Rostislav of Tmutarakan
Encyclopedia
Rostislav Vladimirovich (died 1066) was a landless prince (izgoi
) from the Rurikid dynasty of Kievan Rus’. He was baptized as Mikhail.
During his minority, Rostislav ruled Rostov
in the land of the Merya. His father Vladimir of Novgorod
was the eldest son of Yaroslav I of Kiev. If Vladimir had not predeceased his father, he would have succeeded to the Kievan throne. Under the East Slavic house law, the early death of Rostislav's father made his descendants forfeit all claims to Kiev.
For five years after his father's death, Rostislav who was about 14 years old had no appanage
. Finally, his uncles gave him Volhynia
and Halych
, where he stayed from 1057 and 1064, guarding the western frontier of the Rus' lands. According to Vasily Tatischev, it was there that he married Anna Lanke, the daughter of King Béla I of Hungary. Rostislav did not like the distant and meager land and, in 1064, assisted by his father's close friend Vyshata
, seized the rich Tmutarakan
on the Black Sea
littoral, previously controlled by the House of Chernigov.
His predecessor, Gleb Svyatoslavich
, escaped to his father, Svyatoslav II of Chernigov who was part of the Yaroslaviches triumvirate. The latter approached Tmutarakan with his army and Rostislav was forced to leave the city. Once Svyatoslav returned to Chernigov, Rostislav expelled Gleb once again from Tmutarakan and entered the city in triumph. During his brief rule, he subdued the local Circassians (also known as Kasogi) and other indigenous tribes. His success provoked the rivalry of neighboring Greek Chersonesos in Crimean peninsula, whose envoy poisoned him on 3 February 1066.
Izgoi
Izgoi is a term found in medieval Kievan Rus'. In primary documents, it is used to indicate orphans protected by the church. In historiographic writing on the period, it meant a prince in Kievan Rus' who was excluded from succession to the Kievan throne because his father had not held the throne...
) from the Rurikid dynasty of Kievan Rus’. He was baptized as Mikhail.
During his minority, Rostislav ruled Rostov
Rostov
Rostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:...
in the land of the Merya. His father Vladimir of Novgorod
Vladimir of Novgorod
Vladimir Yaroslavich reigned as prince of Novgorod from 1036 until his death. He was the eldest son of Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev by Ingigerd, daughter of king Olof Skötkonung of Sweden....
was the eldest son of Yaroslav I of Kiev. If Vladimir had not predeceased his father, he would have succeeded to the Kievan throne. Under the East Slavic house law, the early death of Rostislav's father made his descendants forfeit all claims to Kiev.
For five years after his father's death, Rostislav who was about 14 years old had no appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
. Finally, his uncles gave him Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
and Halych
Principality of Halych
Principality of Halych was a Kievan Rus' principality established in around 1124 established by the grandson of Rostislav Ihor Vasylkovych . According to Mykhailo Hrushevsky the realm of Halych was passed to Rostislav upon the death of his father Vladimir Yaroslavich, but he was banished out of it...
, where he stayed from 1057 and 1064, guarding the western frontier of the Rus' lands. According to Vasily Tatischev, it was there that he married Anna Lanke, the daughter of King Béla I of Hungary. Rostislav did not like the distant and meager land and, in 1064, assisted by his father's close friend Vyshata
Vyshata
Vyshata was a Novgorodian general and voivode, whose father is supposed to have been posadnik Ostromir and whose son was another statesman, Yan Vyshatich...
, seized the rich Tmutarakan
Tmutarakan
Tmutarakan was a Mediaeval Russian principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. Its site was the ancient Greek colony of Hermonassa . It was situated on the Taman peninsula, in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia,...
on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
littoral, previously controlled by the House of Chernigov.
His predecessor, Gleb Svyatoslavich
Gleb Svyatoslavich
Gleb Svyatoslavich was the ruler of Tmutarakan. He ruled this area under the overal authority of his father Svyatoslav II the Prince of Chernigov. In 1064 Gleb was removed from power by the forces of Rostislav, the son of a former ruler of Novgorod...
, escaped to his father, Svyatoslav II of Chernigov who was part of the Yaroslaviches triumvirate. The latter approached Tmutarakan with his army and Rostislav was forced to leave the city. Once Svyatoslav returned to Chernigov, Rostislav expelled Gleb once again from Tmutarakan and entered the city in triumph. During his brief rule, he subdued the local Circassians (also known as Kasogi) and other indigenous tribes. His success provoked the rivalry of neighboring Greek Chersonesos in Crimean peninsula, whose envoy poisoned him on 3 February 1066.