Lipitsa, Battle of 1216

Lipitsa, Battle of (1216) 

a battle between the troops of Novgorod under the command of Prince Mstislav Mstislavich Udaloi and the troops of the princes of Vladimir-Suzdal’, fought at the Lipitsa River in the vicinity of Iur’ev-Pol’skii on April 21–22.

The ruling prince in Novgorod, Iaroslav Vsevolodovich, was oppressing the inhabitants of the city and encroaching on the functioning of the veche, and then, after quarreling with the Novgorodians, he left the city and cut off its supply of foodstuffs, which caused a famine. Mstislav Udaloi came to the aid of the Novgorodians. Iaroslav Vsevolodovich rejected the Novgorodians’ proposal for concluding a peace, and war broke out. The Novgorodians had as allies the princes of Pskov and Smolensk and the prince of Rostov, Konstantin Vsevolodovich, who sought the throne of Vladimir. Despite their numerical advantage, Iaroslav Vsevolodovich and his ally, the prince of Vladimir, Iurii Vsevolodovich, suffered a cruel defeat. The victory increased the influence of Novgorod. Iaroslav, who had found refuge in Pereiaslavl’, was compelled to come to terms with Mstislav and Konstantin. The latter became the prince of Vladimir.