Remembering how he had been driven from Pereyaslavl by Chermny, Yaroslav occupied that region which once had belonged to him. Remembering also how on a time he had been invited to reign in Galitch, he extended his views beyond Kief to Carpathian Russia. But a slight failure in the South caused him to return to Pereyaslavl Beyond the Forest, not taking his eye for a moment, however, from Novgorod. Working now against Yuri, he strove to incite him to quarrel with his nephews, Vassilko and Vsevolod, sons of Constantine, the first of whom was Prince of Rostoff, the second Prince of Yaroslav on the Volga.
Ten years had passed since the death of Big Nest in 1212,—years filled with strife, disorder and conflict. A second ten years had begun. That which had troubled Russia in the past threatened in the future, with the end not in sight. And so it continued until a thunderbolt fell, as it were from the sky, “a punishment for the sins of many generations, and for all the injustice and lawlessness committed from one generation to another. The anger which was preparing on high,” as the chronicler says, “and was delayed by the long suffering of God, burst forth at last.”
And now comes the period of vast and radical changes in Russia.
These changes were caused indirectly by the Polovtsi in 1224, who, fearing greatly the dauntless Mongols, who were attacking them, appealed to the Christian princes. “They have seized our country,” said the Polovtsi. “To-morrow they will seize yours.” Mystislav the Gallant, taking advantage of this opportunity to [[222]]crush a possible future enemy, persuaded other princes of Southern Russia to join him in aiding the Polovtsi. Basti, Khan of these idolatrous Polovtsi, embraced Orthodoxy to cement the alliance with the Russians, and the army moved forward without delay. Upon reaching the lower Dnieper, the Russians, under Mystislav the Gallant, Daniel, Prince of Volynia, Mystislav, Grand Prince of Kief, Oleg of Kursk, Mystislav of Chernigoff, Vladimir of Smolensk, and Vsevolod, for a short time Prince of Novgorod, were met by envoys from the Mongols, who tried to persuade them to abandon the cause of the Polovtsi, saying: “The Mongols have nothing against the Russians. It is the pagans whom we wish to destroy. We are as the Russians in that we worship the one God. Profit by our offer, and avenge yourselves upon the enemy who has warred against you in the past.” The envoys were seized and put to death immediately, and the Russians continued their march.
At the Kalka, a small stream flowing into the Sea of Azoff, they encountered the Mongol forces, led by two great commanders, Subotai and Chepé. Mystislav the Gallant, Daniel of Volynia, and Oleg of Kursk, wishing to win for themselves all the glory of the victory, rushed forward without the aid of the Prince of Kief, and even without warning him of their intention. The Polovtsi advanced also but when the critical moment of the struggle came, they were seized with panic, and fell back upon their Russian allies, thus throwing them into terrible disorder. The defeat was overwhelming; hardly a tenth of the men under those rash leaders escaped, six princes and seventy distinguished voevodas were killed. Mystislav of Kief, abandoned by the army, tried to defend himself in his hastily fortified camp on the banks of the Kalka. The Mongols offered him his life and the lives of his sons-in-law if he would surrender and pay them a ransom for himself and his personal following. Knowing well that he could not successfully contend with the victors, he surrendered. But the Mongols did not regard their promise; they massacred Mystislav’s men, and putting the three princes under heavy planks, they sat upon those planks and feasted while the unfortunate Russians died in the greatest agony.
After this victory, the Mongols returned to the East, vanished, and were not seen again for thirteen years.
Mystislav died four years after that disastrous battle on the [[223]]Kalka, and sad was the end of his glory. He began a war on Volynia by reason of a calumny that his son-in-law, Daniel, was trying to deprive him of Galitch,—nay more, there was a direct accusation that Daniel intended to kill him. These accusations were brought against Daniel by Bailski. Later on, Mystislav repented and became friendly with Daniel. He gave rich presents to his daughter Anna, the wife of Daniel, and gave Daniel his best horse, Aklaz. No steed on earth, as he thought, was the equal of that one, for had he not brought him alive from the terrible slaughter on the Kalka. Nevertheless Mystislav betrothed his youngest daughter to the son of Andrei of Hungary, and gave his son-in-law Peremysl at the advice of boyars in Galitch, chief among whom was Sudislav “the traitor,” as people still called him. In bringing Mystislav to give his daughter to the king’s son, these men believed that Galitch would fall to Hungary a second time, and their efforts were directed toward that object very earnestly. All at once a report spread that Mystislav the Gallant had decided to go to the lower country and give Galitch to his father-in-law, Kotyan, a Polovtsi khan. This report was monstrous, and invented doubtless by tricksters, still Galitch men were so greatly alarmed because of it, that many left the country and went to Hungary.
The prince contradicted this lie before all the people. He sent Timofei, his confessor, to the fugitives; he persuaded them to return, but soon after the king himself came into Galitch with a numerous army, and insisted that Galitch be given to his son immediately. Mystislav prepared now for battle. This last battle fought by the hero was as decisive and brilliant as any which preceded it. The king’s army was crushed. The king himself fled with maddened mind and shattered body. There was a rumor that this disaster had been foretold him. “Thou wilt not live, if thou see Galitch,” were the reputed words of a wizard whom King Andrei asked to soothsay as he was leaving Hungary.
Mystislav’s allies, Daniel and Vassilko, who fought against Leshko, and did not let the Poles help King Andrei, brought their regiments to Galitch and strove to make Mystislav pursue the defeated army. Mystislav was unwilling to do this; Sudislav and the boyars, not wishing the ruin of the king, in whom lay their great hope, opposed with all their power; and the war with Hungary ended in nothing. [[224]]
Mystislav, weary of the utter faithlessness of the boyars, resolved to leave Galitch. This resolution delighted the boyars; but they warned him immediately that the hatred of the country toward him reached also to Daniel, hence they advised him to give Galitch to the king’s son as a dowry for his daughter. This advice they strengthened by the following words: “If thou give Galitch to the king’s son as dowry for thy daughter, thou canst withdraw it later on, should the wish come, but if thou yield now to Daniel, Galitch will never be thine again.” Mystislav made no answer, but he did as they advised. He married his daughter to the king’s son and then gave them Galitch, thus acting as a traitor toward Russia. He withdrew after that, and lived on the Ros in Podolia.