The boyars had not got what they wanted. They had overthrown Igor’s
sons, who had dared to remind them of Roman, but to overthrow those
princes was not enough; they must punish them. Such men as Sudislav and
Volodislav were ready to give immense sums in gold for opponents like
Sviatoslav and Roman. The voevodas, however, refused to yield up the
captives, saying that such traitors should be sent to the sovereign.
The boyars now had recourse to gold, and the voevodas, persuaded by
great gifts, agreed to surrender the princes. In this way the men got
possession of Igor’s sons and then hanged them. While the princes were
swinging on gibbets, those boyars pierced them with arrows shot from
their own bows by their own hands. That done they gave homage to
Daniel, placed on the throne by the King of Hungary, and went home in
good humor. Galitch was governed by boyars.
That same year, 1211, the king, touched by the tears of Roman’s widow,
went in person to establish her in Galitch, where, to his amazement, he
found Daniel’s relatives from Volynia,—Ingvar of Lutsk and others, who
were there under pretext of visiting the new prince.
The king acted quickly. Volodislav, with Sudislav and Philip, were
placed under guard, and then tortured; after this they were exiled.
Sudislav, however, bought his freedom. “He turned himself into gold,”
as is said by the chronicler. Volodislav was sent to Hungary in
fetters, but he had two brothers in freedom, who were precisely such
wily heroes as Volodislav himself. These men appeared now before
Mystislav, whose brother, Ingvar, had not been in Galitch without a
purpose. All Volynia rose in revolt quickly, and made war on Andrei.
Volynia was managed at this time by Leshko of Poland. This guardian of
Vassilko had taken Bailz from his ward and given it back to Bailski,
his father-in-law. The little Vassilko had been forced to hide himself
in the poor town of Kamenyets. No one knew well, save the managers,
what was happening in Volynia. To the outward observer there was chaos
everywhere. In Galitch confusion seemed dominant. Reports were brought
in that countless regiments were moving against the city. The people
were ready to surrender, and go out and join with those regiments.
Daniel and his mother, whom the king had brought back, fled now to save
themselves, and Mystislav the Silent, who had been brought by
Volodislav’s brothers, entered the city in triumph.
After this incredible triumph of Mystislav, came the still more
incredible triumph of the chief of these brothers, Volodislav. From
fetters and a prison in Hungary, he appeared before the king in his
palace, and was nearer to power than he had ever been. A report flew
through the country that the king was disposed to give him the throne
of Galitch, and in fact not much time passed before Volodislav, at the
head of Hungarians and a mercenary army, broke into Galitch.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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