In our previous episodes in this series, we have seen how the Central Europeans, Mamluks
and various Chinese states defended against the Mongol invasions in the time of Chinggis
and afterwards.
Having given an overview of some of the broad strategies used across the world to defend
against the Mongols and their successor states, we now turn to look at a specific example
from the lands of Kyivan Rus'; looking at one of the most successful Rus' princes to
resist the Mongol conquest, and how they navigated the threat the Mongols posed.
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Our story focuses on the princes of Halych and Volhynia, today the western part of Ukraine,
and the lives of Danylo Romanovich and his brother, Vasylko.
They were sons of Knyaz Roman Mstislavich, who became the powerful prince of the Rus'
principalities in the late twelfth century, becoming Grand Prince of Kyiv, renewing an
alliance with the Byzantine Empire and inflected crushing defeats on the nomadic Cuman people.
He even intervened in the war between Hohenstaufen and Welfs in the Holy Roman Empire and was
killed campaigning against the Welfs' Polish allies in 1205.
His sons Danylo and Vasylko were no more than four and two years old.
Halych-Volhynia fell to independent boyars and rival Knyaz, while Hungary, Cumans, Poland,
and the Lithuanians tried to raid or exert control.
The city of Halych switched hands constantly, the young Danylo Romanovich fighting almost
every year for his birthright; the Hungarian King András II, for instance, installed his
young son Kálmán there as Prince of Halych.
Steadily the Romanovichi brothers brought their family back to influence.
Alliances turned quickly; Danylo and Vasylko would ally with the Poles and Hungarians in
one year and fight them the next.
Plots and rebellions challenged them regularly.
Danylo and Vasylko grew up fighting, soon becoming warriors famed for their strength,
courage, and skill, who took lead roles in combat.
Gradually they reclaimed their family lands throughout Halych and Volhynia, though the
city of Halych itself remained under constant threat from Hungarians and rival knyaz.
By the start of the 1220s, the young princes were among the fiercest warriors in all the
Rus' lands.
Danylo Romanovich was among the many princes, boyars, and knyaz who attended the great council
in Kyiv, listening to the accounts of terrified Cumans seeking assistance against a frightening
enemy from the east.
A great host of Rus' and Cumans, some of whom had been baptized to seal the coalition, marched
into the steppes in the spring of 1223.
Danylo was one of the princes leading parties to observe this new foe, eager to make a name
for himself with his courage, to make a worthwhile comparison to his late father Roman's, and
ancestor Volodymyr Monomakh's victories over nomadic foes.
But the Mongols would not be accommodating to the young prince's desires.
The Rus' princes, their retinues, and the Cumans fought as skilled horse archers, with
the Rus’ better equipped.
They made a good show of themselves in the first skirmishes, capturing great numbers
of Mongol cattle.
They captured and executed a Mongol commander who had been scouting out the coalition.
The Rus' chronicles record the great excitement of the Cumans at getting their revenge on
this Mongol leader, whom they called Gemya-Beğ.
In the opinion of historian Stephen Pow, this was the ultimate fate of Jebe Noyan, one of
the great generals of Chinggis Khan.
Jebe's co-commander, Sübedei, could not let this go unpunished.
The Rus' and Cumans pursued the Mongols deeper into the steppes until reaching the Kalka
River, where Sübedei's troops turned about and crushed the alliance.
The Halych-Volhynian Chronicle records Danylo Romanovich fighting fiercely but suffering
a wound to his chest, which, through adrenaline, he did not realize he had incurred until during
the bedraggled retreat from the battle.
So ended Danylo's first encounter with the Mongols, but it would not be his last.
Though regarded as the greatest defeat the Rus' princes had ever suffered to that point,
it did not stop their continued fighting.
The principalities remained a mess of shifting alliances, and the Romanovichi grew in strength.
The Halych-Volhynian Chronicle reports that from 1227 onwards, Danylo and Vasylko knew
no peace.
They continued to battle Poles, Hungarians, Lithuanians, rival Princes, and Cumans, suffering
defeats and victories.
Relations with the Hungarians eased after the death of András and his son Béla IV's
ascension as Hungarian King.
Over the late 1230s, Danylo and Vasylko visited Béla and began negotiating a marriage alliance
between their families.
Danylo was one of these trips in 1240 when the Mongols attacked Halych-Volhynia.
Like many Rus’ princes, Danylo seems to have failed to take heed of the fall of the
eastern principalities.
In late 1239, as the prince of Kyiv, Mikhail Vsevolodovich, fled the city with the approach
of the Mongols, Danylo was content to appoint a boyar, Dmitro, to govern it on his behalf
before departing for Hungary.
This Dmitro commanded the city when it fell to the Mongols in the winter of 1240.
Surprisingly, we are told the Mongols spared Dmitro because of his courage and that he
urged Batu to attack Hungary.
Danylo learned of the Mongol attack when he encountered waves of refugees on his way back
to Halych.
Riding with only a small escort, Danylo fled into Poland, where he found his wife, children,
and brother Vasylko had also escaped.
Late in 1241, after the Mongols moved into Hungary, Danylo and his family returned to
Halych-Volhynia.
The sight that awaited them was beyond comprehension; we are told that they could not enter the
city of Berestia on account of the stench of the corpses; at the city of Volodymyr’,
not a single person was seen alive, its Church of the Blessed Virgin filled with the fallen.
Whatever pain and anger Danylo felt, he did not let it despair him but turned his wrath
instead against the boyars, many of whom refused to listen to him or acted as independent lords.
But Danylo’s campaign had to be called off with the return of Batu and Sübedei's great
host from Hungary.
The Mongols dispatched a portion of the army to track down Danylo.
He evaded his pursuers, though they wrecked more damage on the country as far as Volodava.
Even then, the shadow of the Great Khan was not far away.
Despite the common claim, the Mongol army did not retreat to participate in an election
in Mongolia.
Batu only went as far east as the Volga River, and began dividing up the western steppes
to his princes and generals, assigning tax collectors in the Rus' lands and putting down
a Cuman rebellion in the steppe.
One of Danylo's most hated enemies, prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich, was put to death on
Batu's order for failing to show proper reverence to an icon of Chinggis Khan.
While almost all Rus' princes and church leaders paid homage in Batu's court on the Volga,
Danylo tried to avoid any formal recognition of Batu's authority.
Danylo was fortunate too, that the destruction in Halych-Volhynia was not total, for he was
quickly able to raise an army for a four-pronged assault on eastern Poland in 1243, while in
1244, fought Rostislav Mikhailovich, a rival prince backed by Béla IV to take control
of Halych city.
By this point, Danylo's son Lev was old enough to join his father in battle against the Lithuanians,
Poles, and Hungarians.
Whatever the terror of the Mongols, Danylo saw the opportunity to consolidate his power;
an opportunity his rivals grasped too.
Danylo hoped the Mongols would not return, or at least not immediately, to give himself
time to strengthen his position and fortify his cities.
But in 1245, envoys came from the Mongols demanding his formal submission.
Here the Halych-Volhynian Chronicle specifies Danylo’s fear, as his fortification project
was barely begun.
With great trepidation, Danylo traveled to Batu.
Tearfully saying goodbye to his family, he spent 25 days with Batu, who greeted Danylo
warmly; Batu considered it wise for Danylo to have come of his own volition, though he
felt it was late.
As Batu gave Danylo fermented mare's milk to drink, he told the Knyaz that he was now
one of them and should share in their custom.
If the lengthy condemnation in the Chronicle that follows this encounter is any indication,
then Danylo hated his experience with Batu.
Despondent, while returning to Halych-Volhynia, he met a Franciscan monk, John de Plano Carpini,
who the Pope had sent as an envoy to the Mongols.
Carpini had already met with Danylo's brother Vasylko, and now Danylo learned from the Franciscan
that the Pope was seeking to organize a crusade against the Mongols, and an offer was made
to Danylo that he could join such an alliance, if he abandoned the Greek Church for the Roman.
While not keen on the religious concession, the promise of military aid stuck in Danylo's
mind.
By the time Carpini returned from Mongolia and met with Danylo in 1247, he found Danylo
excited by the plan, sending letters and envoys back with Carpini to the Pope.
Carpini tells us he learned much about the Mongols from the Romanovichi brothers; some
of the anti-Mongol defence measures Carpini made, and we covered previously, likely came
directly from Danylo and Vasylko.
Over the next years, Danylo Romanovich exchanged envoys with the Pope while building up fortifications,
securing his lands, and strengthening his army.
The thought of armed support from the west against the eastern enemy could allow Danylo
to punch above his weight.
In the meantime, he used official subordination to Batu to his advantage; Béla IV finally
agreed to a marriage agreement between his daughter and Danylo's son Lev, rather than
an attack on the vassal of the Khan, which would raise Batu’s ire.
Danylo also acquainted himself with Mongolian equipment; in 1248, Danylo personally led
an army to Bratislava to assist Béla against the Holy Roman Emperor.
Here, we are told that Danylo, his guards, and their horses were adorned in "Tatar armor,"
which was resplendent to behold.
By 1253, in Dorohyčyn, Danylo formally adopted the Catholic faith while being crowned by
the Pope's representatives as King of Ruthenia (rex ruthenorum).
Unfortunately, no effort was made to provide material support to Danylo.
He received a crown and nothing else.
Once he realized this, Danylo quickly reneged on the commitment to Catholicism, which resulted
in Papal letters demanding his return to the fold.
Danylo likely did not think highly of these threats.
Still, by the mid-1250s, Danylo felt strong enough to take the fight to the enemy.
The constant battles with the Lithuanians and other neighbors made his armies experienced
and cohesive, a powerful body of heavy cavalry armed with bows and javelins, supported by
Cuman light-horsemen and sturdy heavy infantry fighting with shield and spear.
Fighting began first as skirmishing along border towns, Mongols and Danylo trying to
secure the loyalty of boyars and punishing those who defected.
In 1255, perhaps following the death of Batu, King Danylo, his brother Vasylko and his son
Lev campaigned along the Bug River, taking several towns under their rule.
But the Mongols struck back the following winter under the command of Quremsa.
At Volodymyr, his advance troops were repulsed by Vasylko's troops.
A pitched battle was avoided, though, as Danylo’s had been gathering his troops at Chełm until
the town was destroyed in a devastating fire.
The Halych-Volhynian Chronicle blamed a “damned peasant woman” for the blaze.
But people and troops fled, assuming Chełm had already fallen to the Mongols.
While Danylo tried to gather his forces, Quremsa tried his luck at Lutsk, an unfortified town
where many refugees had gathered.
He failed to ford the deep, freezing river, and the townspeople cut down the bridge before
Quremsa's troops could cross it.
His attempt to bombard the foe failed on account of strong winds allegedly throwing the stones
back onto the catapults, according to the Halych-Volhynian Chronicle.
Quremsa withdrew soon after, and was promptly removed from his position.
Danylo was fortunate, as Quremsa was a poor commander unable to take advantage of the
Knyaz’s misfortune.
The Halych-Volhynian Chronicle reports Danylo was never afraid of him.
Quremsa's successor was a different story.
Boroldai Noyan was an experienced general who had accompanied Batu and Sübedei on the
great campaign.
He came with a great army too; the new Jochid Khan, Berke, wanted to tighten the leash on
his western frontier.
His messengers to Danylo in 1257 came with a simple message: Boroldai was going to march
against the Lithuanians, and if they were truly at peace, then Danylo would join.
After deliberation, it was deemed too dangerous to send Danylo to Boroldai, so Vasylko went
in his brother’s stead.
Vasylko fought alongside Boroldai in a number of battles against the Lithuanians over 1258:
Boroldai commended him on his ability.
Meanwhile, Danylo navigated away from Boroldai, successfully avoiding him.
An annoyed but placated Boroldai returned to the steppes.
A year of rare peace followed: in Volodymyr’ in November 1259, Danylo and his family were
celebrating the wedding of Vasylko’s daughter, when more messages came from Boroldai, demanding
Danylo and Vasylko in his presence.
Vasylko, Danylo’s son Lev, and the Bishop of Chełm went to Boroldai, whose fury at
Danylo’s absence left them trembling.
He then ordered they demonstrate their loyalty by dismantling their fortifications.
Reluctantly, they carried out Boroldai’s will and tore down many of Halych-Volhynia’s
walls and towers.
Boroldai accompanied Vasylko to Volodymyr’, and watched as Vasylko set fire to the great
wooden walls and dug up the entrenchments.
Boroldai even entered Volodymyr’, enjoying a dinner in Vasylko’s home there.
Only at Chełm was Boroldai denied.
The garrison stood their ground, barring the doors and arming crossbows and catapults against
them.
Boroldai sent Vasylko to receive their surrender.
Under the eye of Boroldai’s officers and interpreters, Vasylko urged the garrison to
submit; but as he spoke he threw rocks at the ground.
His men in the city knew how to interpret it, and refused the order.
Boroldai was frustrated but moved on.
Perhaps hearing of Danylo’s flight to Poland, Boroldai took Vasylko and his army into the
Polish duchies and unleashed a swath of devastation there, sacking several cities and departing
with considerable loot.
Danylo avoided this too, by fleeing to Hungary.
Danylo returned to Halych, having been humbled.
He spent his last years quietly, passing from illness in 1264, and Vasylko a few years later.
Danylo’s son Lev succeeded the throne as King of Ruthenia.
Unlike his father, Lev Danylovich did not try to resist the Mongols; instead, he used
them.
To deal with raids by the Lithuanians or Poles, Lev regularly requested support from the Khan
or prince Nogai, who would in good order provide an army to protect Lev’s border.
He learned the lessons of his father and enjoyed a long reign of comparative stability compared
to him.
The rule of his family continued into the early fourteenth century.
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