Rostislav Mikhailovich

Rostislav Mikhailovich (1225-62), Ban of Slavonia and Machva, stemmed from the Rurikid House of Chernigov.

Life

Rostislav was the son of Prince Michael of Chernigov, sometime grand prince of Kiev. His mother was Maria Romanovna, daughter of Roman Mstislavich the Great of Galicia and Volynia, sometime grand prince of Kiev, and sister of Danylo Romanovich, king of Halych. Rostislav married Anna of Hungary (c 1226- c 1270), a daughter of Béla IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina.

Following his father's death in 1246, prince Rostislav lived at the court of his father-in-law, Bela IV. He served as the Hungarian governor (ban) of Slavonia and Machva, including the area of Belgrade.

In 1252, his first cousin Roman Danylovich married Gertrude, Duchess of Austria as her third husband and undertook to recover her duchy, a province not far away from Rostislav's. However they divorced the next year, Roman's excursion to Western Europe remaining brief. Back in his father's kingdom, Roman became 1254-58 prince of Navahradak in Ruthenia.

In the mid-1250s Rostislav married one of his daughters to Michael Asen I, Tsar of Bulgaria and intervened in the conflict between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire, eventually acting as a peace-broker. Rostislav's son-in-law was murdered in 1256, and Rostislav invaded Bulgaria to recover his daughter and punish the usurper Kaliman Asen II, who had taken her as wife. Rostislav defeated Kaliman Asen II and recovered his daughter. Although he took the title of emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria, Rostislav was not accepted by the country's nobility and was unable to take control of the capital. He returned to his Danubian principality and continued to rule there until his death in 1262.

Family

By his marriage to Anna of Hungary, Rostislav had several children, including:
* Béla, ban of Machva, who was murdered in November 1272.
* Michael, ban of Bosnia, who was killed in 1270 (he is not to be confused with Mitso Asen of Bulgaria).
* a daughter (perhaps identical to the next), who married (1) Michael Asen I of Bulgaria (d. 1256); (2) Kaliman Asen II of Bulgaria (d. 1256).
* Elisabeth (perhaps identical to the above), who married Moys II Daroi, Palatine of Hungary (ca 1210 - 1281) and had a daughter.
* Kunigunda of Slavonia, (1245-1285); married (1) 1261 King Otakar II of Bohemia (1233-78); and (2) 1284 Zaviš von Falkenstein-Rosenberg (died 24.08.1290)
* Agrippina (died c. 1305), who married 1265 Leszek II the Black (c. 1240 - 1288), Prince of Krakow

Descent from Rostislav

Kunigunda, his daughter, became Queen Regent of Bohemia after her husband's defeat and death in 1278. Her descendants continued to govern the kingdom of Bohemia, and temporarily succeeded to the thrones of Poland and Hungary. Ultimately she became one of the pivotal ancestors of the House of Habsburg.

References

* John V.A. Fine Jr., "The Late Medieval Balkans", Ann Arbor, 1987.
* Martin Dimnik, "The Dynasty of Chernigov 1146–1246", Cambridge University Press, 2003.