Decline of Kyivan Rus

After the death of Iaroslav the Wise (1054) Kyivan Rus slowly started to decline and disintegrate. Kyivan prince Volodymyr Monomakh (1113-1125)[27] reunited the state again. But after the death of his son Mstyslav (1132), disintegration started again and was not postponed anymore. Volodymyr Monomakh and his son Mstyslav have been often considered the last effective Kyivan rulers.

The political disintegration of Kyivan Rus was not a unique process. Similar tendencies were common in medieval Europe. The time of political disintegration was characterized in Kyivan Rus by numerous wars between princes who often invited nomads (mostly Polovtsians) for help. Between 1139 and 1169 Kyiv changed hands seventeen times. Many peaceful people in Kyivan Rus died during the disintegration period. The constant wars between princes weakened the once powerful state and in 1237-1240 it could not resist the Mongol invasion. The Mongol Khan Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, destroyed most of Kyivan Rus cities. Many cities showed strong resistance. Kyiv, for example, defended itself for 10 days and lost over 90 percent of its population. In 1246, an Italian monk Plano Carpini, who was the ambassador of Pope Innocent IV to Khan Batu, visited Kyiv on his way to Sarai (the capital of the Golden Horde[28]). Although the siege of Kyiv had taken place 6 years earlier, the Italian monk was shocked to see bones and skulls still lying along the road as he approached the desolate city. Later, the Italian monk would include this scene in his book The History of the Mongols.

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