Rostislav Yaroslavich (24 June 1171 – after 1212/before 1223) was a Rus' prince (a member of the

Rurik Dynasty The Rurik dynasty ( be, Ру́рыкавічы, Rúrykavichy; russian: Рю́риковичи, Ryúrikovichi, ; uk, Рю́риковичі, Riúrykovychi, ; literally "sons/scions of Rurik"), also known as the Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was ...

). His baptismal name was Ivan. He was prince of

Snovsk Snovsk ( uk, Сновськ ) is a city in Koriukivka Raion, Chernihiv Oblast (oblast, province) of Ukraine. Population: It hosts the administration of Snovsk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population was 12,315 in 2001. Name ...

His life

Rostislav was the elder son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (who was the prince of

Starodub Starodub ( rus, links=no, Староду́б, p=stərɐˈdup, ''old oak'') is a town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets River (the Dnieper basin), southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

when Rostislav was born), by his wife Irene. In 1192, his father sent him when the Olgovichi (the members of the dynasty of

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative ...

) commanded by

Igor Svyatoslavich Prince Igor Sviatoslavich the Brave or Ihor Sviatoslavych (Old East Slavic: Игорь Святъславичь, ''Igorĭ Svjatŭslavičĭ''; uk, Ігор Святославич, ''Ihor Svyatoslavych''; russian: Игорь Святослави ...

launched an expedition against the

Cumans The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...

. The purpose of the campaign was to plunder Cumanian camps. The Olgovichi ventured deep into the

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

, but the

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

s assembled in great numbers and awaited the princes. Upon seeing he was outnumbered, Igor Svyatoslavich resolutely ordered his troops to steal away under the cover of the darkness. Russia-Vladimir-Assumption Cathedral-8

On 11 July 1186, Rostislav married Vseslava Vsevolodovna, a daughter of prince Vsevolod Yurevich of Suzdalia. Rostislav was present when Bishop Luka consecrated the Cathedral of the Assumption in

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

for his father-in-law. Rostislav took part in the siege of

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

on 2 January 1203, when

Rurik Rostislavich Rurik Rostislavich (Russian and Ukrainian: Рюрик Ростиславич) (died 1215), Prince of Novgorod (1170–1171), Belgorod Kievsky (currently Bilohorodka; 1173–1194), Grand Prince of Kiev (Kyiv, 1173, 1180–1181, 1194–1201, 1203–12 ...

(who had been expelled from the town) and the Olgovichi captured Kiev. During the siege Rostislav captured prince Mstislav Vladimirovich of Dorogobuzh. Rostislav's cousin, Vsevolod IV Svyatoslavich of Kiev, waged war against the Rostislavichi at the beginning of 1212. Vsevolod Svyatoslavich kicked the Rostislavichi out of Rus', and probably gave

Vyshgorod Vyshhorod ( uk, Ви́шгород) is a city in Kyiv Oblast (region) in central Ukraine, situated immediately north of Kyiv city, the national capital, and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It is on the right (western) bank of the Dnieper ri ...

to Rostislav. In June 1212, the Rostislavichi (

Mstislav Romanovich Mstislav Romanovich the Old ( uk, Мстислав Романович Старий; russian: Мстислав Романович Старый) (died 1223) was Prince of Pskov (1179–?), Smolensk (1197–?), Belgorod (1206), Halych (?–?) and Gra ...

and prince

Mstislav Mstislavich Mstislav Mstislavich the Daring (russian: Мстисла́в II Мстисла́вич Удатный, uk, Мстислав Мстиславич Удатний, translit=Mstyslav Mstyslavych Udatnyi; died c. 1228) prince of Tmutarakan and Cherni ...

of Novgorod) launched a major offensive against Vsevolod Svyatoslavich to reclaim their lands. Vsevolod Svyatoslavich and his brothers confronted the attackers at Vyshgorod, but the Rostislavichi occupied the town and captured Rostislav and his brother, Yaropolk. When all the princes assembled in Kiev in 1223,

Mikhail Vsevolodovich Saint Michael of Chernigov (russian: Михаи́л Черни́говский, uk, Миха́йло Все́володович Чернігівський) or Mikhail Vsevolodovich (russian: Михаил Всеволодович, uk, Михай� ...

was the second in seniority among the Olgovichi which suggests that both Rostislav and Yaropolk had died by that time.

Marriage

''#July 11, 1186:'' Vseslava Vsevolodovna, a daughter of prince Vsevolod Yurevich of Suzdalia by his first wife

Maria Shvarnovna Maria Shvarnovna (c. 1158 - 19 March/19 May 1205/1206) was the first wife of Vsevolod III Big Nest, and gave birth to at least 14 children (hence Vsevolod's sobriquet of "Big Nest"). Four of her sons, Konstantin, George, Yaroslav and Sviatoslav, ...

Ancestors

Footnotes

Sources

*Dimnik, Martin: ''The Dynasty of Chernigov - 1146-1246''; Cambridge University Press, 2003, Cambridge; {{ISBN, 978-0-521-03981-9. Olgovichi family Princes of Novgorod Eastern Orthodox monarchs