way, going abroad with a personal squad and two sons, Schwarn and Mstislav, in an effort to put together a coalition against the Tatars now, while at the headquarters of Burundai went Vasilko, Leo Danilovich and the Kholm bishop John with rich gifts. The King of Russia, having gone into voluntary exile, tried unsuccessfully to find new allies and even took part in the Austro-Hungarian conflict, speaking with his squad in support of Bela IV.
Realizing that the ruler was absent from his state, Burundai came with an army to the cities controlled by the Romanovichs, and began to force them to destroy their fortifications, thereby opening up access for any invasions. While the townspeople were destroying the walls, Burundi, as a rule, feasted with an absolutely calm look somewhere nearby with Cornflower and Leo. Only the city of Holm refused to destroy its walls, and Burundi, as if nothing had happened, ignored the refusal and went on. And then the Tatars raided Poland, where the Russian princes again took part, unable to go against the will of the beclarbek. At the same time, in Poland, Burundi made a classic setup: telling the inhabitants of Sandomierz that they would be spared if the city was surrendered, he actually staged a massacre, putting the Romanovichs in a bad light. Having done disgust, having deprived the majority of large cities of defense and quarreling the Romanovichs with their allies, Burundai went back to the steppe, and the chronicles do not remember him more.
Only after that, Daniel Romanovich returned to his country and began to restore the lost. Already in 1260 the alliance with the Poles was renewed, and after several years of raids and conflicts with the Lithuanians. Apparently, some work was done in terms of preparing for the restoration of city fortifications: Daniel himself was afraid to do this, but already under Leo, literally in a couple of years, all the main cities of the Galicia-Volyn state would again grow new walls and towers, better than before. Nevertheless, the actions of the cunning Burundai turned out to be much more significant in many respects than the Batu invasion in 1241. If Batu only walked through Russia with fire and a sword, showing strength, then Burundai finally and irrevocably approved the Horde power in the territory of the Romanovich state. The consequences of these events had to be raked and Daniel, and his eldest son.
My brother, my Lithuanian enemy
A very peculiar relationship at that time developed between the Romanovichs and the Lithuanians. In the middle of the XII century, a single Lithuania as such did not exist yet, but was already in the process of formation. Mindovg became the leader of this process - first the prince, and after the adoption of Catholicism, the king, the only crowned king of Lithuania. The years of his reign almost completely coincide with the years of the reign of Daniil Romanovich, therefore it is not surprising that he was connected with the king of Russia by rather close, although not always friendly relations. It all started back in 1219, when, through the mediation of Anna Angelina, the mother of Daniel, peace and an anti-Polish union were concluded with the Lithuanian princes. Among other princes, Mindovg was also called, who later appeared in the eyes of the Romanovichs as the main ruler of all Lithuanians. It was with him that negotiations were conducted, he was considered as an ally on a par with the Poles and Magyars.
The peak of relations, both friendly and hostile, fell on the time after the Battle of Yaroslavl in 1245. Then Mindovg acted as an ally of the Romanovichs, but did not manage to bring his army to the battlefield. Soon after, small and large detachments of Lithuanians, both under the control of Mindovgu, did not raid the northern territories of the Galicia-Volyn principality. Most of all the water was muddled by the Yotvingians, who managed to fairly terrorize both the Polish Mazovia and the Russian Berestye, as a result of which Daniel, united with Konrad Mazovetsky, made a successful campaign against them in 1248-49. Despite the justification of such radical measures, Mindovg took the campaign hostilely, and soon, along with the rest of the Lithuanians, he began to fight against the Romanovichs. However, this did not play in his favor: due to the conflict, Tovtivil, Mindovg’s nephew, fled to Daniil, and the Galician-Volyn troops made several campaigns to the north in support of the prince along with the Lithuanian troops loyal to him.
After this, the Galician-Volyn Principality spoke on the side of the Crusaders in early 1254. That is why Daniel was crowned in Dorogochin: the city was on the border with Mazovia, where a combined army was gathering. Around the same time, a new alliance was concluded with Mindovg: the Lithuanians transferred the son of Daniel, Roman (who managed to divorce Gertrude von Babenberg), to the direct control of Novogrudok, Slonim, Volkovysk and all the lands closest to them. At the same time, Roman became a vassal of Mindovg. In addition, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince (name unknown) married Shvarn Danilovich, another son of the king of Russia, and in the future he will even be destined to become the ruler of Lithuania for some time. After the conclusion of this world, the Lithuanians indirectly took part in the crusade against the Yatvyag, somewhat expanding both their possessions and the possessions of the Romanovichs.
The union of Lithuanians and Russians as a result turned out to be so significant that Burundai hastened to break it in 1258, having raided Lithuania with the Galicia-Volyn princes. In revenge for the betrayal, the Lithuanian princes Voyshelk (son of Mindovg) and Tovtivil (nephew) seized Roman Danilovich in Novogrudok and killed him. Oil was added to the fire and the call of the pope to Mindovg punish the "apostates" who refused to establish the Catholic rite in their country. These same Lithuanians were allowed to conquer any Romanovich lands. After that, many northern possessions were lost for the Romanovichs, and only the efforts of Prince Lev Danilovich were able to restrain the onslaught of the Lithuanians. Mindovg and Daniil did not manage to reconcile anymore, and the paths of Lithuania and Romanovich began to diverge more and more every year.
End of the board
After his return from voluntary exile, Daniil Romanovich gathered all his relatives, near and far, and spent a lot of “work on the mistakes”. He tried to reconcile with all his relatives, with whom he managed to quarrel because of his flight from the country. Then he tried to justify his actions: by fleeing from Burundai, he actually took all the blame for the misconduct and thus minimized damage to the state. The relatives accepted the arguments, and the relationship between them and the king was restored. Despite this, it was at that meeting that the seeds of future problems and enmity were sown, and the eldest son of Daniel, Leo, even quarreled with his father, although he accepted his will. After making a number of important decisions, which will be discussed later, the princes left, recognizing the return of power to the hands of the king of Russia. In 1264, just two years after returning from exile, Daniel died after a long illness, which he was supposed to have been ill for two years.
The reign of this prince, the first king of Russia, was marked by such large-scale changes that it would be difficult to list them all. In terms of the effectiveness and revolutionism of his rule, he is comparable with the local “giants” of his era: Vladimir and Casimir the Great, Yaroslav the Wise and many others. Fighting almost regularly, Daniel was able to avoid huge losses, and even towards the end of his reign the Galician-Volyn army was numerous, and the human resources of his lands were far from exhausted. The army itself was transformed, the first really massive combat-ready (by the standards of its time) infantry appeared in Russia. Instead of a squad, the local army began to equip the cavalry, although, of course, it was not yet called such. Given to the heirs, this army will continue to cover itself with glory until the moment when the Romanovich dynasty begins to rapidly fade away.
At the same time, despite constant wars, the Mongol invasion and large-scale ruin, South-Western Russia under Daniel continued to develop, and the pace of this development was comparable to the pre-Mongol “golden age” of Russia, when the population grew rapidly, as did the number of cities and villages. Absolutely everyone was used as settlers, including Polovtsy, a significant number of whom settled in Volyn in the 1250s. Trade, fortification, and crafts developed, thanks to which, in economic and technological terms, the Galicia-Volyn land did not lag behind other Europeans and was probably ahead of the rest of Russia at that time. The political authority of the Romanovich state was also high: even after the failure of the union of Daniel, they continued to be called the king of Russia and, contrary to everything, were considered equal to the kings of Hungary, Bohemia and other Central European states of that time. True, having achieved significant success by the mid-1250s, Daniel then largely took a step back because of his decisions made after returning from exile, which made the result of the reign somewhat blurred. In addition, the king of Russia, wanting to free himself from the influence of the Horde, showed real fanaticism and truly senile obstinacy, which actually led to a split in the Romanovich family. This issue will be considered in detail in the following articles.
The nature of statehood and state power has changed. Despite the preservation of the basic principles of the staircase, nothing prevented the principality from inheriting according to primogeniture, except for the will of the king himself. The state was built as centralized and could remain so under a strong monarch on the throne. The state elite has changed dramatically. The old boyars with his small-town thinking and oligarchic manners went into oblivion. In its place came a new boyar, which included both progressive representatives of the old clans and new families of citizens, rural free community members and merchant children who wished to go through military service. She was still knowing, masterful and ambitious, but, unlike in the past, the boyars acquired state thinking, saw the dependence of personal profit on the general and therefore became the faithful support of sovereigns who took power in strong hands, and had goals that were clear to everyone.
Daniil Galitsky built a strong, promising state that had considerable potential. After take-off, a fall usually follows, and the Romanovichs were literally surrounded on all sides by strong enemies who had not yet slipped into the abyss of internal problems, so the end should have been quick and probably bloody. Fortunately, the heir of Daniil Galitsky was able enough to not only preserve, but also increase the inheritance of his father. Unfortunately, he will be destined to become the last quite gifted representative of the Romanovich dynasty, capable of effectively managing the state in such difficult conditions.
Sons of Daniel Romanovich
Having talked about the rule of Prince Daniil of Galitsky, one cannot help but talk about his sons.
Very little is known about the first and eldest son, Heraclius. He was born around 1223, clearly had a Greek name, which he got because of his mother, but for unknown reasons he died before 1240. Probably, the cause of the death of the prince was some disease, although, alas, there is no exact evidence for this.
The third son was called Roman. He managed for some time to be the duke of Austria, and then the prince of Novogrudok. Apparently, he was a good commander, but died early as a result of a conspiracy of Lithuanian princes who decided to take revenge on the Romanovichs for breaking the alliance with Mindovg. The very union that Romanovich forced to break Burundai.
The fourth son bore a rather unusual name, Schwarn, proved to be a good commander and was one of his father's most trusted personalities. This Romanovich, despite his Russian origin, was completely bogged down in Lithuanian affairs since the 1250s and can serve as a clear illustration of how closely the fate of Russia and Lithuania was connected at that time. Mindovg’s son-in-law, a friend and comrade-in-arms of Wojshelk, he lived almost his entire conscious life in the territories controlled by Lithuania, and played a significant political role there, at some point even being her grand duke.
The youngest, fourth son was called Mstislav. He was the least capable and outstanding of all the brothers, did not participate much in the large projects of his relatives, and tried to maintain peaceful relations with them. At the same time, he turned out to be a good prince precisely from the point of view of government: having settled in Lutsk after 1264, and after the death of Vasilkovich in Vladimir-Volynsky, he was actively engaged in the development of his lands, the construction of cities, churches and fortifications, and took care of the cultural life of his subjects . Nothing is known of his heirs, but the later princes of Ostrog, one of the most influential Orthodox magnates of the Kingdom of Poland, indicated their origin precisely from Mstislav.
And here is the second son ...
To be continued ...
- arturpraetor
- Kingdom of Russia. European and Horde politics
Restoration of the Principality and Military Reforms of Daniil Galitsky
On the eve of the storm. Batu invasion of the Romanovich state
The struggle for Galich in the years 1205-1229
Prince Roman Mstislavich, Byzantine Princess and Foreign Policy
Creation of the Galicia-Volyn principality
Leapfrog of princes in Volyn. Changes in society in the XII century
Yaroslav Osmomysl and the extinction of the first Galician dynasty
How Rostislavich kept their principality
Volyn land in the X-XI centuries
Southwest Russia: geography, ancient history, sources of information
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